Pbackup 3.1.9-1

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veronicathecow
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#91 Post by veronicathecow »

Brilliant, all works now, I will post this into the bug report, thanks again for your time.
Tony

PaulBx1
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#92 Post by PaulBx1 »

Mine works now too. Just a suggestion: if you can, add a download box to that first post for gtkdialog3, so people don't miss it as I did. If the forum software won't allow it, maybe just some bold text to get peoples' attention.

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#93 Post by PaulBx1 »

I have taken the liberty of reworking your help file, just to help your English a bit (hey, it's better than my Swedish!) :)

In the process of doing so, some possible revisions have come up.

The help language confuses "save from" and "save to". I have straightened that out, but it raises a point. Really, the order of the fields in the main window should be 1) save from, 2) save from date, 3) save to. Thus it mimics the data flow and does not put the date before the save from field which is awkward. If you revise the order, it will have to be revised in the help also, of course.

I finally understand what you are saying about not using the date with "mirror". I'd like to suggest, if "mirror" is checked, that the date field is "greyed out" if this is possible. If not, then simply delete the date entry. Either will get the point across.

Mirrors can't be compressed; however 1.9.7 does not complain when I select both "mirror" and "compress". Perhaps you sanity-check the options later?

I don't understand "leading path". So, I didn't change the help there.

I don't understand your last warning. Is this a warning to use the same fs in source and target directories? Or to use ext only in targets?

Here is the revised help, use it if you wish. Look for "???" for stuff still not resolved:
PuppyBackup 2.0.0
======================
Sigmund Berglund, February 2007
No warranty.


PuppyBackup is a small, simple backup system.
- Backup recent files to CD, DVD, Hard disk or Flashcard...
- Mirror 2 directories or partitions.
- Set up a scheduled backup or mirror.



INDEX
======================
1. Settings
2. Main options
3. Advanced options
3.1 Backup
3.2 Mirror
3.3 Misc
4. Quiet mode
5. Scheduled backup
6. Secure notes



1. SETTINGS
======================
In basic configuration, PuppyBackup uses 3 settings.
1. 'SAVE TO' specifies where backup files should be saved. First select the
media: CD, DVD or harddisk. If you choose CD or DVD, you must then specify
the burning device; on first run it sets save-media to CD, and tries to
autodetect the CD-burner. If you choose harddisk, then select the directory
where backup should be stored.
2. 'SAVE FROM DATE' contains the "change" date of the oldest file you want in
your backup. The default date in the field is the date of last successful
backup. Click button to choose another date from a calender.
3. 'SAVE FROM' contains paths of files that should be backed up. Click
"Add" button (folder icon) to select another directory from filetree for
this list. Click "Clear" button (X icon) to remove an entry from this list.
Default path is '/root/'. That is where Puppy saves your personal
data (e-mail, bookmarks...).

Settings will be saved to a config file (/root/.puppybackup_config) after backup
has succeeded. When invoked, PuppyBackup searches for the config file, and uses
these settings as default. This makes backup easy. When settings are set once,
it is later a "One-Button-Backup".



2. MAIN OPTIONS
======================

MIRROR
With mirror option turned on, PuppyBackup will clone all your choosen datas to
the mirror. PuppyBackup makes 'save-to directory' equal to 'save-from
directories'. First time it will copy all files, later just update changes. If you have
deleted a file in your main datas, it will also be removed in mirror; but NOT the
other way around. For secure reasons, removed files will be dumped to a trash
directory.
- Mirror ignores the "SAVE FROM DATE" field. It will copy all files from all dates.
- Mirror only works when saving to harddisk or flashcard.
- To keep an up-to-date mirror, PuppyBackup can be scheduled.
See chapter: Scheduled backup.

SEARCH ONLY
- Backup files will be linked to a temporary directory, and shown in filemanager
Here you can inspect files before saving backup.

COMPRESS RESULT
- Make a *.tgz file of backup result.
- Works both on burn and copy.
- A mirror cannot be compressed.

