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1<!DOCTYPE BOOK PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN" [
2<!ENTITY curdate "DDD">
3<!ENTITY curver "VVV-rRRR">
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
33CD/floppy set 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 Invarian
78t Sections, Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts. This document is distributed
79hoping it will be useful, but <emphasis>without any guaranty</emphasis>; you're
80completely responsible of its use, and coulnd't complain in case it doesn't work
81, or even if it breaks the hardware. All the software included in it, if not alr
82eady copyrighted is released under the GPL.
83</para>
84</legalnotice>
85
86<revhistory>
87<revision>
88 <revnumber>2.0.7</revnumber>
89 <date>2006-05-16</date>
90 <authorinitials>Bruno Cornec</authorinitials>
91 <revdescription>
92 <para>
93 Integration of a chapter on HOWTO run mondo interactively using cron written by Conor Daly
94 </para>
95 </revdescription>
96</revision>
97<revision>
98 <revnumber>2.06</revnumber>
99 <date>2006-01-16</date>
100 <authorinitials>Bruno Cornec</authorinitials>
101 <revdescription>
102 <para>
103 First SGML version publically available, remade from the HTML docs of the project.
104 </para>
105 </revdescription>
106</revision>
107</revhistory>
108</bookinfo>
109
110<toc></toc>
111<lot></lot>
112
113
114<chapter id="intro">
115<title>About this Guide</title>
116
117<sect1 id="intro-purpose">
118<title>Purpose / Scope of this Guide</title>
119
120<para>
121This HOWTO serves to help people get started with using
122mondo/mindi as way to backup/restore their system. This is a work
123constantly evolving. It was started by Hugo Rabson and has
124since been worked upon by a number of people. See the
125'<ulink url="&WWWB;about.shtml#devteam">About</ulink>' web
126page for a list of members of the development team.</para>
127
128<para>There are many ways to contribute to the Linux movement
129without actually writing code. One of the most important is writing
130documentation, allowing each person to share their knowledge with
131thousands of others around the world. This HOWTO is designed to
132help you get familiar with how Mondo/Mindi works.</para>
133
134<para>
135Opinions expressed here are those of the authors.
136Informations are provided in the aim to be useful to the readers.
137However, there can't be, through this document, any warranty of any kind
138on the way it works on your systems, nor the author could be responsible for any problem caused by the use of these informations.
139However, software editors don't garantee you a lot either (re-read the contracts).
140</para>
141</sect1>
142
143<sect1 id="intro-newversion"><title>New versions of this document</title>
144
145<para>The newest version of this document can always be found on
146MondoRescue's homepage &WWW;.</para>
147<para>
148If you make a translation of this document into another language, please let meknow so that I can include a reference to it here.
149</para>
150</sect1>
151
152<sect1><title>Suggestions / Feedback</title>
153<para>
154I 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.
155If you have any suggestions, corrections, recommandations or congratulations :-) don't hesitate to send them to me
156<email>bruno@mondorescue.org</email>,
157and I will try to incorporate them in a next revision or to the &ML;;
158e-mail the list at
159<ulink url="mailto:mondo-devel@lists.sourceforge.net">mondo-devel@lists.sourceforge.net</ulink>;
160tell us what is wrong and how it should be fixed.
161Include the section title and recommended changes. Whenever possible, include
162the exact, spell-checked, grammar-checked text that you think would
163improve the document.
164</para>
165<para>See Mondo's
166 <ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/support.shtml">Support</ulink> page for
167more information.
168</para>
169<para>
170Please note that we do our best to help everyone but it is
171difficult for us to help you if you do not attach a log file to
172your e-mail. Let me say that again - attach your log file to your
173e-mail! Thank you. Without it we can't offer
174any tangible help because you aren't either. That's what the log
175file is for. It is located at <filename>/var/log/mondo-archive.log</filename>; and <filename>/var/log/mindi.log</filename> or at <filename>/var/log/mondo-restore.log</filename>
176</para>
177<para>
178This 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 :-)
179</para>
180<para>
181I am also willing to answer general questions on MondoRescue, the best I can.
182Before 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 :-].
183</para>
184<para>
185If 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,
186Guylhem AZNAR <email>guylhem@rrremovethis.oeil.qc.ca</email>.
187</para>
188</sect1>
189
190<sect1 id=intro-thanks><title>Aknowledgements</title>
191
192<para>Thanks goes to these people for helping and adding to this
193HOWTO.</para>
194
195<para>Document maintainer:</para>
196<itemizedlist mark="bullet" spacing="Compact">
197<listitem>
198<para>Bruno Cornec</para>
199</listitem>
200</itemizedlist>
201<para>Original Design Assistance by:</para>
202<itemizedlist>
203<listitem>
204<para>Xion Network.com</para>
205</listitem>
206</itemizedlist>
207<para>Original Document Assistance by:</para>
208<itemizedlist>
209<listitem>
210<para>Cafeole</para>
211</listitem>
212<listitem>
213<para>Troff</para>
214</listitem>
215<listitem>
216<para>Randy Delfs</para>
217</listitem>
218<listitem>
219<para>Mikael Hultgren</para>
220</listitem>
221</itemizedlist>
222<para>Original LinuxDoc and LaTeX Reformat by:</para>
223<itemizedlist>
224<listitem>
225<para>Bryan J. Smith</para>
226</listitem>
227</itemizedlist>
228<para>Original DocBook Reformat by:</para>
229<itemizedlist>
230<listitem>
231<para>Mikael Hultgren</para>
232</listitem>
233</itemizedlist>
234<para>Original author; 1.6x material:</para>
235<itemizedlist>
236<listitem>
237<para>Hugo Rabson</para>
238</listitem>
239</itemizedlist>
240
241</sect1>
242</chapter>
243
244<chapter id="quickstart"><title>QuickStart</title>
245<itemizedlist mark="bullet" spacing="Compact">
246<listitem>
247<para>We recommend that you read this complete
248HOWTO. However, if you are too busy or impatient, then
249please use this QuickStart guide to stay out of trouble.</para>
250</listitem>
251<listitem>
252<para>Install the tarball, RPM, or DEB mindi and mondo
253packages. (see <link linkend="installation">Installation</link>
254for more details)</para>
255</listitem>
256<listitem>
257<para>Execute as root (type 'su -' to become root if you are not
258logged in as root)</para>
259<para></para>
260
261<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
262<row>
263<entry>
264
265bash# mondoarchive
266
267</entry>
268</row>
269</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
270
271</listitem>
272</itemizedlist>
273<para></para>
274
275<informaltable><tgroup cols="2"><tbody>
276<row>
277<entry>
278<ulink url="images/mamain.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
279<imagedata fileref="images/mamain-mini">
280</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
281</ulink>
282</entry>
283<entry>
284Choose from the list of supported backup media types. The media you
285will use most often are CD/DVD-+R, CD/DVD-+RW, tape, NFS and hard disk. If
286you want to backup/restore over a network, choose 'NFS'. If you
287want to backup/restore to/from a local partition or if you simply
288want to store the ISO images in a local directory until you have
289time or facilities to burn them to CD's, choose 'hard disk'. If you
290choose 'CD/DVD-+R[W]' or 'tape' then in general your hardware will be
291detected and configured for you.
292</entry>
293</row>
294<row>
295<entry>
296<ulink url="images/maburnproof.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
297<imagedata fileref="images/maburnproof-mini">
298</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
299</ulink>
300</entry>
301<entry>
302 If you are backing up to CD/DVD-+R[W] then Mondo will ask you if your CD
303burner has BurnProof technology, is inside a laptop, or is
304otherwise eccentric. If you are backing up to a tape streamer then
305you will not see this message.
306</entry>
307</row>
308<row>
309<entry>
310<ulink url="images/macompression.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
311<imagedata fileref="images/macompression-mini">
312</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
313</ulink>
314</entry>
315<entry>
316How much compression do you want? None, if your tape streamer has
317built-in hardware compression. Maximum, if your CPU is blazingly
318fast. Average should do just fine for most situations.
319</entry>
320</row>
321<row>
322<entry>
323<ulink url="images/mainclude.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
324<imagedata fileref="images/mainclude-mini">
325</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
326</ulink>
327</entry>
328<entry>
329If you want to backup the whole computer (excluding /sys and /proc,
330naturally) then leave this as / which is the default. Otherwise,
331specify subsets, (e.g. /usr/local /home ) being sure to put a space
332in between each path.
333</entry>
334</row>
335<row>
336<entry>
337<ulink url="images/maexclude.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
338<imagedata fileref="images/maexclude-mini">
339</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
340</ulink>
341</entry>
342<entry>
343If you are backing up your whole computer then you might want to
344exclude certain directories, e.g. /shared/MP3. Please specify them
345in the 'exclude directories' dialog box. Please put a space in
346between each path, e.g. /shared/private /scratch /nfs /windows
347</entry>
348</row>
349<row>
350<entry>
351<ulink url="images/makernel.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
352<imagedata fileref="images/makernel-mini">
353</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
354</ulink>
355</entry>
356<entry>
357Is your kernel sane? Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, Debian and Slackware users
358should in general say 'yes' because these vendors are good at
359producing reliable kernels. If you are using Gentoo or LFS
360then your kernel might be non-standard, in which case say 'no' to
361use Mondo's failsafe kernel (provided separately).
362</entry>
363</row>
364<row>
365<entry>
366<ulink url="images/maverifyq.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
367<imagedata fileref="images/maverifyq-mini">
368</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
369</ulink>
370</entry>
371<entry>
372If you want to verify the archives after writing them to media, say
373'yes' here. If you have absolute faith in your hardware and your
374Linux distribution, say 'no'... and a little prayer.
375</entry>
376</row>
377<row>
378<entry>
379<ulink url="images/maproceedq.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
380<imagedata fileref="images/maproceedq-mini">
381</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
382</ulink>
383</entry>
384<entry>
385If you are sure you want to go ahead, say 'yes' and find something
386else to do while Mondo backs up your computer. If you say 'no' then
387you will be unceremoniously dumped at the shell prompt. :-)
388</entry>
389</row>
390<row>
391<entry>
392<ulink url="images/1.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
393<imagedata fileref="images/1-mini">
394</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
395</ulink>
396</entry>
397<entry>
398The backup process will now commence. There are some pre-backup
399tasks to be carried out first but the backup is essentially
400underway. To simplify the backup process, you were asked a series
401of questions. Next time, if you like, you could call mondoarchive
402with various command-line switches to control its behavior, instead
403of answering a series of questions. See the man page for details.
404</entry>
405</row>
406<row>
407<entry>
408<ulink url="images/3.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
409<imagedata fileref="images/3-mini">
410</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
411</ulink>
412</entry>
413<entry>
414Mondo will make a catalog of all files to be backed up. This may
415take up to five minutes. The list of files will be divided into
416sets, approximately 4 MB (before compression) of files per set.
417This typically takes one minute.
418</entry>
419</row>
420<row>
421<entry>
422<ulink url="images/4.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
423<imagedata fileref="images/1-mini">
424</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
425</ulink>
426</entry>
427<entry>
428Mondo calls Mindi. Mindi generates bootable floppy disk images and
429auxiliary data disk images which are based on your existing Linux
430distribution and filesystem. That way, you can be sure Mondo's
431tools will be compatible with your existing filesystems and
432binaries: Mondo's tools are your tools. Mindi takes up to five
433minutes to run.
434</entry>
435</row>
436<row>
437<entry>
438<ulink url="images/5tape.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
439<imagedata fileref="images/5tape-mini">
440</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
441</ulink>
442</entry>
443<entry>
444Finally, Mondo begins backing up your computer. This process may
445take a few minutes or a few hours, depending on how much data you
446are archiving, how fast your CPU is, how much RAM you have, and so
447on. It will backup your regular files and then your large files
448(files larger than approximately 32MB). If you have opted to verify
449your backups, Mondo will do that too.
450</entry>
451</row>
452<row>
453<entry>
454<ulink url="images/10cd.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
455<imagedata fileref="images/10cd-mini">
456</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
457</ulink>
458</entry>
459<entry>
460Do you want to create a boot floppy at the end? Yes, if you're a
461tape or NFS user. No, if you are using CD/DVD-R[W]'s and your computer
462supports bootable CD's. Tape users only need one floppy but other
463users may need more. Mondo will advise accordingly.
464</entry>
465</row>
466</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
467
468<itemizedlist>
469<listitem>
470<para>Try to boot from the first CD of the backup (or the first
471floppy, if you made floppies). Choose 'Compare Mode' by typing
472compare at the boot screen.</para>
473</listitem>
474<listitem>
475<para>If you can boot, fine. If not, make a Mindi "Test" CD to
476checkout the compatibility of your system. (see
477<link linkend="test-mindi">Testing Mindi</link> for more
478details). Remove the CD/floppy; boot your computer as usual;
479execute as root</para>
480<para></para>
481<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
482<row>
483<entry>
484
485 bash# mindi
486</entry>
487</row>
488<row>
489<entry>
490 bash# cd /var/cache/mindi
491
492</entry>
493</row>
494</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
495
496<para>(for CD-R)</para>
497<para></para>
498<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
499<row>
500<entry>
501
502bash# cdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=4 -eject -v mindi.iso
503
504</entry>
505</row>
506</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
507
508<para>(for CD-RW)</para>
509<para></para>
510<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
511<row>
512<entry>
513
514bash# cdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=4 blank=fast -eject -v mindi.iso
515
516</entry>
517</row>
518</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
519
520<para>Reboot your system with the created Mindi CD, with the BIOS
521set to boot from CD. If the result is a command line in 'Expert'
522mode, your system checks out. Remove the CD and reboot your
523system.</para>
524</listitem>
525<listitem>
526<para>If you still cannot boot from Mindi's CD then please e-mail
527the &ML; for help.
528</para>
529</listitem>
530</itemizedlist>
531<para>When making a backup on a live system, there will always be
532processes running that will write out data on the system after you
533have made the backup and before you have made the compare, this
534will result in difference showing up when comparing your backup.
