[H-GEN] remote backup of server

[Jason Parker-Burlingham]

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Sandra Milne <silne at optusnet.com.au> writes:

> I'd like to be able to do an scp of some directories on our router,
> so that I can burn them to cd as a backup. The problem is, some of
> the files are in use, and scp doesn't seem to want to let me have
> the file.

This strikes me as an eminently useful thing to do, despite its not
being terribly helpful to you right now.  There isn't much point in
backing up a file which may change right out from under you as you
read it, since it will never serve as the basis of a viable backup.

> Should I try an ftp instead?

I don't know if that would help or not, but even if it "worked" you
may well find yourself in a bit of a bind later.  Try it.  If it does
work, make sure you check your backup images often.

> Or is there some way to get around this and still be able to use
> scp? I really want to backup the router as it's been running nearly
> a year with no backup and that seems to me to be tempting fate.

Which files are being reported as "in use"?  Are you sure they're
vital to backing up a router?  I know that if the machine was only
doing routing I would be half-inclined to not back it up at all,
except for maybe /etc (I'm assuming this is in a home environment) and
a list of installed packages.

Are the same files unable to be backed up over and over?  Or is it
just a once-in-a-while thing which perhaps you could either (a) be
careful and make backups when the machine is more idle or (b) not
worry about not having some non-essential files backed up at all?

If they're logfiles you might want to look into nominating a host on
the inside of the network to act as a logging host instead, so you
won't have any logs local to the router.

If they're other, important data files (say MySQL databases or
something), why are they on the router in the first place?  Should
they really be there?

Basically I think more information would be required to answer your
question for certain.

Cheers,

jason
-- 
``I may have agreed to something involving a goat.''  -- CJ

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