BURN MULTISESSION
- Allows many backups on 1 CD or DVD.
- Default is 'off', and it will burn a closed session. This is most compatible with
different readers. But you can't burn more on that disk.
- It is not recommended to change the options 'Jouliet and 'Follow symlink'
between multiple sessions on a CD or DVD. This will close the CD for more sessions.
There is a built-in workaround for DVDs, that seems to work.

FOLLOW SYMLINK
- Backup file that symlink points to.
- Changing the option 'FOLLOW SYMLINK' does not have retroactive effect. Be aware
of this when making mirrors. A symlink already in the mirror won't change to its
file if 'FOLLOW SYMLINK' is turned on.
- Using 'FOLLOW SYMLINK' will allow Puppybackup to dive into symlink-directories.
If symlinks then points back to your backup directory, it has come into an
endless loop.

INCLUDE SUBDIR
When 'INCLUDE SUBDIR' is selected, Puppybackup makes a backup of the listed
directories, and all their subdirectories (same as recursive). 'INCLUDE SUBDIR'
is on by default.



3. ADVANCED OPTIONS
======================

3.1 BACKUP
-------------------

BURN JOLIET
- Make disk readable in other OS.
- Joliet may give errors.

BURN SIMULATION
- Does not save anything to disk.
- Only workS when burning to CD.

SEARCH FOR
- Narrow search by filetype ????????????????????????????????before backup. For instance to backup only photos (*.jpg).
1.9.7 DOES NOT HAVE "SEARCH FOR"??????????????????????????????

EXCLUDE FROM BACKUP
- Make a list of files and directories that should NOT be in your backup.
- Excluded directories will work recursively.

MOUNT DIRECTORY
- Where to mount disk before backup.
- Default '/mnt/cdrom/', but if you have several CD-ROMs, it may be in use.

TEMPORARY DIRECTORY
- The internal Puppy filesystem could be too small for burning process. If so, set
temporary storage outside the Puppy filesystem. That is most often another
partition mounted in '/mnt/'.
- When burning uncompressed DVD, temporary storage is not needed.


3.2 MIRROR
-------------------

KEEP TRASH
- Do not delete outdated files. Instead they will be moved to a trash-directory.
- Trash-directory will be deleted before each new backup. If you want to keep
these files permanently, you must copy to another destination.
- When doing lot of restructuring in source files, there will be lots of trash.
Then it may not make sense to keep all trash. It will fill your disk and take time.

LEADING PATH
- Copy complete directory-structure to mirror. This is safest.
- No leading path will make source and mirror complete equal.
- Deactivate this may be critical. If destination is not empty, this datas will be
deleted if not in sourcefiles.
- There is a warning showing up when 'Leading path' is deactivated. Warnings
can be turned off. See Misc.

SEARCH FOR??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
- Narrow search before backup. For instance to mirror only photos (*.jpg).

EXCLUDE FROM BACKUP
- Make a list of files and directories that should NOT be in your mirror.
- Excluded directories will work recursively.


3.3 MISC
-------------------

ALLOW AUTOMOUNTING OF HARDDRIVES
- Will try to automount chosen destination disk, useful in scheduled backups. It is
highly recommended to use EXT filesystems for these destinations.

WARNINGS
- Warnings are information about some critical situations. Please read carefully
before continuing; there's a reason they are here. It is possible to turn off
by default; this is normally done in quiet-mode scripted backups and scheduled
backups. Be aware of subsequent risk.

WRITE SETTINGS TO CONFIG FILE
- Settings will be written automatically after backup. Use this to force new
settings without doing backup.

WRITE TO QUIET MODE CONFIG
- Save settings to specific config file for quiet mode.

GET DEFAULT SETTINGS
- Default settings are loaded, but config file is not changed.

GET SETTINGS FOR QUIET MODE
- Use settings from specific config file for quiet mode.



4. QUIET MODE
======================
When running puppybackup with parameter -q in a terminal, it will backup quiet.
The only message is if backup fails. Quiet mode is useful in scripts.

