Linux Backup for 20+ servers

vinbuck · January 2011

Hey y'all...I mostly frequent the Cisco forums so I hope you don't mind me posting in here but I need a little Linux advice.

We have multiple Fedora 13 and 14 boxes out in the field doing mostly network functions like DHCP, Network Monitoring, etc. I am backing all of the day-to-day data I care about to a central FTP server, but i'm trying to figure out a low bandwidth solution for disaster recovery. Imaging isn't really an option because we don't have the time to set it up locally or the bandwidth to centralize it across the WAN.

I was thinking about a barebones set of config files that cover ip addressing, hostname, etc so that if I have to build a replacement box, I have a head start and I'm not doing it from scratch.

Is there an open source backup package out there that does something like this?

Forsaken_GA · January 2011

i said it before in your other thread, and I'll say it again -

rsync is your friend

vinbuck · January 2011

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

i said it before in your other thread, and I'll say it again -

rsync is your friend

I actually have been playing with rsync (and it's pretty slick) but wanted to see what else was out there. I was hoping there might be some open source software that is geared specifically towards linux backup/disaster recovery. Maybe a GUI front end for rsync?

Forsaken_GA · January 2011

looking for GUI frontends for linux administration is going to leave you somewhat disappointed

Freshen up those bash skills and get comfortable with a commandline.

Seriously, I use a 5 line script to backup my linux servers and run it as a cron. I have all files that were changed since the last backup saved to a dated directory, and I keep the last seven days of changes. So the big backup is the 'live' one, and if it's weds, and a config file changed on monday, and I need to see what was there originally, I can. Getting a server back up and running is simply a matter of pxebooting the remote box to a recovery image, prepping the disk, and rsyncing the file structure back over to it, and then running either grub or lilo to get the boot sector righteous and then bringing the box back up.

During a disaster recovery scenario, I think you should keep it as simple as possible. The LAST thing I want to do when I need to get a mission critical box back up is have to call a vendor's support line for a commerical product, or go google for an issue I'm having with an opensource package.

Please note - do not rely on this method for database backups. Rsyncing raw mysql database files and then restoring them is a good way to lose data and crash your tables. Database backups are a whole other ball of wax and should have seperate backup solution implemented.

NightShade03 · January 2011

While I agree with the rsync suggestion you might also want to look at Baccula and Amanda, which are fairly good backup solutions for Linux. They don't really have a GUI front end but they use the client/server model for backups to ease administration a little if you are not as comfortable writing your own scripts.

brownwrap · January 2011

NightShade03 wrote: »

While I agree with the rsync suggestion you might also want to look at Baccula and Amanda, which are fairly good backup solutions for Linux. They don't really have a GUI front end but they use the client/server model for backups to ease administration a little if you are not as comfortable writing your own scripts.

I installed bacula a while back. Never got it fully functional because I didn't have a tape device, bit it does have a gui frontend:

Bacula, the Open Source, Enterprise ready, Network Backup Tool for Linux, Unix, and Windows

Linux Backup for 20+ servers

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