source: MondoRescue/branches/2.2.10/mondo-doc/mondorescue-howto.sgml@ 2462

Last change on this file since 2462 was 2462, checked in by Bruno Cornec, 15 years ago

r3548@localhost: bruno | 2009-10-16 19:18:27 +0200

  • mindi now boots in a QEMU VM without busybox
  • mindi is now noarch as a consequence
  • MINDI_LIB becomes MINDI_DATA for coherency and as a consequence
  • CACHEDIR becomes MINDI_CACHE for coherency and it's a build parameter and not hardcoded anymore in mindi
  • THat variable is also used at restore time for mondorestore.cfg e.g.
  • FAILSAFE kernel is gone. Just use another kernel of your choice. Most std kernels work anyway
  • TurnTgzIntoRdz rewritten and now really computes data disk size and not suppose its size
  • Interface mondo/mindi changed again => incompatible
  • Non-bootable media not supported anymore.
  • Mondorescue adapted to these changes but not tested yet
  • Doc updated as well
File size: 96.9 KB
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1<!DOCTYPE BOOK PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN" [
2<!ENTITY curdate "PBDATE">
3<!ENTITY curver "PBVER-rPBREV">
4
5<!ENTITY WWWB "http://www.mondorescue.org/">
6<!ENTITY WWW '<ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org">MondoRescue</ulink>'>
7<!ENTITY ML '<ulink url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mondo-devel">mondorescue mailing list</ulink>'>
8<!ENTITY gfdl SYSTEM "fdl.sgml">
9]>
10
11<book>
12
13<bookinfo>
14<title>MondoRescue HOWTO</title>
15<subtitle>
16Utilisation and Configuration of Mondo and Mindi under Linux (Version &curver;)
17</subtitle>
18<graphic fileref="images/protected-by-mondo" align="center">
19
20<pubdate>
21in its latest version the
22&curdate;
23</pubdate>
24
25<abstract>
26<para>
27This document describes the use of mondo and mindi tools to realize disaster recovery backup of your systems. It provides information on installation, backup and restore modes, hardware and software requirements, and answers to some frequently asked questions.
28The goals are to offer a general view of the functions and their best usages.
29Mondo Rescue is a Disaster Recovery Solution which allows you
30to effortlessly backup and interactively restore Linux, Windows and
31other supported filesystem partitions to/from CD/DVD-+R/RW media, tape,
32NFS, ... and Mindi Linux provides the bootable emergency restore
33media which Mondo uses at boot-time.
34</para>
35</abstract>
36
37<author>
38<firstname>Bruno</firstname>
39<surname>Cornec</surname>
40<affiliation>
41<orgname>MondoRescue Project</orgname>
42<address><email>bruno@mondorescue.org</email></address>
43</affiliation>
44</author>
45<author>
46<firstname>Conor</firstname>
47<surname>Daly</surname>
48<affiliation>
49<orgname>MondoRescue Project</orgname>
50<address><email>conor.daly_at_met.ie</email></address>
51</affiliation>
52</author>
53<!--
54Hugo Rabson
55Mikael Hultgren
56Stan Benoit
57Randy Delfs
58Cafeole
59Bryan J. Smith
60-->
61
62<copyright>
63<year>2000-2006</year>
64<holder role="mailto:bruno@mondorescue.org">Bruno Cornec</holder>
65</copyright>
66
67<legalnotice>
68<title>License</title>
69<para>
70</para>
71<para>
72This HOWTO is a free documentation. you may copy, redistribute and/or modify it under the terms of the
73<Link LinkEnd="gfdl">
74GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
75</link>.</para>
76<para>
77or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts. This document is distributed hoping it will be useful, but <emphasis>without any guaranty</emphasis>; you're completely responsible of its use, and coulnd't complain in case it doesn't work, or even if it breaks the hardware. All the software included in it, if not already copyrighted is released under the GPL.
78</para>
79</legalnotice>
80
81<revhistory>
82<revision>
83 <revnumber>2.0.7</revnumber>
84 <date>2006-05-16</date>
85 <authorinitials>Bruno Cornec</authorinitials>
86 <revdescription>
87 <para>
88 Integration of a chapter on HOWTO run mondo interactively using cron written by Conor Daly
89 </para>
90 </revdescription>
91</revision>
92<revision>
93 <revnumber>2.06</revnumber>
94 <date>2006-01-16</date>
95 <authorinitials>Bruno Cornec</authorinitials>
96 <revdescription>
97 <para>
98 First SGML version publically available, remade from the HTML docs of the project.
99 </para>
100 </revdescription>
101</revision>
102</revhistory>
103</bookinfo>
104
105<toc></toc>
106<lot></lot>
107
108
109<chapter id="intro">
110<title>About this Guide</title>
111
112<sect1 id="intro-purpose">
113<title>Purpose / Scope of this Guide</title>
114
115<para>
116This HOWTO serves to help people get started with using
117mondo/mindi as way to backup/restore their system. This is a work
118constantly evolving. It was started by Hugo Rabson and has
119since been worked upon by a number of people. See the
120'<ulink url="&WWWB;about.shtml#devteam">About</ulink>' web
121page for a list of members of the development team.</para>
122
123<para>There are many ways to contribute to the Linux movement
124without actually writing code. One of the most important is writing
125documentation, allowing each person to share their knowledge with
126thousands of others around the world. This HOWTO is designed to
127help you get familiar with how Mondo/Mindi works.</para>
128
129<para>
130Opinions expressed here are those of the authors.
131Informations are provided in the aim to be useful to the readers.
132However, there can't be, through this document, any warranty of any kind
133on the way it works on your systems, nor the author could be responsible for any problem caused by the use of these informations.
134However, software editors don't garantee you a lot either (re-read the contracts).
135</para>
136</sect1>
137
138<sect1 id="intro-newversion"><title>New versions of this document</title>
139
140<para>The newest version of this document can always be found on
141MondoRescue's homepage &WWW;.</para>
142<para>
143If you make a translation of this document into another language, please let meknow so that I can include a reference to it here.
144</para>
145</sect1>
146
147<sect1><title>Suggestions / Feedback</title>
148<para>
149I rely on you, the reader, to make this HOWTO useful. THis HOWTO is probably incomplete even if it tries to be accurate to the best of our knowledge.
150If you have any suggestions, corrections, recommandations or congratulations :-) don't hesitate to send them to me
151<email>bruno@mondorescue.org</email>,
152and I will try to incorporate them in a next revision or to the &ML;;
153e-mail the list at
154<ulink url="mailto:mondo-devel@lists.sourceforge.net">mondo-devel@lists.sourceforge.net</ulink>;
155tell us what is wrong and how it should be fixed.
156Include the section title and recommended changes. Whenever possible, include
157the exact, spell-checked, grammar-checked text that you think would
158improve the document.
159</para>
160<para>See Mondo's
161 <ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/support.shtml">Support</ulink> page for
162more information.
163</para>
164<para>
165Please note that we do our best to help everyone but it is
166difficult for us to help you if you do not attach a log file to
167your e-mail. Let me say that again - attach your log file to your
168e-mail! Thank you. Without it we can't offer
169any tangible help because you aren't either. That's what the log
170file is for. It is located at <filename>/var/log/mondoarchive.log</filename>; and <filename>/var/log/mindi.log</filename> (if called alone) or at <filename>/var/log/mondorestore.log</filename>
171</para>
172<para>
173This document was originaly written by native english speakers, but is maintained by a non-native english speaker so help me correct mistaques (sic) instead of rumbling that I've done one :-)
174</para>
175<para>
176I am also willing to answer general questions on MondoRescue, the best I can.
177Before doing so, please read all of the information in this HOWTO, and then send me detailed information about the problem, especially including the logs generated by the tools, or traces obtained (Did I say that already :-].
178</para>
179<para>
180If you publish this document on a CD-ROM or in hardcopy form, a complimentary copy would be appreciated; mail me for my postal address. Also consider making a donation to the Linux Documentation Project to help support free documentation for Linux. Contact the Linux HOWTO coordinator,
181Guylhem AZNAR <email>guylhem@rrremovethis.oeil.qc.ca</email>.
182</para>
183</sect1>
184
185<sect1 id=intro-thanks><title>Aknowledgements</title>
186
187<para>Thanks goes to these people for helping and adding to this
188HOWTO.</para>
189
190<para>Document maintainer:</para>
191<itemizedlist mark="bullet" spacing="Compact">
192<listitem>
193<para>Bruno Cornec</para>
194</listitem>
195</itemizedlist>
196<para>Original Design Assistance by:</para>
197<itemizedlist>
198<listitem>
199<para>Xion Network.com</para>
200</listitem>
201</itemizedlist>
202<para>Original Document Assistance by:</para>
203<itemizedlist>
204<listitem>
205<para>Cafeole</para>
206</listitem>
207<listitem>
208<para>Troff</para>
209</listitem>
210<listitem>
211<para>Randy Delfs</para>
212</listitem>
213<listitem>
214<para>Mikael Hultgren</para>
215</listitem>
216</itemizedlist>
217<para>Original LinuxDoc and LaTeX Reformat by:</para>
218<itemizedlist>
219<listitem>
220<para>Bryan J. Smith</para>
221</listitem>
222</itemizedlist>
223<para>Original DocBook Reformat by:</para>
224<itemizedlist>
225<listitem>
226<para>Mikael Hultgren</para>
227</listitem>
228</itemizedlist>
229<para>Original author; 1.6x material:</para>
230<itemizedlist>
231<listitem>
232<para>Hugo Rabson</para>
233</listitem>
234</itemizedlist>
235
236</sect1>
237</chapter>
238
239<chapter id="quickstart"><title>QuickStart</title>
240<itemizedlist mark="bullet" spacing="Compact">
241<listitem>
242<para>We recommend that you read this complete
243HOWTO. However, if you are too busy or impatient, then
244please use this QuickStart guide to stay out of trouble.</para>
245</listitem>
246<listitem>
247<para>Install the tarball, RPM, or DEB mindi and mondo
248packages. (see <link linkend="installation">Installation</link>
249for more details)</para>
250</listitem>
251<listitem>
252<para>Execute as root (type 'su -' to become root if you are not
253logged in as root)</para>
254<para></para>
255
256<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
257<row>
258<entry>
259
260bash# mondoarchive
261
262</entry>
263</row>
264</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
265
266</listitem>
267</itemizedlist>
268<para></para>
269
270<informaltable><tgroup cols="2"><tbody>
271<row>
272<entry>
273<ulink url="images/mamain.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
274<imagedata fileref="images/mamain-mini">
275</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
276</ulink>
277</entry>
278<entry>
279Choose from the list of supported backup media types. The media you
280will use most often are CD/DVD-+R, CD/DVD-+RW, tape, NFS and hard disk. If
281you want to backup/restore over a network, choose 'NFS'. If you
282want to backup/restore to/from a local partition or if you simply
283want to store the ISO images in a local directory until you have
284time or facilities to burn them to CD's, choose 'hard disk'. If you
285choose 'CD/DVD-+R[W]' or 'tape' then in general your hardware will be
286detected and configured for you.
287</entry>
288</row>
289<row>
290<entry>
291<ulink url="images/maburnproof.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
292<imagedata fileref="images/maburnproof-mini">
293</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
294</ulink>
295</entry>
296<entry>
297 If you are backing up to CD/DVD-+R[W] then Mondo will ask you if your CD
298burner has BurnProof technology, is inside a laptop, or is
299otherwise eccentric. If you are backing up to a tape streamer then
300you will not see this message.
301</entry>
302</row>
303<row>
304<entry>
305<ulink url="images/macompression.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
306<imagedata fileref="images/macompression-mini">
307</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
308</ulink>
309</entry>
310<entry>
311How much compression do you want? None, if your tape streamer has
312built-in hardware compression. Maximum, if your CPU is blazingly
313fast. Average should do just fine for most situations.
314</entry>
315</row>
316<row>
317<entry>
318<ulink url="images/mainclude.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
319<imagedata fileref="images/mainclude-mini">
320</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
321</ulink>
322</entry>
323<entry>
324If you want to backup the whole computer (excluding /sys and /proc,
325naturally) then leave this as / which is the default. Otherwise,
326specify subsets, (e.g. /usr/local /home ) being sure to put a space
327in between each path.
328</entry>
329</row>
330<row>
331<entry>
332<ulink url="images/maexclude.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
333<imagedata fileref="images/maexclude-mini">
334</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
335</ulink>
336</entry>
337<entry>
338If you are backing up your whole computer then you might want to
339exclude certain directories, e.g. /shared/MP3. Please specify them
340in the 'exclude directories' dialog box. Please put a space in
341between each path, e.g. /shared/private /scratch /nfs /windows
342</entry>
343</row>
344<row>
345<entry>
346<ulink url="images/maverifyq.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
347<imagedata fileref="images/maverifyq-mini">
348</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
349</ulink>
350</entry>
351<entry>
352If you want to verify the archives after writing them to media, say
353'yes' here. If you have absolute faith in your hardware and your
354Linux distribution, say 'no'... and a little prayer.
355</entry>
356</row>
357<row>
358<entry>
359<ulink url="images/maproceedq.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
360<imagedata fileref="images/maproceedq-mini">
361</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
362</ulink>
363</entry>
364<entry>
365If you are sure you want to go ahead, say 'yes' and find something
366else to do while Mondo backs up your computer. If you say 'no' then
367you will be unceremoniously dumped at the shell prompt. :-)
368</entry>
369</row>
370<row>
371<entry>
372<ulink url="images/1.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
373<imagedata fileref="images/1-mini">
374</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
375</ulink>
376</entry>
377<entry>
378The backup process will now commence. There are some pre-backup
379tasks to be carried out first but the backup is essentially
380underway. To simplify the backup process, you were asked a series
381of questions. Next time, if you like, you could call mondoarchive
382with various command-line switches to control its behavior, instead
383of answering a series of questions. See the man page for details.