535For a full explanation and what can be done to avoid this, please
536read this section.</para>
537<itemizedlist>
538
539 <listitem>
540<para>This QuickStart covers the ideal case. Upon receiving any
541system feedback/errors, read each related HOWTO section.</para>
542<para>Example 2-1. A test backup of your /home directory to CD-Rs
543using the command line</para>
544<para></para>
545<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
546<row>
547<entry>
548
549bash# mondoarchive -OVc 4 -I /home -gF
550
551</entry>
552</row>
553</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
554
555<para>The 'c' means you must be writing to CD-Rs, not CD-RWs (the
556latter would require 'w' instead of 'c'). The '4' is the speed of
557your CD writer. The string after -I is the path to be backed up.
558The '-gF' means you are going to see the pretty yellow-on-blue
559screen instead of the boring white-on-black screen. :) It also
560means Mondo will not offer to create physical boot floppies for
561you. It is assumed that you are able to boot from the CD which
562Mondo has generated.</para>
563<para>Example 2-2. A backup of your whole filesystem to NFS using
564the command line</para>
565<para></para>
566<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
567<row>
568<entry>
569
570 bash# mkdir -p /mnt/nfs
571</entry>
572</row>
573<row>
574<entry>
575 bash# mount 192.168.1.28:/home/nfs /mnt/nfs
576 </entry>
577</row>
578<row>
579<entry>
580bash# mondoarchive -OVn 192.168.1.28:/home/nfs -gF[...]
581 </entry>
582</row>
583<row>
584<entry>
585bash# umount /mnt/nfs
586 </entry>
587</row>
588<row>
589<entry>
590 bash# cdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=4 -eject -v /var/cache/mindi/mindi.iso
591
592</entry>
593</row>
594</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
595
596<para>Note that you have to mount the NFS partition, backup to it,
597unmount it, and create a boot CD to allow you to restore from
598scratch if necessary. To reassure yourself that you will be able to
599restore from the NFS share even if your PC is wiped, please boot
600from the Mindi CD and type 'compare'. The on-screen instructions
601from that point on should be sufficient.</para>
602<para>Example 2-3. A backup of your whole
603filesystem to tape using the command line</para>
604<para></para>
605<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
606<row>
607<entry>
608
609bash# mondoarchive -OVt -d /dev/st0 -9 -L -g
610
611</entry>
612</row>
613</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
614
615<para>In this case, we assume Syslinux is incompatible with your
616boot media. For some reason, some BIOSes just don't like Syslinux.
617If you find this to be the case for your computer, please use '-L'
618to force Mondo to use LILO instead of Syslinux as the boot loader
619for its CD/floppies. (NB: This has nothing to do with which boot
620loader your hard drive uses.) Also, it is a good habit to specify
621your tape streamer with '-d &lt;device&gt;'. You don't usually need
622to but it's good to be on the safe side. Some computers call your
623tape streamer /dev/osst0, some call it /dev/ftape, ...</para>
624</listitem>
625</itemizedlist>
626
627</chapter>
628
629<chapter id="overview"><title>Overview</title>
630
631<sect1 id="overview-mondorescue">
632<title>Mondo Rescue</title>
633<para>Mondo Rescue backs up your file system to CD, tape, NFS
634(archives stored remotely) or ISO's (archives stored locally).
635Mondo uses afio as the backup engine; afio is a well-respected
636replacement for tar. In the event of catastrophic data loss, you
637may restore some or all of your system, even if your hard drives
638are now blank. Mondo Rescue can do a lot of other cool
639things:</para>
640<itemizedlist>
641<listitem>
642<para>You can use Mondo to clone an installation of Linux. Just
643backup the crucial stuff and exclude /home, /var/log, etc.</para>
644</listitem>
645<listitem>
646<para>You can backup a non-RAID file system and restore it as RAID
647including the root partition (if your kernel supports that).</para>
648</listitem>
649<listitem>
650<para>You can backup a system running on one format and restore as
651another format.</para>
652</listitem>
653<listitem>
654<para>You can restructure your partitions, e.g. shrink/enlarge,
655reassign devices, add hard drives, etc, before you partition and
656format your drives. Mondo will restore your data and amend
657/etc/lilo.conf and /etc/fstab accordingly.</para>
658</listitem>
659<listitem>
660<para>You can backup Linux/Windows systems, including the boot
661sectors. Mondo will make everything right at restore-time.
662(However, do run "Scandisk" when you first boot into Windows, just
663in case.)</para>
664</listitem>
665<listitem>
666<para>You can use your Mondo backup CD to verify the integrity of
667your computer.</para>
668</listitem>
669</itemizedlist>
670<para>Mondo's principal virtue is that it protects you from the
671problems that can arise when you reinstall completely from scratch.
672If you want to wipe and restore your system every year just as a
673matter of 'good practice', Mondo is not for you. However, if you
674want to get up and running again in a hurry after someone breaks
675into your computer and wipes it (or if you accidentally wipe it
676yourself) then Mondo is definitely for you. It will permit you to
677roll back to a known-good installation in a very short period of
678time, sometimes as little as twenty minutes. Even if you backup
679large amounts of data to tape daily and do not want to add yet
680another backup regime, please consider backing up the core
681filesystem (i.e. everything but the directories containing your
682huge database and your prizewinning novel) every month or so, just
683in case. You will be glad you did.</para>
684<para>What is Mondo not?</para>
685<para>Mondo is not an everyday backup program. It is not designed
686to replace tar, afio, kbackup, etc. Mondo is designed to make it
687possible to recover from scratch if necessary. Tar and afio offer a
688quick, convenient way to backup small sets of files, sometimes to
689removable media.</para>
690</sect1>
691
692<sect1 id="overview-mindi">
693<title>Mindi</title>
694<para>
695Mindi Linux creates a set of boot/root floppy disk images
696that will let you perform basic system maintenance on your Linux
697distro. The principal virtues of Mindi's boot disks are the fact
698that they contain your kernel, modules, tools and libraries. You
699can ask for additional binaries (or other files) to be included on
700the kit. The libraries will be added for you.
701</para>
702<para>Whichever modules were loaded at backup-time, they are
703reloaded at boot-time. So, in theory, you will boot into almost the
704same environment as you were in when you backed up. If you want to
705add files to your Mindi boot disks, edit '&lt;INSTALLPATH OF
706MINDI&gt;/mindi/deplist.txt' and add the files to that list. The
707added files and dependencies, will be spread across the data disks
708at run-time.
709</para>
710<para>Mindi makes sure that Mondo has all the tools it needs at
711boot-time. Mondo uses fdisk, mkfs, cat, less, more, afio, gzip,
712bzip2, your keyboard configuration, your glibc libraries, your
713other libraries, your kernel, your modules, ... which is a lot of tools!
714Mindi takes care of all that, so that Mondo can get on with the job of backing
715up or restoring your data.
716</para>
717<para>Mindi is also handy for making boot CDs/disks which stand on
718their own. You do not need Mondo. Indeed, if you like, you could
719use another backup/restore program with Mindi. Just add it to
720Mindi's dependency list (type 'locate deplist.txt' to find it).
721Mindi will include your software on its boot CD/disks the next time
722you run mindi.
723</para>
724</sect1>
725
726
727<sect1 id="overview-linuxbackup">
728<title>Linux Backup</title>
729<para>Mondo Rescue and Mindi Linux are used primarily as Linux
730backup and cloning tools. The fall in prices of CD-RW drives and
731writable discs will allow current users to keep good backups and
732future users to leverage the cloning capability.</para>
733<para>Tape drives are more likely to suit your needs if you run a
734larger installation (or have lots of MP3's). Warning! OnStream
735drives do not play well with Mondo. I do not know why. It is, in my
736opinion, something which OnStream should look into. Mondo uses
737fopen(), fread(), fwrite() and fclose() to interact with tape
738drives. That works for most drives but some drives just don't like
739that.</para>
740<para>Mondo Rescue has been tested thousands of times on various computers.
741It has worked for them.
742Thousands of users testify to Mondo's stability and its ease of
743use. However, please test it on your own system before you rely on
744it. In fact, do not rely on any software until you have tested it
745to see if it performs as expected.</para>
746<para>To establish that Mondo will behave well in an emergency,
747please be prepared. Run a test backup as follows:-</para>
748<itemizedlist>
749<listitem>
750<para>Run mondoarchive without any command-line options.</para>
751</listitem>
752<listitem>
753 <para>Backup a subset of files - e.g. /usr/local - to CD or
754 tape. Say 'yes' when asked if you want to verify them.</para>
755</listitem>
756<listitem>
757 <para>If you are not backing up to CD, please create boot
758 floppies when prompted.</para>
759</listitem>
760</itemizedlist>
761<para>Next, restore archives to your live filesystem.</para>
762<itemizedlist>
763<listitem>
764<para>When mondoarchive terminates, run mondorestore without any
765command-line options.</para>
766</listitem>
767<listitem><para>Insert the CD or the first boot floppy when prompted.
768 Press &lt;Enter&gt;. Wait a moment.</para></listitem>
769<listitem><para>Select a subset of files to restore, e.g. /usr/local/man
770 and /usr/local/bin. Hit OK.</para></listitem>
771<listitem><para>Restore files to /tmp or /root/RESTORED or something
772 similar.</para></listitem>
773<listitem><para>When mondorestore terminates, compare the restored files
774 to the originals using cmp or diff.</para></listitem>
775</itemizedlist>
776<para>Finally, simulate an emergency restore.</para>
777<itemizedlist>
778<listitem>
779<para>Boot from CD/floppies.</para>
780</listitem>
781<listitem><para>Select 'Interactive Mode' at boot-time. (Type
782 'interactive' and hit &lt;Enter&gt;.)</para></listitem>
783<listitem><para>Hit OK when shown the mountlist. Say 'yes' when asked if
784 you accept the mountlist.</para></listitem>
785<listitem><para>Select files to restore, e.g. /usr/local/man and
786 /usr/local/bin. Hit OK.</para></listitem>
787<listitem><para>Restore files to /tmp or /root/RESTORED or something
788 similar.</para></listitem>
789<listitem><para>When mondorestore terminates, please reboot and compare
790 the restored files to the originals.</para></listitem>
791</itemizedlist>
792<para>FYI, the subroutines to repartition and reformat your drives
793are very stable. If you are a RAID or LVM user, you
794might&nbsp;encounter some difficulties when wiping and restoring
795from scratch because of the sheer range of filesystem layouts and
796the impossibility of testing Mondo on every single one. If you have
797trouble, just drop to the command-line and partition/format
798manually. Then, call mondorestore, select Interactive Mode, and say
799'no' when asked if you want Mondo to partition or format your
800drives for you.</para>
801<para>You see, even if you have trouble, you still have two hands
802and most of the tools you need - lvchange, pvcreate, fdisk, mkraid,
803etc. - to do it manually. After you have prepped and formatted your
804drives manually (if you have to), just run mondorestore again and
805say 'no' when asked if you want to prep or format your drives. What
806could be easier?</para>
807</sect1>
808
809<sect1 id="overview-winbackup">
810<title>Windows Backup</title>
811<para>Backing up windows partitions.</para>
812<sect2 id="overview-winbackup-win95"><title>Windows ME/95/98</title>
813<para>Verify that the partition is listed in /etc/fstab and is
814mounted (e.g. /dev/hda1). Mondo will take care of everything else.
815The files will be archived just like all other files in the live
816file system. At restore-time, Mondo will take care of the boot
817sector of /dev/hda1 prior to the restore.</para>
818<para>Note: if Windows ME/95/98 is not located on /dev/hda1 or
819/dev/sda1, then Mondo will not take care of the boot sector of
820/dev/hda1. The user will have to boot from a DOS floppy and run SYS
821C: to correct the Windows boot sector.</para>
822</sect2>
823<sect2 id="overview-winbackup-winnt"><title>Windows NT4/2K/XP</title>
824<para>Windows NT4/2K/XP typically use the NTFS file system, not
825VFAT.. The user should use '-x /dev/hda1' (or whichever device the
826Windows partition resides). Mondo will treat the partition as a
827biggiefile. Mondo will also add an entry to the mountlist to
828reflect the size and type of the partition. The user may not edit
829that partition's size at restore-time (for obvious reasons).</para>
830<para>Please bear in mind that Mondo was written for Linux users.
831If Mondo does not backup or restore your Windows system well, you
832might want to consider reporting it to the &ML;
833</para>
834</sect2>
835</sect1>
836
837<sect1 id="overview-history">
838<title>Mondo Rescue and Mindi Linux
839History</title>
840<para>Mondo Rescue was created in December 1999 by Hugo Rabson as a utility to
841clone Linux/Windows installations. Norton Ghost would not do the
842job, and his boss wanted to jump on the Linux bandwagon. So, he wrote
843a few scripts and shoehorned them into the latest Linux-Mandrake
844CD. Since that time, Mondo grew into a disaster recovery suite for
845Linux and Windows. Mondo forced him to learn about the kernel, its
846initrd initial ramdisk, modules, library dependencies, disk
847partitioning, and the myriad differences between the Top 10 Linux
848distributions.</para>
849<para>The first formal release was made on February 18th, 2000.
850Mondo is currently one of the top five Linux backup/restore
851programs. Mondo has been compared favorably to ArcServe, Arkeia and
852BRU. Although Mondo lacks the more advanced, enterprise-level
853features of ArcServe and Arkeia, for workstations and small- to
854medium-size servers it is ideal because it is small, fast,
855efficient, stable, comes with source code, and is being actively
856developed and supported.</para>
857<para>
858 Since November 2005, Hugo Rabson has tranfered the maintenance
859 of the Mondo Rescue suite to Andree Leidenfrost and Bruno Cornec,
860 both previous developers and packagers of the tool since nearly
861 the begining.
