[H-GEN] Cloning Linux System

[Jason Parker-Burlingham]

On Mon, Jun 06, 2005 at 07:35:50AM +1000, Stephen Thorne wrote:
> On 05/06/05, jasonp at panix.com <jasonp at panix.com> wrote:
> > dump/restore:  /sbin/dump -0af /mnt/hda1.dump /dev/hda1
> > pro:  gives a copy of the filesystem in a fairly convenient format for
> >       many purposes; handles incremental updates if that's something you
> >       want.
> > con:  will complain if files change while the dump process is running.
> >       This could be construed as a feature.  Files will not receive the
> >       same inode numbers on the target system; this may be an issue if
> >       you're running software that cares about such things.
> 
> I recall that there was some form of bug associated with 'dump' and
> newer linux kernels, and a quick google shows this:
> http://lwn.net/2001/0503/kernel.php3
> 
> the dump tool is still maintained, but I don't see anything in the
> CHANGES file that acknowledges the kernel bugs...

Why would there be?  It's a kernel bug, and one that is already fixed,
according to the lwn page you point to.

> Either way, neither dump or dd are the tools to use for backing up a
> live system imho, you're better off using netcat and tar or rsync.

Well, it all depends how live it is, and if your requirements are for a
*perfect* copy of what's on disk, dd is the only way to get it.  As
David pointed out, the real problem here is that we don't have any more
information about the problem to use to make a real decision, so I
presented a framework for deciding if a given solution was appropriate
or not.

jason