384</entry>
385</row>
386<row>
387<entry>
388<ulink url="images/3.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
389<imagedata fileref="images/3-mini">
390</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
391</ulink>
392</entry>
393<entry>
394Mondo will make a catalog of all files to be backed up. This may
395take up to five minutes. The list of files will be divided into
396sets, approximately 4 MB (before compression) of files per set.
397This typically takes one minute.
398</entry>
399</row>
400<row>
401<entry>
402<ulink url="images/4.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
403<imagedata fileref="images/1-mini">
404</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
405</ulink>
406</entry>
407<entry>
408Mondo calls Mindi. Mindi generates bootable media image and
409auxiliary data disk images which are based on your existing Linux
410distribution and filesystem. That way, you can be sure Mondo's
411tools will be compatible with your existing filesystems and
412binaries: Mondo's tools are your tools. Mindi takes up to five
413minutes to run.
414</entry>
415</row>
416<row>
417<entry>
418<ulink url="images/5tape.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
419<imagedata fileref="images/5tape-mini">
420</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
421</ulink>
422</entry>
423<entry>
424Finally, Mondo begins backing up your computer. This process may
425take a few minutes or a few hours, depending on how much data you
426are archiving, how fast your CPU is, how much RAM you have, and so
427on. It will backup your regular files and then your large files
428(files larger than approximately 32MB). If you have opted to verify
429your backups, Mondo will do that too.
430</entry>
431</row>
432</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
433
434<itemizedlist>
435<listitem>
436<para>Try to boot from the first media of the backup.
437Choose 'Compare Mode' by typing compare at the boot screen.
438</para>
439</listitem>
440<listitem>
441<para>If you can boot, fine. If not, make a Mindi "Test" CD to
442checkout the compatibility of your system. (see
443<link linkend="test-mindi">Testing Mindi</link> for more
444details). Remove the media; boot your computer as usual;
445execute as root</para>
446<para></para>
447<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
448<row>
449<entry>
450
451 bash# mindi
452</entry>
453</row>
454<row>
455<entry>
456 bash# cd /var/cache/mindi
457
458</entry>
459</row>
460</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
461
462<para>(for CD-R)</para>
463<para></para>
464<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
465<row>
466<entry>
467bash# cdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=4 -eject -v mindi.iso
468</entry>
469</row>
470<row>
471<entry>
472bash# wodim dev=0,0,0 speed=4 -eject -v mindi.iso
473</entry>
474</row>
475</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
476
477<para>(for CD-RW)</para>
478<para></para>
479<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
480<row>
481<entry>
482bash# cdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=4 blank=fast -eject -v mindi.iso
483</entry>
484</row>
485<row>
486<entry>
487bash# wodim dev=0,0,0 speed=4 blank=fast -eject -v mindi.iso
488</entry>
489</row>
490</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
491
492<para>Reboot your system with the created Mindi CD, with the BIOS
493set to boot from CD. If the result is a command line in 'Expert'
494mode, your system checks out. Remove the CD and reboot your
495system.</para>
496</listitem>
497<listitem>
498<para>If you still cannot boot from Mindi's CD then please e-mail
499the &ML; for help.
500</para>
501</listitem>
502</itemizedlist>
503<para>When making a backup on a live system, there will always be
504processes running that will write out data on the system after you
505have made the backup and before you have made the compare, this
506will result in difference showing up when comparing your backup.
507For a full explanation and what can be done to avoid this, please
508read this section.</para>
509<itemizedlist>
510
511 <listitem>
512<para>This QuickStart covers the ideal case. Upon receiving any
513system feedback/errors, read each related HOWTO section.</para>
514<para>Example 2-1. A test backup of your /home directory to CD-Rs
515using the command line</para>
516<para></para>
517<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
518<row>
519<entry>
520
521bash# mondoarchive -OVc 4 -I /home -gF
522
523</entry>
524</row>
525</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
526
527<para>The 'c' means you must be writing to CD-Rs, not CD-RWs (the
528latter would require 'w' instead of 'c'). The '4' is the speed of
529your CD writer. The string after -I is the path to be backed up.
530The '-gF' means you are going to see the pretty yellow-on-blue
531screen instead of the boring white-on-black screen. :) It also
532means Mondo will not offer to create physical boot media for
533you. It is assumed that you are able to boot from the CD which
534Mondo has generated.</para>
535<para>Example 2-2. A backup of your whole filesystem to NFS using
536the command line</para>
537<para></para>
538<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
539<row>
540<entry>
541
542 bash# mkdir -p /mnt/nfs
543</entry>
544</row>
545<row>
546<entry>
547 bash# mount nfs://192.168.1.28:/home/nfs /mnt/nfs
548 </entry>
549</row>
550<row>
551<entry>
552 bash# mondoarchive -OVn nfs://192.168.1.28:/home/nfs -gF[...]
553 </entry>
554</row>
555<row>
556<entry>
557bash# umount /mnt/nfs
558 </entry>
559</row>
560<row>
561<entry>
562 bash# cdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=4 -eject -v /var/cache/mindi/mindi.iso
563</entry>
564</row>
565</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
566
567<para>Note that you have to mount the NFS partition, backup to it,
568unmount it, and create a boot CD to allow you to restore from
569scratch if necessary. To reassure yourself that you will be able to
570restore from the NFS share even if your PC is wiped, please boot
571from the Mindi CD and type 'compare'. The on-screen instructions
572from that point on should be sufficient.</para>
573<para>Example 2-3. A backup of your whole
574filesystem to tape using the command line</para>
575<para></para>
576<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
577<row>
578<entry>
579
580bash# mondoarchive -OVt -d /dev/st0 -9 -L -g
581
582</entry>
583</row>
584</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
585
586<para>In this case, we assume Syslinux is incompatible with your
587boot media. For some reason, some BIOSes just don't like Syslinux.
588If you find this to be the case for your computer, please use '-L'
589to force Mondo to use LILO instead of Syslinux as the boot loader
590for its media. (NB: This has nothing to do with which boot
591loader your hard drive uses.) Also, it is a good habit to specify
592your tape streamer with '-d &lt;device&gt;'. You don't usually need
593to but it's good to be on the safe side. Some computers call your
594tape streamer /dev/osst0, some call it /dev/ftape, ...
595Also, depending on the tape streamer model, a tape should be inserted
596in the tape drive before starting mondoarchive, otherwise it may not
597recognize the drive.</para>
598</listitem>
599</itemizedlist>
600
601</chapter>
602
603<chapter id="overview"><title>Overview</title>
604
605<sect1 id="overview-mondorescue">
606<title>Mondo Rescue</title>
607<para>Mondo Rescue backs up your file system to CD, tape, NFS
608(archives stored remotely) or ISO's (archives stored locally).
609Mondo uses afio as the backup engine; afio is a well-respected
610replacement for tar. In the event of catastrophic data loss, you
611may restore some or all of your system, even if your hard drives
612are now blank. Mondo Rescue can do a lot of other cool
613things:</para>
614<itemizedlist>
615<listitem>
616<para>You can use Mondo to clone an installation of Linux. Just
617backup the crucial stuff and exclude /home, /var/log, etc.</para>
618</listitem>
619<listitem>
620<para>You can backup a non-RAID file system and restore it as RAID
621including the root partition (if your kernel supports that).</para>
622</listitem>
623<listitem>
624<para>You can backup a system running on one format and restore as
625another format.</para>
626</listitem>
627<listitem>
628<para>You can restructure your partitions, e.g. shrink/enlarge,
629reassign devices, add hard drives, etc, before you partition and
630format your drives. Mondo will restore your data and amend
631/etc/lilo.conf and /etc/fstab accordingly.</para>
632</listitem>
633<listitem>
634<para>You can backup Linux/Windows systems, including the boot
635sectors. Mondo will make everything right at restore-time.
636(However, do run "Scandisk" when you first boot into Windows, just
637in case.)</para>
638</listitem>
639<listitem>
640<para>You can use your Mondo backup CD to verify the integrity of
641your computer.</para>
642</listitem>
643</itemizedlist>
644<para>Mondo's principal virtue is that it protects you from the
645problems that can arise when you reinstall completely from scratch.
646If you want to wipe and restore your system every year just as a
647matter of 'good practice', Mondo is not for you. However, if you
648want to get up and running again in a hurry after someone breaks
649into your computer and wipes it (or if you accidentally wipe it
650yourself) then Mondo is definitely for you. It will permit you to
651roll back to a known-good installation in a very short period of
652time, sometimes as little as twenty minutes. Even if you backup
653large amounts of data to tape daily and do not want to add yet
654another backup regime, please consider backing up the core
655filesystem (i.e. everything but the directories containing your
656huge database and your prizewinning novel) every month or so, just
657in case. You will be glad you did.</para>
658<para>What is Mondo not?</para>
659<para>Mondo is not an everyday backup program. It is not designed
660to replace tar, afio, kbackup, etc. Mondo is designed to make it
661possible to recover from scratch if necessary. Tar and afio offer a
662quick, convenient way to backup small sets of files, sometimes to
663removable media.</para>
664</sect1>
665
666<sect1 id="overview-mindi">
667<title>Mindi</title>
668<para>
669Mindi Linux creates a set of boot/root media images
670that will let you perform basic system maintenance on your Linux
671distro. The principal virtues of Mindi's boot disks are the fact
672that they contain your kernel, modules, tools and libraries. You
673can ask for additional binaries (or other files) to be included on
674the kit. The libraries will be added for you.
675</para>
676<para>Whichever modules were loaded at backup-time, they are
677reloaded at boot-time. So, in theory, you will boot into almost the
678same environment as you were in when you backed up. If you want to
679add files to your Mindi boot disks, edit '&lt;INSTALLPATH OF
680MINDI&gt;/mindi/deplist.txt' and add the files to that list. The
681added files and dependencies, will be spread across the data disks
682at run-time.
683</para>
684<para>Mindi makes sure that Mondo has all the tools it needs at
685boot-time. Mondo uses fdisk, mkfs, cat, less, more, afio, gzip,
686bzip2, your keyboard configuration, your glibc libraries, your
687other libraries, your kernel, your modules, ... which is a lot of tools!
688Mindi takes care of all that, so that Mondo can get on with the job of backing
689up or restoring your data.
690</para>
691<para>Mindi is also handy for making boot CDs/disks which stand on
692their own. You do not need Mondo. Indeed, if you like, you could
693use another backup/restore program with Mindi. Just add it to
694Mindi's dependency list (type 'locate deplist.txt' to find it).
695Mindi will include your software on its boot CD/disks the next time
696you run mindi.
697</para>
698</sect1>
699
700
701<sect1 id="overview-linuxbackup">
702<title>Linux Backup</title>
703<para>Mondo Rescue and Mindi Linux are used primarily as Linux
704backup and cloning tools. The fall in prices of CD-RW drives and
705writable discs will allow current users to keep good backups and
706future users to leverage the cloning capability.</para>
707<para>Tape drives are more likely to suit your needs if you run a
708larger installation (or have lots of MP3's). Warning! OnStream
709drives do not play well with Mondo. I do not know why. It is, in my
710opinion, something which OnStream should look into. Mondo uses
711fopen(), fread(), fwrite() and fclose() to interact with tape
712drives. That works for most drives but some drives just don't like
713that.
714Also, depending on the tape streamer model, a tape should be inserted
715in the tape drive before starting mondoarchive, otherwise it may not
716recognize the drive.</para>
717<para>Mondo Rescue has been tested thousands of times on various computers.
718It has worked for them.
719Thousands of users testify to Mondo's stability and its ease of
720use. However, please test it on your own system before you rely on
721it. In fact, do not rely on any software until you have tested it
722to see if it performs as expected.</para>
723<para>To establish that Mondo will behave well in an emergency,
724please be prepared. Run a test backup as follows:-</para>
725<itemizedlist>
726<listitem>
727<para>Run mondoarchive without any command-line options.</para>
728</listitem>
729<listitem>
730 <para>Backup a subset of files - e.g. /usr/local - to CD or
731 tape. Say 'yes' when asked if you want to verify them.</para>
732</listitem>
733<listitem>
734 <para>If you are not backing up to CD, please create boot
735 media when prompted.</para>
736</listitem>
737</itemizedlist>
738<para>Next, restore archives to your live filesystem.</para>
739<itemizedlist>
740<listitem>
741<para>When mondoarchive terminates, run mondorestore without any
742command-line options.</para>
743</listitem>
744<listitem><para>Insert the media when prompted.
