OT: Linux EXT4 dump/restore equivalent?

[Chris Maness]

Is there an equivalent dump/restore ap for a Linux ext4 file system?
I am running the latest Slackware, and I would like to make backups
like I do for my FreeBSD box.

Thanks,
Chris Maness
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[Vincent Hoffman]

We use dump to backup ext4 filesystems on linux (Centos6) at work

>From the linux dump changelog
Changes between versions 0.4b41 and 0.4b42 (released June 18, 2009)
===================================================================
18. Add (preliminary) ext4 support - thanks to libext2fs which does
all the job for us. Thanks to Gertjan van Wingerde
<gwingerde [at] gmail> for the patch.


Without wishing to bash Linux (I wouldnt be in my job without it,) its
man pages are really not very up to date, as the manpage for dump fails
to mention this.
Centos 6 dump version is
dump 0.4b42 (using libext2fs 1.41.12 of 17-May-2010)

I havent used slackware in many years but it used to be my distro of
choice until I moved to FreeBSD.

Hope this helps,
Vince

[Polytropon]

On Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:59:57 +0100, Vincent Hoffman wrote:
> We use dump to backup ext4 filesystems on linux (Centos6) at work
>
> From the linux dump changelog
> Changes between versions 0.4b41 and 0.4b42 (released June 18, 2009)
> ===================================================================
> 18. Add (preliminary) ext4 support - thanks to libext2fs which does
> all the job for us. Thanks to Gertjan van Wingerde
> <gwingerde [at] gmail> for the patch.

Without even trying to start a flamewar, allow me to ask this
question: Do they _really_ use file systems "over there at
Linux land" without having an up-to-date dump/restore mechanism
for that file systems? I can hardly believe that...

> Without wishing to bash Linux (I wouldnt be in my job without it,) its
> man pages are really not very up to date, as the manpage for dump fails
> to mention this.

That's sadly normal. I found the attitude toward documentation in
Linux being different from what you would call standard in the rest
of UNIX world. Man pages are often out of date (if they ever exist),
and pieces of documentation is scattered across the the web, in user
pages, wikis, and discussion forums. The concept behind this seems
to be: "Nobody reads man pages, so we don't write them."

> I havent used slackware in many years but it used to be my distro of
> choice until I moved to FreeBSD.

Was my first PC Linux, too. :-)

> On 28/06/2012 20:02, Chris Maness wrote:
> > Is there an equivalent dump/restore ap for a Linux ext4 file system?
> > I am running the latest Slackware, and I would like to make backups
> > like I do for my FreeBSD box.

Have you tried the original tools provided by the OS? Do they perform
as intended? Maybe do some testing and see if they are sufficient for
dealing with ext4. That would be my first impression: Use what's there
and see if it works, as it _should_ work (given fundamental UNIX basics).

(Sorry, my Linux knowledge is a bit outdated as I don't use it anymore
on a regular basis.)


--
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...

[Peter A. Giessel]

On Jun 28, 2012, at 11:59, Vincent Hoffman <vi...@unsane.co.uk> wrote:

> We use dump to backup ext4 filesystems on linux (Centos6) at work

You can find a version of dump for Linux that supports ext4. What I have been completely unable to find is a linux boot disk that has a version of restore that supports ext4. If anyone knows of one, I would be very interested. I am very hesitant to use a backup scheme that doesn't have a clear recovery path.

[Vincent Hoffman]

On 28/06/2012 21:39, Peter A. Giessel wrote:
>
> On Jun 28, 2012, at 11:59, Vincent Hoffman <vi...@unsane.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> We use dump to backup ext4 filesystems on linux (Centos6) at work
> You can find a version of dump for Linux that supports ext4. What I have been completely unable to find is a linux boot disk that has a version of restore that supports ext4. If anyone knows of one, I would be very interested. I am very hesitant to use a backup scheme that doesn't have a clear recovery path.

Fair point. I've used the "rescue" mode on the centos boot CD before,
but its not too hard to build a custom centos livecd.
I made a pxe bootable version for use at work so we can ssh into it
without needing an IP KVM, but I'll try and make a new ISO for you if
you like.

Vince

[Thomas Mueller]

On Jun 28, 2012, at 11:59, Vincent Hoffman <vi...@unsane.co.uk> wrote:

> We use dump to backup ext4 filesystems on linux (Centos6) at work

"Peter A. Giessel" <pgie...@mac.com> responded:

> You can find a version of dump for Linux that supports ext4. What I have been completely unable to find is a linux boot disk that has a version of restore
that supports ext4. If anyone knows of one, I would be very interested. I am very hesitant to use a backup scheme that doesn't have a clear recovery path.

I've used the System Rescue CD (sysresccd.org), which you can burn to CD or write to USB stick.

I haven't checked all the features, so I don't know if it includes restore for ext4.

Latest release version is 2.8.0

It ought to read/write ext4. I think it would read (BSD) ffs or ufs v1 but not v2.

Tom

[Peter A. Giessel]

> I haven't checked all the features, so I don't know if it includes restore for ext4.

According to:
http://www.sysresccd.org/Detailed-packages-list

It does not contain any version of restore.

There are a lot of Linux boot disks out there. I haven't found one yet that includes an ext4 compatible restore. Debian lets you roll your own, but you need to do that before a disaster. It doesn't include useful rescue CDs like FreeBSD does.

[Thomas Mueller]

"Peter A. Giessel" <pgie...@mac.com> responded:

> According to:
> http://www.sysresccd.org/Detailed-packages-list

> It does not contain any version of restore.

> There are a lot of Linux boot disks out there. I haven't found one yet that includes an ext4 compatible restore. Debian lets you roll your own, but you need to do that before a disaster. It doesn't include useful rescue CDs like FreeBSD does.

You could try
http://www.sysresccd.org/System-tools

Some recovery tools are listed, including FSArchiver and Partimage.

Maybe one of those listed recovery tools might fit your need?

Tom

[Mark Felder]

On Fri, 29 Jun 2012 00:52:35 -0500, Peter A. Giessel <pgie...@mac.com>
wrote:

>
> There are a lot of Linux boot disks out there. I haven't found one yet
> that includes an ext4 compatible restore. Debian lets you roll your own,
> but you need to do that before a disaster. It doesn't include useful
> rescue CDs like FreeBSD does.

I've always had great success in the past with RIP Rescue live-cd. It was
one of the early live-cds with ext4 support. I wonder if the guy who makes
it was smart enough to add restore....

[per...@pluto.rain.com]

"Peter A. Giessel" <pgie...@mac.com> wrote:

> What I have been completely unable to find is a linux boot disk
> that has a version of restore that supports ext4.

It's unclear to me how "a version of restore that supports ext4"
would differ from "a version of restore that supports UFS".

AFAIK restore (unlike dump) is FS-agnostic: it must understand the
format of the dumpfile, but it needs no knowledge of how the FS is
represented on disk because it uses ordinary system calls (open,
write, etc.) to access the FS.

What you _do_ need on that recovery disk -- along with a generic
restore -- are ext4-aware versions of the kernel, fsck, mkfs, mount,
and (arguably) dump.

> I am very hesitant to use a backup scheme that doesn't have a
> clear recovery path.

+1