862</para>
863</sect1>
864
865<sect1 id="overview-sysreq">
866<title>System Requirements</title>
867<sect2 id="overview-sysrq-hwreq">
868<title>Hardware Requirements</title>
869
870<para>Your computer must have:</para>
871<itemizedlist>
872<listitem>
873 <para>Intel(R)-compatible CPU (ia32, x86_64/amd64 or ia64)</para>
874</listitem>
875<listitem>
876<para>64MB of RAM (128MB recommended)</para>
877</listitem>
878<listitem>
879<para>800MB of hard disk space free</para>
880</listitem>
881<listitem>
882<para>CD writer, tape streamer, NFS share or some way to backup the
883backups :)</para>
884</listitem>
885</itemizedlist>
886<para>It is recommended that your computer have very good airflow.
887The backup with Mondo Rescue and Mindi Linux will utilize your CPU,
888CD drive and fixed disk(s) like very few other applications. With a
889few hours of system backup activity, computers without sufficient
890airflow may show symptoms such as not burning full CD discs. The
891solution is a $20 or less additional fan at your local electronics
892discount store.</para>
893</sect2>
894
895<sect2 id="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">
896<title>Kernel Requirements</title>
897
898<para>Your kernel must have:</para>
899<itemizedlist>
900<listitem>
901<para>stable loopfs support, which means it really needs to be
9022.2.19 or 2.4.7 (or later)</para>
903</listitem>
904<listitem>
905<para>CD-ROM device support</para>
906</listitem>
907<listitem>
908<para>ISO9660 file system support</para>
909</listitem>
910<listitem>
911<para>initrd ramdisk support (built-in)</para>
912</listitem>
913<listitem>
914<para>Virtual memory file system support (built-in)</para>
915</listitem>
916<listitem>
917<para>floppy disk support (built in)</para>
918</listitem>
919<listitem>
920<para>ext2 file system support (built-in)</para>
921</listitem>
922<listitem>
923<para>Support for the backup media (Tape, CD-RW, NFS, Hard
924disk)</para>
925</listitem>
926<listitem>
927<para>If the backup media is CD-RW then you need SCSI emulation
928also</para>
929<para>vfat support in the active kernel - mindi needs this when creating
930syslinux boot floppies</para>
931</listitem>
932</itemizedlist>
933<para>Please note that the stock kernels of Red Hat/RHEL/Fedora,
934 Mandrake/Mandriva, SuSE/SLES/OpenSuSE, Debian and Slackware
935 all meet Mondo's requirements. If your kernel does not meet Mondo's
936 requirements then there is something wrong with it. Mondo's demands
937 are not unreasonable.</para>
938<para>Mondo (specifically Mindi) does not require any specific
939module. It does require that your kernel support the initrd
940initial ramdisk facility. Typically this is supported by the Linux
941kernel. Modules used are needed to support the CD, floppy disks,
942hard disks, etc. If the support is modular, then the modules will
943be incorporated in a boot disk by Mindi. If the support is built-in
944(static), then it will be available at boot-time by default.</para>
945</sect2>
946<sect2 id="overview-sysrq-swreq">
947<title>Software Requirements</title>
948<para>See Mondo's <ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml">Download
949page</ulink> for details.</para>
950<para>Mondo requires afio, bzip2, cdrtools/cdrecord/growisofs (may be part of the dvd+rw-tools package), ncurses, newt,
951isolinux/syslinux, lzo (optional), lzop (optional), mkisofs, slang,
952and a few other packages.</para>
953<para>Good Linux distributions provide all these packages. If yours
954does not then please go to the aforementioned Download page or surf
955the Net, preferably the website of the distribution you are
956using.</para>
957<para>Mondo's expectations are not unreasonable, either of your
958Linux distribution or of your kernel. However, if your distribution
959fails to meet its expectations and you cannot find out how to
960resolve them, please feel free to e-mail the &ML;
961</para>
962</sect2>
963</sect1>
964</chapter>
965
966<chapter id="installation">
967<title>Installation</title>
968
969<sect1 id="installation-mindi">
970<title>Mindi Installation</title>
971<para>If you are installing from a tarball then copy it to wherever
972you have enough space, for example /tmp and type:</para>
973<para></para>
974<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
975<row>
976<entry>
977
978 bash# cd /tmp
979</entry>
980</row>
981<row>
982<entry>
983 bash# tar -zxvf mindi-1.x.tgz
984 </entry>
985</row>
986<row>
987<entry>
988bash# cd mindi-1.x
989</entry>
990</row>
991<row>
992<entry>
993 bash# ./install.sh
994
995</entry>
996</row>
997</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
998
999<para>This installs mindi additional files into /usr/local/lib/mindi and
1000the program into /usr/local/sbin</para>
1001<para>Or, if you are installing from an RPM/deb then copy it to
1002wherever you have enough space, for example /tmp and type:</para>
1003<para></para>
1004<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1005<row>
1006<entry>
1007
1008bash# rpm -Uvh /tmp/mindi-1.x-x.i386.rpm
1009</entry>
1010</row>
1011<row>
1012<entry>
1013
1014or
1015</entry>
1016</row>
1017<row>
1018<entry>
1019
1020bash# dpkg -i /tmp/mindi-1.x-x.deb
1021
1022</entry>
1023</row>
1024</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1025
1026<para>This installs mindi additional files into /usr/lib/mindi and
1027the program into /usr/sbin.
1028</para>
1029</sect1>
1030
1031<sect1 id="installation-mindi-busybox">
1032<title>Mindi Busybox Installation</title>
1033<para>If you are installing from a tarball then copy it to wherever
1034you have enough space, for example /tmp and type:</para>
1035<para></para>
1036<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1037<row>
1038<entry>
1039
1040 bash# cd /tmp
1041</entry>
1042</row>
1043<row>
1044 <entry>
1045 bash# tar -zxvf mindi-busybox-1.x.tgz
1046 </entry>
1047</row>
1048<row>
1049 <entry>
1050 bash# cd mindi-busybox-1.x
1051 </entry>
1052</row>
1053<row>
1054 <entry>
1055 bash# make oldconfig
1056 </entry>
1057</row>
1058<row>
1059 <entry>
1060 bash# make busybox
1061 </entry>
1062</row>
1063<row>
1064 <entry>
1065 bash# make install
1066 </entry>
1067</row>
1068</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1069<para>This installs busybox files and symlinks into /usr/local/lib/mindi/rootfs
1070</para>
1071<para>Or, if you are installing from an RPM/deb then copy it to
1072wherever you have enough space, for example /tmp and type:</para>
1073<para></para>
1074<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1075<row>
1076<entry>
1077
1078bash# rpm -Uvh /tmp/mindi-busybox-1.x-x.i386.rpm
1079</entry>
1080</row>
1081<row>
1082<entry>
1083
1084or
1085</entry>
1086</row>
1087<row>
1088<entry>
1089
1090bash# dpkg -i /tmp/mindi-busybox-1.x-x.deb
1091
1092</entry>
1093</row>
1094</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1095
1096<para>This installs busybix files and symlinks into /usr/lib/mindi/rootfs
1097</para>
1098</sect1>
1099
1100<sect1 id="installation-mondo">
1101<title>Mondo Installation</title>
1102<para>If you are installing from a tarball then copy it to wherever
1103you have enough space, for example /tmp and type:</para>
1104<para></para>
1105<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1106<row>
1107<entry>
1108
1109 bash# cd /tmp
1110</entry>
1111</row>
1112<row>
1113<entry>
1114 bash# tar -zxvf mondo-2.xx.tgz
1115 </entry>
1116</row>
1117<row>
1118<entry>
1119bash# cd mondo-2.xx
1120 </entry>
1121</row>
1122<row>
1123<entry>
1124 bash# ./configure
1125 </entry>
1126</row>
1127<row>
1128<entry>
1129bash# make &amp;&amp; make install
1130
1131</entry>
1132</row>
1133</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1134
1135<para>This installs mondo into /usr/local/lib/mondo and installs
1136the programs into /usr/local/sbin</para>
1137<para>Or, if you are installing from an RPM/deb then copy it to copy it
1138to wherever you have enough space, for example /tmp and
1139type:</para>
1140<para></para>
1141<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1142<row>
1143<entry>
1144
1145bash# rpm -Uvh /tmp/mondo-2.x-x.i386.rpm
1146</entry>
1147</row>
1148<row>
1149<entry>
1150
1151or
1152</entry>
1153</row>
1154<row>
1155<entry>
1156
1157bash# dpkg -i /tmp/mondo-2.x-x.deb
1158
1159</entry>
1160</row>
1161</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1162
1163<para>This installs mondo into /usr/lib/mondo and installs
1164the programs into /usr/sbin</para>
1165</sect1>
1166
1167<sect1 id=rpm-verif>
1168 <title>RPM verifications</title>
1169 <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:
1170<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1171<row>
1172 <entry>
1173 bash# rpm -Va mindi mondo mindi-busybox
1174 </entry>
1175</row>
1176</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1177<para>
1178 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.
1179 </para>
1180</sect1>
1181</chapter>
1182
1183<chapter id="test">
1184<title>Tests</title>
1185
1186<sect1 id="test-mindi">
1187<title>Testing Mindi</title>
1188
1189<para>Mindi is a vital part of the backup procedure. If you have
1190used Mondo before or if you are in a hurry, skip steps 6.2 and 6.3;
1191go straight to QuickStart.</para>
1192<para>However, if you have time or if you have been having trouble
1193getting Mondo to work, I would recommend trying out Mindi directly
1194(rather than via Mondo) to see if it can produce a bootable CD on
1195your system.</para>
1196<para>Make sure you are root while doing this, otherwise mindi will
1197fail, now do this.</para>
1198<para>If you have any problems, please:-</para>
1199<itemizedlist>
1200<listitem>
1201<para>less /var/log/mindi.log</para>
1202</listitem>
1203<listitem><para>feel free to edit mindi (it's a shell script, btw) to try
1204 to fix the problem yourself</para></listitem>
1205<listitem><para>contact the &ML; if you get stuck.</para></listitem>
1206</itemizedlist>
1207<para>Type:-</para>
1208<para></para>
1209<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1210<row>
1211<entry>
1212
1213bash# mindi
1214
1215</entry>
1216</row>
1217</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1218
1219<para>Example screen output, selecting to use your own kernel, to
1220create boot disks, and to create a bootable CD image:</para>
1221<para></para>
1222<screen>
1223
1224# mindi
1225Mindi Linux mini-distro generator v1.09-r762
1226
1227Latest Mindi is available from http://www.mondorescueg
1228
1229BusyBox sources are available from http://www.busybox.net
1230
1231------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1232Do you want to use your own kernel to build the boot disk (y/n) ?y
1233Would you like to use LILO (instead of syslinux)
1234for your boot CD/floppies (y/n) ?n
1235Analyzing dependency requirements Done.
1236Making complete dependency list Done.
1237Analyzing your keyboard's configuration.
1238
1239Adding the following keyboard mapping tables: us-latin1 Done.
1240Assembling dependency files................................................................... Done.
1241The files have been subdivided into 5 directories. Your mountlist will look like this:-
1242 Finding all volume groups
1243 No volume groups found
1244 No volume groups found
1245 No volume groups found
1246 No volume groups found
1247 DEVICE MOUNTPOINT FORMAT SIZE (MB)
1248 /dev/hda1 / ext3 399
1249 /dev/hda9 /home ext3 48478
1250 /dev/hda6 /usr ext3 4999
1251 /dev/hda7 /var ext3 1000
1252 /dev/hda5 swap swap 349
1253 /dev/hda8 swap swap 2003
1254 Finding all volume groups
1255 No volume groups found
1256 No volume groups found
1257 No volume groups found
1258 No volume groups found
1259Tarring and zipping the groups.................. Done.
1260Creating data disk #1...#2...#3...#4...#5... Done.
1261Making 1722KB boot disk...........................1440+0 enregistrements lus.
12621440+0 enregistrements écrits.
1263mke2fs 1.38 (30-Jun-2005)
1264Failed to copy /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-15mdk-i686-up-4GB to ramdisk
1265
1266Warning - failed to create 1.44MB boot/root floppies
1267
1268Warning - failed to create 1.72MB boot image. Please reduce your kernel's size
1269
1270if you want to make a 1.72MB floppy disk.
1271
1272Making 2880KB boot disk...........................mkfs.vfat 2.10 (22 Sep 2003)
1273... 2880 KB boot disks were created OK Done.
1274In the directory '/var/cache/mindi' you will find the images:-
1275 mindi-data-1.img mindi-data-2.img mindi-data-3.img mindi-data-4.img mindi-data-5.img mindi-root.1440.img
1276Would you like to create boot+data floppy disks now (y/n) ?n
1277Shall I make a bootable CD image? (y/n) y
1278NB: Mindi's bootable CD always uses isolinux.
1279
1280For a bootable CD w/LILO, please use Mondo.
1281
1282Finished.
1283
1284Boot and data disk images were created.