745 Press &lt;Enter&gt;. Wait a moment.</para></listitem>
746<listitem><para>Select a subset of files to restore, e.g. /usr/local/man
747 and /usr/local/bin. Hit OK.</para></listitem>
748<listitem><para>Restore files to /tmp or /root/RESTORED or something
749 similar.</para></listitem>
750<listitem><para>When mondorestore terminates, compare the restored files
751 to the originals using cmp or diff.</para></listitem>
752</itemizedlist>
753<para>Finally, simulate an emergency restore.</para>
754<itemizedlist>
755<listitem>
756<para>Boot from media.</para>
757</listitem>
758<listitem><para>Select 'Interactive Mode' at boot-time. (Type
759 'interactive' and hit &lt;Enter&gt;.)</para></listitem>
760<listitem><para>Hit OK when shown the mountlist. Say 'yes' when asked if
761 you accept the mountlist.</para></listitem>
762<listitem><para>Select files to restore, e.g. /usr/local/man and
763 /usr/local/bin. Hit OK.</para></listitem>
764<listitem><para>Restore files to /tmp or /root/RESTORED or something
765 similar.</para></listitem>
766<listitem><para>When mondorestore terminates, please reboot and compare
767 the restored files to the originals.</para></listitem>
768</itemizedlist>
769<para>FYI, the subroutines to repartition and reformat your drives
770are very stable. If you are a RAID or LVM user, you
771might&nbsp;encounter some difficulties when wiping and restoring
772from scratch because of the sheer range of filesystem layouts and
773the impossibility of testing Mondo on every single one. If you have
774trouble, just drop to the command-line and partition/format
775manually. Then, call mondorestore, select Interactive Mode, and say
776'no' when asked if you want Mondo to partition or format your
777drives for you.</para>
778<para>You see, even if you have trouble, you still have two hands
779and most of the tools you need - lvchange, pvcreate, fdisk, mkraid,
780etc. - to do it manually. After you have prepped and formatted your
781drives manually (if you have to), just run mondorestore again and
782say 'no' when asked if you want to prep or format your drives. What
783could be easier?</para>
784</sect1>
785
786<sect1 id="overview-winbackup">
787<title>Windows Backup</title>
788<para>Backing up windows partitions.</para>
789<sect2 id="overview-winbackup-win95"><title>Windows ME/95/98</title>
790<para>Verify that the partition is listed in /etc/fstab and is
791mounted (e.g. /dev/hda1). Mondo will take care of everything else.
792The files will be archived just like all other files in the live
793file system. At restore-time, Mondo will take care of the boot
794sector of /dev/hda1 prior to the restore.</para>
795<para>Note: if Windows ME/95/98 is not located on /dev/hda1 or
796/dev/sda1, then Mondo will not take care of the boot sector of
797/dev/hda1. The user will have to boot from a DOS floppy and run SYS
798C: to correct the Windows boot sector.</para>
799</sect2>
800<sect2 id="overview-winbackup-winnt"><title>Windows NT4/2K/XP</title>
801<para>Windows NT4/2K/XP typically use the NTFS file system, not
802VFAT.. The user should use '-x /dev/hda1' (or whichever device the
803Windows partition resides). Mondo will treat the partition as a
804biggiefile. Mondo will also add an entry to the mountlist to
805reflect the size and type of the partition. The user may not edit
806that partition's size at restore-time (for obvious reasons).</para>
807<para>Please bear in mind that Mondo was written for Linux users.
808If Mondo does not backup or restore your Windows system well, you
809might want to consider reporting it to the &ML;
810</para>
811</sect2>
812</sect1>
813
814<sect1 id="overview-history">
815<title>Mondo Rescue and Mindi Linux
816History</title>
817<para>Mondo Rescue was created in December 1999 by Hugo Rabson as a utility to
818clone Linux/Windows installations. Norton Ghost would not do the
819job, and his boss wanted to jump on the Linux bandwagon. So, he wrote
820a few scripts and shoehorned them into the latest Linux-Mandrake
821CD. Since that time, Mondo grew into a disaster recovery suite for
822Linux and Windows. Mondo forced him to learn about the kernel, its
823initrd initial ramdisk, modules, library dependencies, disk
824partitioning, and the myriad differences between the Top 10 Linux
825distributions.</para>
826<para>The first formal release was made on February 18th, 2000.
827Mondo is currently one of the top five Linux backup/restore
828programs. Mondo has been compared favorably to ArcServe, Arkeia and
829BRU. Although Mondo lacks the more advanced, enterprise-level
830features of ArcServe and Arkeia, for workstations and small- to
831medium-size servers it is ideal because it is small, fast,
832efficient, stable, comes with source code, and is being actively
833developed and supported.</para>
834<para>
835 Since November 2005, Hugo Rabson has tranfered the maintenance
836 of the Mondo Rescue suite to Andree Leidenfrost and Bruno Cornec,
837 both previous developers and packagers of the tool since nearly
838 the begining.
839</para>
840</sect1>
841
842<sect1 id="overview-sysreq">
843<title>System Requirements</title>
844<sect2 id="overview-sysrq-hwreq">
845<title>Hardware Requirements</title>
846
847<para>Your computer must have:</para>
848<itemizedlist>
849<listitem>
850 <para>Intel(R)-compatible CPU (ia32, x86_64/amd64 or ia64)</para>
851</listitem>
852<listitem>
853<para>64MB of RAM (128MB recommended)</para>
854</listitem>
855<listitem>
856<para>800MB of hard disk space free</para>
857</listitem>
858<listitem>
859<para>CD writer, tape streamer, NFS share or some way to backup the
860backups :)</para>
861</listitem>
862</itemizedlist>
863<para>It is recommended that your computer have very good airflow.
864The backup with Mondo Rescue and Mindi Linux will utilize your CPU,
865CD drive and fixed disk(s) like very few other applications. With a
866few hours of system backup activity, computers without sufficient
867airflow may show symptoms such as not burning full CD discs. The
868solution is a $20 or less additional fan at your local electronics
869discount store.</para>
870</sect2>
871
872<sect2 id="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">
873<title>Kernel Requirements</title>
874
875<para>Your kernel must have:</para>
876<itemizedlist>
877<listitem>
878<para>stable loopfs support, which means it really needs to be
8792.2.19 or 2.4.7 (or later)</para>
880</listitem>
881<listitem>
882<para>CD-ROM device support</para>
883</listitem>
884<listitem>
885<para>ISO9660 file system support</para>
886</listitem>
887<listitem>
888<para>initrd ramdisk support (built-in)</para>
889</listitem>
890<listitem>
891<para>Virtual memory file system support (built-in)</para>
892</listitem>
893<listitem>
894<para>ext2 file system support (built-in)</para>
895</listitem>
896<listitem>
897<para>Support for the backup media (Tape, CD-RW, NFS, Hard
898disk)</para>
899</listitem>
900<listitem>
901<para>If the backup media is CD-RW then you need SCSI emulation
902also</para>
903<para>vfat support in the active kernel - mindi needs this when creating
904syslinux boot media</para>
905</listitem>
906</itemizedlist>
907<para>Please note that the stock kernels of Red Hat/RHEL/Fedora,
908 Mandrake/Mandriva, SuSE/SLES/OpenSuSE, Debian and Slackware
909 all meet Mondo's requirements. If your kernel does not meet Mondo's
910 requirements then there is something wrong with it. Mondo's demands
911 are not unreasonable.</para>
912<para>Mondo (specifically Mindi) does not require any specific
913module. It does require that your kernel support the initrd
914initial ramdisk facility. Typically this is supported by the Linux
915kernel. Modules used are needed to support the CD,
916hard disks, etc. If the support is modular, then the modules will
917be incorporated in a boot disk by Mindi. If the support is built-in
918(static), then it will be available at boot-time by default.</para>
919</sect2>
920<sect2 id="overview-sysrq-swreq">
921<title>Software Requirements</title>
922<para>See Mondo's <ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml">Download
923page</ulink> for details.</para>
924<para>Mondo requires afio, bzip2, cdrtools/cdrecord/growisofs (may be part of the dvd+rw-tools package), ncurses, newt,
925isolinux/syslinux, lzo (optional), lzop (optional), mkisofs, slang,
926and a few other packages.</para>
927<para>Good Linux distributions provide all these packages. If yours
928does not then please go to the aforementioned Download page or surf
929the Net, preferably the website of the distribution you are
930using.</para>
931<para>Mondo's expectations are not unreasonable, either of your
932Linux distribution or of your kernel. However, if your distribution
933fails to meet its expectations and you cannot find out how to
934resolve them, please feel free to e-mail the &ML;
935</para>
936</sect2>
937</sect1>
938</chapter>
939
940<chapter id="installation">
941<title>Installation</title>
942
943<sect1 id="installation-mindi">
944<title>Mindi Installation</title>
945<para>If you are installing from a tarball then copy it to wherever
946you have enough space, for example /tmp and type:</para>
947<para></para>
948<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
949<row>
950<entry>
951
952 bash# cd /tmp
953</entry>
954</row>
955<row>
956<entry>
957 bash# tar -zxvf mindi-1.x.tgz
958 </entry>
959</row>
960<row>
961<entry>
962bash# cd mindi-1.x
963</entry>
964</row>
965<row>
966<entry>
967 bash# ./install.sh
968
969</entry>
970</row>
971</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
972
973<para>This installs mindi additional files into /usr/local/lib/mindi and
974the program into /usr/local/sbin</para>
975<para>Or, if you are installing from an RPM/deb then copy it to
976wherever you have enough space, for example /tmp and type:</para>
977<para></para>
978<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
979<row>
980<entry>
981
982bash# rpm -Uvh /tmp/mindi-1.x-x.i386.rpm
983</entry>
984</row>
985<row>
986<entry>
987
988or
989</entry>
990</row>
991<row>
992<entry>
993
994bash# dpkg -i /tmp/mindi-1.x-x.deb
995
996</entry>
997</row>
998</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
999
1000<para>This installs mindi additional files into /usr/lib/mindi and
1001the program into /usr/sbin.
1002</para>
1003</sect1>
1004
1005<sect1 id="installation-mondo">
1006<title>Mondo Installation</title>
1007<para>If you are installing from a tarball then copy it to wherever
1008you have enough space, for example /tmp and type:</para>
1009<para></para>
1010<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1011<row>
1012<entry>
1013
1014 bash# cd /tmp
1015</entry>
1016</row>
1017<row>
1018<entry>
1019 bash# tar -zxvf mondo-2.xx.tgz
1020 </entry>
1021</row>
1022<row>
1023<entry>
1024bash# cd mondo-2.xx
1025 </entry>
1026</row>
1027<row>
1028<entry>
1029 bash# ./configure
1030 </entry>
1031</row>
1032<row>
1033<entry>
1034bash# make &amp;&amp; make install
1035
1036</entry>
1037</row>
1038</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1039
1040<para>This installs mondo into /usr/local/lib/mondo and installs
1041the programs into /usr/local/sbin</para>
1042<para>Or, if you are installing from an RPM/deb then copy it to copy it
1043to wherever you have enough space, for example /tmp and
1044type:</para>
1045<para></para>
1046<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1047<row>
1048<entry>
1049
1050bash# rpm -Uvh /tmp/mondo-2.x-x.i386.rpm
1051</entry>
1052</row>
1053<row>
1054<entry>
1055
1056or
1057</entry>
1058</row>
1059<row>
1060<entry>
1061
1062bash# dpkg -i /tmp/mondo-2.x-x.deb
1063
1064</entry>
1065</row>
1066</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1067
1068<para>This installs mondo into /usr/lib/mondo and installs
1069the programs into /usr/sbin</para>
1070</sect1>
1071
1072<sect1 id=rpm-verif>
1073 <title>RPM verifications</title>
1074 <para>For RPM based distributions (Fedora, OpenSuSE, Mandriva, ...), you may want to do this post-install in order to check the validity of your installation:</para>
1075<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1076<row>
1077 <entry>
1078 bash# rpm -Va mindi mondo
1079 </entry>
1080</row>
1081</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1082<para>
1083 This gives some truly obtuse output. Basically it will list all files that do NOT pass the verify tests (done on size, MD5 signature, etc). Please read rpm man page to discover the meaning of the output.
1084 </para>
1085</sect1>
1086</chapter>
1087
1088<chapter id="test">
1089<title>Tests</title>
1090
1091<sect1 id="test-mindi">
1092<title>Testing Mindi</title>
1093
1094<para>Mindi is a vital part of the backup procedure. If you have
1095used Mondo before or if you are in a hurry, skip steps 6.2 and 6.3;
1096go straight to QuickStart.</para>
1097<para>However, if you have time or if you have been having trouble
1098getting Mondo to work, I would recommend trying out Mindi directly
1099(rather than via Mondo) to see if it can produce a bootable CD on
1100your system.</para>
1101<para>Make sure you are root while doing this, otherwise mindi will
1102fail, now do this.</para>
1103<para>If you have any problems, please:-</para>
1104<itemizedlist>
1105<listitem>
1106<para>less /var/log/mindi.log</para>
1107</listitem>
1108<listitem><para>feel free to edit mindi (it's a shell script, btw) to try
1109 to fix the problem yourself</para></listitem>
1110<listitem><para>contact the &ML; if you get stuck.</para></listitem>
1111</itemizedlist>
1112<para>Type:-</para>
1113<para></para>
1114<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1115<row>
1116<entry>
1117
1118bash# mindi
1119
1120</entry>
1121</row>
1122</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1123
1124<para>Example screen output, selecting to use your own kernel, to
1125create boot disks, and to create a bootable CD image:</para>
1126<para></para>
1127<screen>
1128
1129# mindi
1130Mindi Linux mini-distro generator v1.09-r762
1131
1132Latest Mindi is available from http://www.mondorescueg
1133
1134------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1135Do you want to use your own kernel to build the boot disk (y/n) ?y
1136Would you like to use LILO (instead of syslinux)
1137for your boot media (y/n) ?n
1138Analyzing dependency requirements Done.
1139Making complete dependency list Done.
1140Analyzing your keyboard's configuration.
1141
1142Adding the following keyboard mapping tables: us-latin1 Done.
1143Assembling dependency files................................................................... Done.
1144The files have been subdivided into 5 directories. Your mountlist will look like this:-
1145 Finding all volume groups
1146 No volume groups found
1147 No volume groups found
1148 No volume groups found
1149 No volume groups found
1150 DEVICE MOUNTPOINT FORMAT SIZE (MB)
1151 /dev/hda1 / ext3 399
1152 /dev/hda9 /home ext3 48478
1153 /dev/hda6 /usr ext3 4999
1154 /dev/hda7 /var ext3 1000
1155 /dev/hda5 swap swap 349
1156 /dev/hda8 swap swap 2003
1157 Finding all volume groups
1158 No volume groups found
1159 No volume groups found
1160 No volume groups found
1161 No volume groups found
1162Tarring and zipping the groups.................. Done.
