From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jun 24 05:38:02 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2A6A937B401 for ; Tue, 24 Jun 2003 05:38:02 -0700 (PDT) Received: from smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk (ns0.infracaninophile.co.uk [81.2.69.218]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3DD7E43FE1 for ; Tue, 24 Jun 2003 05:38:00 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: from happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk (localhost [127.0.0.1]) h5OCbq1I080425 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO); Tue, 24 Jun 2003 13:37:55 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from matthew@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: (from matthew@localhost)h5OCbq39080424; Tue, 24 Jun 2003 13:37:52 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from matthew) Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2003 13:37:52 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman To: Sue Blake Message-ID: <20030624123752.GE78761@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk> Mail-Followup-To: Matthew Seaman , Sue Blake , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <20030624211214.O96512@welearn.com.au> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="n+lFg1Zro7sl44OB" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20030624211214.O96512@welearn.com.au> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i X-Spam-Status: No, hits=-11.5 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_01,EMAIL_ATTRIBUTION,IN_REP_TO,PGP_SIGNATURE_2, QUOTED_EMAIL_TEXT,REFERENCES,REPLY_WITH_QUOTES, USER_AGENT_MUTT autolearn=ham version=2.55 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.55 (1.174.2.19-2003-05-19-exp) cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Disaster recovery planning X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2003 12:38:02 -0000 --n+lFg1Zro7sl44OB Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Tue, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:12:14PM +1000, Sue Blake wrote: > Here's how I plan to recover a system from a level 0 backup to > new hardware, if ever the need arises: >=20 > 1. boot off installation CD (or floppy??) > 2. disklabel, make filesystems (using sysinstall) > 3. restore root filesystem and mount it > 4. change fstab and various configs to work with new hardware > 5. boot in single user mode, fix fstab and devices, restore other filesys= tems > 6. boot multiuser and fix anything that still doesn't work >=20 > I'm upgrading using cvsup and don't have recent CDs. > I know I can make my own bootable CD to keep for this purpose, but I > don't want to rely on it being found in a crisis if there is a more > generic method. >=20 > Can I do this by booting off an _old_ FreeBSD CD? How old, I mean, > what sort of changes do I need to look out for? >=20 > I think I need the fixit CD too, I couldn't just use the holographic > shell even if feeling masochistic... or could I? >=20 > Could it be done just using a couple of quickly downloaded boot > floppy images, in which case I'd only need to document the URL for > the current floppies? Refreshing to see someone thinking about these sort of things well before the disaster actually happens. I think that so long as you've got access to installation media for the same major version as the system you're trying to recover and that you can access a) your backup media and b) your hard drive from eg. the system booted from the live filesystem CD, then you're covered. In fact, it's clearly going to be a good idea to restore the data to your hard drive without having to have the system booted from that drive. Pulling the disk from the machine to be recovered and temporarily mounting it in another system is an alternative. You need the same major OS version because of things like the new UFS2 support in 5.x --- although you could partition a drive, build filesystems and recover the 5.x data from backup using 4.x install media, you'ld have to create UFS filesystems. I can't remember off-hand exactly what commands are available on the install floppies -- I think you get dump(8) and restore(8), but not tar(1). Booting from the live filesystem CD gets you all the usual suspects. If you are using a backup software package not included in the standard FreeBSD installation, then you've got to keep an installable copy of that software with your backup media -- after all, the backups are pointless if you can't recover the data from them. You could even go as far as creating your own customized install CD, which builds the filesystems etc. and runs the recovery program: depends just how much effort you want to put into something you hope you'll never have to use for real. Cheers, Matthew --=20 Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK --n+lFg1Zro7sl44OB Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.2 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQE++EYgdtESqEQa7a0RAitzAJ0QZkdB//NCmqRPSmhSiLzGtAHIbgCgjxxC sO17+azb34fJ8AyNXQOXIPQ= =DHn0 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --n+lFg1Zro7sl44OB--