1285
1286#
1287
1288</screen>
1289
1290<para>If your kernel is too large (more than about 900KB) then you
1291cannot make boot floppies, although you can still make a bootable
1292CD image. The easiest way to test Mindi in either case is to say
1293'n' to its first question and 'y' to its second, then use the
1294separate application cdrecord to make a bootable CD-R or
1295CD-RW.</para>
1296<para>Use the cdrecord application to write the CD image:</para>
1297<para></para>
1298<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1299<row>
1300<entry>
1301
1302 bash# cd /var/cache/mindi
1303</entry>
1304</row>
1305<row>
1306 <entry>
1307 bash# cdrecord -scanbus
1308
1309</entry>
1310</row>
1311</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1312
1313<para>The output of the above call to cdrecord will tell you your
1314CD writer's node. It is usually '0,0,0'. Choose one of the
1315following calls to write the CD, depending on whether the disk in
1316the drive is a CD-R or a CD-RW. Please replace 'x,x,x' with your
1317writer's node. For further information, type 'man cdrecord" from a
1318Linux command line.</para>
1319<para>If writing to a CD-RW Drive/Disc:</para>
1320<para></para>
1321<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1322<row>
1323<entry>
1324
1325bash# cdrecord -v blank=fast dev=x,x,x speed=4 mindi.iso (for CD-RW)
1326
1327</entry>
1328</row>
1329</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1330
1331<para>If writing to a CD-R Drive/Disc:</para>
1332<para></para>
1333<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1334<row>
1335<entry>
1336
1337bash# cdrecord -v dev=x,x,x speed=4 mindi.iso (for CD-R)
1338
1339</entry>
1340</row>
1341</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1342</sect1>
1343
1344<!--
1345<sect1 id="test-mondo">
1346<title>Testing Mondo</title>
1347</sect1>
1348-->
1349</chapter>
1350
1351<chapter id="backup">
1352<title>Backup</title>
1353
1354<sect1 id="backup-recommandations">
1355<title>Recommendations</title>
1356<itemizedlist>
1357<listitem>
1358<para>Shut down all possible applications (this minimizes any
1359 compare differences following the backup). Especially shutdown
1360 properly any running database on your system, as the recovery
1361 may lead to corrupted data. Or if applicable, boot to single user mode.</para>
1362</listitem>
1363<listitem>
1364<para>Type:</para>
1365</listitem>
1366</itemizedlist>
1367<para></para>
1368<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1369<row>
1370<entry>
1371
1372bash# mondoarchive
1373
1374</entry>
1375</row>
1376</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1377
1378<para>For most users, that should be enough. :-) Mondoarchive will
1379usually autodetect your hardware and configure it for you.</para>
1380<para>If you are a power user (or you like to control every detail
1381of how Mondo runs) then you may want to look at the command-line
1382switches. For example:-</para>
1383<para></para>
1384<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1385<row>
1386<entry>
1387
1388bash# mondoarchive -Ow9 -gF -I /home
1389
1390</entry>
1391</row>
1392</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1393
1394<para>cdrecord will tell you where your CD recorder lives, in SCSI
1395terms, which looks like '0,0,0'. The previous call to mondoarchive tells
1396Mondo to backup everything to a 4x CD-RW drive that has
1397a CD-RW disk in it. (Use -Oc instead of -Ow if you are using
1398CD-R.)</para>
1399<para>Please put the first CD-R(W) in the drive now. You will be
1400prompted to insert CD #2 but you will not be prompted to insert the
1401first disk. However, if you forget, do not worry: if Mondo fails to
1402write the first (or any) disk, it will offer to retry, abort or
1403fail.</para>
1404<para>Find the speed/compression
1405compromise that best suits your needs. Here maximum (-9) compression level is used.</para>
1406<para>If you are using cron then please consult the chapter that Conor Daly has dedicated to that <link linkend="backup-cron">topic</link>
1407</para>
1408</sect1>
1409
1410<sect1 id="backup-cmd">
1411<title>Backup Commands and Options</title>
1412
1413<para>Backup Command:</para>
1414<para></para>
1415<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1416<row>
1417<entry>
1418
1419mondoarchive &lt;-option1&gt; &lt;-option2&gt; ... &lt;-optionN&gt;
1420
1421</entry>
1422</row>
1423</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1424
1425<para>E.g.,</para>
1426<para></para>
1427<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1428<row>
1429<entry>
1430
1431bash# mondoarchive -E "/mnt/dos /mnt/cdrom" -9 -Oc 8
1432
1433</entry>
1434</row>
1435</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1436
1437<para>Would create backup CD to a CD-R disc at the highest
1438compression level, writing at speed 8 and ignoring the /mnt/dos and
1439/mnt/cdrom directories.</para>
1440<para>To see a detailed list of switches and their meaning, see the
1441<ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/docs/mondoarchive.8.html">HTML
1442man page</ulink> on the website or type 'man mondoarchive' at the
1443console.</para>
1444<sect2 id="backup-cmd-cdr">
1445<title>Standard Example With CD-R</title>
1446<para></para>
1447<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1448<row>
1449<entry>
1450
1451bash# mondoarchive -Oc 2 -g
1452
1453</entry>
1454</row>
1455</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1456
1457<para>Replace '2' in '-Oc 2' with the writer's speed. If
1458mondoarchive cannot find your CD-R then please add '-d 0,0,0' (or
1459whatever your CD writer's SCSI node is; usually, it is 0,0,0) to
1460the call.</para>
1461<para>Please insert the first disk in the writer while the PC is
1462chugging away. If Mondo needs additional CD-R(W) then it will ask
1463for them.</para>
1464</sect2>
1465<sect2 id="backup-cmd-cdrw">
1466<title>Standard Example With CD-RW</title>
1467<para></para>
1468<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1469<row>
1470<entry>
1471
1472bash# mondoarchive -Ow 2 -g
1473
1474</entry>
1475</row>
1476</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1477
1478<para>Replace '2' in '-Ow 2' with the writer's speed.</para>
1479</sect2>
1480<sect2 id="backup-cmd-tape">
1481 <title>Standard Example With Tape</title>
1482<para></para>
1483<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1484<row>
1485<entry>
1486
1487bash# mondoarchive -Ot -d /dev/st0 -g
1488
1489</entry>
1490</row>
1491</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1492
1493</sect2>
1494<sect2 id="backup-cmd-failsafe">
1495 <title>Standard Example With Failsafe kernel</title>
1496<para></para>
1497<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1498<row>
1499<entry>
1500
1501bash# mondoarchive -k FAILSAFE -Ow 2
1502
1503</entry>
1504</row>
1505</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1506
1507<para>If you have problems during the restore phase, due to your kernel
1508 (which may be the case on some distributions), you may want to explore the Failsafe
1509 approach, In order for this option to work you'll have to get
1510 the mindi-kernel tarball or package for your distribution.</para>
1511</sect2>
1512<sect2 id="backup-cmd-network">
1513 <title>Standard Example With Network Backup</title>
1514<para></para>
1515<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1516<row>
1517<entry>
1518
1519 bash# mount 192.168.1.3:/home/nfs -t nfs /mnt/nfs
1520</entry>
1521</row>
1522<row>
1523 <entry>
1524 bash# mondoarchive -OVn 192.168.1.3:/home/nfs -g -s 200m
1525</entry>
1526</row>
1527<row>
1528 <entry>
1529 bash# umount /mnt/nfs
1530
1531</entry>
1532</row>
1533</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1534
1535<para>The resultant ISO's can be burned to CD's if you want (which
1536isn't a good idea unless you're a Mondo expert because they'll try
1537to restore over a network by default, which is silly because the
1538archives are on the CD's). Or, you can boot from the Mindi floppies
1539(or mondorescue.iso) and hit ENTER a few times to restore.</para>
1540<para>Those ISO images can also be used for a PXE restore. For this
1541 to work, please refer to the file README.pxe provided with
1542 your mindi package.
1543</para>
1544</sect2>
1545</sect1>
1546</chapter>
1547
1548<chapter id="backup-cron">
1549<title>HOWTO run mondo interactively using cron</title>
1550
1551<sect1 id="backup-cron-overview">
1552<title>Overview</title>
1553
1554<para>
1555 Mondoarchive is designed to run interactively (at least where
1556 media changes are necessary). Cron does not allow user interaction
1557 with a job. This section addresses the problem by using screen as a
1558 wrapper for mondo.
1559</para>
1560<para>
1561 This section is Copyright 2003 Conor Daly.
1562</para>
1563</sect1>
1564<sect1 id="backup-cron-intro">
1565 <title>Introduction</title>
1566
1567<para>
1568Mondoarchive is designed to run interactively. That's not strictly
1569 true, if you run mondoarchive without the '-g' switch, it will just
1570 run. However, there is a problem where media changes are necessary.
1571 The user must change the media and tell mondoarchive that the change
1572 has been done. The problem lies in the fact that cron does not allow
1573 user interaction with a job. If you schedule a mondoarchive job via
1574 cron, you better be sure it needs only one media. In practical terms,
1575 this means using tapes or ISOs (if CD-R(W) is your backup medium).
1576 However, for tape users, there's always the possibility that the
1577 backup will overflow the tape while for CD-R(W) users, there is the
1578 added hassle of burning the ISOs in the morning. If your CD_R(W)
1579 backup routinely occupies more than one media, this is not for you
1580 (use the ISO option and burn the CDs in the morning). This HOWTO
1581 addresses the problem by using screen as a wrapper for mondo.
1582</para>
1583</sect1>
1584<sect1 id="backup-cron-who">
1585 <title>Who should read this?</title>
1586<sect2><title>Insurance</title>
1587<para>
1588Mondo users who wish to automate the backup and whose backups
1589 routinely occupy close to one media are the best audience. If you
1590 backup to tape, the occasion will arise when the backup will overflow
1591 your tape. In this instance, mondoarchive will ask for another tape.
1592 If you're using cron to start the backup, you won't be able to tell
1593 mondo that the new tape is mounted and the backup will fail. If you
1594 backup to CD-R(W), the same situation will arise but sooner.
1595 </para>
1596 </sect2>
1597 <sect2><title>Efficiency</title>
1598<para>
1599If your backup already occupies two media, this method will allow
1600 as much of the backup as possible to proceed during quiet periods.
1601 Time the backup to start with enough time to complete the first media
1602 shortly before the operator arrives for work. The next media can
1603 be mounted and the backup completed asap and minimises the time for
1604 which users are inconvenienced by the backup (eg. database locked...).
1605 </para>
1606 </sect2>
1607 </sect1>
1608 <sect1 id="backup-cron-problem">
1609 <title>The Problem</title>
1610<sect2><title>Cron's environment</title>
1611<para>
1612When a user submits a job with cron, their environment is not
1613 preserved. This is reasonable since cron jobs are typically ongoing
1614 and may be adversely affected if the user's environment changes subsequent
1615 to the cron submission. Thus, a cron job should call a script that
1616 set's up the correct environment before starting the user's desired
1617 program. The 'at' command does this nicely.
1618 </para>
1619 </sect2>
1620 <sect2><title>Interactivity</title>
1621<para>
1622When a job is started with cron, it runs as a background process.
1623 No interaction with the program is possible (unless it is capable
1624 of interacting via a FIFO or some such) except termination via its
1625 pid. The only program that I know of that allows such interaction
1626 and serves as a wrapper for other processes is 'screen'
1627 </para>
1628 </sect2>
1629 <sect2><title>Screen</title>
1630<para>
1631There's one little problem with screen though. It expects to
1632 attach to a terminal when it first starts. This won't happen under
1633 cron so screen will fail. Fortunately, screen comes with a "start
1634 detached" (-d) option.
1635 </para>
1636 </sect2>
1637 </sect1>
1638 <sect1 id="backup-cron-solution">
1639 <title>The Solution</title>
1640<sect2><title>Briefly</title>
1641<para>
1642<itemizedlist>
1643<listitem>
1644 <para>Use 'at' to run your usual mondoarchive command</para>
1645</listitem>
1646<listitem>
1647 <para>Grab the script generated by 'at' and make a copy of it</para>
1648 </listitem>
1649<listitem>
1650 <para>Edit that script to use 'screen -m -d &lt;your mondoarchive command&gt;'</para>
1651 </listitem>
1652<listitem>
1653 <para>Run that script from your crontab</para>
1654 </listitem>
1655<listitem>
1656 <para>Use 'screen -r' to attach to the mondo screen to change CDs</para>
1657 </listitem>
1658<listitem>
1659 <para>Use '&lt;CTRL&gt;-a d' to detach the screen again</para>
1660</listitem>
1661</itemizedlist>
1662</para>
1663</sect2>
1664<sect2><title>In Detail</title>
1665 <sect3><title>at</title>
1666<para>
1667Use the 'at' command to submit your usual mondoarchive command.
1668My mondoarchive command is:
1669</para>
1670<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1671<row>
1672<entry>
1673
1674 # mondoarchive -D -Ow 10 -S /home/mondo/ -T /home/mondo/ -g \
1675 -E "\"/home/cdaly/GIS/W2K /home/mondo/\"" -9
1676
1677</entry>
1678</row>
1679</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1680<para>
1681 To submit the mondoarchive command with 'at' do:
1682</para>
1683<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1684<row>
1685<entry>
1686
1687 # at now + 5 min
1688mondoarchive -D -Ow 10 -S /home/mondo/ -T /home/mondo/ -g \
1689-E "\"/home/cdaly/GIS/W2K /home/mondo/\"" -9
1690&lt;CTRL&gt;-d
1691</entry>
1692</row>
1693</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1694<para>
1695
1696This generates a script in /var/spool/at/ which sets up your
1697 environment and runs your command. Grab this script to become your
1698 cron job.
1699 </para>
1700 </sect3>
1701 <sect3><title>Grab the 'at' script</title>
1702<para>
1703 Make a copy of the script generated by the 'at' command to use
1704 as the basis for your cron job.
1705 </para>
1706<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1707<row>
1708<entry>
1709
1710grep mondo /var/spool/at/*
1711</entry>
1712</row>
1713<row>
1714 <entry>
1715cp /var/spool/at/&lt;file-from-grep&gt; /root/mondo-cronscript
1716</entry>
1717</row>
1718</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1719<para>
1720
1721 You'll need to edit this.
1722</para>
1723 </sect3>
1724<sect3><title>Edit mondo-cronscript</title>
1725<para>
1726To use screen, you'll need to edit the cronscript and add the
1727 screen command. My mondo-cronscript looks like:
1728</para>
1729<screen>
1730
1731#!/bin/sh
1732# atrun uid=0 gid=0
1733# mail cdaly 0 umask 22
1734PWD=/root; export PWD
1735XAUTHORITY=/root/.xauthyOrD4f; export XAUTHORITY
1736HOSTNAME=bofh.irmet.ie; export HOSTNAME
1737PVM_RSH=/usr/bin/rsh; export PVM_RSH
1738QTDIR=/usr/lib/qt-2.3.1; export QTDIR
1739LESSOPEN=\|/usr/bin/lesspipe.sh\ %s; export LESSOPEN
1740XPVM_ROOT=/usr/share/pvm3/xpvm; export XPVM_ROOT
1741KDEDIR=/usr; export KDEDIR
1742USER=root; export USER
1743LS_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
1744MACHTYPE=i386-redhat-linux-gnu; export MACHTYPE
1745MAIL=/var/spool/mail/root; export MAIL
1746INPUTRC=/etc/inputrc; export INPUTRC
1747BASH_ENV=/root/.bashrc; export BASH_ENV
1748LANG=en_US; export LANG
1749LOGNAME=root; export LOGNAME
1750SHLVL=1; export SHLVL
1751II_SYSTEM=/usr/local/ingres; export II_SYSTEM
1752USERNAME=root; export USERNAME
1753HOSTTYPE=i386; export HOSTTYPE
1754OSTYPE=linux-gnu; export OSTYPE
1755HISTSIZE=1000; export HISTSIZE
1756LAMHELPFILE=/etc/lam/lam-helpfile; export LAMHELPFILE
1757PVM_ROOT=/usr/share/pvm3; export PVM_ROOT
1758HOME=/root; export HOME
1759SSH_ASKPASS=/usr/libexec/openssh/gnome-ssh-askpass;
1760export SSH_ASKPASS
1761PATH=/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
1762cd /root || {
1763echo 'Execution directory inaccessible' >&2
1764exit 1
1765}
1766screen -m -d mondoarchive -D -Ow 10 -S /home/mondo/ \
1767-T /home/mondo/ -g -E "\"/home/cdaly/GIS/W2K /home/mondo/\"" -9
1768#done
1769
1770</screen>
1771<para>
1772 The crucial line is this one:
1773</para>
1774<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1775<row>
1776<entry>
1777 screen -m -d mondoarchive -D -Ow 10 -S /home/mondo/ -T /home/mondo/ -g -E "\"/home/cdaly/GIS/W2K /home/mondo/\"" -9
1778</entry>
1779</row>
1780</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1781<para>
1782This uses 'screen -m -d' to <quote>-m -d Start screen in "detached" mode. This creates a new session
1783 but doesn't attach to it. This is useful for system startup scripts.