1163Creating data disk #1...#2...#3...#4...#5... Done.
1164Making 1722KB boot disk...........................1440+0 enregistrements lus.
11651440+0 enregistrements écrits.
1166mke2fs 1.38 (30-Jun-2005)
1167Failed to copy /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-15mdk-i686-up-4GB to ramdisk
1168
1169Making 2880KB boot disk...........................mkfs.vfat 2.10 (22 Sep 2003)
1170... 2880 KB boot disks were created OK Done.
1171In the directory '/var/cache/mindi' you will find the images:-
1172 mindi-data-1.img mindi-data-2.img mindi-data-3.img mindi-data-4.img mindi-data-5.img mindi-root.1440.img
1173Shall I make a bootable CD image? (y/n) y
1174NB: Mindi's bootable CD always uses isolinux.
1175
1176For a bootable CD w/LILO, please use Mondo.
1177
1178Finished.
1179
1180Boot and data disk images were created.
1181
1182#
1183
1184</screen>
1185
1186<para>If your kernel is too large (more than about 900KB) then you
1187cannot make boot media, although you can still make a bootable
1188CD image. The easiest way to test Mindi in either case is to say
1189'n' to its first question and 'y' to its second, then use the
1190separate application cdrecord or wodim to make a bootable CD-R or
1191CD-RW.</para>
1192<para>Use the cdrecord or wodim application to write the CD image:</para>
1193<para></para>
1194<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1195<row>
1196<entry>
1197 bash# cd /var/cache/mindi
1198</entry>
1199</row>
1200<row>
1201 <entry>
1202 bash# cdrecord -scanbus
1203</entry>
1204</row>
1205<row>
1206 <entry>
1207 bash# wodim --devices
1208</entry>
1209</row>
1210</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1211
1212<para>The output of the above call will tell you your
1213CD writer's node. It is usually '0,0,0'. Choose one of the
1214following calls to write the CD, depending on whether the disk in
1215the drive is a CD-R or a CD-RW. Please replace 'x,x,x' with your
1216writer's node. For further information, type 'man cdrecord" from a
1217Linux command line.</para>
1218<para>If writing to a CD-RW Drive/Disc:</para>
1219<para></para>
1220<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1221<row>
1222<entry>
1223bash# cdrecord -v blank=fast dev=x,x,x speed=4 mindi.iso (for CD-RW)
1224</entry>
1225</row>
1226<row>
1227<entry>
1228 bash# wodim -v blank=fast dev=/dev/xxx speed=4 mindi.iso (for CD-RW)
1229</entry>
1230</row>
1231</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1232
1233<para>If writing to a CD-R Drive/Disc:</para>
1234<para></para>
1235<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1236<row>
1237<entry>
1238bash# cdrecord -v dev=x,x,x speed=4 mindi.iso (for CD-R)
1239</entry>
1240</row>
1241<row>
1242<entry>
1243 bash# wodim -v dev=/dev/xxx speed=4 mindi.iso (for CD-R)
1244</entry>
1245</row>
1246</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1247</sect1>
1248
1249<!--
1250<sect1 id="test-mondo">
1251<title>Testing Mondo</title>
1252</sect1>
1253-->
1254</chapter>
1255
1256<chapter id="backup">
1257<title>Backup</title>
1258
1259<sect1 id="backup-recommandations">
1260<title>Recommendations</title>
1261<itemizedlist>
1262<listitem>
1263<para>Shut down all possible applications (this minimizes any
1264 compare differences following the backup). Especially shutdown
1265 properly any running database on your system, as the recovery
1266 may lead to corrupted data. Or if applicable, boot to single user mode.</para>
1267</listitem>
1268<listitem>
1269<para>Type:</para>
1270</listitem>
1271</itemizedlist>
1272<para></para>
1273<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1274<row>
1275<entry>
1276
1277bash# mondoarchive
1278
1279</entry>
1280</row>
1281</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1282
1283<para>For most users, that should be enough. :-) Mondoarchive will
1284usually autodetect your hardware and configure it for you.</para>
1285<para>If you are a power user (or you like to control every detail
1286of how Mondo runs) then you may want to look at the command-line
1287switches. For example:-</para>
1288<para></para>
1289<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1290<row>
1291<entry>
1292
1293bash# mondoarchive -Ow9 -gF -I /home
1294
1295</entry>
1296</row>
1297</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1298
1299<para>cdrecord or wodim will tell you where your CD recorder lives, in SCSI
1300terms, which looks like '0,0,0'. The previous call to mondoarchive tells
1301Mondo to backup everything to a 4x CD-RW drive that has
1302a CD-RW disk in it. (Use -Oc instead of -Ow if you are using
1303CD-R.)</para>
1304<para>Please put the first CD-R(W) in the drive now. You will be
1305prompted to insert CD #2 but you will not be prompted to insert the
1306first disk. However, if you forget, do not worry: if Mondo fails to
1307write the first (or any) disk, it will offer to retry, abort or
1308fail.</para>
1309<para>Find the speed/compression
1310compromise that best suits your needs. Here maximum (-9) compression level is used.</para>
1311<para>If you are using cron then please consult the chapter that Conor Daly has dedicated to that <link linkend="backup-cron">topic</link>
1312</para>
1313</sect1>
1314
1315<sect1 id="backup-cmd">
1316<title>Backup Commands and Options</title>
1317
1318<para>Backup Command:</para>
1319<para></para>
1320<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1321<row>
1322<entry>
1323
1324mondoarchive &lt;-option1&gt; &lt;-option2&gt; ... &lt;-optionN&gt;
1325
1326</entry>
1327</row>
1328</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1329
1330<para>E.g.,</para>
1331<para></para>
1332<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1333<row>
1334<entry>
1335
1336bash# mondoarchive -E "/mnt/dos /mnt/cdrom" -9 -Oc 8
1337
1338</entry>
1339</row>
1340</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1341
1342<para>Would create backup CD to a CD-R disc at the highest
1343compression level, writing at speed 8 and ignoring the /mnt/dos and
1344/mnt/cdrom directories.</para>
1345<para>To see a detailed list of switches and their meaning, see the
1346<ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/docs/mondoarchive.8.html">HTML
1347man page</ulink> on the website or type 'man mondoarchive' at the
1348console.</para>
1349<sect2 id="backup-cmd-cdr">
1350<title>Standard Example With CD-R</title>
1351<para></para>
1352<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1353<row>
1354<entry>
1355
1356bash# mondoarchive -Oc 2 -g
1357
1358</entry>
1359</row>
1360</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1361
1362<para>Replace '2' in '-Oc 2' with the writer's speed. If
1363mondoarchive cannot find your CD-R then please add '-d 0,0,0' (or
1364whatever your CD writer's SCSI node is; usually, it is 0,0,0) to
1365the call.</para>
1366<para>Please insert the first disk in the writer while the PC is
1367chugging away. If Mondo needs additional CD-R(W) then it will ask
1368for them.</para>
1369</sect2>
1370<sect2 id="backup-cmd-cdrw">
1371<title>Standard Example With CD-RW</title>
1372<para></para>
1373<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1374<row>
1375<entry>
1376
1377bash# mondoarchive -Ow 2 -g
1378
1379</entry>
1380</row>
1381</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1382
1383<para>Replace '2' in '-Ow 2' with the writer's speed.</para>
1384</sect2>
1385<sect2 id="backup-cmd-tape">
1386 <title>Standard Example With Tape</title>
1387<para></para>
1388<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1389<row>
1390<entry>
1391
1392bash# mondoarchive -Ot -d /dev/st0 -g
1393
1394</entry>
1395</row>
1396</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1397
1398</sect2>
1399</sect1>
1400</chapter>
1401
1402<chapter id="backup-cron">
1403<title>HOWTO run mondo interactively using cron</title>
1404
1405<sect1 id="backup-cron-overview">
1406<title>Overview</title>
1407
1408<para>
1409 Mondoarchive is designed to run interactively (at least where
1410 media changes are necessary). Cron does not allow user interaction
1411 with a job. This section addresses the problem by using screen as a
1412 wrapper for mondo.
1413</para>
1414<para>
1415 This section is Copyright 2003 Conor Daly.
1416</para>
1417</sect1>
1418<sect1 id="backup-cron-intro">
1419 <title>Introduction</title>
1420
1421<para>
1422Mondoarchive is designed to run interactively. That's not strictly
1423 true, if you run mondoarchive without the '-g' switch, it will just
1424 run. However, there is a problem where media changes are necessary.
1425 The user must change the media and tell mondoarchive that the change
1426 has been done. The problem lies in the fact that cron does not allow
1427 user interaction with a job. If you schedule a mondoarchive job via
1428 cron, you better be sure it needs only one media. In practical terms,
1429 this means using tapes or ISOs (if CD-R(W) is your backup medium).
1430 However, for tape users, there's always the possibility that the
1431 backup will overflow the tape while for CD-R(W) users, there is the
1432 added hassle of burning the ISOs in the morning. If your CD_R(W)
1433 backup routinely occupies more than one media, this is not for you
1434 (use the ISO option and burn the CDs in the morning). This HOWTO
1435 addresses the problem by using screen as a wrapper for mondo.
1436</para>
1437</sect1>
1438<sect1 id="backup-cron-who">
1439 <title>Who should read this?</title>
1440<sect2><title>Insurance</title>
1441<para>
1442Mondo users who wish to automate the backup and whose backups
1443 routinely occupy close to one media are the best audience. If you
1444 backup to tape, the occasion will arise when the backup will overflow
1445 your tape. In this instance, mondoarchive will ask for another tape.
1446 If you're using cron to start the backup, you won't be able to tell
1447 mondo that the new tape is mounted and the backup will fail. If you
1448 backup to CD-R(W), the same situation will arise but sooner.
1449 </para>
1450 </sect2>
1451 <sect2><title>Efficiency</title>
1452<para>
1453If your backup already occupies two media, this method will allow
1454 as much of the backup as possible to proceed during quiet periods.
1455 Time the backup to start with enough time to complete the first media
1456 shortly before the operator arrives for work. The next media can
1457 be mounted and the backup completed asap and minimises the time for
1458 which users are inconvenienced by the backup (eg. database locked...).
1459 </para>
1460 </sect2>
1461 </sect1>
1462 <sect1 id="backup-cron-problem">
1463 <title>The Problem</title>
1464<sect2><title>Cron's environment</title>
1465<para>
1466When a user submits a job with cron, their environment is not
1467 preserved. This is reasonable since cron jobs are typically ongoing
1468 and may be adversely affected if the user's environment changes subsequent
1469 to the cron submission. Thus, a cron job should call a script that
1470 set's up the correct environment before starting the user's desired
1471 program. The 'at' command does this nicely.
1472 </para>
1473 </sect2>
1474 <sect2><title>Interactivity</title>
1475<para>
1476When a job is started with cron, it runs as a background process.
1477 No interaction with the program is possible (unless it is capable
1478 of interacting via a FIFO or some such) except termination via its
1479 pid. The only program that I know of that allows such interaction
1480 and serves as a wrapper for other processes is 'screen'
1481 </para>
1482 </sect2>
1483 <sect2><title>Screen</title>
1484<para>
1485There's one little problem with screen though. It expects to
1486 attach to a terminal when it first starts. This won't happen under
1487 cron so screen will fail. Fortunately, screen comes with a "start
1488 detached" (-d) option.
1489 </para>
1490 </sect2>
1491 </sect1>
1492 <sect1 id="backup-cron-solution">
1493 <title>The Solution</title>
1494<sect2><title>Briefly</title>
1495<para>
1496<itemizedlist>
1497<listitem>
1498 <para>Use 'at' to run your usual mondoarchive command</para>
1499</listitem>
1500<listitem>
1501 <para>Grab the script generated by 'at' and make a copy of it</para>
1502 </listitem>
1503<listitem>
1504 <para>Edit that script to use 'screen -m -d &lt;your mondoarchive command&gt;'</para>
1505 </listitem>
1506<listitem>
1507 <para>Run that script from your crontab</para>
1508 </listitem>
1509<listitem>
1510 <para>Use 'screen -r' to attach to the mondo screen to change CDs</para>
1511 </listitem>
1512<listitem>
1513 <para>Use '&lt;CTRL&gt;-a d' to detach the screen again</para>
1514</listitem>
1515</itemizedlist>
1516</para>
1517</sect2>
1518<sect2><title>In Detail</title>
1519 <sect3><title>at</title>
1520<para>
1521Use the 'at' command to submit your usual mondoarchive command.
1522My mondoarchive command is:
1523</para>
1524<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1525<row>
1526<entry>
1527
1528 # mondoarchive -D -Ow 10 -S /home/mondo/ -T /home/mondo/ -g \
1529 -E "\"/home/cdaly/GIS/W2K /home/mondo/\"" -9
1530
1531</entry>
1532</row>
1533</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1534<para>
1535 To submit the mondoarchive command with 'at' do:
1536</para>
1537<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1538<row>
1539<entry>
1540
1541 # at now + 5 min
1542mondoarchive -D -Ow 10 -S /home/mondo/ -T /home/mondo/ -g \
1543-E "\"/home/cdaly/GIS/W2K /home/mondo/\"" -9
1544&lt;CTRL&gt;-d
1545</entry>
1546</row>
1547</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1548<para>
1549
1550This generates a script in /var/spool/at/ which sets up your
1551 environment and runs your command. Grab this script to become your
1552 cron job.
1553 </para>
1554 </sect3>
1555 <sect3><title>Grab the 'at' script</title>
1556<para>
1557 Make a copy of the script generated by the 'at' command to use
1558 as the basis for your cron job.
