Good way to recover Linux server

[gaf at blu.org (Jerry Feldman)]

On Thursday 11 August 2005 9:40 am, snagao wrote:
> I am looking for a good way to recover a server - especially in a DR
> scenario.  For my AIX servers, I use the mksysb utility to make a
> bootable image of the OS.
>
> I know Linux doesn't have anything equivalent to AIX's mksysb command,
> but can someone please recommend a tool or method for me to back up the
> OS and recover it quickly for DR testing?
>
> My thanks in advance to all those who respond.
First, the /boot directory tree contains the kernel, kernel parameters and 
GRUB. 
Next, the traditional / directories - /bin, /sbin, /etc, /dev 
The /usr tree primarily /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, /usr/include
Possibly /opt.

If you back these up, then you can easily restore your system. The above 
directories are the ones containing mostly files that do not change 
frequently. The files in /var and /tmp are temporary in nature. /var 
contains all your spools and log files, so your backup strategy will be 
different for it. 

The /home tree contains user home directories. 

So, let's say that you made a pristine tar tape 
of /boot, /bin, /sbin, /etc, /dev, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, /usr/include, /opt.

If you totally lost your system, you could boot from a recovery CD (supplied 
by SuSE, Red Hat, or even a Knoppix system. Partition and format the HD, 
Mount the partitions (you may need to create an empty root file system if 
you have submounts). Restore the tape, chroot to your mounted root 
partition, and run grub to make the HD bootable and to point to your GRUB 
stage2 in the <mountpoint>/boot/grub.

I've been a bit simplistic here, but that will restore your last system 
backup. You certainly need to backup your user directories, and possibly 
other data directories. 

Through the use of some tar parameters you can create empty directories 
for /tmp, /var, /var/tmp, etc. 


-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org PGP key id:C5061EA9
PGP Key fingerprint:053C 73EC 3AC1 5C44 3E14 9245 FB00 3ED5 C506 1EA9