1784 (From 'man screen')
1785</quote>
1786</para>
1787<para>
1788 When screen starts, it will be in the background and "detached".
1789</para>
1790</sect3>
1791<sect3><title>Run the thing with cron</title>
1792<para>
1793 To get the whole thing running, do:
1794</para>
1795<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1796<row>
1797<entry>
1798 crontab -e
1799 </entry>
1800</row>
1801</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1802<para>
1803and add the following lines:
1804</para>
1805<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1806<row>
1807<entry>
1808&num; run mondoarchive at 23:59 weekdays
1809</entry>
1810</row>
1811<row>
1812 <entry>
181359 23 * * 1-5 /root/mondo-cronscript
1814</entry>
1815</row>
1816</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1817<para>
1818 Your mondoarchive job will run at 23:59 monday-friday.
1819</para>
1820<para>
1821DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE TAPES!
1822</para>
1823</sect3>
1824<sect3><title>Getting at it...</title>
1825<para>
1826Once your cron job is running regularly, you'll want to get to
1827 it to change tapes and check status etc.
1828</para>
1829<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1830<row>
1831<entry>
1832screen -r
1833</entry>
1834</row>
1835</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1836<para>
1837attaches to the running screen where you can change CDs etc
1838</para>
1839<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1840<row>
1841<entry>
1842&lt;CTRL&gt;-a d
1843</entry>
1844</row>
1845</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1846<para>
1847detaches the running screen again.
1848</para>
1849</sect3>
1850<sect3><title>Caveat</title>
1851<para>
1852The script generated by 'at' is unique to the user/machine combination.
1853 You MUST regenerate it on each machine where it will be used. Using
1854 the one above will NOT work for you. MAKE YOUR OWN!
1855</para>
1856</sect3>
1857</sect2>
1858</sect1>
1859</chapter>
1860
1861<chapter id="compare">
1862<title>Compare</title>
1863<para>Before you trust your backup CD, make sure your BIOS can boot
1864CD (and that it is configured to do so).</para>
1865<itemizedlist>
1866<listitem>
1867<para>Boot from the first CD.</para>
1868</listitem>
1869<listitem>
1870<para>Type:</para>
1871</listitem>
1872</itemizedlist>
1873<para></para>
1874<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1875<row>
1876<entry>
1877
1878LILO: compare
1879
1880</entry>
1881</row>
1882</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1883
1884<para>Follow the on-screen instructions. This will compare your
1885backup against your original file system.</para>
1886<para>FYI, no bad archives have been created since May 2000. Having
1887said that, I would still encourage you to run Compare before
1888trusting the backups.</para>
1889<para>To view the file differences, look at the file
1890'/tmp/changed.txt'. Normal differences include logs and other
1891dynamic system files that changed during the time of the backup
1892process. If only a few files differ - e.g. files in /var, files
1893ending in '&amp;#732;', logs, temporary files, /etc/mtab,
1894/etc/adjtimex - then you know the archives are good. Your logs will
1895change over time, too. Bear in mind that a difference between the
1896backup and the live copy does not&nbsp;indicate a flaw in Mondo. It
1897indicates that you or your filesystem changed the files, so the
1898backup is no longer 100% up to date. However, that is inevitable,
1899as your filesystem changes from moment to moment (which is why you
1900back it up regularly).</para>
1901
1902</chapter>
1903
1904<chapter id="restore">
1905<title>Restore</title>
1906
1907<sect1 id="restore-overview">
1908<title>Overview</title>
1909
1910<para>I hope you don't have to restore from scratch very often.
1911It's nerve-wracking until you realize that Mondo's restore engine
1912is very reliable.
1913</para>
1914<para>If you find that you cannot make your PC boot from the CD,
1915take heart: the first backup CD of each set contains floppy disk
1916images to give you the same functionality as the CD (minus the
1917archives, of course) on floppies. Remember, your Mondo CD is a
1918fully functional CD-based mini-distribution as well as a recovery
1919CD.</para>
1920<para>You can choose from the following modes:</para>
1921
1922<variablelist>
1923<varlistentry><term>Interactive</term>
1924<listitem><para>Restore step-by-step, or restore a subset of the
1925archives. This is the method you should mainly use for your
1926recovery needs.</para>
1927</listitem></varlistentry>
1928<varlistentry><term>Nuke</term>
1929<listitem><para>Wipe your drives and restore everything,
1930automatically and unattended. Warning: This does exactly what is
1931says, so be careful using it.</para>
1932</listitem></varlistentry>
1933<varlistentry><term>Expert</term>
1934<listitem><para>Boot to a shell prompt. If you want to do anything
1935creative, you should boot into Expert Mode. It's called expert, I
1936think that says it all.</para>
1937</listitem>
1938</varlistentry>
1939</variablelist>
1940
1941<para>If the CD is not found during the initial restore CD boot
1942attempt, reboot the PC a second time prior to reporting failure.
1943Occasional timing errors and hardware/software/system conflicts do
1944occur.</para>
1945</sect1>
1946
1947<sect1 id="restore-tips">
1948<title>Tips and Tricks</title>
1949
1950<para>Ideally, restore your system to a spare hard drive to test
1951the integrity and reliability of your disks. To do that, either
1952edit your mountlist to make the devices point to your spare hard
1953drive, or swap your hard drive cables between boots.</para>
1954<para>At a bare minimum, compare your CD against your file system
1955before you decide whether to trust them.</para>
1956<para>To test Mondo's ability to handle your LILO or GRUB boot
1957loader and accompanying configuration file:</para>
1958<itemizedlist>
1959<listitem>
1960<para>Boot from the backup CD into Expert Mode</para>
1961</listitem>
1962<listitem>
1963<para>Type:</para>
1964</listitem>
1965</itemizedlist>
1966<para></para>
1967<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1968<row>
1969<entry>
1970
1971bash# mondorestore --mbr
1972
1973</entry>
1974</row>
1975</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1976
1977<itemizedlist>
1978<listitem>
1979<para>To fix any mess it made (not that it should) type:</para>
1980</listitem>
1981</itemizedlist>
1982<para></para>
1983<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
1984<row>
1985<entry>
1986 bash# mount-me
1987</entry>
1988</row>
1989<row>
1990<entry>
1991 bash# chroot /mnt/RESTORING
1992 </entry>
1993</row>
1994<row>
1995<entry>
1996 </entry>
1997</row>
1998<row>
1999<entry>
2000bash# lilo OR grub-install '(hd0)'
2001 </entry>
2002</row>
2003<row>
2004<entry>
2005bash# exit
2006</entry>
2007</row>
2008<row>
2009<entry>
2010 bash# unmount-me
2011
2012</entry>
2013</row>
2014</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2015
2016<itemizedlist>
2017<listitem>
2018<para>If it did not work then please copy /tmp/mondo-restore.log to
2019a floppy (or to your hard disk, USB key, ...), gzip it and e-mail it to the
2020&ML;.</para>
2021</listitem>
2022</itemizedlist>
2023
2024<sect2>
2025 <title>Barebones (Nuke) Restore</title>
2026<para>Imagine that your hard drives happen to be wiped,
2027deliberately or accidentally. Or, imagine that you want to clone
2028your existing operating system. In either case, you want to run in
2029Nuke Mode.</para>
2030<para>If you want to wipe everything and restore your whole system
2031from CD, please:</para>
2032<itemizedlist>
2033<listitem>
2034<para>Use the -H option when invoking mondoarchive</para>
2035</listitem>
2036<listitem>
2037<para>Boot from the first Mondo CD</para>
2038</listitem>
2039<listitem>
2040<para>Press RESTORE&lt;enter&gt;</para>
2041</listitem>
2042<listitem>
2043<para>Insert the subsequent CD when asked</para>
2044</listitem>
2045<listitem>
2046<para>Watch the screen for errors</para>
2047</listitem>
2048</itemizedlist>
2049<para>That's it. The restoration process for tape or NFS users is
2050similarly easy: just boot, answer the on-screen prompts, and
2051wait.</para>
2052<para>Now, should something go wrong, you will be able to examine
2053/tmp/mondo-restore.log to see what happened. All is not lost. You
2054can fdisk and format the partitions yourself, using the tools that
2055come with the CD. You can then run mondorestore in Interactive Mode
2056and say 'no' when asked if you want Mondo to partition/format your
2057drives.</para>
2058<para>If you want to see exactly what Mondo is doing while it is
2059restoring, press &lt;Alt&gt;&lt;left cursor&gt; to view its
2060logfile, in a virtual console, scrolling past.</para>
2061</sect2>
2062<sect2>
2063<title>Interactive Restore</title>
2064<para>Interactive Mode is for people who have lost a subset of data
2065from their live file system, or perhaps who have lost some data
2066from their latest backup and want to restore a subset of data from
2067an earlier backup. If you want to restore only some files or if you
2068do not want to prep/format your drives, then you should boot into
2069Interactive Mode. The interactive mode will provide an 'Editing
2070mountlist screen' that allows you to setup a different disk
2071geometry.</para>
2072<para>To move up and down between partitions in the 'Editing
2073mountlist screen', use the Up and Down arrows. To move between the
2074main window and the buttons at the bottom, use the Left and Right
2075cursor keys. TAB shifts focus from one screen item to the other in
2076a haphazard fashion, owing to the complexities of the Newt
2077library.</para>
2078<para>If you want to restore selectively, just press &lt;enter&gt;
2079and follow the on-screen instructions. You will be asked to say
2080yes/no to a range of questions.</para>
2081<para>If you are planning to modify your partition table, you would
2082do well to read up on the partition layout and the use of fdisk, it
2083gives you some pointers on how to best lay out partitions.
2084You can find a good guide at
2085<ulink url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/index.html">http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/index.html</ulink>
2086</para>
2087<para>If you want to restore a subset of the backup then:</para>
2088<itemizedlist>
2089<listitem>
2090<para>Boot from the CD</para>
2091</listitem>
2092<listitem>
2093<para>Type:</para>
2094</listitem>
2095</itemizedlist>
2096<para></para>
2097<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2098<row>
2099<entry>
2100
2101bash# interactive
2102
2103</entry>
2104</row>
2105</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2106
2107<itemizedlist>
2108<listitem>
2109<para>Then, after booting, answer the questions as follows:</para>
2110</listitem>
2111</itemizedlist>
2112<para></para>
2113<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2114<row>
2115<entry>
2116
2117 Do you want to partition your devices? no
2118 </entry>
2119</row>
2120<row>
2121<entry>
2122Do you want to format them? no
2123 </entry>
2124</row>
2125<row>
2126<entry>
2127Do you want to restore everything? no
2128 </entry>
2129</row>
2130<row>
2131<entry>
2132Do you want to restore something? yes
2133 </entry>
2134</row>
2135<row>
2136<entry>
2137Which path do you want to restore? /mydata [e.g.]
2138 </entry>
2139</row>
2140<row>
2141<entry>
2142Do you want to run LILO to setup your boot sectors? Yes
2143
2144</entry>
2145</row>
2146</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2147
2148</sect2>
2149
2150<sect2>
2151<title>Expert Restore</title>
2152<para>If you are planning to modify your partition table, you would
2153do well to read up on the partition layout and the use of fdisk, it
2154gives you some could pointers on how to best lay out partitions.