1559 </para>
1560<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1561<row>
1562<entry>
1563
1564grep mondo /var/spool/at/*
1565</entry>
1566</row>
1567<row>
1568 <entry>
1569cp /var/spool/at/&lt;file-from-grep&gt; /root/mondo-cronscript
1570</entry>
1571</row>
1572</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1573<para>
1574
1575 You'll need to edit this.
1576</para>
1577 </sect3>
1578<sect3><title>Edit mondo-cronscript</title>
1579<para>
1580To use screen, you'll need to edit the cronscript and add the
1581 screen command. My mondo-cronscript looks like:
1582</para>
1583<screen>
1584
1585#!/bin/sh
1586# atrun uid=0 gid=0
1587# mail cdaly 0 umask 22
1588PWD=/root; export PWD
1589XAUTHORITY=/root/.xauthyOrD4f; export XAUTHORITY
1590HOSTNAME=bofh.irmet.ie; export HOSTNAME
1591PVM_RSH=/usr/bin/rsh; export PVM_RSH
1592QTDIR=/usr/lib/qt-2.3.1; export QTDIR
1593LESSOPEN=\|/usr/bin/lesspipe.sh\ %s; export LESSOPEN
1594XPVM_ROOT=/usr/share/pvm3/xpvm; export XPVM_ROOT
1595KDEDIR=/usr; export KDEDIR
1596USER=root; export USER
1597LS_COLORS=no=00:fi=00:di=01\;34:ln=01\;36:pi=40\;33:so=01\;35:bd=40\;33\;01:cd=40\;33\;01:or=01\;05\;37\;41:mi=01\;05\;37\;41:ex=01\;32:\*.cmd=01\;32:\*.exe=01\;32:\*.com=01\;32:\*.btm=01\;32:\*.bat=01\;32:\*.sh=01\;32:\*.csh=01\;32:\*.tar=01\;31:\*.tgz=01\;31:\*.arj=01\;31:\*.taz=01\;31:\*.lzh=01\;31:\*.zip=01\;31:\*.z=01\;31:\*.Z=01\;31:\*.gz=01\;31:\*.bz2=01\;31:\*.bz=01\;31:\*.tz=01\;31:\*.rpm=01\;31:\*.cpio=01\;31:\*.jpg=01\;35:\*.gif=01\;35:\*.bmp=01\;35:\*.xbm=01\;35:\*.xpm=01\;35:\*.png=01\;35:\*.tif=01\;35:; export LS_COLORS
1598MACHTYPE=i386-redhat-linux-gnu; export MACHTYPE
1599MAIL=/var/spool/mail/root; export MAIL
1600INPUTRC=/etc/inputrc; export INPUTRC
1601BASH_ENV=/root/.bashrc; export BASH_ENV
1602LANG=en_US; export LANG
1603LOGNAME=root; export LOGNAME
1604SHLVL=1; export SHLVL
1605II_SYSTEM=/usr/local/ingres; export II_SYSTEM
1606USERNAME=root; export USERNAME
1607HOSTTYPE=i386; export HOSTTYPE
1608OSTYPE=linux-gnu; export OSTYPE
1609HISTSIZE=1000; export HISTSIZE
1610LAMHELPFILE=/etc/lam/lam-helpfile; export LAMHELPFILE
1611PVM_ROOT=/usr/share/pvm3; export PVM_ROOT
1612HOME=/root; export HOME
1613SSH_ASKPASS=/usr/libexec/openssh/gnome-ssh-askpass;
1614export SSH_ASKPASS
1615PATH=/usr/local/ingres/ingres/bin:/usr/local/ingres/ingres/utility:/usr/kerberos/sbin:/usr/kerberos/bin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin/X11:/usr/X11R6/bin:/root/bin; export PATH
1616cd /root || {
1617echo 'Execution directory inaccessible' >&2
1618exit 1
1619}
1620screen -m -d mondoarchive -D -Ow 10 -S /home/mondo/ \
1621-T /home/mondo/ -g -E "\"/home/cdaly/GIS/W2K /home/mondo/\"" -9
1622#done
1623
1624</screen>
1625<para>
1626 The crucial line is this one:
1627</para>
1628<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1629<row>
1630<entry>
1631 screen -m -d mondoarchive -D -Ow 10 -S /home/mondo/ -T /home/mondo/ -g -E "\"/home/cdaly/GIS/W2K /home/mondo/\"" -9
1632</entry>
1633</row>
1634</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1635<para>
1636This uses 'screen -m -d' to <quote>-m -d Start screen in "detached" mode. This creates a new session
1637 but doesn't attach to it. This is useful for system startup scripts.
1638 (From 'man screen')
1639</quote>
1640</para>
1641<para>
1642 When screen starts, it will be in the background and "detached".
1643</para>
1644</sect3>
1645<sect3><title>Run the thing with cron</title>
1646<para>
1647 To get the whole thing running, do:
1648</para>
1649<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1650<row>
1651<entry>
1652 crontab -e
1653 </entry>
1654</row>
1655</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1656<para>
1657and add the following lines:
1658</para>
1659<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1660<row>
1661<entry>
1662&num; run mondoarchive at 23:59 weekdays
1663</entry>
1664</row>
1665<row>
1666 <entry>
166759 23 * * 1-5 /root/mondo-cronscript
1668</entry>
1669</row>
1670</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1671<para>
1672 Your mondoarchive job will run at 23:59 monday-friday.
1673</para>
1674<para>
1675DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE TAPES!
1676</para>
1677</sect3>
1678<sect3><title>Getting at it...</title>
1679<para>
1680Once your cron job is running regularly, you'll want to get to
1681 it to change tapes and check status etc.
1682</para>
1683<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1684<row>
1685<entry>
1686screen -r
1687</entry>
1688</row>
1689</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1690<para>
1691attaches to the running screen where you can change CDs etc
1692</para>
1693<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1694<row>
1695<entry>
1696&lt;CTRL&gt;-a d
1697</entry>
1698</row>
1699</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1700<para>
1701detaches the running screen again.
1702</para>
1703</sect3>
1704<sect3><title>Caveat</title>
1705<para>
1706The script generated by 'at' is unique to the user/machine combination.
1707 You MUST regenerate it on each machine where it will be used. Using
1708 the one above will NOT work for you. MAKE YOUR OWN!
1709</para>
1710</sect3>
1711</sect2>
1712</sect1>
1713</chapter>
1714
1715<chapter id="compare">
1716<title>Compare</title>
1717<para>Before you trust your backup CD, make sure your BIOS can boot
1718CD (and that it is configured to do so).</para>
1719<itemizedlist>
1720<listitem>
1721<para>Boot from the first CD.</para>
1722</listitem>
1723<listitem>
1724<para>Type:</para>
1725</listitem>
1726</itemizedlist>
1727<para></para>
1728<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1729<row>
1730<entry>
1731
1732LILO: compare
1733
1734</entry>
1735</row>
1736</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1737
1738<para>Follow the on-screen instructions. This will compare your
1739backup against your original file system.</para>
1740<para>FYI, no bad archives have been created since May 2000. Having
1741said that, I would still encourage you to run Compare before
1742trusting the backups.</para>
1743<para>To view the file differences, look at the file
1744'/tmp/changed.txt'. Normal differences include logs and other
1745dynamic system files that changed during the time of the backup
1746process. If only a few files differ - e.g. files in /var, files
1747ending in '&amp;#732;', logs, temporary files, /etc/mtab,
1748/etc/adjtimex - then you know the archives are good. Your logs will
1749change over time, too. Bear in mind that a difference between the
1750backup and the live copy does not&nbsp;indicate a flaw in Mondo. It
1751indicates that you or your filesystem changed the files, so the
1752backup is no longer 100% up to date. However, that is inevitable,
1753as your filesystem changes from moment to moment (which is why you
1754back it up regularly).</para>
1755
1756</chapter>
1757
1758<chapter id="restore">
1759<title>Restore</title>
1760
1761<sect1 id="restore-overview">
1762<title>Overview</title>
1763
1764<para>I hope you don't have to restore from scratch very often.
1765It's nerve-wracking until you realize that Mondo's restore engine
1766is very reliable.
1767</para>
1768<para>If you find that you cannot make your PC boot from the CD,
1769take heart: the first backup media of each set contains disk
1770images to give you the same functionality as this media (minus the
1771archives, of course) on other boot media. Remember, your Mondo CD is a
1772fully functional CD-based mini-distribution as well as a recovery
1773CD.</para>
1774<para>You can choose from the following modes:</para>
1775
1776<variablelist>
1777<varlistentry><term>Interactive</term>
1778<listitem><para>Restore step-by-step, or restore a subset of the
1779archives. This is the method you should mainly use for your
1780recovery needs.</para>
1781</listitem></varlistentry>
1782<varlistentry><term>Nuke</term>
1783<listitem><para>Wipe your drives and restore everything,
1784automatically and unattended. Warning: This does exactly what is
1785says, so be careful using it.</para>
1786</listitem></varlistentry>
1787<varlistentry><term>Expert</term>
1788<listitem><para>Boot to a shell prompt. If you want to do anything
1789creative, you should boot into Expert Mode. It's called expert, I
1790think that says it all.</para>
1791</listitem>
1792</varlistentry>
1793</variablelist>
1794
1795<para>If the CD is not found during the initial restore CD boot
1796attempt, reboot the PC a second time prior to reporting failure.
1797Occasional timing errors and hardware/software/system conflicts do
1798occur.</para>
1799</sect1>
1800
1801<sect1 id="restore-tips">
1802<title>Tips and Tricks</title>
1803
1804<para>Ideally, restore your system to a spare hard drive to test
1805the integrity and reliability of your disks. To do that, either
1806edit your mountlist to make the devices point to your spare hard
1807drive, or swap your hard drive cables between boots.</para>
1808<para>At a bare minimum, compare your CD against your file system
1809before you decide whether to trust them.</para>
1810<para>To test Mondo's ability to handle your LILO or GRUB boot
1811loader and accompanying configuration file:</para>
1812<itemizedlist>
1813<listitem>
1814<para>Boot from the backup CD into Expert Mode</para>
1815</listitem>
1816<listitem>
1817<para>Type:</para>
1818</listitem>
1819</itemizedlist>
1820<para></para>
1821<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1822<row>
1823<entry>
1824
1825bash# mondorestore -Z mbr
1826
1827</entry>
1828</row>
1829</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1830
1831<itemizedlist>
1832<listitem>
1833<para>To fix any mess it made (not that it should) type:</para>
1834</listitem>
1835</itemizedlist>
1836<para></para>
1837<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1838<row>
1839<entry>
1840 bash# mount-me
1841</entry>
1842</row>
1843<row>
1844<entry>
1845 bash# chroot /mnt/RESTORING
1846 </entry>
1847</row>
1848<row>
1849<entry>
1850 </entry>
1851</row>
1852<row>
1853<entry>
1854bash# lilo OR grub-install '(hd0)'
1855 </entry>
1856</row>
1857<row>
1858<entry>
1859bash# exit
1860</entry>
1861</row>
1862<row>
1863<entry>
1864 bash# unmount-me
1865
1866</entry>
1867</row>
1868</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1869
1870<itemizedlist>
1871<listitem>
1872<para>If it did not work then please copy /tmp/mondorestore.log to
1873to your hard disk, USB key, ..., gzip it and e-mail it to the
1874&ML;.</para>
1875</listitem>
1876</itemizedlist>
1877
1878<sect2>
1879 <title>Barebones (Nuke) Restore</title>
1880<para>Imagine that your hard drives happen to be wiped,
1881deliberately or accidentally. Or, imagine that you want to clone
1882your existing operating system. In either case, you want to run in
1883Nuke Mode.</para>
1884<para>If you want to wipe everything and restore your whole system
1885from CD, please:</para>
1886<itemizedlist>
1887<listitem>
1888<para>Use the -H option when invoking mondoarchive</para>
1889</listitem>
1890<listitem>
1891<para>Boot from the first Mondo CD</para>
1892</listitem>
1893<listitem>
1894<para>Press RESTORE&lt;enter&gt;</para>
1895</listitem>
1896<listitem>
1897<para>Insert the subsequent CD when asked</para>
1898</listitem>
1899<listitem>
1900<para>Watch the screen for errors</para>
1901</listitem>
1902</itemizedlist>
1903<para>That's it. The restoration process for tape or NFS users is
1904similarly easy: just boot, answer the on-screen prompts, and
1905wait.</para>
1906<para>Now, should something go wrong, you will be able to examine
1907/tmp/mondorestore.log to see what happened. All is not lost. You
1908can fdisk and format the partitions yourself, using the tools that
1909come with the CD. You can then run mondorestore in Interactive Mode
1910and say 'no' when asked if you want Mondo to partition/format your
1911drives.</para>
1912<para>If you want to see exactly what Mondo is doing while it is
1913restoring, press &lt;Alt&gt;&lt;left cursor&gt; to view its
1914logfile, in a virtual console, scrolling past.</para>
1915</sect2>
1916<sect2>
1917<title>Interactive Restore</title>
1918<para>Interactive Mode is for people who have lost a subset of data
1919from their live file system, or perhaps who have lost some data
1920from their latest backup and want to restore a subset of data from
1921an earlier backup. If you want to restore only some files or if you
1922do not want to prep/format your drives, then you should boot into
1923Interactive Mode. The interactive mode will provide an 'Editing
1924mountlist screen' that allows you to setup a different disk
1925geometry.</para>
1926<para>To move up and down between partitions in the 'Editing
1927mountlist screen', use the Up and Down arrows. To move between the
1928main window and the buttons at the bottom, use the Left and Right
1929cursor keys. TAB shifts focus from one screen item to the other in
1930a haphazard fashion, owing to the complexities of the Newt
1931library.</para>
1932<para>If you want to restore selectively, just press &lt;enter&gt;
1933and follow the on-screen instructions. You will be asked to say
1934yes/no to a range of questions.</para>
1935<para>If you are planning to modify your partition table, you would
1936do well to read up on the partition layout and the use of fdisk, it
1937gives you some pointers on how to best lay out partitions.
