Re: [Bacula-users] Backup from windows
Mehrdad, I don't know if I can help with all of your questions but I have some information for you. I back up samba shares for a machine that I cannot get shell access onto. The only way for me to access the files on this Nas is via smb. For this case, on the bacula server, I have mounted the relevant shares read only. I have a run-before script defined for my backup job, which script runs basically mountpoint -q /mnt/sharename || mount /mnt/sharename This ensures that my smb targets are mounted. If mountpoint exits >0 (error, nothing mounted there), it tries to mount the shares. If the mount command fails, it exists > 0 (fails), and the script then exits > 0. The job then ends with an error code and doesn't proceed further. This is the desired behavior since I don't want bacula to back up an empty mount folder and happily report success. My mountpoint script lists each of the relevant shares that are included in my fileset. By default, bacula backs up to file volumes, which you could think of as virtual tapes. The default configuration includes setup to write the catalog backup to said file volumes. I don't use file volumes (yet), so I can't help much there. However, I would suggest you examine the default configuration and adapt it to your needs. Probably add new pool resources, etc for your file volumes, so the catalog backup infrastructure isn't changed or mixed in with your regular backups. Let's say a volume (whether tape or file volume) has aged out of whatever file, job, and volume retention periods are defined. However, the tape isn't in an autochanger, the file volume is read only or has been copied elsewhere, volume recycling is disabled, etc. Basically, the catalog entries for the volume in question have been removed from the database, so bacula has no knowledge of what could be on that volume, and bacula has been prevented from reusing the volume. In this case, you can use the bacula bscan tool to read the volume and see what data is stored on it. You may notice I provided many caveats to the above hypothetical situation. This is because while I could fairly easily withhold a tape from bacula for archive purposes merely by refusing to insert it into the tape library, withholding a file volume is more complicated. In any case, operating within defined retention periods is better, so perhaps what you could do is have an archive pool and job definition and use copy or migrate jobs to move or copy an existing job into that pool. I think the existing retention period might apply there, so maybe that would be better than manually copying a file volume and then bscanning it later. In any case, the idea is to work within bacula to define an increased retention period for a certain job instead of seeking to work outside bacula. I haven't done this, so I recommend seeking the advice of others to confirm how best to do this. With bscan it is not necessary for you to have any information about the backup. Bacula does generate BSR (Boot Strap Record) files when backing up or when restoring (can also configure a restore, then at last step tell bacula just to save a BSR instead of doing the restore). These BSR files are small and human readable. They say which volumes contain the relevant data, and where in the volumes the data is stored. If you have your BSR files backed up, this will make recovering from a volume much easier and faster. One suggestion I have heard is that maybe you could configure a run-after script to email the BSR file generated by a job to yourself after the bsckup job runs. I have discussed tape and file volumes. One exception to this behavior of backing up files into volumes is if bacula is used to back up to an S3 object storage target. In that case I am led to understand that bacula backs up files directly to the object storage and does not use volumes. Robert Gerber 402-237-8692 r...@craeon.net On Tue, Apr 16, 2024, 10:38 AM Mehrdad Ravanbod < mehrdad.ravan...@ampfield.se> wrote: > Hi guys > > I am new to bacula and trying to figure it out and testing atm > > I have it installed on a RHEL9 server with clients on 2 windows computer > ( one server, one win7 client) and trying to set up backups both via VSS > and indiviual file/folders to disk(mainly a NAS and shares) > > Only problem is i am having trouble finding any guides or resources > handling this, almost everything i have found s far is backup of Linux > machines and concentrated on Tapes/autochangers etc > I would appreciate any pointers towards relevant material or if anyone > has any exple configuration files(dir, fd, sd conf files etc) > > Also, is there anyone who has experience of long term back up with > bacula?? How easy is it to archive backups/data for several years?? How > easy is it to access such archives?? Do you need teh records to be in > the database for such archives?? Can they be accessed even if something > happens to database?? > > Regards /Mehrdad > > > > >
Re: [Bacula-users] Backup from windows