2155You can find good a guide at
2156<ulink url="http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini/Partition/index.html">http://www.ibiblio.o
2157rg/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini/Partition/index.html</ulink></para>
2158<para>To restore manually, please:</para>
2159<itemizedlist>
2160<listitem>
2161<para>Boot from the first CD, then type:</para>
2162</listitem>
2163</itemizedlist>
2164<para></para>
2165<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2166<row>
2167<entry>
2168
2169bash# expert
2170
2171</entry>
2172
2173</row>
2174</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2175
2176<itemizedlist>
2177<listitem>
2178<para>Then do whatever you like. :) You may type the following, of
2179course:</para>
2180</listitem>
2181</itemizedlist>
2182<para></para>
2183<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2184<row>
2185<entry>
2186
2187bash# mondorestore
2188
2189</entry>
2190</row>
2191</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2192</sect2>
2193
2194<sect2>
2195<title>Modified partitions - Restore to a different disk geometry</title>
2196<para>One of the nice things about Mondo is that it lets you wipe
2197your existing system and restore it in any layout you like (within
2198reason). You can move from non-RAID to RAID,install and utilize
2199additional drives, move from ext2 to ReiserFS, etc., all without
2200risking the loss of data.</para>
2201<para>If the user excluded a particular partition from backup and
2202specifically excluded it from the mountlist itself using -E then
2203Mondo will insert a small (32MB) partition at restore-time, in
2204order to avoid having to re-jig fstab, the partition table,
2205etc.</para>
2206<para>To do this:</para>
2207<itemizedlist>
2208<listitem>
2209<para>Boot into Expert Mode, then type:</para>
2210</listitem>
2211</itemizedlist>
2212<para></para>
2213<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2214<row>
2215<entry>
2216
2217bash# mondorestore
2218
2219</entry>
2220</row>
2221</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2222
2223<itemizedlist>
2224<listitem>
2225<para>(edit the mountlist using the on-screen editor)</para>
2226</listitem>
2227</itemizedlist>
2228<para>If you want to move from ext2 to ReiserFS, you can do it here
2229(so long as your kernel supports ReiserFS). Ditto for XFS, JFS or
2230ext3.</para>
2231<para>Mondorestore will try to modify your /etc/fstab to reflect
2232changes you have made to the mountlist. If you are not using LILO,
2233you can still create your own /mnt/RESTORING/etc/lilo.conf and run
2234lilo -r /mnt/RESTORING to configure your boot sectors and Master
2235Boot Record.</para>
2236<para>Mondo (technically, Mindi on behalf of Mondo) creates a file
2237called a mountlist. This can be found on the ramdisk at
2238/tmp/mountlist.txt; it looks something like this:</para>
2239<para></para>
2240<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2241<row>
2242<entry>
2243
2244 /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows vfat 4096000
2245</entry>
2246</row>
2247<row>
2248<entry>
2249 /dev/hda5 / reiserfs 6023000
2250</entry>
2251</row>
2252<row>
2253<entry>
2254 /dev/hda6 /tmp xfs 955000
2255</entry>
2256</row>
2257<row>
2258<entry>
2259 /dev/hda7 /usr ext3 4096000
2260
2261</entry>
2262</row>
2263</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2264
2265<para>It is fairly easy to understand the list. Each line refers to
2266a single device/partition. The line format is:</para>
2267<para></para>
2268<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2269<row>
2270<entry>
2271
2272&lt;device&gt; &lt;partition&gt; &lt;format&gt; &lt;Kilobytes&gt;
2273
2274</entry>
2275</row>
2276</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2277
2278<para>If you have added a hard drive and want to take advantage of
2279the additional space, you could amend the above mountlist to
2280read:</para>
2281<para></para>
2282<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2283<row>
2284<entry>
2285
2286 /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows vfat 6096000
2287</entry>
2288</row>
2289<row>
2290<entry>
2291 /dev/hda5 / reiserfs 9123000
2292</entry>
2293</row>
2294<row>
2295<entry>
2296 /dev/hda6 /tmp xfs 955000
2297</entry>
2298</row>
2299<row>
2300<entry>
2301 /dev/hdb1 /usr ext3 8192000
2302</entry>
2303</row>
2304<row>
2305<entry>
2306 /dev/hdb2 /home xfs 8192000
2307
2308</entry>
2309</row>
2310</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2311
2312<para>This assumes that your old hard drive is /dev/hda and the new
2313hard drive is /dev/hdb.</para>
2314<para>Or, if you want to add RAID support, create a new
2315/etc/raidtab on the ramdisk (which is beyond the scope of this
2316HOWTO) and then write a mountlist like this:</para>
2317<para></para>
2318<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2319<row>
2320<entry>
2321
2322 /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows vfat 6096000
2323</entry>
2324</row>
2325<row>
2326<entry>
2327 /dev/md0 / reiserfs 9123000
2328</entry>
2329</row>
2330<row>
2331<entry>
2332 /dev/md1 /tmp xfs 955000
2333</entry>
2334</row>
2335<row>
2336<entry>
2337 /dev/md2 /usr ext3 8192000
2338</entry>
2339</row>
2340<row>
2341<entry>
2342 /dev/md3 /home xfs 8192000
2343
2344</entry>
2345</row>
2346</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2347
2348<para>So long as your /etc/raidtab file is sane, Mondo can
2349automatically partition and format your disks for you, including
2350the RAID devices.</para>
2351<para>Once you have finished editing /tmp/mountlist.txt using
2352mondorestore's built-in editor then you may choose 'OK'. Please
2353note that this will not write anything to your hard disk. You will
2354only reformat or repartition your disks if you say 'Yes' when asked
2355if you want to do those things.</para>
2356</sect2>
2357
2358<sect2>
2359<title>Advanced</title>
2360<para>It is now possible to restore to a live filesystem using
2361Mondo. In other words, you do not have to boot your PC from your
2362CD/floppy in order to restore files. Mondo was originally designed
2363for disaster recovery - situations in which you cannot boot your
2364PC. If you can boot your PC, it is not really a disaster, is it? :)
2365Well, if you have wiped out your priceless collection of "MTV's
2366Bjork Unplugged" MP3's, perhaps it is. Anyway, just type this as
2367root</para>
2368<para></para>
2369<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2370<row>
2371<entry>
2372
2373bash# mondorestore
2374
2375</entry>
2376</row>
2377</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2378
2379<para></para>
2380<informaltable><tgroup cols="2"><tbody>
2381<row>
2382<entry>
2383<ulink url="images/rest1.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2384<imagedata fileref="images/rest1-mini">
2385</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2386</ulink>
2387</entry>
2388<entry>
2389Choose your type of backup media. The live restoration process is
2390very similar to what you'll experience if you type mondorestore
2391with no parameters after booting from a Mondo CD/floppy.
2392</entry>
2393</row>
2394<row>
2395<entry>
2396<ulink url="images/rest2.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2397<imagedata fileref="images/rest2-mini">
2398</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2399</ulink>
2400</entry>
2401<entry>
2402Hit 'OK' when you have inserted the tape/CD. If you generated a
2403tape backup, the tape itself should be enough. If you generated a
2404CD backup, the first CD should be enough. Otherwise, you may need
2405the boot floppy.
2406</entry>
2407</row>
2408<row>
2409<entry>
2410<ulink url="images/rest3.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2411<imagedata fileref="images/rest3-mini">
2412</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2413</ulink>
2414</entry>
2415<entry>
2416Flag the files and directories you wish to restore. Use the 'More'
2417and 'Less' buttons to open and close subdirectories.
2418</entry>
2419</row>
2420<row>
2421<entry>
2422<ulink url="images/rest4.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2423<imagedata fileref="images/rest4-mini">
2424</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2425</ulink>
2426</entry>
2427<entry>
2428Specify the location to restore the files to. In general, '/' is
2429appropriate. If you do not want to overwrite newer versions of the
2430files you are restoring then specify /tmp/BKP or similar as the
2431restore path.
2432</entry>
2433</row>
2434<row>
2435<entry>
2436<ulink url="images/rest5.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2437<imagedata fileref="images/rest5-mini">
2438</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2439</ulink>
2440</entry>
2441<entry>
2442Mondorestore will retrieve configuration information from the
2443media. (The sample screen is for tape users. CD users will see
2444something different.)
2445</entry>
2446</row>
2447<row>
2448<entry>
2449<ulink url="images/rest6.png"><inlinemediaobject><imageobject>
2450<imagedata fileref="images/rest6-mini">
2451</imageobject></inlinemediaobject>
2452</ulink>
2453</entry>
2454<entry>
2455Data will be restored to the hard disk - first the regular files,
2456then any big (32MB or greater) files in the restore set.
2457</entry>
2458</row>
2459</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2460
2461<para>I hope this manual was useful for you.</para>
2462</sect2>
2463</sect1>
2464
2465</chapter>
2466
2467<chapter id="faq">
2468<title>FAQ</title>
2469
2470<sect1 id="faq-overview">
2471<title>Overview</title>
2472<para>Are the errors from Mindi or Mondo? Look at
2473/var/log/mondo-archive.log, /var/log/mindi.log or the
2474mondo.err.xxxxx.tgz log indicated by the screen message. Pipe
2475screen errors which relate to the creation of boot disk(s) and or
2476data disk(s) to a text file.</para>
2477<para>See the &WWW; for details. If you are going to e-mail
2478&ML; then
2479please attach that text file (zipped!) and give :</para>
2480<itemizedlist>
2481<listitem>
2482<para>Your kernel version (uname -a)</para>
2483</listitem>
2484<listitem>
2485 <para>Your Linux distro's name and version (/etc/distro-release)</para>
2486</listitem>
2487<listitem>
2488 <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>
2489</listitem>
2490<listitem>
2491<para>What sort of PC you are using, including hard disk configurations (results of dmidecode, lshw, fdisk -l are useful here)</para>
2492</listitem>
2493</itemizedlist>
2494<para>Mondo is freely available under the GPL and you are given it for no charge.
2495When you e-mail the &ML;, please bear that in mind.</para>
2496</sect1>
2497<sect1 id="faq-general">
2498<title>General Questions</title>
2499
2500<qandaset>
2501<qandaentry>
2502 <question><para>Q: What is "Mindi"?</para></question>
2503 <answer>
2504<para>A: Mindi, a.k.a. Mindi-Linux, makes a mini-distribution from
2505your kernel, modules, modules, tools and libraries. It can also
2506generate an El Torito 2.88/5.76MB boot disk image. Mondo uses Mindi to
2507create a mini-distro, then boots from it and runs on it.</para>
2508</answer>
2509</qandaentry>
2510<qandaentry>
2511 <question><para>Q: Why is it called "Mondo"?</para></question>
2512 <answer>
2513<para>A: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles described cool things as
2514'mondo'. Hugo Rabson wasn't sure what to call this project. 'Faust' was one
2515idea he had, partly as a dig at his former boss who practically owned
2516him because of his legal status at the time. In the end, he chose
2517something short and distinctive.</para>
2518</answer>
2519</qandaentry>
2520<qandaentry>
2521<question><para>Q: Mondo does not work on my system. It
2522 keels over and dies. What's wrong?</para></question>
2523<answer>
2524 <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
2525 of SuSE/SLES, some flavors of Slackware, etc.
2526The more distributions we support, the more moving targets we have to
2527hit. Please bear this in mind when e-mailing the list. :) If you
2528would like to help us by beta-testing Mondo (or Mindi) on your PC
2529then we would be very interested in working with you to work around
2530the eccentricities of your Linux distro. However, rest assured, 90%
2531of the bugs reported are actually symptoms of FooLinux X.Y's
2532unique way of doing things.</para>
2533<para>Please send a copy of <filename>/var/log/mondo-archive.log</filename> to the &ML;
2534along with a description of your distro, your kernel, etc.
2535Oh, and before sending it, please try to read it.</para>
2536</answer>
2537</qandaentry>
2538<qandaentry>
2539 <question><para>Q: What if the error is in Mindi?</para></question>
2540 <answer>
2541 <para>A: Please send a copy of <filename>/var/log/mindi.log</filename> to the &ML;
2542along with a description of your distro, your kernel, etc.
2543Oh, and before sending it, please read it as it is much easier to understand it.</para>
2544</answer>
2545</qandaentry>
2546<qandaentry>
2547 <question><para>Q: Can I trust Mondo?</para></question>
2548 <answer>
2549<para>A: Mondo has generated reliable archives since May 2000.
2550Lost data occured by using bad CD-R disks and not verifying their
2551contents. Some users have not tried booting from their CD until
2552crunch time. Remember to boot into Compare Mode to verify the
2553backup before you trust it. If Mondo did not work, you would not be
2554reading this. If it does not work for you, your kernel is usually
2555the culprit. Check <link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux Kernel
2556support</link> to see what your kernel should support. Please
2557e-mail the list if you need some help with this.</para>
2558</answer>
2559</qandaentry>
2560<qandaentry>
2561 <question><para>Q: How do I report a bug?</para></question>
2562 <answer>
2563 <para>A: E-mail the bug report (mondo.err.xxxxx.tgz) to the &ML;.
2564 Ok you've read it already but it's really important if you want help.
2565If you don't send a logfile then there isn't a lot that we can do for you, so
2566PLEASE include a logfile at the very least.</para>
2567</answer>
2568</qandaentry>
2569<qandaentry>
2570<question><para>Q: I think Mondo should (...insert
2571suggestion here...) and I have rewritten it accordingly. Would you
2572like to see my patch?</para></question>
2573<answer>
2574<para>A: Absolutely! :-) The best way for you to make Mondo do what
2575you want is to modify it and then send the patch. That way, we
2576can all benefit.</para>
2577</answer>
2578</qandaentry>
2579<qandaentry>
2580<question><para>Q: I think Mondo should (...insert
2581suggestion here...); will you incorporate this feature for me,
2582please?</para></question>
2583<answer>
2584<para>A: Please enter the suggestion in our feature system at &WWW;
2585</para>
2586</answer>
2587</qandaentry>
2588<qandaentry>
2589<question><para>Q: Mondo says, "XXX is missing," and
2590 then terminates. What's wrong?</para></question>
2591<answer>
2592<para>A: A good Linux distribution should contain XXX but the
2593designers, in their infinite wisdom, decided not to include that
2594particular tool. Check <ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml#dependencies">Related
2595 Linux Packages</ulink> and install the missing package. If that
2596fails, contact the vendor/distributor/manufacturer/designer of your
2597distro.</para>
2598</answer>
2599</qandaentry>
2600<qandaentry>
2601<question><para>Q: Can Mondo handle multi-CD backups and
2602 restores?</para></question>
2603<answer>
2604<para>A: Yes, up to twenty CD per set. This 20-CD limit results
2605from laziness on mondorescue's part. I'll be removed in the future. However, if
2606your system occupies more than 20 CD, may it's time for another type of media ?
2607</para>
2608</answer>
2609</qandaentry>
2610<qandaentry>
2611<question><para>Q: Can Mondo handle Linux/Windows
2612 dual-boot systems?</para></question>
2613<answer>
2614<para>A: Yes. If your system currently boots into Linux or Windows
2615via LILO, you can backup and restore both OSes at the same time
2616using Mondo. If you are using NTFS then add the switch, '-x
2617&lt;device&gt;'.</para>
2618</answer>
2619</qandaentry>
2620<qandaentry>
2621<question><para>Q: Can Mondo backup Windows-only
2622 systems?</para></question>
2623<answer>
2624<para>A: Not at the moment.