1938You can find a good guide at
1939<ulink url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/index.html">http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/index.html</ulink>
1940</para>
1941<para>If you want to restore a subset of the backup then:</para>
1942<itemizedlist>
1943<listitem>
1944<para>Boot from the CD</para>
1945</listitem>
1946<listitem>
1947<para>Type:</para>
1948</listitem>
1949</itemizedlist>
1950<para></para>
1951<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1952<row>
1953<entry>
1954
1955bash# interactive
1956
1957</entry>
1958</row>
1959</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1960
1961<itemizedlist>
1962<listitem>
1963<para>Then, after booting, answer the questions as follows:</para>
1964</listitem>
1965</itemizedlist>
1966<para></para>
1967<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1968<row>
1969<entry>
1970
1971 Do you want to partition your devices? no
1972 </entry>
1973</row>
1974<row>
1975<entry>
1976Do you want to format them? no
1977 </entry>
1978</row>
1979<row>
1980<entry>
1981Do you want to restore everything? no
1982 </entry>
1983</row>
1984<row>
1985<entry>
1986Do you want to restore something? yes
1987 </entry>
1988</row>
1989<row>
1990<entry>
1991Which path do you want to restore? /mydata [e.g.]
1992 </entry>
1993</row>
1994<row>
1995<entry>
1996Do you want to run LILO to setup your boot sectors? Yes
1997
1998</entry>
1999</row>
2000</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2001
2002</sect2>
2003
2004<sect2>
2005<title>Expert Restore</title>
2006<para>If you are planning to modify your partition table, you would
2007do well to read up on the partition layout and the use of fdisk, it
2008gives you some could pointers on how to best lay out partitions.
2009You can find good a guide at
2010<ulink url="http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini/Partition/index.html">http://www.ibiblio.o
2011rg/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini/Partition/index.html</ulink></para>
2012<para>To restore manually, please:</para>
2013<itemizedlist>
2014<listitem>
2015<para>Boot from the first CD, then type:</para>
2016</listitem>
2017</itemizedlist>
2018<para></para>
2019<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2020<row>
2021<entry>
2022
2023bash# expert
2024
2025</entry>
2026
2027</row>
2028</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2029
2030<itemizedlist>
2031<listitem>
2032<para>Then do whatever you like. :) You may type the following, of
2033course:</para>
2034</listitem>
2035</itemizedlist>
2036<para></para>
2037<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2038<row>
2039<entry>
2040
2041bash# mondorestore
2042
2043</entry>
2044</row>
2045</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2046</sect2>
2047
2048<sect2>
2049<title>Modified partitions - Restore to a different disk geometry</title>
2050<para>One of the nice things about Mondo is that it lets you wipe
2051your existing system and restore it in any layout you like (within
2052reason). You can move from non-RAID to RAID,install and utilize
2053additional drives, move from ext2 to ReiserFS, etc., all without
2054risking the loss of data.</para>
2055<para>If the user excluded a particular partition from backup and
2056specifically excluded it from the mountlist itself using -E then
2057Mondo will insert a small (32MB) partition at restore-time, in
2058order to avoid having to re-jig fstab, the partition table,
2059etc.</para>
2060<para>To do this:</para>
2061<itemizedlist>
2062<listitem>
2063<para>Boot into Expert Mode, then type:</para>
2064</listitem>
2065</itemizedlist>
2066<para></para>
2067<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2068<row>
2069<entry>
2070
2071bash# mondorestore
2072
2073</entry>
2074</row>
2075</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2076
2077<itemizedlist>
2078<listitem>
2079<para>(edit the mountlist using the on-screen editor)</para>
2080</listitem>
2081</itemizedlist>
2082<para>If you want to move from ext2 to ReiserFS, you can do it here
2083(so long as your kernel supports ReiserFS). Ditto for XFS, JFS or
2084ext3, ext4.</para>
2085<para>Mondorestore will try to modify your /etc/fstab to reflect
2086changes you have made to the mountlist. If you are not using LILO,
2087you can still create your own /mnt/RESTORING/etc/lilo.conf and run
2088lilo -r /mnt/RESTORING to configure your boot sectors and Master
2089Boot Record.</para>
2090<para>Mondo (technically, Mindi on behalf of Mondo) creates a file
2091called a mountlist. This can be found on the ramdisk at
2092/var/cache/mindi/mountlist.txt; it looks something like this:</para>
2093<para></para>
2094<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2095<row>
2096<entry>
2097
2098 /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows vfat 4096000
2099</entry>
2100</row>
2101<row>
2102<entry>
2103 /dev/hda5 / reiserfs 6023000
2104</entry>
2105</row>
2106<row>
2107<entry>
2108 /dev/hda6 /tmp xfs 955000
2109</entry>
2110</row>
2111<row>
2112<entry>
2113 /dev/hda7 /usr ext3 4096000
2114
2115</entry>
2116</row>
2117</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2118
2119<para>It is fairly easy to understand the list. Each line refers to
2120a single device/partition. The line format is:</para>
2121<para></para>
2122<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2123<row>
2124<entry>
2125
2126&lt;device&gt; &lt;partition&gt; &lt;format&gt; &lt;Kilobytes&gt;
2127
2128</entry>
2129</row>
2130</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2131
2132<para>If you have added a hard drive and want to take advantage of
2133the additional space, you could amend the above mountlist to
2134read:</para>
2135<para></para>
2136<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2137<row>
2138<entry>
2139
2140 /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows vfat 6096000
2141</entry>
2142</row>
2143<row>
2144<entry>
2145 /dev/hda5 / reiserfs 9123000
2146</entry>
2147</row>
2148<row>
2149<entry>
2150 /dev/hda6 /tmp xfs 955000
2151</entry>
2152</row>
2153<row>
2154<entry>
2155 /dev/hdb1 /usr ext3 8192000
2156</entry>
2157</row>
2158<row>
2159<entry>
2160 /dev/hdb2 /home xfs 8192000
2161
2162</entry>
2163</row>
2164</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2165
2166<para>This assumes that your old hard drive is /dev/hda and the new
2167hard drive is /dev/hdb.</para>
2168<para>Or, if you want to add RAID support, create a new
2169/etc/raidtab on the ramdisk (which is beyond the scope of this
2170HOWTO) and then write a mountlist like this:</para>
2171<para></para>
2172<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2173<row>
2174<entry>
2175
2176 /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows vfat 6096000
2177</entry>
2178</row>
2179<row>
2180<entry>
2181 /dev/md0 / reiserfs 9123000
2182</entry>
2183</row>
2184<row>
2185<entry>
2186 /dev/md1 /tmp xfs 955000
2187</entry>
2188</row>
2189<row>
2190<entry>
2191 /dev/md2 /usr ext3 8192000
2192</entry>
2193</row>
2194<row>
2195<entry>
2196 /dev/md3 /home xfs 8192000
2197
2198</entry>
2199</row>
2200</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2201
2202<para>So long as your /etc/raidtab file is sane, Mondo can
2203automatically partition and format your disks for you, including
2204the RAID devices.</para>
2205<para>Once you have finished editing /var/cache/mindi/mountlist.txt using
2206mondorestore's built-in editor then you may choose 'OK'. Please
2207note that this will not write anything to your hard disk. You will
2208only reformat or repartition your disks if you say 'Yes' when asked
2209if you want to do those things.</para>
2210</sect2>
2211
2212<sect2>
2213<title>Advanced</title>
2214<para>It is now possible to restore to a live filesystem using
2215Mondo. In other words, you do not have to boot your PC from your
2216media in order to restore files. Mondo was originally designed
2217for disaster recovery - situations in which you cannot boot your
2218PC. If you can boot your PC, it is not really a disaster, is it? :)
2219Well, if you have wiped out your priceless collection of "MTV's
2220Bjork Unplugged" MP3's, perhaps it is. Anyway, just type this as
2221root</para>
2222<para></para>
2223<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2224<row>
2225<entry>
2226
2227bash# mondorestore
2228
2229</entry>
2230</row>
2231</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2232
2233<para></para>
2234<informaltable><tgroup cols="2"><tbody>
2235<row>
2236<entry>
2237<ulink url="images/rest1.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2238<imagedata fileref="images/rest1-mini">
2239</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2240</ulink>
2241</entry>
2242<entry>
2243Choose your type of backup media. The live restoration process is
2244very similar to what you'll experience if you type mondorestore
2245with no parameters after booting from a Mondo media.
2246</entry>
2247</row>
2248<row>
2249<entry>
2250<ulink url="images/rest2.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2251<imagedata fileref="images/rest2-mini">
2252</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2253</ulink>
2254</entry>
2255<entry>
2256Hit 'OK' when you have inserted the tape/CD. If you generated a
2257tape backup, the tape itself should be enough. If you generated a
2258CD backup, the first CD should be enough. Otherwise, you may need
2259the boot media.
2260</entry>
2261</row>
2262<row>
2263<entry>
2264<ulink url="images/rest3.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2265<imagedata fileref="images/rest3-mini">
2266</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2267</ulink>
2268</entry>
2269<entry>
2270Flag the files and directories you wish to restore. Use the 'More'
2271and 'Less' buttons to open and close subdirectories.
2272</entry>
2273</row>
2274<row>
2275<entry>
2276<ulink url="images/rest4.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2277<imagedata fileref="images/rest4-mini">
2278</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2279</ulink>
2280</entry>
2281<entry>
2282Specify the location to restore the files to. In general, '/' is
2283appropriate. If you do not want to overwrite newer versions of the
2284files you are restoring then specify /tmp/BKP or similar as the
2285restore path.
2286</entry>
2287</row>
2288<row>
2289<entry>
2290<ulink url="images/rest5.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2291<imagedata fileref="images/rest5-mini">
2292</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2293</ulink>
2294</entry>
2295<entry>
2296Mondorestore will retrieve configuration information from the
2297media. (The sample screen is for tape users. CD users will see
2298something different.)
2299</entry>
2300</row>
2301<row>
2302<entry>
2303<ulink url="images/rest6.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2304<imagedata fileref="images/rest6-mini">
2305</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2306</ulink>
2307</entry>
2308<entry>
2309Data will be restored to the hard disk - first the regular files,
2310then any big (32MB or greater) files in the restore set.
2311</entry>
2312</row>
2313</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2314
2315<para>I hope this manual was useful for you.</para>
2316</sect2>
2317</sect1>
2318
2319</chapter>
2320
2321<chapter id="faq">
2322<title>FAQ</title>
2323
2324<sect1 id="faq-overview">
2325<title>Overview</title>
2326<para>Are the errors from Mindi or Mondo? Look at
2327 /var/log/mondoarchive.log or /var/log/mindi.log (if run alone). Pipe
2328screen errors which relate to the creation of boot disk(s) and or
2329data disk(s) to a text file.</para>
2330<para>See the &WWW; for details. If you are going to e-mail
2331&ML; then
2332please attach that text file (zipped!) and give :</para>
2333<itemizedlist>
2334<listitem>
2335<para>Your kernel version (uname -a)</para>
2336</listitem>
2337<listitem>
2338 <para>Your Linux distro's name and version (/etc/distro-release)</para>
2339</listitem>
2340<listitem>
2341 <para>Whether your kernel supports initrd and loopfs; it should! (grep -E '^CONFIG_BLK_DEV_LOOP|^CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD' /usr/src/linux/.config </para>
2342</listitem>
2343<listitem>
2344<para>What sort of PC you are using, including hard disk configurations (results of dmidecode, lshw, fdisk -l are useful here)</para>
2345</listitem>
2346</itemizedlist>
2347<para>Mondo is freely available under the GPL and you are given it for no charge.
2348When you e-mail the &ML;, please bear that in mind.</para>
2349</sect1>
2350<sect1 id="faq-general">
2351<title>General Questions</title>
2352
2353<qandaset>
2354<qandaentry>
2355 <question><para>Q: What is "Mindi"?</para></question>
2356 <answer>
2357<para>A: Mindi, a.k.a. Mindi-Linux, makes a mini-distribution from
2358your kernel, modules, modules, tools and libraries. It can also
2359generate an El Torito 2.88/5.76MB boot disk image. Mondo uses Mindi to
2360create a mini-distro, then boots from it and runs on it.</para>
2361</answer>
2362</qandaentry>
2363<qandaentry>
2364 <question><para>Q: Why is it called "Mondo"?</para></question>
2365 <answer>
2366<para>A: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles described cool things as
2367'mondo'. Hugo Rabson wasn't sure what to call this project. 'Faust' was one
2368idea he had, partly as a dig at his former boss who practically owned
2369him because of his legal status at the time. In the end, he chose
2370something short and distinctive.</para>
2371</answer>
2372</qandaentry>
2373<qandaentry>
2374<question><para>Q: Mondo does not work on my system. It
2375 keels over and dies. What's wrong?</para></question>
2376<answer>
2377 <para>A: It works on Red Hat 7.x/8/9, RHEL 2.1/3/4, Mandrakelinux 8.x/9.x/10.x/200x, Fedora 4/5/6, Debian 3.x, most flavors
2378 of SuSE/SLES, some flavors of Slackware, etc.
