user's manual
contents
luckyBackup is an application that backs-up and/or synchronizes any directories with the power of rsync. It is simple to use, fast (transfers over only changes made and not all data), safe (keeps your data safe by checking all declared directories before proceeding in any data manipulation ), reliable and fully customizable.
Backup Create a "clone"
of your data at another location in no time, safely. Snapshots Sync Keep your data
safe Simple / advanced
option Exclude option Only include
option Add/remove any rsync
option Remote
connections Also execute Restore
task Simulation option Profiles
Include option – Execution order The option to change the execution order of tasks is also given. Scheduling Scheduling for execution of already created profiles via cronjobs is supported.
e-mail email a report after a profile execution.
Logfile Command line
mode Copyright
© 2008, Loukas Avgeriou Before we proceed to any
description or instructions, it would be useful to first make
some definitions:
task
For example the
task of backing up one directory to another. The basic
properties of a task are:
a. Its name
(for example “backup my home directory”). b.
Its include state which actually says if the task will
be executed or not. source The
directory that holds the data to be backed-up. destination The
directory that source will be backed-up to. profile A
collection of tasks at a particular order. snapshot Backup data that refer to the source
at a particular time. Just like a photo snapshot that captured a face at a specific time. schedule A
profile that is scheduled to be executed at a specific time,
at a specific day. super-user
mode The
execution of luckyBackup with super-user privileges. Command-line
mode The
execution of luckyBackup without a graphical user interface
(gui), by using a terminal. Silent mode The
execution of luckyBackup without launching the main window - just tray notification shown.
After this (small I hope) introduction, It is now time to launch luckyBackup.
Menu
Normal user
Super user
IMPORTANT:
Terminal arguments
$
luckybackup [options] [profile]
$
sudo luckybackup [options] [profile]
or $
su root
[profile]
... is an already created profile that is going to be executed instantly, either in gui or command-line mode, depending on the options provided.
[options] available options : --help Displays a “usage” help message --version Displays luckybackup's current version --skip-critical Will not execute tasks that appear with a CRITICAL
warning message after the data checks --dry-run Executes
luckyBackup in dry-run (simulation) mode --silent Executes
luckyBackup in silent mode ((just notification tray icon shown)) -c Console mode Executes luckyBackup in command-line mode --no-questions Executes luckyBackup in command-line mode and skips confirmation
questions asked to user. Implies -c (console mode).
manualy schedule:
For some reason, you might not wish to use the luckybackup's schedule feautre, to have some jobs scheduled.
env DISPLAY=:0 /usr/bin/luckybackup --silent --skip-critical /home/luckyb/.luckyBackup/profiles/EveryDay_jobs.profile examples: 1.
Execute luckybackup gui: $
luckybackup 2.
Execute luckybackup gui and run profile "BackupHome" immediately: $
luckybackup ~/.luckyBackup/profiles/BackupHome.profile 3.
Execute luckybackup gui and run profile "BackupHome" immediately in simulation mode: $
luckybackup --dry-run BackupHome.profile 4.
Execute luckybackup in silent mode and run profile "BackupHome" immediately. Skip all CRITICAL tasks: $
luckybackup --silent --skip-critical BackupHome 5.
Execute luckybackup in command-line mode and run profile "BackupHome" immediately: $
luckybackup -c BackupHome 6.
Execute luckybackup in command-line mode and run profile "BackupHome" immediately.
Do not ask any questions and Skip all CRITICAL tasks: $
luckybackup -c --skip-critical --no-questions BackupHome
man page
$
man luckybackup
This is the
application's main window as it appears as soon as you execute
luckyBackup. It
consists of :
A menu.
A toolbar that
refers to current profile handling.
The Task
List which lists all the available tasks of the current
profile.
3 buttons that
refer to specific task handling (add – remove –
modify).
A run button
and a simulation (Dry) check-box. You can start the execution of all
the tasks included in a profile by using these.
An information
window. It can be shown/hidden by using the arrows icon at its top left corner. ...Playing
around Tasks
All task
related actions are accomplished via the "task area":
or the menu →
Task: Add
Add a new task to
the current profile.
Press the add
button for the task properties dialog to appear. Remove
Remove an existing
task from the current profile:
Click on an task
name, inside the task list, to highlight it.
Press the remove
button.
Answer yes to the
dialog that will appear to permanently remove the task.
Modify
Modify an existing
task to your liking:
Click on an task
name, inside the task list, to highlight it.
Press the modify
button for the modify task dialog to appear. Duplicate
Create a duplicate of the highlighted task and add it to
the current profile.
Select Task-> Create Duplicate Task from the menu.