It is possible to set up a specific config file (/root/.puppybackup-quiet_config) for
quiet mode. If it doesn't exist, backup will use default config file.

Remember to turn off warnings before running quiet, else backup may fail.



5. SCHEDULED BACKUP
======================
Set a timeschedule for backups. If jobs are scheduled, it shows up in job-field.
When jobs are defined, push "Backup" button to activate.
Options:
- REALTIME: Set up PuppyBackup to Backup every minute. Realtime is designed
for MIRROR to keep a directory always "up to date".
- DAILY: Set up PuppyBackup to Backup every day. It will check every hour from
0:00, and make backup once the pc is turned on.
- WEEKLY: Set up PuppyBackup to Backup every week. It will check every day,
and make backup once the pc is turned on.
- REMOVE: Remove PuppyBackup from scheduled jobs. It will not remove other
jobs.
- GCRONTAB: Start Gcrontab. - A program to manage scheduled jobs.

Remember to turn off warnings before running scheduled, else backup may fail.



6. SECURE NOTES
======================
1. When burning multisession, be aware of the risk of losing earlier backups
if burning process fails and destroys CD/DVD.
2. The 'mirror directory' should not be on the same physical harddisk as your
your main data. Do NOT think your data is safe when saving mirror-files on
another partition. It is still the same disk, and when it crashes, it all does.
If you have only one disk, it may be better to backup to CD or DVD.
3. Mirror files to other filesystems than EXT may be problematic. Files may be
named different and therefor not detected as mirror. Attributes will also fail, and
not give original info of files.???????????????????????????

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zigbert
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#94 Post by zigbert »

PaulBx1:
This is really great. :P
Documentation is useless if it's not understandable. One thing is that my english is poor, but I also knows the program too well. I know how things work, and that is maybe not the best starting point when writing readable docs. I really hope you will look at the 'Leading path' option. This is a very important options, that also could cause trouble for users.

Code: Select all

LEADING PATH
- Make complete filestructure in front of mirror directories. 

Example: Lets mirror the file '/root/my-documents/info.txt'
Save-from will be '/root/my-documents/'
Save-to could be '/mnt/hda4/'
The file 'info.txt' will be placed in:
   When activated: /mnt/hda4/mirrors/root/my-documents/info.txt
   When deactivated: /mnt/hda4/info.txt

- Deactivating 'Leading path' will make source and mirror complete equal.
- Deactivate this may be critical. If destination is not empty, this datas will be deleted if they aren't in sourcefiles.
- There is a warning showing up when 'Leading path' is deactivated. Warnings can be turned off. See Misc.
I don't understand your last warning. Is this a warning to use the same fs in source and target directories? Or to use ext only in targets?

Code: Select all

3. It is most secure that sourcefiles and mirror is stored on equal filesystems (ext...). When copying files to another type of filesystem, files may get different names and attributes. These files will be detected as alien files by Mirror, and deleted.
Really, the order of the fields in the main window should be 1) save from, 2) save from date, 3) save to. Thus it mimics the data flow and does not put the date before the save from field which is awkward.
Image

Is it getting better? :?
(hey, it's better than my Swedish!)
Well, neighbours understand each other, but I wouldn't take the job as a swedish translator. But I do hope, that my norwegian is clear and easy to understand. :wink:

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zigbert
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#95 Post by zigbert »

Version 2.0.0 is ready. See main post.

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headfound
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#96 Post by headfound »

I've just installed the latest version and tried to backup for the first time, but it doesn't seem to have worked. I did a simple mirror to a folder on hdb1 called 'puppy backup' (i'm running on a usb stick). It came up with a dialog for about 20 minutes saying what it was doing, then finished, then said it couldn't save a file because it wasn't found in 'puppy', then closed. When i checked 'puppy backup', i have mirrors/root, , but if i try to go into root to look, it says the directory is inacessable.
Any ideas? Did i use it wrong?
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zigbert
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#97 Post by zigbert »

headfound:
- What filesystems are on your usb-stick and hdb1?
- What options did you make. Follow symlink? exclude from backup?...
- Is wine installed?

