UNDELETE

MaSTER computers

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Oct 24, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/24/97

to

I "rm -r" a directory full of critical data, with no backup, in an SCO SYSV
system.
Is there any utility to undelete or recover these files and dirs
ad...@master.gr

Dromio

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Oct 25, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/25/97

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On: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 22:46:41 +0300, in message:
<62qtsv$3j...@athserv.otenet.gr>, in newsgroup(s): comp.unix.admin,
"MaSTER computers" <mast...@salonika.netor.gr> wrote:

If I'm not mistaken you CAN (in theory at least), bring these
files back IFF nothing else has written to the device since you did
the delete, unfortunately, this is INCREDIBLY unlikely even if you do
do this imediately after wiping it out, shutting down is out of the
question, though powering down without shutdown MAY allow you to clean
this problem up (not likely to allow you to recover ALL of the files,
but possibly some of them). Chances are (if I'm not mistaken),
basicaly out of luck if you want to recover them. I ALWAYS work under
the assumption that I am when I do something like that, it seems to
settle my nerves a bit to KNOW that I can't get those files back no
matter how hard I try. I don't know why, but at least I can say, ``oh
well, nothing I can do about it now''.

Jason Rasku

--
Intrested in hand made textiles and more?
Visit <http://kootweb.com/trillium/trrasku/trrasku.html>

Doug Barnes <dwb@rell.

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Oct 25, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/25/97

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The only way would be to use fsdb to relink the inodes and knowing ALL
the inode numbers in use at the time (virtually impossible) of the rm.
KISS your data goodbye!!
--
Remove the NOSPAM to E-mail me. Tired of the MLM schemes.

Geoffrey C Marshall

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Oct 25, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/25/97

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MaSTER computers wrote:
>
> I "rm -r" a directory full of critical data, with no backup, in an SCO SYSV
> system.
> Is there any utility to undelete or recover these files and dirs
> ad...@master.gr

There is no utility to delete or undelete a file
as part of standard unix packages.

Geoff...

kyle hailey

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Oct 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/27/97

to

You can always try using "dd" to get back missing data. Its generaly
alot of fun, especially if the disk is highly fragmented. The payoff
usually depends on the density of critical material and if it is binary
or text. Like getting back a list of names and phone numbers is
generally pretty easy, for examples, the names are close to the
corresponding phone numbers, the unit informations size is small so
fragmentation is less damanging, and search patterns are fairly well
defined. On the other hand putting gifs or binary stuff back together is
probably a lost cause. Just my 2 cents

MaSTER computers wrote:
>
> I "rm -r" a directory full of critical data, with no backup, in an SCO SYSV
> system.
> Is there any utility to undelete or recover these files and dirs
> ad...@master.gr

--
Kyle Hailey
Oracle Support France

[ What's Oracle got to do with it? These opinion's don't neccessarily
reflect my employer. ]

Ted

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Oct 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/27/97

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MaSTER computers wrote:
>
> I "rm -r" a directory full of critical data, with no backup, in an SCO SYSV system.
>
> Is there any utility to undelete or recover these files and dirs
> ad...@master.gr

I can't tell you the way to fix this, as I'm pretty sure its near
impossible but....

I've learned to do two things to prevent this problem.

#1, and most obvious, is make backups.

#2, and really smart. Install something such as (or similar to)
SafeDelete and alias your rm command to it. What it does is take all
your files you delete and stick them in a ~/.trash file until they
expire or you manually delete (or recover) them from the directory. I
have not personally hit the notorious "rm -r" problem, but MANY of my
users have thought me to be a godsend for putting it on the majority of
my servers.

I would HEAVILY recomend doing such. It has paid off in the past. The
only drawback is that if you're deleting file for the fact that you're
running out of room on your drive, it can be inconvienant as the very
file you are deleting is being stored in that ~/.trash directory. If you
KNOW you want to delete the file instantly, just make a direct call to
the rm file (ie: "/bin/rm realystupidfile.tar").

I sympathize for your (or any of our) mistakes, but I suggest planning
for future mistakes by doing the above.

--
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Ted <nos...@mob.net> http://www.mob.net
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