MondoRescue HOWTO: Utilisation and Configuration of Mondo and Mindi under Linux (Version 2.2.1-rRRR)

# Chapter 2. QuickStart

- We recommend that you read this complete HOWTO. However, if you are too busy or impatient, then please use this QuickStart guide to stay out of trouble.

- Install the tarball, RPM, or DEB mindi and mondo packages. (see Installation for more details)

- Execute as root (type 'su -' to become root if you are not logged in as root)

  bash# mondoarchive

| Choose from the list of supported backup media types. The media you will use most often are CD/DVD-+R, CD/DVD-+RW, tape, NFS and hard disk. If you want to backup/restore over a network, choose 'NFS'. If you want to backup/restore to/from a local partition or if you simply want to store the ISO images in a local directory until you have time or facilities to burn them to CD's, choose 'hard disk'. If you choose 'CD/DVD-+R[W]' or 'tape' then in general your hardware will be detected and configured for you.
| If you are backing up to CD/DVD-+R[W] then Mondo will ask you if your CD burner has BurnProof technology, is inside a laptop, or is otherwise eccentric. If you are backing up to a tape streamer then you will not see this message.
| How much compression do you want? None, if your tape streamer has built-in hardware compression. Maximum, if your CPU is blazingly fast. Average should do just fine for most situations.
| If you want to backup the whole computer (excluding /sys and /proc, naturally) then leave this as / which is the default. Otherwise, specify subsets, (e.g. /usr/local /home ) being sure to put a space in between each path.
| If you are backing up your whole computer then you might want to exclude certain directories, e.g. /shared/MP3. Please specify them in the 'exclude directories' dialog box. Please put a space in between each path, e.g. /shared/private /scratch /nfs /windows
| Is your kernel sane? Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, Debian and Slackware users should in general say 'yes' because these vendors are good at producing reliable kernels. If you are using Gentoo or LFS then your kernel might be non-standard, in which case say 'no' to use Mondo's failsafe kernel (provided separately).
| If you want to verify the archives after writing them to media, say 'yes' here. If you have absolute faith in your hardware and your Linux distribution, say 'no'... and a little prayer.
| If you are sure you want to go ahead, say 'yes' and find something else to do while Mondo backs up your computer. If you say 'no' then you will be unceremoniously dumped at the shell prompt. :-)
| The backup process will now commence. There are some pre-backup tasks to be carried out first but the backup is essentially underway. To simplify the backup process, you were asked a series of questions. Next time, if you like, you could call mondoarchive with various command-line switches to control its behavior, instead of answering a series of questions. See the man page for details.
| Mondo will make a catalog of all files to be backed up. This may take up to five minutes. The list of files will be divided into sets, approximately 4 MB (before compression) of files per set. This typically takes one minute.
| Mondo calls Mindi. Mindi generates bootable floppy disk images and auxiliary data disk images which are based on your existing Linux distribution and filesystem. That way, you can be sure Mondo's tools will be compatible with your existing filesystems and binaries: Mondo's tools are your tools. Mindi takes up to five minutes to run.
| Finally, Mondo begins backing up your computer. This process may take a few minutes or a few hours, depending on how much data you are archiving, how fast your CPU is, how much RAM you have, and so on. It will backup your regular files and then your large files (files larger than approximately 32MB). If you have opted to verify your backups, Mondo will do that too.
| Do you want to create a boot floppy at the end? Yes, if you're a tape or NFS user. No, if you are using CD/DVD-R[W]'s and your computer supports bootable CD's. Tape users only need one floppy but other users may need more. Mondo will advise accordingly.

- Try to boot from the first CD of the backup (or the first floppy, if you made floppies). Choose 'Compare Mode' by typing compare at the boot screen.

- If you can boot, fine. If not, make a Mindi "Test" CD to checkout the compatibility of your system. (see Testing Mindi for more details). Remove the CD/floppy; boot your computer as usual; execute as root

  bash# mindi
  bash# cd /root/images/mindi

  (for CD-R)

  bash# cdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=4 -eject -v mindi.iso

  (for CD-RW)

  bash# cdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=4 blank=fast -eject -v mindi.iso

  Reboot your system with the created Mindi CD, with the BIOS set to boot from CD. If the result is a command line in 'Expert' mode, your system checks out. Remove the CD and reboot your system.

- If you still cannot boot from Mindi's CD then please e-mail the mondorescue mailing list for help.

When making a backup on a live system, there will always be processes running that will write out data on the system after you have made the backup and before you have made the compare, this will result in difference showing up when comparing your backup. For a full explanation and what can be done to avoid this, please read this section.

- This QuickStart covers the ideal case. Upon receiving any system feedback/errors, read each related HOWTO section.

  Example 2-1. A test backup of your /home directory to CD-Rs using the command line

  bash# mondoarchive -OVc 4 -I /home -gF

  The 'c' means you must be writing to CD-Rs, not CD-RWs (the latter would require 'w' instead of 'c'). The '4' is the speed of your CD writer. The string after -I is the path to be backed up. The '-gF' means you are going to see the pretty yellow-on-blue screen instead of the boring white-on-black screen. :) It also means Mondo will not offer to create physical boot floppies for you. It is assumed that you are able to boot from the CD which Mondo has generated.

  Example 2-2. A backup of your whole filesystem to NFS using the command line

  bash# mkdir -p /mnt/nfs
  bash# mount 192.168.1.28:/home/nfs /mnt/nfs
  bash# mondoarchive -OVn 192.168.1.28:/home/nfs -gF[...]
  bash# umount /mnt/nfs
  bash# cdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=4 -eject -v /root/images/mindi/mindi.iso

  Note that you have to mount the NFS partition, backup to it, unmount it, and create a boot CD to allow you to restore from scratch if necessary. To reassure yourself that you will be able to restore from the NFS share even if your PC is wiped, please boot from the Mindi CD and type 'compare'. The on-screen instructions from that point on should be sufficient.

  Example 2-3. A backup of your whole filesystem to tape using the command line

  bash# mondoarchive -OVt -d /dev/st0 -9 -L -g

  In this case, we assume Syslinux is incompatible with your boot media. For some reason, some BIOSes just don't like Syslinux. If you find this to be the case for your computer, please use '-L' to force Mondo to use LILO instead of Syslinux as the boot loader for its CD/floppies. (NB: This has nothing to do with which boot loader your hard drive uses.) Also, it is a good habit to specify your tape streamer with '-d <device>'. You don't usually need to but it's good to be on the safe side. Some computers call your tape streamer /dev/osst0, some call it /dev/ftape, ...

Aknowledgements |  | Overview