2379The more distributions we support, the more moving targets we have to
2380hit. Please bear this in mind when e-mailing the list. :) If you
2381would like to help us by beta-testing Mondo (or Mindi) on your PC
2382then we would be very interested in working with you to work around
2383the eccentricities of your Linux distro. However, rest assured, 90%
2384of the bugs reported are actually symptoms of FooLinux X.Y's
2385unique way of doing things.</para>
2386<para>Please send a copy of <filename>/var/log/mondoarchive.log</filename> to the &ML;
2387along with a description of your distro, your kernel, etc.
2388Oh, and before sending it, please try to read it.</para>
2389</answer>
2390</qandaentry>
2391<qandaentry>
2392 <question><para>Q: What if the error is in Mindi?</para></question>
2393 <answer>
2394 <para>A: Please send a copy of <filename>/var/log/mindi.log</filename> to the &ML;
2395along with a description of your distro, your kernel, etc.
2396Oh, and before sending it, please read it as it is much easier to understand it.</para>
2397</answer>
2398</qandaentry>
2399<qandaentry>
2400 <question><para>Q: Can I trust Mondo?</para></question>
2401 <answer>
2402<para>A: Mondo has generated reliable archives since May 2000.
2403Lost data occured by using bad CD-R disks and not verifying their
2404contents. Some users have not tried booting from their CD until
2405crunch time. Remember to boot into Compare Mode to verify the
2406backup before you trust it. If Mondo did not work, you would not be
2407reading this. If it does not work for you, your kernel is usually
2408the culprit. Check <link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux Kernel
2409support</link> to see what your kernel should support. Please
2410e-mail the list if you need some help with this.</para>
2411</answer>
2412</qandaentry>
2413<qandaentry>
2414 <question><para>Q: How do I report a bug?</para></question>
2415 <answer>
2416 <para>A: E-mail the bug report (mondo.err.xxxxx.tgz) to the &ML;.
2417 Ok you've read it already but it's really important if you want help.
2418If you don't send a logfile then there isn't a lot that we can do for you, so
2419PLEASE include a logfile at the very least.</para>
2420</answer>
2421</qandaentry>
2422<qandaentry>
2423<question><para>Q: I think Mondo should (...insert
2424suggestion here...) and I have rewritten it accordingly. Would you
2425like to see my patch?</para></question>
2426<answer>
2427<para>A: Absolutely! :-) The best way for you to make Mondo do what
2428you want is to modify it and then send the patch. That way, we
2429can all benefit.</para>
2430</answer>
2431</qandaentry>
2432<qandaentry>
2433<question><para>Q: I think Mondo should (...insert
2434suggestion here...); will you incorporate this feature for me,
2435please?</para></question>
2436<answer>
2437<para>A: Please enter the suggestion in our feature system at &WWW;
2438</para>
2439</answer>
2440</qandaentry>
2441<qandaentry>
2442<question><para>Q: Mondo says, "XXX is missing," and
2443 then terminates. What's wrong?</para></question>
2444<answer>
2445<para>A: A good Linux distribution should contain XXX but the
2446designers, in their infinite wisdom, decided not to include that
2447particular tool. Check <ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml#dependencies">Related
2448 Linux Packages</ulink> and install the missing package. If that
2449fails, contact the vendor/distributor/manufacturer/designer of your
2450distro.</para>
2451</answer>
2452</qandaentry>
2453<qandaentry>
2454<question><para>Q: Can Mondo handle multi-CD backups and
2455 restores?</para></question>
2456<answer>
2457<para>A: Yes, up to twenty CD per set. This 20-CD limit results
2458from laziness on mondorescue's part. I'll be removed in the future. However, if
2459your system occupies more than 20 CD, may it's time for another type of media ?
2460</para>
2461</answer>
2462</qandaentry>
2463<qandaentry>
2464<question><para>Q: Can Mondo handle Linux/Windows
2465 dual-boot systems?</para></question>
2466<answer>
2467<para>A: Yes. If your system currently boots into Linux or Windows
2468via LILO, you can backup and restore both OSes at the same time
2469using Mondo. If you are using NTFS then add the switch, '-x
2470&lt;device&gt;'.</para>
2471</answer>
2472</qandaentry>
2473<qandaentry>
2474<question><para>Q: Can Mondo backup Windows-only
2475 systems?</para></question>
2476<answer>
2477<para>A: Not at the moment.
2478</para>
2479</answer>
2480</qandaentry>
2481<qandaentry>
2482 <question><para>Q: Does Mondo support LVM?</para></question>
2483 <answer>
2484<para>A: Mondo supports LVM v1 and v2. Mondo backs up and restores your
2485existing setup but it does not make it easy for you to change your
2486LVM configuration, at the moment. You have to edit <filename>/tmp/i-want-my-lvm</filename> at boot-time
2487to do that.</para>
2488</answer>
2489</qandaentry>
2490<qandaentry>
2491<question><para>Q: What if I don't use LILO? What if I
2492 use GRUB?</para></question>
2493<answer>
2494<para>A: GRUB is supported by Mondo.</para>
2495</answer>
2496</qandaentry>
2497<qandaentry>
2498<question><para>Q: I get the error, 'Cannot find
2499 /tmp/dev.0' or 'Cannot mount device 0x0701'; what do I do?</para></question>
2500<answer>
2501 <para>A: Please free up <filename>/dev/loop0</filename> using 'losetup /dev/loop0 -d' to
2502unmount that loop device. If your OS will not let you do that,
2503contact your local support group or Linux vendor.</para>
2504</answer>
2505</qandaentry>
2506<qandaentry>
2507<question><para>Q: Can I create a Mondo CD and then use
2508 it to create an archive of any OS on any PC?</para></question>
2509<answer>
2510<para>A: Not yet. You can use Mondo to backup Linux or
2511Linux/Windows dual boot. One day, Mondo will let you backup
2512partitions it can't read or write, by treating each partition as
2513one long file to be backed up. This file will be chopped,
2514compressed and archived like any other big file.</para>
2515</answer>
2516</qandaentry>
2517<qandaentry>
2518<question><para>Q: Why do you insist on putting media
2519disk images on Mondo CD? They waste space and I never use them. The
2520CD works just fine, so why keep the media disk images?</para>
2521</question>
2522<answer>
2523<para>A: Because. It helped us in the past. If you
2524really, truly want them gone then please submit a patch to make
2525them optional.</para>
2526</answer>
2527</qandaentry>
2528<qandaentry>
2529<question><para>Q: Why doesn't the Mondo project have a
2530cool-looking animal logo?</para></question>
2531<answer>
2532<para>A: Excellent question! Please submit graphics of candidate
2533 animal logos!</para>
2534 </answer>
2535</qandaentry>
2536<qandaentry>
2537<question><para>Q: Is there a Mondo user 'Code of
2538 Conduct?</para></question>
2539<answer>
2540<para>A: Yes. Read the HOWTO. Submit patches. Recommend realistic
2541improvements. Be courteous to other users on the discussion list.
2542Do not whine.</para>
2543</answer>
2544</qandaentry>
2545</qandaset>
2546</sect1>
2547
2548<sect1 id="faq-booting">
2549<title>Booting and Kernel related Questions</title>
2550<qandaset>
2551<qandaentry>
2552<question><para>Q: When I try to boot from the Mondo CD,
2553 it says, "UPGRADE YOUR RAM". What does that mean?</para></question>
2554<answer>
2555<para>A: Recompile your kernel and add Virtual memory file system
2556support. Take a look at <link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux
2557Kernel support</link> to see what your kernel must support. (Of
2558course, if your PC has less than 64MB of RAM, you could always...
2559what's the phrase? I know, upgrade your RAM!)</para>
2560</answer>
2561</qandaentry>
2562<qandaentry>
2563<question><para>Q: When I try to boot from the Mondo CD,
2564it says something about not finding my CD-ROM drive and then it
2565blames the kernel. What does that mean?</para></question>
2566<answer>
2567 <para>A: Your kernel must support initrd, loopfs, IDE|SCSI|USB CD-ROM's, and
2568ramdisks. Take a look at <link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux
2569Kernel support</link> to see what your kernel must support. If
2570your kernel does not support these things, Mondo will not boot from
2571your CD. However, when running Mindi, you may choose to use _its_
2572kernel instead of your own.
2573</para>
2574</answer>
2575</qandaentry>
2576<qandaentry>
2577<question><para>Q: The LILO Mondo media takes ages to
2578 boot. How can I speed it up?</para></question>
2579<answer>
2580<para>A: Edit mindi (it's a shell script, btw) and change
2581LILO_OPTIONS="" to LILO_OPTIONS="-c". This enables map compaction
2582in lilo and speeds up booting, for more info see the lilo man
2583page.</para>
2584</answer>
2585</qandaentry>
2586<qandaentry>
2587<question><para>Q: Why won't Mondo boot from my CD?
2588It says my kernel is flawed/outdated/ whatever, and when I wrote to
2589the ML, they told me the same thing... but I still don't get it. I
2590mean, my kernel works for everything else. Why not Mondo?</para></question>
2591<answer>
2592<para>A: Because Mondo makes a boot disk using your kernel. I bet
2593your other software doesn't do that. Also, not all kernels are
2594suitable for boot disks. I'm sorry but that's Life. Upgrade your
2595kernel and/or recompile it. Take a look at
2596<link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux Kernel support</link> to see
2597what your kernel must support.</para>
2598</answer>
2599</qandaentry>
2600<qandaentry>
2601<question><para>Q: Why do I only need a boot disk if I'm
2602 using a tape drive? Where are the data disks?</para></question>
2603<answer>
2604<para>A: On the tape. :-) The first 32MB of the tape will be set
2605aside for a large tarball containing the data disks, a list of all
2606files backed up, and other sundries. If Mondo and Mindi do their
2607respective jobs then you won't need additional media, just the
2608boot media and the tape(s).</para>
2609<para>As of 2.2.6 mondorescue does support OBDR for tapes.
2610 So if you have a tape supporting that protocol such as HP tape readers, you may directly boot from the tape as well.</para>
2611</answer>
2612</qandaentry>
2613<qandaentry>
2614<question><para>Q: Why does it say, "Process accounting
2615 FAILED" when I reboot?</para></question>
2616<answer>
2617<para>A: You were using Process Accounting. Red Hat (or whichever
2618distro you are using) does not provide a startup/shutdown script
2619yet. So, when you try to backup the process log, it just grows and
2620grows as Mondo tries to back it up. Mondo doesn't back it up
2621anymore and that's why. The unfortunate side-effect is... well,
2622what you see on your screen. Type 'touch /var/log/pacct' and then
2623'paccton' to fix the error message.</para>
2624</answer>
2625</qandaentry>
2626<qandaentry>
2627<question><para>Q: Why does it say,
2628&amp;#8220;request_module[block-major-1]: Root fs not mounted VFS:
2629Cannot open root device "100" or 01:00 Please append a correct
2630"root=" boot option kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on
263101:00&amp;#8221; when i boot from the CD?</para></question>
2632<answer>
2633<para>A: Recompile your kernel and add initrd support. Take a look
2634at <link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux Kernel support</link> to
2635see what your kernel must support.</para>
2636</answer>
2637</qandaentry>
2638
2639<qandaentry>
2640<question><para id="TAPENICE">Q: My tape drive
2641doesn't play nicely with Mondo at boot-time. What do I do?</para></question>
2642<answer><para>A: Play with the 'mt' command (package mt-st). Use its setblksize and
2643defblksize switches to reconfigure your tape drive if necessary.
2644Some tape drives just are painful. If yours is one of
2645them then God help you. Mondo can handle any tape drive whose drive
2646and firmware can handle fopen(), fwrite(), fread() and fclose().
2647Mondo uses standard C libraries to talk to your tape streamer. If
2648your tape streamer can't handle that then you had better call a
2649priest. Either that or ask for a refund.
2650</para>
2651</answer>
2652</qandaentry>
2653</qandaset>
2654</sect1>
2655
2656<sect1 id="faq-install">
2657<title>Installation related Questions</title>
2658<qandaset>
2659<qandaentry>
2660<question><para>Q: Why do I get, "newt.h not found," or
2661"popt.h not found," several times when I try to install
2662Mondo?</para></question>
2663<answer>
2664<para>A: You have not installed libnewt and/or libnewt-devel.