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headfound
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#98 Post by headfound »

Hi zigbert,
my usb is formatted as a superfloppy and has everything the universal installer put on there as default. I don't have wine installed.
hdb1 is ntfs. I opened pbackup and used it as default, copying to /mnt/hdb1/puppybackup/ from /root/.
I checked the folder again today and it opens, 'mirrors' is empty, but 'mirror-trash' is full of files!
I have noticed something though, the save from date is 9/03/07, i'm not sure if i set that before i backed up (it was defaulted to year 2000), but would that affect the backup?
Download a better Computer :)
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zigbert
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#99 Post by zigbert »

From the helpfile:

Code: Select all

It is most secure that sourcefiles and mirror is stored on equal filesystems
(ext...). When copying files to another type of filesystem, files may get different
names and attributes. These files will be detected as alien files by Mirror, and
deleted.
Using a normal inremental backup (not mirror) should work. Please tell me if it doesn't.

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zigbert
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#100 Post by zigbert »

headfound:
Could you do me a favour? I'm thinking of cutting the internal mirrorfunction, and use mirdir instead. Puppymirror is a gui for mirdir. Could you do a test to see if puppymirror does the job.

Sigmund

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headfound
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#101 Post by headfound »

Hi zigbert, i tried puppymirror and it worked fine. It might help to put a note in the instructions so people don't get caught in a loop like i did! because i was backing up to a mounted drive, it kept backing up mnt over and over so i had to kill the process. :?
Download a better Computer :)
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zigbert
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#102 Post by zigbert »

Yepp, this has to be worked out. Thank you headfound.

PaulBx1
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#103 Post by PaulBx1 »

Zigbert, maybe you should just check for equal filesystems, and abort if not equal?

I don't know if the shift to mirdir takes care of this problem.

Sorry to have mistaken your nationality. I'm 1/4 Norwegian too, I know it would irritate me if someone made that error. :D

BTW, my Norwegian family came from a place called Hiterdahl or Hitterdahl, but I've never found that on a map. Probably just a crossroads somewhere, a hundred years ago. Got any clue? Just wondering...

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zigbert
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#104 Post by zigbert »

MIRDIR:
+ It scans fast and accurate.
+ It checks both files and atributes.
+ You can set files it shoudn't check in mirror (to save time).
+ It can simulate process
+ The .pet package is only 12 kb.
- It doesn't handle Follow symlinks.
- You can't exclude files to be mirrored.
- It works only recursively.
- It will delete trashfiles.
- It works without any leading paths, so it will delete any alien files in mirror. You can't have several backups in one destination.

Progress report:
I have made a funny mix of mirdir and the internal mirror function.
Step 1. Internal mirror function seeks for trashfiles.
Step 2. A workaround for mirdir to handle Excluded files, Leading path and Recursively.
Step 3. Mirdir does an ordinary mirroring.
Step 4. Internal mirror function updates the symlinks if 'Follow symlink' is chosen.

Hitterdal:
http://kart.gulesider.no/kart/map.c?ps= ... &scrollY=0
In norwegian you seldom pronounce H inside a word, and therefor it sometimes has been removed during generations. Could it be the one? :?

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zigbert
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#105 Post by zigbert »

Version 2.1.0 is uploaded. See main post.

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lvds
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#106 Post by lvds »

zigbert wrote:Version 2.1.0 is uploaded. See main post.
Thank you very much for your work !

At my work there is one thing we use a lot to backup computer is at making a one shot image of a disk drive, very easy to backup, very easy to restore. Something like a diskdump. Then you burn on a dvd the backup file and you are safe.

Associated with the backup file comes a minimum boot allowing one user to boot on the dvd-backup-disc, a message display "Welcome, this your restore tool, do you want to restore this system with the datas contained in this dvd ?" press RESTORE button, and everything comes back to internal hard disk bit by bit.

While your software is an impressive work may i ask for such a feature ?
I don't know if this could be two big buttons at the top of the windows (quick backup, quick restore) or if it needs to be in another independant software.

