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Re: [LUG] Borked system rescue plan

 

On Mon, 21 Oct 2013, Daniel Robinson wrote:

Honestly, I'm a noobie using testing and experimental repositories, I break
it all of the time. Having a snapshot that takes 30mins to build for me in
my working environment is by far the quickest and safest way (for me).

I have kind of answered my own question by using something called redo.
http://redobackup.org/

Never heard of it  until now.

It is perfect for my needs, I was hoping that somebody here does backups in
this manner and would point me in the direction of something like this.
(Again I was wrong)

You need to work out why you need a backup and what you're actually backing up.

Using experimental distros, installing packages that "break" - well, you're in a tiny minority there (I reckon).

And since you're using Debian, I still don't see why you need to re-install when apt-get/aptitude/dpkg are supposed to take care if it all for you - if you install a new package, and it doesn't work, then just un-install it...

In my 20 years of using Linux I've not once destroyed an installation to the extent that I needed to restore the OS backup. I've had servers fail, but then I've done an install from scratch as part of the repair process. I also usually do an install from scratch when I get new hardware. (e.g. to upgrade my desktop)

But then I've always used Debian Stable since it was ... stable.

I do find commands and scripting still a bit frightening when it comes to
back up and restore but now have a recovery plan I feel comfortable and
accustomed to.

This now enables me to explore the other back up options with a safety net
in place just in case things go horribly wrong.

But thank you Gordon for taking the time and effort to reply to my topic, I
will now explore the options you have suggested. Thank you

Why not create virtual servers to test your experimental installs? Then it would be a simple matter of copying the filesystem tree (if it's at the filesystem level outside the VPS), or the single file that contains the VPS filesystem to make a backup.

Gordon

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