2625</para>
2626</answer>
2627</qandaentry>
2628<qandaentry>
2629 <question><para>Q: Does Mondo support LVM?</para></question>
2630 <answer>
2631<para>A: Mondo supports LVM v1 and v2. Mondo backs up and restores your
2632existing setup but it does not make it easy for you to change your
2633LVM configuration, at the moment. You have to edit <filename>/tmp/i-want-my-lvm</filename> at boot-time
2634to do that.</para>
2635</answer>
2636</qandaentry>
2637<qandaentry>
2638<question><para>Q: What if I don't use LILO? What if I
2639 use GRUB?</para></question>
2640<answer>
2641<para>A: GRUB is supported by Mondo.</para>
2642</answer>
2643</qandaentry>
2644<qandaentry>
2645<question><para>Q: I get the error, 'Cannot find
2646 /tmp/dev.0' or 'Cannot mount device 0x0701'; what do I do?</para></question>
2647<answer>
2648 <para>A: Please free up <filename>/dev/loop0</filename> using 'losetup /dev/loop0 -d' to
2649unmount that loop device. If your OS will not let you do that,
2650contact your local support group or Linux vendor.</para>
2651</answer>
2652</qandaentry>
2653<qandaentry>
2654<question><para>Q: Can I create a Mondo CD and then use
2655 it to create an archive of any OS on any PC?</para></question>
2656<answer>
2657<para>A: Not yet. You can use Mondo to backup Linux or
2658Linux/Windows dual boot. One day, Mondo will let you backup
2659partitions it can't read or write, by treating each partition as
2660one long file to be backed up. This file will be chopped,
2661compressed and archived like any other big file.</para>
2662</answer>
2663</qandaentry>
2664<qandaentry>
2665<question><para>Q: Why do you insist on putting floppy
2666disk images on Mondo CD? They waste space and I never use them. The
2667CD works just fine, so why keep the floppy disk images?</para>
2668</question>
2669<answer>
2670<para>A: Because. It helped us in the past. If you
2671really, truly want them gone then please submit a patch to make
2672them optional.</para>
2673</answer>
2674</qandaentry>
2675<qandaentry>
2676<question><para>Q: Why doesn't the Mondo project have a
2677cool-looking animal logo?</para></question>
2678<answer>
2679<para>A: Excellent question! Please submit graphics of candidate
2680 animal logos!</para>
2681 </answer>
2682</qandaentry>
2683<qandaentry>
2684<question><para>Q: Is there a Mondo user 'Code of
2685 Conduct?</para></question>
2686<answer>
2687<para>A: Yes. Read the HOWTO. Submit patches. Recommend realistic
2688improvements. Be courteous to other users on the discussion list.
2689Do not whine.</para>
2690</answer>
2691</qandaentry>
2692</qandaset>
2693</sect1>
2694
2695<sect1 id="faq-booting">
2696<title>Booting and Kernel related Questions</title>
2697<qandaset>
2698<qandaentry>
2699<question><para>Q: When I try to boot from the Mondo CD,
2700it says, "VFS: Unable to mount root fs." I am using an old Debian
2701distro. What do I do?</para></question>
2702<answer>
2703<para>A: Ask Debian's designers why they, unlike every other distro
2704I can find, have included cramfs and other 'goodies' with their
2705kernel. In the meantime, please use '-k FAILSAFE' in your command
2706line when calling Mondo.</para>
2707<para>A: From Sarge onwards, all stock Debian 2.6 kernels should work fine. If
2708you are still using stock Debian 2.4 kernels, FAILSAFE is the way to go.
2709Of course, if you have compiled your own kernel and experience problems,
2710FAILSAFE is the way to go as well, but this is not really
2711Debian-specific.</para>
2712</answer>
2713</qandaentry>
2714<qandaentry>
2715<question><para>Q: When I try to boot from the Mondo CD,
2716it says, "Cannot mount root fs - kernel panic," or something
2717similar. What do I do?</para></question>
2718<answer>
2719<para>A: Recompile your kernel (or use '-k FAILSAFE'). Take a look
2720at <link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux Kernel support</link> to
2721see what your kernel must support.</para>
2722</answer>
2723</qandaentry>
2724<qandaentry>
2725<question><para>Q: When I try to boot from the Mondo CD,
2726 it says, "UPGRADE YOUR RAM". What does that mean?</para></question>
2727<answer>
2728<para>A: Recompile your kernel and add Virtual memory file system
2729support. Take a look at <link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux
2730Kernel support</link> to see what your kernel must support. (Of
2731course, if your PC has less than 64MB of RAM, you could always...
2732what's the phrase? I know, upgrade your RAM!)</para>
2733</answer>
2734</qandaentry>
2735<qandaentry>
2736<question><para>Q: When I try to boot from the Mondo CD,
2737it says something about not finding my CD-ROM drive and then it
2738blames the kernel. What does that mean?</para></question>
2739<answer>
2740 <para>A: Your kernel must support initrd, loopfs, IDE|SCSI|USB CD-ROM's, and
2741ramdisks. Take a look at <link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux
2742Kernel support</link> to see what your kernel must support. If
2743your kernel does not support these things, Mondo will not boot from
2744your CD. However, when running Mindi, you may choose to use _its_
2745kernel instead of your own. In addition, you may boot from floppy
2746disk images instead the CD: copy the disk images from the CD
2747/images directory to floppy disks, using 'dd'. Take a look at
2748<link linkend="copybootdatadisk">Copy boot data
2749disks</link> on how to make those.</para>
2750</answer>
2751</qandaentry>
2752<qandaentry>
2753<question><para>Q: The Mondo CD/floppy takes ages to
2754 boot. How can I speed it up?</para></question>
2755<answer>
2756<para>A: Edit mindi (it's a shell script, btw) and change
2757LILO_OPTIONS="" to LILO_OPTIONS="-c". This enables map compaction
2758in lilo and speeds up booting, for more info see the lilo man
2759page.</para>
2760</answer>
2761</qandaentry>
2762<qandaentry>
2763<question><para>Q: I made a Mondo CD using the failsafe
2764kernel (i.e. I said 'no' when Mondo asked if I wanted to use my own
2765kernel). It still doesn't boot. Help!</para></question>
2766<answer>
2767<para>A: OK, now that is a bug. :-) I included a kernel with Mondo
2768(technically, with Mindi, which Mondo uses) to make sure that users
2769could use Mondo despite flaws in their own kernels. If you are
2770using Mondo/Mindi's kernel but still cannot boot from your Mondo CD
2771then please e-mail the &ML;.</para>
2772</answer>
2773</qandaentry>
2774<qandaentry>
2775<question><para>Q: What if my PC won't boot from a
2776 CD?</para></question>
2777<answer>
2778<para>A: Copy the image files from the CD /images directory, using
2779the dd command. Take a look at
2780<link linkend="copybootdatadisk">Copy boot data
2781disks</link> on how to make those. Then boot from the first
2782floppy; follow it up with the data disks; finally, type 'mount
2783/mnt/cdrom' and then utilize the restore script as usual, e.g.
2784mondorestore.</para>
2785<para>A: You may also want to boot using the network with PXE.
2786 Look at the README.pxe file of mindi to know more details on how.</para>
2787</answer>
2788</qandaentry>
2789<qandaentry>
2790<question><para>Q: But why won't Mondo boot from my CD?
2791It says my kernel is flawed/outdated/ whatever, and when I wrote to
2792the ML, they told me the same thing... but I still don't get it. I
2793mean, my kernel works for everything else. Why not Mondo?</para></question>
2794<answer>
2795<para>A: Because Mondo makes a boot disk using your kernel. I bet
2796your other software doesn't do that. Also, not all kernels are
2797suitable for boot disks. I'm sorry but that's Life. Upgrade your
2798kernel and/or recompile it. Take a look at
2799<link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux Kernel support</link> to see
2800what your kernel must support.</para>
2801</answer>
2802</qandaentry>
2803<qandaentry>
2804<question><para>Q: Why do I only need a boot disk if I'm
2805 using a tape drive? Where are the data disks?</para></question>
2806<answer>
2807<para>A: On the tape. :-) The first 32MB of the tape will be set
2808aside for a large tarball containing the data disks, a list of all
2809files backed up, and other sundries. If Mondo and Mindi do their
2810respective jobs then you won't need additional floppies, just the
2811boot floppy and the tape(s).</para>
2812<para>For the moment mondorescue doesn't support OBDR for tapes.
2813 Feel free to produce patches for it :-)</para>
2814</answer>
2815</qandaentry>
2816<qandaentry>
2817<question><para>Q: Why does it say, "Process accounting
2818 FAILED" when I reboot?</para></question>
2819<answer>
2820<para>A: You were using Process Accounting. Red Hat (or whichever
2821distro you are using) does not provide a startup/shutdown script
2822yet. So, when you try to backup the process log, it just grows and
2823grows as Mondo tries to back it up. Mondo doesn't back it up
2824anymore and that's why. The unfortunate side-effect is... well,
2825what you see on your screen. Type 'touch /var/log/pacct' and then
2826'paccton' to fix the error message.</para>
2827</answer>
2828</qandaentry>
2829<qandaentry>
2830<question><para>Q: Why does it say,
2831&amp;#8220;request_module[block-major-1]: Root fs not mounted VFS:
2832Cannot open root device "100" or 01:00 Please append a correct
2833"root=" boot option kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on
283401:00&amp;#8221; when i boot from the CD?</para></question>
2835<answer>
2836<para>A: Recompile your kernel and add initrd support. Take a look
2837at <link linkend="overview-sysrq-kernelreq">Linux Kernel support</link> to
2838see what your kernel must support.</para>
2839</answer>
2840</qandaentry>
2841<qandaentry>
2842<question>
2843<para id="copybootdatadisk">Q: How do i copy boot+data disk images to physical floppy disks ?</para>
2844</question>
2845<answer>
2846 <para>A: The images are in /var/cache/mindi (even if they are
2847created by Mondo) and also in the 'images' directory on the first
2848CD of your backup set, if you have backed up to CD. You can copy
2849the images to disk as follows:-</para>
2850<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2851<row>
2852<entry>
2853 Put an empty Boot floppy
2854</entry>
2855</row>
2856<row>
2857<entry>
2858 bash# fdformat /dev/fd0u1722
2859</entry>
2860</row>
2861<row>
2862<entry>
2863 bash# dd if=/var/cache/mindi/mindi-boot.1722.img of=/dev/fd0u1722
2864</entry>
2865</row>
2866<row>
2867<entry>
2868 Put an empty Data floppy
2869</entry>
2870</row>
2871<row>
2872<entry>
2873 bash# fdformat /dev/fd0
2874</entry>
2875</row>
2876<row>
2877<entry>
2878 bash# dd if=/var/cache/mindi/mindi-data-N.img of=/dev/fd0
2879</entry>
2880</row>
2881<row>
2882<entry>
2883 Replace N with 1, 2, etc.
2884
2885</entry>
2886</row>
2887</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2888</answer>
2889</qandaentry>
2890
2891<qandaentry>
2892<question><para id="TAPENICE">Q: My tape drive
2893doesn't play nicely with Mondo at boot-time. What do I do?</para></question>
2894<answer><para>A: Play with the 'mt' command (package mt-st). Use its setblksize and
2895defblksize switches to reconfigure your tape drive if necessary.
2896Some tape drives just are painful. If yours is one of
2897them then God help you. Mondo can handle any tape drive whose drive
2898and firmware can handle fopen(), fwrite(), fread() and fclose().
2899Mondo uses standard C libraries to talk to your tape streamer. If
2900your tape streamer can't handle that then you had better call a
2901priest. Either that or ask for a refund.
2902</para>
2903</answer>
2904</qandaentry>
2905</qandaset>
2906</sect1>
2907
2908<sect1 id="faq-install">
2909<title>Installation related Questions</title>
2910<qandaset>
2911<qandaentry>
2912<question><para>Q: Why do I get, "newt.h not found," or
2913"popt.h not found," several times when I try to install
2914Mondo?</para></question>
2915<answer>
2916<para>A: You have not installed libnewt and/or libnewt-devel.
2917Please do so. Check <ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml#dependencies">Related Linux
2918Packages</ulink> to see what Mondo requires and where you can get
2919tarballs and RPM's. Make sure you are using the right version of
2920newt/libnewt. Read the error messages carefully.</para>
2921</answer>
2922</qandaentry>
2923<qandaentry>
2924<question><para>Q: Newt won't compile when I try. What's
2925 the problem?</para></question>
2926<answer>
2927<para>A: You are probably missing popt.h, which newt needs to
2928compile, it can be found in the 'popt' package. Check your
2929distribution and see if they have popt, if not check
2930<ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml#dependencies">Related Linux Packages</ulink> to
2931see where you can get it.</para>
2932</answer>
2933</qandaentry>
2934<qandaentry>
2935<question><para>Q: I've just used up 6 CD-R, only to
2936 find that Mondo won't boot!</para></question>
2937<answer>
2938<para>A: You should have used CD-RW. ;) In the HOWTO, it gives
2939instructions on how to create a test CD (one, not six).</para>
2940</answer>
2941</qandaentry>
2942<qandaentry>
2943<question>
2944<para id="PACKREQ">Q: Lots of packages,
2945required by Mondo, are missing from my system. What do I do?</para>
2946</question>
2947<answer>
2948<para>
2949A: Install them. :) If you are using RPM or deb
2950then you'll be told which packages you need. Mondo offers a lot of
2951those packages on its
2952<ulink url="http://www.mondorescue.org/downloads.shtml">Download</ulink>
2953web page.</para>
2954</answer>
2955</qandaentry>
2956</qandaset>
2957</sect1>
2958
2959<sect1 id="faq-hardware">
2960<title>Hardware related Questions</title>
2961<qandaset>
2962<qandaentry>
2963 <question><para>Q: Can Mondo handle CD-RW?</para></question>
2964 <answer>
2965<para>A: Yes. Use '-Ow &lt;speed&gt; &lt;device&gt;' to make it
2966work.</para>
2967</answer>
2968</qandaentry>
2969<qandaentry>
2970<question><para>Q: Does Mondo support tape
2971 drives?</para></question>
2972<answer>
2973 <para>A: Yes. See above.</para>
2974 <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:
2975 ine of the following commands
2976<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
2977<row>
2978<entry>
2979 bash# dmesg | grep tape
2980</entry>
2981</row>
2982<row>
2983<entry>
2984 bash# cat /proc/scsi/scsi
2985</entry>
2986</row>
2987<row>
2988<entry>
2989 bash# mt -f /dev/st0 status
2990</entry>
2991</row>
2992</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
2993
2994
2995</answer>
2996</qandaentry>
2997<qandaentry>
2998<question><para>Q: Does Mondo support my tape
2999 drive?</para></question>
3000<answer>
3001<para>A: If your tape drive and its firmware and the kernel-level
3002driver support fopen(), fread(), fwrite() and fclose() - standard C
3003library calls - then yes, Mondo should support it. If not, well,
3004you need a refund. :) Mondo plays nicely with any sane, sensible
3005drives. That's most of them, by the way. :) If your drive doesn't
3006play nicely with Mondo then you may try tinkering with setblksize
3007and defblksize using 'mt', or tweaking Mondo's block size by
3008recompiling it with make INTTAPE=4096 or INTTAPE=8192 or something.
