For quite a while I have used the following steps to perform a
"single-user backup"
1. Boot to single user mode via the grub command
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda6 single
2. Type in the root password.
3. Execute a single command
/usr/local/sbin/ajg-backup-init-3
which does the backup and then executes
init 3
4. This gets me to multi-user mode.
I would like to automate this so that booting directly to multi-user
mode via
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda6
All I need to do is to execute the single command
/usr/local/sbin/ajg-backup-init-3
at the right moment.
This didn't seem hard; I want it after everything in boot but before
everything currently in default. So I was going to put it in
default with a "before *" in depend()
Reading the gentoo handbook chapter B4.d "Writing Init Scripts"
I find two comments criticizing this approach
1. "You can also use the "*" glob [argument to before] to catch all
services in the same runlevel, although this isn't advisable".
2. "Note: Make sure that --exec actually calls a service and not just a
shell script that launches services and exits -- that's what the
init script is supposed to do."
I can see problems with multiple "before *" directives, but no other
script has one so I think I would be OK with my "before *".
Criticism 2 has me concerned since my backup routing is indeed a shell
script that exits. Indeed, my backup is not really a service so I am
worried that I shouldn't be using an initscript at all.
Any advice/comments would be welcome.
thanks,
allan