Oh! One thing I forgot to mention: if you do not define the file, job, or volume retention periods, this does not mean that everything will be retained forever. Instead, bacula uses the default retention periods (I think they are 365 days, not sure). Any volume or job retention period specified in a pool resource overrides the volume or job retention periods specified elsewhere. Robert Gerber 402-237-8692 r...@craeon.net On Tue, Apr 16, 2024, 11:35 AM Rob Gerber wrote: > Mehrdad, > > I don't know if I can help with all of your questions but I have some > information for you. > > I back up samba shares for a machine that I cannot get shell access onto. > The only way for me to access the files on this Nas is via smb. For this > case, on the bacula server, I have mounted the relevant shares read only. I > have a run-before script defined for my backup job, which script runs > basically > mountpoint -q /mnt/sharename || mount /mnt/sharename > > This ensures that my smb targets are mounted. If mountpoint exits >0 > (error, nothing mounted there), it tries to mount the shares. If the mount > command fails, it exists > 0 (fails), and the script then exits > 0. The > job then ends with an error code and doesn't proceed further. This is the > desired behavior since I don't want bacula to back up an empty mount folder > and happily report success. > > My mountpoint script lists each of the relevant shares that are included > in my fileset. > > By default, bacula backs up to file volumes, which you could think of as > virtual tapes. The default configuration includes setup to write the > catalog backup to said file volumes. I don't use file volumes (yet), so I > can't help much there. However, I would suggest you examine the default > configuration and adapt it to your needs. Probably add new pool resources, > etc for your file volumes, so the catalog backup infrastructure isn't > changed or mixed in with your regular backups. > > Let's say a volume (whether tape or file volume) has aged out of whatever > file, job, and volume retention periods are defined. However, the tape > isn't in an autochanger, the file volume is read only or has been copied > elsewhere, volume recycling is disabled, etc. Basically, the catalog > entries for the volume in question have been removed from the database, so > bacula has no knowledge of what could be on that volume, and bacula has > been prevented from reusing the volume. In this case, you can use the > bacula bscan tool to read the volume and see what data is stored on it. > > You may notice I provided many caveats to the above hypothetical > situation. This is because while I could fairly easily withhold a tape from > bacula for archive purposes merely by refusing to insert it into the tape > library, withholding a file volume is more complicated. In any case, > operating within defined retention periods is better, so perhaps what you > could do is have an archive pool and job definition and use copy or migrate > jobs to move or copy an existing job into that pool. I think the existing > retention period might apply there, so maybe that would be better than > manually copying a file volume and then bscanning it later. In any case, > the idea is to work within bacula to define an increased retention period > for a certain job instead of seeking to work outside bacula. I haven't done > this, so I recommend seeking the advice of others to confirm how best to do > this. > > With bscan it is not necessary for you to have any information about the > backup. > > Bacula does generate BSR (Boot Strap Record) files when backing up or when > restoring (can also configure a restore, then at last step tell bacula just > to save a BSR instead of doing the restore). These BSR files are small and > human readable. They say which volumes contain the relevant data, and where > in the volumes the data is stored. If you have your BSR files backed up, > this will make recovering from a volume much easier and faster. One > suggestion I have heard is that maybe you could configure a run-after > script to email the BSR file generated by a job to yourself after the > bsckup job runs. > > I have discussed tape and file volumes. One exception to this behavior of > backing up files into volumes is if bacula is used to back up to an S3 > object storage target. In that case I am led to understand that bacula > backs up files directly to the object storage and does not use volumes. > > Robert Gerber > 402-237-8692 > r...@craeon.net > > On Tue, Apr 16, 2024, 10:38 AM Mehrdad Ravanbod < > mehrdad.ravan...@ampfield.se> wrote: > >> Hi guys >> >> I am new to bacula and trying to figure it out and testing atm >> >> I have it installed on a RHEL9 server with clients on 2 windows computer >> ( one server, one win7 client) and trying to set up backups both via VSS >> and indiviual file/folders to disk(mainly a NAS and shares) >> >> Only problem is i am having trouble finding any guides or resources >> handling
[Bacula-users] Backup from windows
Hi guys I am new to bacula and trying to figure it out and testing atm I have it installed on a RHEL9 server with clients on 2 windows computer ( one server, one win7 client) and trying to set up backups both via VSS and indiviual file/folders to disk(mainly a NAS and shares) Only problem is i am having trouble finding any guides or resources handling this, almost everything i have found s far is backup of Linux machines and concentrated on Tapes/autochangers etc I would appreciate any pointers towards relevant material or if anyone has any exple configuration files(dir, fd, sd conf files etc) Also, is there anyone who has experience of long term back up with bacula?? How easy is it to archive backups/data for several years?? How easy is it to access such archives?? Do you need teh records to be in the database for such archives?? Can they be accessed even if something happens to database?? Regards /Mehrdad ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
