On 08/30/2009 12:01 PM, Rich wrote:
I'd like to back up some data files that are total over 4.7G of a DVD.
Using file manger and CD/DVD writer, I can do it, but it's a pain when it
complains that the device isn't large enough for all the data I want to
save.
What I'd like to accomplish is be able to copy all the files I want copied
and have it just keep writing to media I insert until it's done. I don't
want compression, nor do I want the backup optimized to use the minimum
discs (although that would be a nice option).
Any simple suggestions or a feature of the CD/DVD writer that I'm missing?
Any way to just use cp to accomplish this? GUI would be nice for drag and
drop, but command line is ok too.
Do you need to be able to access the files on each of the discs or is it
OK if you need to reassemble everything first?
One method requiring reassembly would be to create a filesystem in a
file that is big enough to hold all your backup files. First find out
how much space you need. Then create a file of the appropriate size
doing something like:
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=my_backup_fs count=4500 bs=1M
This will create a file of 4500x1MB=4.5GB approximately. Fill in your
own numbers.
Then create a filesystem in the file:
mke2fs -f my_backup_fs
mke2fs will complain and then do what you want, which is create a
filesystem in a file.
Then mount the backup file someplace:
# mount -t ext2 -o loop my_backup_fs /mnt/backup
Copy all the files you want backed up to the mounted filesystem.
When done, unmount the filesystem. Then split the file into appropriate
sized pieces using the "split" command.
Burn all the files to DVD. You can either put them into ISO images or
write them to the DVD using RAW mode (I haven't tested this).
To get your data back, read in the file chunks and cat them together.
The resulting file can then be loopback mounted and the files extracted.
This seems really complicated and there are probably already a bazillion
programs out there that automate this. Something on Freshmeat will
probably work better.
Gus
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