2665Please do so. Check <ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml#dependencies">Related Linux
2666Packages</ulink> to see what Mondo requires and where you can get
2667tarballs and RPM's. Make sure you are using the right version of
2668newt/libnewt. Read the error messages carefully.</para>
2669</answer>
2670</qandaentry>
2671<qandaentry>
2672<question><para>Q: Newt won't compile when I try. What's
2673 the problem?</para></question>
2674<answer>
2675<para>A: You are probably missing popt.h, which newt needs to
2676compile, it can be found in the 'popt' package. Check your
2677distribution and see if they have popt, if not check
2678<ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml#dependencies">Related Linux Packages</ulink> to
2679see where you can get it.</para>
2680</answer>
2681</qandaentry>
2682<qandaentry>
2683<question><para>Q: I've just used up 6 CD-R, only to
2684 find that Mondo won't boot!</para></question>
2685<answer>
2686<para>A: You should have used CD-RW. ;) In the HOWTO, it gives
2687instructions on how to create a test CD (one, not six).</para>
2688</answer>
2689</qandaentry>
2690<qandaentry>
2691<question>
2692<para id="PACKREQ">Q: Lots of packages,
2693required by Mondo, are missing from my system. What do I do?</para>
2694</question>
2695<answer>
2696<para>
2697A: Install them. :) If you are using RPM or deb
2698then you'll be told which packages you need. Mondo offers a lot of
2699those packages on its
2700<ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml">Download</ulink>
2701web page.</para>
2702</answer>
2703</qandaentry>
2704</qandaset>
2705</sect1>
2706
2707<sect1 id="faq-hardware">
2708<title>Hardware related Questions</title>
2709<qandaset>
2710<qandaentry>
2711 <question><para>Q: Can Mondo handle CD-RW?</para></question>
2712 <answer>
2713<para>A: Yes. Use '-Ow &lt;speed&gt; &lt;device&gt;' to make it
2714work.</para>
2715</answer>
2716</qandaentry>
2717<qandaentry>
2718<question><para>Q: Does Mondo support tape
2719 drives?</para></question>
2720<answer>
2721 <para>A: Yes. See above.</para>
2722 <para>Of course, mondo will relay on the kernel to support your tape drive. So you should first check that your kernel found it correctly. Use for example one of the following commands:</para>
2723<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2724<row>
2725<entry>
2726 bash# dmesg | grep tape
2727</entry>
2728</row>
2729<row>
2730<entry>
2731 bash# cat /proc/scsi/scsi
2732</entry>
2733</row>
2734<row>
2735<entry>
2736 bash# mt -f /dev/st0 status
2737</entry>
2738</row>
2739</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2740
2741
2742</answer>
2743</qandaentry>
2744<qandaentry>
2745<question><para>Q: Does Mondo support my tape
2746 drive?</para></question>
2747<answer>
2748<para>A: If your tape drive and its firmware and the kernel-level
2749driver support fopen(), fread(), fwrite() and fclose() - standard C
2750library calls - then yes, Mondo should support it. If not, well,
2751you need a refund. :) Mondo plays nicely with any sane, sensible
2752drives. That's most of them, by the way. :) If your drive doesn't
2753play nicely with Mondo then you may try tinkering with setblksize
2754and defblksize using 'mt', or tweaking Mondo's block size by
2755recompiling it with make INTTAPE=4096 or INTTAPE=8192 or something.
2756Other than that, you need a priest or a refund.
2757Also, depending on the tape streamer model, a tape should be inserted
2758in the tape drive before starting mondoarchive, otherwise it may not
2759recognize the drive.</para>
2760</answer>
2761</qandaentry>
2762<qandaentry>
2763<question><para>Q: Sometimes, my laptop won't mount
2764 Mondo CD properly, or something. Umm...</para></question>
2765<answer>
2766<para>A: Please insert the CD, close the CD-ROM tray, wait a few
2767seconds and then press Enter to acknowledge insertion of the next
2768CD. Your laptop is on crack and is sucking a little too hard on the
2769pipe.</para>
2770</answer>
2771</qandaentry>
2772<qandaentry>
2773 <question><para>Q: Does Mondo support Hardware RAID?</para></question>
2774 <answer>
2775<para>A: Yes. You may backup and restore RAID systems. You may also
2776backup a non-RAID system and restore as RAID (or vice versa) by
2777using the mountlist editor to edit your RAID and non-RAID
2778partitions and their settings. Mondo will do the partitioning and
2779formatting for you.</para>
2780<para>Tested Raid controllers includes all those showing only classical devices
2781 such as /dev/sdx, and SmartArray cciss controllers.</para>
2782</answer>
2783</qandaentry>
2784<qandaentry>
2785<question><para>Q: Where is my CD burner, in SCSI terms?</para></question>
2786<answer>
2787<para>A: Type:</para>
2788<para></para>
2789<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2790<row>
2791 <entry>
2792 bash# cdrecord -scanbus
2793 </entry>
2794</row>
2795<row>
2796 <entry>
2797 bash# wodim --devices
2798 </entry>
2799</row>
2800</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2801<para>or for ATAPI type of devices on older kernel versions:</para>
2802<para></para>
2803<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2804<row>
2805 <entry>
2806 bash# cdrecord -scanbus dev=ATAPI
2807 </entry>
2808</row>
2809</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2810<para>you may replace ATAPI by ATA in the previous line with certain cdrecord versions and hadrware configurations</para>
2811
2812
2813<para>Find your CD burner's device# (e.g. '0,0,0'). Call Mondo with
2814the switch '-Oc &lt;speed&gt;' -d '&lt;device&gt;'. Or, if you feel
2815lucky, just use '-Oc 2'; Mondo will (a) assume you want to write at
28164x to a CD-R and (b) will do its best to find your CD burner.</para>
2817</answer>
2818</qandaentry>
2819<qandaentry>
2820 <question><para>Q: Can Mondo handle SCSI devices?</para></question>
2821 <answer>
2822<para>A: Mondo should be able to handle almost any hardware. So
2823long as your kernel and modules support it, Mindi will support it
2824and therefore so will Mondo.</para>
2825</answer>
2826</qandaentry>
2827<qandaentry>
2828 <question><para>Q: Why doesn't cdrecord -scanbus work ?</para></question>
2829 <answer>
2830 <para>A: If you have a 2.4.x kernel (typical example are fedora legacy kernels for redhat 7.X/8/9) and an IDE CDRW device, and the drive is not
2831listed when you run
2832
2833<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2834<row>
2835<entry>
2836bash# cdrecord -scanbus
2837</entry>
2838</row>
2839</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2840
2841try adding the following kernel option to your boot script to enable
2842SCSI emulation: hdx=ide-scsi, where "hdx" should be replaced with the
2843appropriate drive letter of the CDRW device, e.g., "hdc".
2844(Answer provided by Christopher Moriarity cdm7_at_cdc.gov)
2845</para>
2846</answer>
2847</qandaentry>
2848</qandaset>
2849</sect1>
2850
2851<sect1 id="faq-backup">
2852<title>Backup related Questions</title>
2853
2854<qandaset>
2855<qandaentry>
2856<question><para id="MMKM">Q: Mondo says, 'Cannot
2857 run mindi --makemountlist' and aborts. What do I do?</para></question>
2858<answer>
2859 <para>
2860 A: Look at <filename>/var/log/mindi.log</filename> and see what it
2861 says. Also, try typing 'mindi --makemountlist /var/cache/mindi/mountlist.txt'
2862to see what Mindi says. Send the log to the &ML; if you get stuck.
2863</para>
2864</answer>
2865</qandaentry>
2866<qandaentry>
2867<question><para>Q: Can Mondo burn CD as they are
2868 created?</para></question>
2869<answer>
2870<para>A: Yes. Use the '-Oc &lt;speed&gt;' switch. Use a negative
2871number for a dummy burn.</para>
2872</answer>
2873</qandaentry>
2874<qandaentry>
2875<question><para>Q: Mondo failed to burn my CD. It said
2876something like, "Error CDB A1 01 02 53 ..." and so on. What does
2877that mean?</para></question>
2878<answer>
2879<para>A: Cdrecord reported some serious errors while trying to burn
2880your CD. Check your CD burner, your CD-R and your kernel.</para>
2881</answer>
2882</qandaentry>
2883<qandaentry>
2884<question><para>Q: May I backup my system with one
2885 partition layout and restore with another?</para></question>
2886<answer>
2887<para>A: Yes. Boot in Interactive Mode and edit the mountlist using
2888the snazzy new mountlist editor. Mondo can now edit your RAID
2889partitions for you. Just open /dev/md0 (or whatever) and select
2890"RAID.." to start. Or, to add a RAID device:</para>
2891<itemizedlist>
2892<listitem>
2893<para>Add two or more partitions, of type and mountpoint
2894'raid'</para>
2895</listitem>
2896<listitem>
2897<para>Add device '/dev/md0' and click OK</para>
2898</listitem>
2899<listitem>
2900<para>Follow the prompts and your own common-sense :)</para>
2901</listitem>
2902</itemizedlist>
2903</answer>
2904</qandaentry>
2905<qandaentry>
2906<question><para>Q: Why does Mondo need so much free disk
2907 space?</para></question>
2908<answer>
2909 <para>A: Because it need space to create the archive files with afio, then
2910 again space to create the ISO images that you'll be able to burn.
2911</para>
2912</answer>
2913</qandaentry>
2914<qandaentry>
2915<question><para>Q: I am trying to do something clever,
2916e.g. write my ISO's to an NFS mount, and I get some weird error
2917messages. What do I do?</para></question>
2918<answer>
2919<para>A: Well, (a) use '-T /tmp' or '-T /home' or something in your
2920 call to Mondo. Oh, and (b) check the <filename>/etc/exports</filename> file on your NFS server
2921 and verify the exported filesystem is writable for the client, and relaunch exportfs -a.
2922</para>
2923</answer>
2924</qandaentry>
2925<qandaentry>
2926<question><para>Q: Can Mondo backup to data files on
2927 another partition, e.g. an NFS mount?</para></question>
2928<answer>
2929<para>A: Yes. Just backup as usual but add '-d /mnt/nfs' or
2930wherever your partition is mounted; don't use '-Oc' or '-Ot' at
2931all; just '-Oi -d /root'. Then, after booting from the media
2932which Mondo generates, you need to type 'ISO' at the
2933console.</para>
2934</answer>
2935</qandaentry>
2936<qandaentry>
2937<question><para>Q: Can Mondo backup _to_ an NFS
2938 partition, i.e. backup over a network? How about restoring?</para></question>
2939<answer>
2940<para>A: Yes. Use '-On &lt;mount&gt; &lt;directory&gt;'. Example:
2941</para>
2942<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2943<row>
2944<entry>
2945
2946 bash# mondoarchive -On nfs://192.168.1.3:/home/nfs
2947
2948</entry>
2949</row>
2950</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2951
2952</answer>
2953</qandaentry>
2954<qandaentry>
2955<question><para>Q: Does Mondo handle System or Hidden
2956 attributes when archiving Dos/Win files?</para></question>
2957<answer>
2958<para>A: No. It probably never will, either. Sorry.</para>
2959</answer>
2960</qandaentry>
2961</qandaset>
2962</sect1>
2963
2964<sect1 id="faq-compare">
2965<title>Compare related Questions</title>
2966
2967<qandaset>
2968<qandaentry>
2969<question><para>Q: When I compare my archives to my file
2970system, Mondo tells me there are differences or errors. Are the
2971archives bad?</para></question>
2972<answer>
2973 <para>A: Look at <filename>/tmp/changed.files</filename>; if the files are logfiles,
2974temp files or files which you think you may have changed recently
2975then the archives are simply out of date, albeit only by a few
2976minutes. Not a problem. However, if lots of files in /usr have
2977changed or if you get lots of errors then perhaps your CD, your
2978tapes or even your hardware could be to blame. Check your CD writer
2979or tape streamer.</para>
2980<para>Also, don't forget to review <filename>/var/log/mondoarchive.log</filename> for
2981more information.</para>
2982</answer>
2983</qandaentry>
2984</qandaset>
2985</sect1>
2986
2987<sect1 id="faq-restore">
2988<title>Restore related Questions</title>
2989<qandaset>
2990<qandaentry>
2991<question><para>Q: Can Mondo help me
2992 move/resize/re-allocate my partitions?</para></question>
2993<answer>
2994<para>A: Yes. Just backup your system in Interactive Mode using
2995Mondo. Edit the mountlist when prompted.</para>
2996</answer>
2997</qandaentry>
2998<qandaentry>
2999<question><para>Q: My zip drive is a SCSI drive. When I
3000restore, Mondo craps out, saying it can't mount the drive (because
3001there is no disk in it). What do I do?</para></question>
3002<answer>
3003<para>A: Restore in Interactive Mode. Delete the SCSI drive from
3004the mountlist before you restore. Then Mondo won't try to partition
3005or format it. Next time you backup, use -E /dev/sdd (or whatever
3006your zip drive is). The /dev entry will be excluded from the
3007mountlist but not from the filelist. So, when you restore, you
3008won't accidentally reformat your zip disk. However, after
3009restoring, you will find that /dev/sdd (the _file_) will still be
3010present in your /dev directory. Cool, eh?</para>
3011</answer>
3012</qandaentry>
3013<qandaentry>
3014<question><para>Q: I received a message like, 'Fileset
3015 NNN failed' during restore. What does it mean.</para></question>
3016<answer>
3017<para>A: It usually means either you had a very large (&gt;2GB)
3018file which was not archived owing to a flaw in your distro or your
3019filesystem has changed in relation to the backup.</para>
3020</answer>
3021</qandaentry>
3022<qandaentry>
3023<question><para>Q: Why does my ext3 partition have less
3024 space free than when I backed it up?</para></question>
3025<answer>
3026<para>A: Mondo creates a 10MB journal file area. Your journal was
3027probably smaller than that, hence the difference.</para>
3028</answer>
3029</qandaentry>
3030<qandaentry>
3031<question><para id="SEGF">Q: When I restore after
3032booting from the media, I sometimes get errors like, "Running
3033out of memory" or "Segmentation fault". What is going on?</para></question>
3034<answer><para>A: It sounds as if you are running out of disk
3035space, probably ram disk space. Type 'df -m' to see which
3036partitions are running low on space. Please send as much
3037information as you can to the &ML;. This problem is
3038believed to have been fixed in 1.63 and 1.71.</para>
3039</answer>
3040</qandaentry>
3041<qandaentry>
3042<question>
3043<para id="LVM">Q: I can't nuke-restore my LVM or RAID or
3044LVM-on-RAID setup. I have to do it manually. What now?</para></question>
3045<answer>
3046<para>A: You said it yourself. You have to do it manually. :) Sorry
3047but that's about it. At least you have all the tools to do it. I
3048assume you know how. If you don't, look at i-want-my-lvm (a script
3049on the ramdisk) if you're using LVM. It should give you a few
3050clues. RAID is harder but in general Mondo's RAID support is good.
3051After you've prepped and formatted your drives, run mondorestore
3052again but say 'no' when asked if you want Mondo to prep or format
3053your drives.</para>
3054</answer>
3055</qandaentry>
3056</qandaset>
3057</sect1>
3058</chapter>
3059
3060&gfdl;
3061
3062</book>
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