Public bug reported:
Between Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10 the rsnapshot package was updated. The new
version has a couple of problems in the default /etc/rsnapshot.conf file
included in the package. These problems did not exist in 8.04.
The following configuration options are all located in
/etc/rsnapshot.conf.
Problem 1: snapshot_root is wrong
In 8.04, the top-level destination dir snapshot_root is there and is configured
correctly:
der...@dev:~$ cat /etc/rsnapshot.conf | grep snapshot_root | head -1
snapshot_root /var/cache/rsnapshot/
der...@dev:~$ ls -lad /var/cache/rsnapshot
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2006-06-21 23:46 /var/cache/rsnapshot
der...@dev:~$
Note, the value for "snapshot_root" is "/var/cache/rsnapshot", which is
correct. That dir is created by the DEB at install time, and it's owned
by user root.
In 8.10, this is now /.snapshots/, which does not exist, and which is
not created by the DEB:
r...@ubuntu:/etc# cat /etc/rsnapshot.conf | grep snapshot_root | head -1
snapshot_root /.snapshots/
r...@ubuntu:/etc# ls -lad /.snapshots
ls: cannot access /.snapshots: No such file or directory
r...@ubuntu:/etc# ls -lad /var/cache/rsnapshot
drwx------ 2 root root 4096 2008-05-06 07:36 /var/cache/rsnapshot
r...@ubuntu:/etc#
Note that the wrong value "/.snapshots" does not exist on the
filesystem. If Ubuntu wants to change the default from
/var/cache/rsnapshot to /.snapshots then the package should create that
dir at install time and no longer create /var/cache/rsnapshot. As an
Ubuntu rsnapshot user, my preference would be to just revert the default
config file back to the way it was in 8.04.
Problem 2: The intervals are uncommented (danger!)
In 8.04, the cron job interval definitions were all commented out by
default:
der...@dev:~$ cat /etc/rsnapshot.conf | grep "#interval"
#interval hourly 6
#interval daily 7
#interval weekly 4
#interval monthly 6
der...@dev:~$
The leading "#" is a comment, like Python/Bash/etc. This had the effect
that the user was forced to edit the config file and define the
intervals that he wanted.
In 8.10, the intervals are uncommented:
r...@ubuntu:/etc# cat /etc/rsnapshot.conf | grep "^interval"
interval hourly 6
interval daily 7
interval weekly 4
r...@ubuntu:/etc#
This means simply running rsnapshot after an install (without
customizing the config file) will cause rsnapshot to backup the local
directories /home/, /etc/, and /usr/local/, because those local backup
targets are defined (by default) at the end of the config file. In my
opinion that is dangerous.
I use rsnapshot to do networked-based backups across an SSH tunnel.
We're talking terabytes of data. If I did an rsnapshot install and it
backed up my /home/ dir to the local dir /.snapshots/ I would
immediately run out of disk space.
Since rsnapshot is a backup program providing networked backups with
incremental file changes, I think the user should be forced to define
his preferred backup targets and intervals. Presuming /home/ (or any
other dir) is the target to be backed up is a Bad Idea. I'm a huge fan
of It Just Works (and I'm a total Ubuntu fanboy) but in this case I
think the user should be forced to intervene and hand-edit the config
file -- which is exactly how 8.04 worked.
Extra Question: Is it possible to add regression tests to the package
build process, to prove these problems are not re-introduced again in
9.04 (and upwards)?
** Affects: rsnapshot (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
--
rsnapshot conf file broken in new 8.10 package
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/318577
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