3009Other than that, you need a priest or a refund.</para>
3010</answer>
3011</qandaentry>
3012<qandaentry>
3013<question><para>Q: How do I copy the floppy images from
3014 the CD to floppy disks?</para></question>
3015<answer>
3016<para>A: Mount the CD-ROM, e.g. at /mnt/cdrom. Insert a blank
3017floppy. Type:</para>
3018<para></para>
3019<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
3020<row>
3021<entry>
3022
3023 bash# cd /mnt/cdrom/images
3024</entry>
3025</row>
3026<row>
3027<entry>
3028 bash# dd if=mindi-boot.1722.img of=/dev/fd0u1722
3029
3030</entry>
3031</row>
3032</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
3033
3034<para>Insert another blank floppy and type:</para>
3035<para></para>
3036<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
3037<row>
3038<entry>
3039
3040bash# dd if=mindi-data-1.img of=/dev/fd0u1722
3041
3042</entry>
3043</row>
3044</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
3045
3046<para>Do the above for each 'mindi-data' disk image.</para>
3047</answer>
3048</qandaentry>
3049<qandaentry>
3050<question><para>Q: Sometimes, my laptop won't mount
3051 Mondo CD properly, or something. Umm...</para></question>
3052<answer>
3053<para>A: Please insert the CD, close the CD-ROM tray, wait a few
3054seconds and then press Enter to acknowledge insertion of the next
3055CD. Your laptop is on crack and is sucking a little too hard on the
3056pipe.</para>
3057</answer>
3058</qandaentry>
3059<qandaentry>
3060 <question><para>Q: Does Mondo support Hardware RAID?</para></question>
3061 <answer>
3062<para>A: Yes. You may backup and restore RAID systems. You may also
3063backup a non-RAID system and restore as RAID (or vice versa) by
3064using the mountlist editor to edit your RAID and non-RAID
3065partitions and their settings. Mondo will do the partitioning and
3066formatting for you.</para>
3067<para>Tested Raid controllers includes all those showing only classical devices
3068 such as /dev/sdx, and SmartArray cciss controllers.</para>
3069</answer>
3070</qandaentry>
3071<qandaentry>
3072<question><para>Q: Where is my CD burner, in SCSI terms?</para></question>
3073<answer>
3074<para>A: Type:</para>
3075<para></para>
3076<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
3077<row>
3078 <entry>
3079 bash# cdrecord -scanbus
3080 </entry>
3081</row>
3082</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
3083<para>or for ATAPI type of devices:</para>
3084<para></para>
3085<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
3086<row>
3087 <entry>
3088 bash# cdrecord -scanbus dev=ATAPI
3089 </entry>
3090</row>
3091</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
3092<para>you may replace ATAPI by ATA in the previous line with certain cdrecord versions and hadrware configurations</para>
3093
3094
3095<para>Find your CD burner's device# (e.g. '0,0,0'). Call Mondo with
3096the switch '-Oc &lt;speed&gt;' -d '&lt;device&gt;'. Or, if you feel
3097lucky, just use '-Oc 2'; Mondo will (a) assume you want to write at
30984x to a CD-R and (b) will do its best to find your CD burner.</para>
3099</answer>
3100</qandaentry>
3101<qandaentry>
3102 <question><para>Q: Can Mondo handle SCSI devices?</para></question>
3103 <answer>
3104<para>A: Mondo should be able to handle almost any hardware. So
3105long as your kernel and modules support it, Mindi will support it
3106and therefore so will Mondo.</para>
3107</answer>
3108</qandaentry>
3109<qandaentry>
3110 <question><para>Q: Why doesn't cdrecord -scanbus work ?</para></question>
3111 <answer>
3112 <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
3113listed when you run
3114
3115<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
3116<row>
3117<entry>
3118bash# cdrecord -scanbus
3119</entry>
3120</row>
3121</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
3122
3123try adding the following kernel option to your boot script to enable
3124SCSI emulation: hdx=ide-scsi, where "hdx" should be replaced with the
3125appropriate drive letter of the CDRW device, e.g., "hdc".
3126(Answer provided by Christopher Moriarity cdm7_at_cdc.gov)
3127</para>
3128</answer>
3129</qandaentry>
3130</qandaset>
3131</sect1>
3132
3133<sect1 id="faq-backup">
3134<title>Backup related Questions</title>
3135
3136<qandaset>
3137<qandaentry>
3138<question><para id="MMKM">Q: Mondo says, 'Cannot
3139 run mindi --makemountlist' and aborts. What do I do?</para></question>
3140<answer>
3141 <para>
3142 A: Look at <filename>/var/log/mindi.log</filename> and see what it
3143says. Also, try typing 'mindi --makemountlist /tmp/mountlist.txt'
3144to see what Mindi says. Send the log to the &ML; if you get stuck.
3145</para>
3146</answer>
3147</qandaentry>
3148<qandaentry>
3149<question><para>Q: Can Mondo burn CD as they are
3150 created?</para></question>
3151<answer>
3152<para>A: Yes. Use the '-Oc &lt;speed&gt;' switch. Use a negative
3153number for a dummy burn.</para>
3154</answer>
3155</qandaentry>
3156<qandaentry>
3157<question><para>Q: Mondo failed to burn my CD. It said
3158something like, "Error CDB A1 01 02 53 ..." and so on. What does
3159that mean?</para></question>
3160<answer>
3161<para>A: Cdrecord reported some serious errors while trying to burn
3162your CD. Check your CD burner, your CD-R and your kernel.</para>
3163</answer>
3164</qandaentry>
3165<qandaentry>
3166<question><para>Q: May I backup my system with one
3167 partition layout and restore with another?</para></question>
3168<answer>
3169<para>A: Yes. Boot in Interactive Mode and edit the mountlist using
3170the snazzy new mountlist editor. Mondo can now edit your RAID
3171partitions for you. Just open /dev/md0 (or whatever) and select
3172"RAID.." to start. Or, to add a RAID device:</para>
3173<itemizedlist>
3174<listitem>
3175<para>Add two or more partitions, of type and mountpoint
3176'raid'</para>
3177</listitem>
3178<listitem>
3179<para>Add device '/dev/md0' and click OK</para>
3180</listitem>
3181<listitem>
3182<para>Follow the prompts and your own common-sense :)</para>
3183</listitem>
3184</itemizedlist>
3185</answer>
3186</qandaentry>
3187<qandaentry>
3188<question><para>Q: Why does Mondo need so much free disk
3189 space?</para></question>
3190<answer>
3191 <para>A: Because it need space to create the archive files with afio, then
3192 again space to create the ISO images that you'll be able to burn.
3193</para>
3194</answer>
3195</qandaentry>
3196<qandaentry>
3197<question><para>Q: I am trying to do something clever,
3198e.g. write my ISO's to an NFS mount, and I get some weird error
3199messages. What do I do?</para></question>
3200<answer>
3201<para>A: Well, (a) use '-T /tmp' or '-T /home' or something in your
3202 call to Mondo. Oh, and (b) check the <filename>/etc/exports</filename> file on your NFS server
3203 and verify the exported filesystem is writable for the client, and relaunch exportfs -a.
3204</para>
3205</answer>
3206</qandaentry>
3207<qandaentry>
3208<question><para>Q: Can Mondo backup to data files on
3209 another partition, e.g. an NFS mount?</para></question>
3210<answer>
3211<para>A: Yes. Just backup as usual but add '-d /mnt/nfs' or
3212wherever your partition is mounted; don't use '-Oc' or '-Ot' at
3213all; just '-Oi -d /root'. Then, after booting from the floppies
3214which Mondo generates, you need to type 'ISO' at the
3215console.</para>
3216</answer>
3217</qandaentry>
3218<qandaentry>
3219<question><para>Q: Can Mondo backup _to_ an NFS
3220 partition, i.e. backup over a network? How about restoring?</para></question>
3221<answer>
3222<para>A: Yes. Use '-On &lt;mount&gt; &lt;directory&gt;'. Example:
3223</para>
3224<informaltable><tgroup cols="1"><tbody>
3225<row>
3226<entry>
3227
3228bash# mondoarchive -On 192.168.1.3:/home/nfs
3229
3230</entry>
3231</row>
3232</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
3233
3234</answer>
3235</qandaentry>
3236<qandaentry>
3237<question><para>Q: Does Mondo handle System or Hidden
3238 attributes when archiving Dos/Win files?</para></question>
3239<answer>
3240<para>A: No. It probably never will, either. Sorry.</para>
3241</answer>
3242</qandaentry>
3243</qandaset>
3244</sect1>
3245
3246<sect1 id="faq-compare">
3247<title>Compare related Questions</title>
3248
3249<qandaset>
3250<qandaentry>
3251<question><para>Q: When I compare my archives to my file
3252system, Mondo tells me there are differences or errors. Are the
3253archives bad?</para></question>
3254<answer>
3255 <para>A: Look at <filename>/tmp/changed.files</filename>; if the files are logfiles,
3256temp files or files which you think you may have changed recently
3257then the archives are simply out of date, albeit only by a few
3258minutes. Not a problem. However, if lots of files in /usr have
3259changed or if you get lots of errors then perhaps your CD, your
3260tapes or even your hardware could be to blame. Check your CD writer
3261or tape streamer.</para>
3262<para>Also, don't forget to review <filename>/var/log/mondo-archive.log</filename> for
3263more information.</para>
3264</answer>
3265</qandaentry>
3266</qandaset>
3267</sect1>
3268
3269<sect1 id="faq-restore">
3270<title>Restore related Questions</title>
3271<qandaset>
3272<qandaentry>
3273<question><para>Q: Can Mondo help me
3274 move/resize/re-allocate my partitions?</para></question>
3275<answer>
3276<para>A: Yes. Just backup your system in Interactive Mode using
3277Mondo. Edit the mountlist when prompted.</para>
3278</answer>
3279</qandaentry>
3280<qandaentry>
3281<question><para>Q: My zip drive is a SCSI drive. When I
3282restore, Mondo craps out, saying it can't mount the drive (because
3283there is no disk in it). What do I do?</para></question>
3284<answer>
3285<para>A: Restore in Interactive Mode. Delete the SCSI drive from
3286the mountlist before you restore. Then Mondo won't try to partition
3287or format it. Next time you backup, use -E /dev/sdd (or whatever
3288your zip drive is). The /dev entry will be excluded from the
3289mountlist but not from the filelist. So, when you restore, you
3290won't accidentally reformat your zip disk. However, after
3291restoring, you will find that /dev/sdd (the _file_) will still be
3292present in your /dev directory. Cool, eh?</para>
3293</answer>
3294</qandaentry>
3295<qandaentry>
3296<question><para>Q: I received a message like, 'Fileset
3297 NNN failed' during restore. What does it mean.</para></question>
3298<answer>
3299<para>A: It usually means either you had a very large (&gt;2GB)
3300file which was not archived owing to a flaw in your distro or your
3301filesystem has changed in relation to the backup.</para>
3302</answer>
3303</qandaentry>
3304<qandaentry>
3305<question><para>Q: Why does my ext3 partition have less
3306 space free than when I backed it up?</para></question>
3307<answer>
3308<para>A: Mondo creates a 10MB journal file area. Your journal was
3309probably smaller than that, hence the difference.</para>
3310</answer>
3311</qandaentry>
3312<qandaentry>
3313<question><para id="SEGF">Q: When I restore after
3314booting from the CD/floppies, I sometimes get errors like, "Running
3315out of memory" or "Segmentation fault". What is going on?</para></question>
3316<answer><para>A: It sounds as if you are running out of disk
3317space, probably ram disk space. Type 'df -m' to see which
3318partitions are running low on space. Please send as much
3319information as you can to the &ML;. This problem is
3320believed to have been fixed in 1.63 and 1.71.</para>
3321</answer>
3322</qandaentry>
3323<qandaentry>
3324<question>
3325<para id="LVM">Q: I can't nuke-restore my LVM or RAID or
3326LVM-on-RAID setup. I have to do it manually. What now?</para></question>
3327<answer>
3328<para>A: You said it yourself. You have to do it manually. :) Sorry
3329but that's about it. At least you have all the tools to do it. I
3330assume you know how. If you don't, look at i-want-my-lvm (a script
3331on the ramdisk) if you're using LVM. It should give you a few
3332clues. RAID is harder but in general Mondo's RAID support is good.
3333After you've prepped and formatted your drives, run mondorestore
3334again but say 'no' when asked if you want Mondo to prep or format
3335your drives.</para>
3336</answer>
3337</qandaentry>
3338</qandaset>
3339</sect1>
3340</chapter>
3341
3342&gfdl;
3343
3344</book>
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