From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Wed Dec 5 22:29:43 2018 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D70C21328EE5 for ; Wed, 5 Dec 2018 22:29:43 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from pschmehl_lists@tx.rr.com) Received: from dnvrco-cmomta01.email.rr.com (dnvrco-outbound-snat.email.rr.com [107.14.73.225]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client CN "Client", Issuer "CA" (not verified)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id EBF096DF99 for ; Wed, 5 Dec 2018 22:29:39 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from pschmehl_lists@tx.rr.com) Received: from [192.168.0.9] ([70.121.63.82]) by cmsmtp with ESMTPA id UffcgYpihP088Ufffg0xUB; Wed, 05 Dec 2018 22:29:33 +0000 Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2018 16:29:28 -0600 From: Paul Schmehl Reply-To: Paul Schmehl To: FreeBSD Questions Subject: Advice on backups Message-ID: X-Mailer: Mulberry/4.0.8 (Mac OS X) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline X-CMAE-Envelope: MS4wfFY0s96TUehdEz0+MAXU0YZwLnsFd+zQFfrAQtHnzAInKGGmjiY+s+e9ZOp4FXVQZYXLobFau9IRWTajcP17SQevs5aDO2f67req2OfoI6Wp6ZrlkAmI M586vj6MtlX7is8vHfHPQc9i1wYT8AxCYhrVsFYiy8AaHHJOQBolTMzM9wMI56NNP/tvz1nXxvrAKw== X-Rspamd-Queue-Id: EBF096DF99 X-Spamd-Result: default: False [-4.17 / 15.00]; ARC_NA(0.00)[]; RCVD_VIA_SMTP_AUTH(0.00)[]; HAS_REPLYTO(0.00)[pschmehl_lists@tx.rr.com]; FROM_HAS_DN(0.00)[]; R_SPF_ALLOW(-0.20)[+ip4:107.14.73.0/24]; TO_MATCH_ENVRCPT_ALL(0.00)[]; MIME_GOOD(-0.10)[text/plain]; DMARC_NA(0.00)[rr.com]; NEURAL_HAM_LONG(-1.00)[-1.000,0]; RCPT_COUNT_ONE(0.00)[1]; REPLYTO_EQ_FROM(0.00)[]; IP_SCORE(-0.90)[ipnet: 107.14.73.0/24(-2.44), asn: 7843(-1.95), country: US(-0.09)]; TO_DN_ALL(0.00)[]; MX_GOOD(-0.01)[dnvrco-cmedge01.email.rr.com,dnvrco-cmedge02.email.rr.com]; NEURAL_HAM_SHORT(-0.96)[-0.959,0]; RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE(0.00)[225.73.14.107.list.dnswl.org : 127.0.5.0]; NEURAL_HAM_MEDIUM(-1.00)[-1.000,0]; FROM_EQ_ENVFROM(0.00)[]; R_DKIM_NA(0.00)[]; RCVD_TLS_LAST(0.00)[]; ASN(0.00)[asn:7843, ipnet:107.14.73.0/24, country:US]; RCVD_COUNT_TWO(0.00)[2] X-Rspamd-Server: mx1.freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.29 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2018 22:29:44 -0000 I manage a couple of servers on the internet. There are no backup or test servers, so I have to do everything on live systems that are serving webpages, handling mail, etc. Historically, I've used rsync and ssh to backup server1 to server2 and vice versa. I decided I would prefer an offsite backup system in case both servers failed at the same time, and because server2 was running out of space because of backups. So, I setup some scripts to create gzipped tarballs and transfer those to my Dropbox account. (I have plenty of space there.) I run the scripts daily, and the files are named with the date of the backup (e.g. 120518.websites.tgz) On the webserver, I'm backing up /usr/local/www, /etc, and /usr/local/etc. I've also created a backup directory in my home directory where I put copies of all the scripts I run, plus a text file of crontab and a few other things. I then zipped that and copied it to Dropbox as well. I don't have a script for it, because those things don't change that often. Am I missing anything important? I tested untarring one of the tarballs into my home directory, and if I understand it correctly, I would need to untar these in / if I ever need to restore anything. Paul Schmehl, Retired As if it wasn't already obvious, my opinions are my own and not those of my employer. ******************************************* "It is as useless to argue with those who have renounced the use of reason as to administer medication to the dead." Thomas Jefferson "There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them." George Orwell