I would like very much to have such a tool as this is exactly what we use in industry.

Best regards,
Laurent.

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zigbert
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#107 Post by zigbert »

Laurent.

Thanks for your suggestion. It may be a good idea, but I need more flesh on the bone here. I always thought that Puppy itself was made for restoring.
- Total OS in one file (pupsave.2fs). So small, it fits on one CD / DVD.
- Run Puppy with multisession, and you can skip last session if it all crashes.
- Simple way to remaster your custom configuration.

It wouldn't be impossible making a backup-type "make recovery disk", but else you use an full HD install, isn't it already there?

Please explain if I didn't get it right. I'm not a backup-guru at all. In fact, I'm just a simple guy who cares for his files. :?

Sigmund

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veronicathecow
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#108 Post by veronicathecow »

Hi, I would love a snap shot CD save including all files and have a Full HDD install. Is that what Dougals enhanced remaster does? Cheers Zigbert your fab program is an example to us all on how to write great and useful programs...

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lvds
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#109 Post by lvds »

Hi,

well, the Dougals remastering is not exaclty the same as a backup bit by bit of a hard drive ! :shock:

Zigbert, with this tools puppy would be useful for people having to work on hard drives which are not running puppies ... Say, a customer come to your store with a hard drive, he says its windows is down and asks if you can restore exactly as it was when you sold him, you take your puppy-backup-dvd (the one you made the day you sold him the computer) and with one push-button you restore the whole windows system to your customer. Simple and easy, just as norton ghost !

in fact, we do this yet with norton ghost or others like tools but it is not as much flexible as using puppy, and moreover we cannot give the customer a one button-restore-cd of its own backup. I know some people do it easily with dd (diskdump) unix commands and then they burn cd but they do not have a whole tool, one button backup, one button restore, with cd or dvd creation of a backup easy to restore. This is exactly what is missing and which would be a great tool to have ! :-)

Feel free to ask for more details if you need, this would be a winner tool to have you can believe me !

Best regards,
Laurent (3296e partitions crashed, and counting...)

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lvds
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#110 Post by lvds »

...Here is another exemple. A friend ask you to come and install a complete system (windows or not, no matter) on her brand new computer. Pretty as she is you feel a good guy and for sure wanna help a so desperate girl with a bunch plastic (even if it has electricity inside... the plastic box, not the girl... anyway...) So you work hard a whole day at setting up a nice, well the best, operating system you ever built in your life. 8)

But your friend is not only so pretty, she is also a complete newbie, and you know, for sure, she will mess the whole thing up as soon as you will have leave... say, within an hour, no more. :?

Isn't it a pity ? your only way is to create a big backup bit by bit of the hard drive, burn it on a cd, add a restore tool on the cd, and make 3 copies of the precious cd (just to be sure you will always have one) :roll:

Two days later, the lady calls back, and explain you it was a really good work you did and she had good time with the pc until it stopped. Uh, it stopped ? yes it stopped at a blue screen without even a bip and now it does not want to boot again, and is not even capable of a bip noise... at least if it could bip... anyway...

Right now, you KNOW you have been blessed the day you met the guy who learned you how to build a complete bit-by-bit backup on a cd with a restore tool inside :wink:
You tell the lady you can come tonight and it will not take long until this great computer will surrender to his Master ... And you do not need to have divine powers to see the lady on the other side of the phone line dreaming through the window, thinking "yeah, they all say the same, they do not live in the same time space continuum, when they say 10 minutes it means 2 hours etc..." :roll:

But you can smile, it will really take 2 minutes to kiss good-day the lady, 3 minutes to restore the operating system from the cd, 3 minutes to look at her wonderful smile astonished how amazing of a great programmer you are, and 2 minutes to convince her she need to have a diner with you after all of this emotions, far away of this plastic box... even if it has electricity inside... but anyway... 8)

Best regards,
Laurent (Please remember, the one who drinks do not drive... well unless if it was plain water)

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