source: MondoRescue/branches/2.2.5/mondo/TODO@ 1821

MONDO TODO            Hugo Rabson <hugorabson@msn.com>              07/04/2004


Newer stuff
- implement "disk-to-disk copying" feature
- include mini X server on diskettes
- backup levels (1-9)

Important stuff
- Webmin support?

Groovy ideas
- get it working with devfs totally - none of this 'backward compatbility' #!$@
- add encryption option (so that the archives will be encrypted)

Other ideas
- (JH) give mondo-archive a "disk usage" counter (display) 
- (JH) better 'free space needed' calculation in mondo-archive

Documentation
- thoroughly document each script & its function, in the source code
- flowchart everything; save in PostScript & publish on web


TASKS PROCESSED
- write a TODO file :-)
- write a CHANGES file
- proper command-line switches
- more switches/options
- make switches and '--help' user-friendly
- make it possible to burn CDs straight from script, if user wants to
  (using the '--call-after-iso <call>' switch)
- well, implement some, to start with :-) <-- command-line switches
- make it possible to write to CDRW disks directly from script, 
  prompting for disk change <-- using '--call-make-iso <call>' switch
- clean up the scripts, esp. mondo-archive, its "MakeTarballsAndImages" 
  routine and the main loop
- release a stable copy w/no known bugs & declare v0.90 (it's about time)
  ...well, one problem reported w/user's BASH but I'm working on that ;)
- rewrite filelist splitter (parallelize it)
    - MakeAllFilelists &
    - while [ "`ps MakeAllFilelists`' is running ] || [ "filelist.N+1" exists ] ; do
        WaitForFilelist N
        MakeSet N
      done
- directly support CDRs in kernel and scripts (?)
    - to burn a CD after creating the ISO image, use
        --call-after-iso "cdrecord ... ; eject /dev/cdrom" etc.
    - I'm not sure if the kernel has all the necessary features compiled
      into it; I'm looking into it.
- write a 'man' page <----- type 'mondo-archive --help'
- verify ISO archives against filesystem, to make sure there's no corruption
- verify ISO filelists against original filelist, to make sure all files were
  backed up that should have been, and none were backed up that shouldn't
- parallelized filelist-creation and -tarballing, to improve speed
- added --verify option, to give LOTS more confidence in archives
- mailing list? <----- now possible, thanks to SourceForge (underway)
- write a proper README / quickstart file
- better self-checking for prep-me
- make kernel modular; include modules in tarball, to be put on CD
- multi-volume backup/restore <-- works well! :-) [v0.916]
- easier installation from tarball
- faster code, esp. 'set-chopper'
- proper '--help' thingy
- better mondo-archive and mondo-restore progress reports
- offer to restore MBRs for user
- give user the option of _not_ wiping all hard drives
- let user choose which files to restore (e.g. restore-me /mnt/dos)
- finally, Mondo uses SYSLINUX instead of COMMAND.COM (thanks, Steve Pitts)
- hack user's restored lilo.conf and fstab to reflect the mountlist, if the
  user has modified it;
- let user amend mountlist semi-automatically to reflect larger/smaller hard
  drives than original (useful for moving files from one hard drive to another)
  ...part of check-mountlist-sanity
- mondo-restore ----- edit mountlist (using pico)
- Mondo now uses afio instead of tar
- mondo-archive now much more sensible when sending info between processes
- make Mondo distro-independent
- save&restore all boot sectors automatically (MBRs remaining optional)
- release RPMs and tarballs at same time
- mondo-restore --- verify disk copy after extracting from archive
- chop large files into blocks; reassemble them at restore-time
- MD5 checksum for every file, inc. chopped-up files
- remove '[' from overhead-list; put list of required packages on web page
- make sure user knows --skip-spacetest is AT OWN RISK
- replace instances of 'cat | grep' with just plain 'grep'
- concatenate all fileset lists; compare to original filelist.full
- compare mode: nondestructive comparison of filesystem with Rescue CD
- better verify-progress feedback [Verifying 5/107]
- hdX2,3,4 layout now works OK at backup and restore time! W00H00! :-)
- fix Win98 boot sector kludge problem
- speed up mondo-checksum (thanks, Fabrice!)
- to save some time & space, do not pad the ISO image
- build and burn CDs with one command
- support CDRW drives
- support SCSI hard drives
- write straight to CD-R by calling mondo-archive w/correct params
- use optional 2nd floppy to support extras modules, inc. SCSI hard drives
- only let Mondo run as root
- recompile kernel + modules for i386
- added ReiserFS support
- amalgamated the Mondo RPMs/TGZs into a single ball
- let user incorporate their own kernel and tools (thanks to Mindi!)
- Linux 2.4 kernel support
- add XFS support
- add ext3 support
- add JFS support
- add ReiserFS support
- give comprehensive restore-time feedback (not just '%done')
- pipe mkisofs to cdrecord, saving a lot of disk space & some time
- add Windows ME and Windows 2000 support (VFAT only)
- make the SRPM recompile Mondo's C programs
- RAID support
- make it possible to use an NFS-mounted partition as scratch/iso dir
- write a proper manual
- add Red Hat LABEL support (/etc/fstab)
- record '%age full' of each partition at backup-time
- newt/ncurses interface would be cool
- implement user-friendly mountlist editor
- progress screen (mondo-tarme)
- check that the partitions will fit on the hard drives
- verify ISO after creating if (if user uses '--verify')
- verify CD after burning if (if user uses '--verify')
- support parallel-port CD writers
- support tape drives
- test with Red Hat 7.2
- incremental/differential backup mode
- add GRUB support
- make it possible to backup and restore partitions of an unknown type
- incorporate busybox-0.60-2
- put data disks on tape, so that tape users only need 1 floppy + tape
- text mode
- add "NFS" boot option
- drop trailing slashes from all params of --exclude-path
- add Petris :)
- Tab-format fstab after 'hacking' it
- Interactive Mode should let the user choose which partitions to format
- add an "exclude path?" dialog to Interactive Mode
- re-enable CD verification
- if creation/format fails, go back to mountlist editor
- let user choose which partitions to format
- port mondo-archive entirely to C
- if -E /dev/xxx then exclude _device_ from mountlist but don't exclude
  /dev file from filelist
- rewrite the "is tape there?" test: if 'V' then RO test; if 'O' then RW test
- allow mondorestore to be used to restore to live filesystems
- add /proc/cpuinfo to logfile
- enable Ctrl-C --> abort in mondoarchive and mindi
- write a 'man' page
- test w/multiple tapes
- an easy-to-use interface to Mondo-archive which does a lot of the
  fiddly configurating for you
- if Compare Mode then popup list of /tmp/changed.files
- only zero drive /dev/hdXn if /dev/hdX1 is being prepped
- if differential backup then disable nuke at restore-time
- write X-based front end to mondoarchive/mondorestore (XMondo)
- added partimagehack to Mondo (freeloader - you know who you are - please
  quit being a dick)
- put serial# on each CD/tape
- give Mondo+Mindi a CVS
- add parted
- Ian Mortimer's spec patches
- encourage -X


ABANDONED
- detect size of CDR automatically (I don't know how)
- allow user to choose archive engine besides tar (e.g. star, cpio)
  ...tar sucked; star _really_ sucked; cpio, forget it; I chose afio in the end
  because it was the only engine which I knew would work. I've used it for
  years w/o any problems. Tar has been nothing but a headache.
- split up mondo-archive's functionality into separate scripts, so that it will
  be possible to backup files, do something else, then archive it, etc.etc. 
  ...too much trouble; no incentive to do it; no-one asked me to :)
- pseudocode
  ...why bother? If bash scripts are too complicated for you, try COBOL...