Change anything (if) you wish at the
task properties dialog
that will appear and click ok: Create Restore task
Create a restore task of the highlighted task and add it to
the current profile.
Select Task-> Create Restore Task from the menu.
Please have a look at the
restore section
of this manual for full reference to the restore procedures.
All profile
related actions are accomplished via the toolbar:
or the menu →
profile: Current
Profile – profile load
The profile you
are currently using is displayed at the drop-down list, on the
left of the toolbar.
To change the
current profile simple select another one from the list.
The information
window will display a message: Save
To save the
profile you are currently using, press the save button at the
toolbar, or select profile → save from the menu, or press
ctrl+S. Default
profile
The default
profile is the profile loaded as soon as luckyBackup starts.
Normaly the name
of the default profile is “default”. To change that, select profile →
Default from the menu. Rename
To rename the
profile you are currently using, select profile → rename from the menu. Delete
To delete the
profile you are currently using, press the delete button at the
toolbar, or select profile → delete from the menu. New
Create a new
profile: Press
the “new profile” button or
select
“Profile → new” from the menu or
press
ctrl+N.
Enter the name of
the new profile at the dialog that will appear and press ok. Duplicate
Create a duplicate of the current
profile:
Select
“Profile → Duplicate” from the menu
Enter the name of
the new duplicate profile at the dialog that will appear and press ok. View/Edit Description
View or edit the profile's description:
Select
“Profile → View/Edit Description” from the menu
Enter any text to use as a profile description and press ok. Export
You can export the
current profile with the same or different file name at any
location :
Select “Profile
→ export” from the menu.
The following
dialog will appear
Navigate to the directory you wish to export the profile to.
Type a file-name
for your profile or select an already existent profile to
replace it.
Press the save
button
Note that
you do not have to type the “.profile” extension. It will be
added automatically.
Also have in mind
that the default directory where profiles are located is
inside the user's home directory, under the folder
“~/.luckyBackup/profiles”. Import
To Import a
profile from another location:
Select “Profile
→ import” from the menu.
The following
dialog will appear.
Navigate to the directory you wish to import the profile from.
Select the
profile you wish to import.
Click the open
button to finish the procedure. Refresh
To refresh the
current view, simply click the refresh button, or select profile
→ refresh from the menu or press F5.
Create new, modify
or remove existing luckyBackup schedules
Click the
schedule button at the toolbar or select profile → schedule
from the menu, for the schedule dialog to appear
Start the
execution of all included tasks of the current profile.
You have 2 options
to do this:
a. Normal
execution. For real data transferring
Click the “Run”
button.
b. simulation.
Perform a dry-run execution of all included tasks of the current
profile. If
you are unsure of the effects on your data when executing an
rsync command try the dry-run option. luckyBackup will perform a
trial run that doesn't make any changes (and produces mostly the
same output as a real run). Note:
The progress-bar might be misleading when using this. WARNING:
Any pre/post task execution commands, will run normaly, not simulated. Check
the “Dry” check-box to
enable this option. Click
the “run” button
about
Display the
“about” dialog
Select “Help →
about” from the menu.
Do not forget that
this is free software. Help
Display this
manual
Select Help →
Help from the menu or
Press F1. Language
If you wish to
change the language of the application:
Select Settings →
Language from the menu
Click on the
language you wish to use Toolbar settings
Change the display of the toolbar:
Select Settings →
Toolbars from the menu
Select the options you wish.
In order to exit
luckybackup:
Click the EXIT
button, located at the actions toolbar or
Select Profile →
Quit from the profile menu or
Press ctrl+X Do
not worry about losing your profile if not saved when exiting the
application. As
already seen at a previous chapter the basic properties of a task
are its name and its include state. Of
course this specific task actually does something (e.g transfers
data from the source to the destination). Although this might
seem simple, a lot of parameters are involved in the way this
can be accomplished. Let's
have a deeper look at a task's properties by... creating
a new task As
soon as you click the “add” task button the following dialog
appears: First
thing you have to do is enter a name for this new task. Click
on the “Task name” text field and type a name for the task.
For example if you wish to backup the home directory of your
sidux distribution, a good name would be “Back up my sidux home
directory”. Actually,
there is no such thing as a “good name”. Type anything that
suits you best with no restrictions :-)
type
The next thing you have to
define is the task type. There are 2 types available:
1. Backup source inside destination
Select this type to create a backup of the source inside the destination directory.
do NOT create extra directory check box
Check the box to backup the
contents of a directory, not the directory itself.
In simple words, to copy over,
all the data that the source contains inside the destination.
Leave the box unchecked to backup the source
directory by name.
This means that a new directory
with the same name as the source will be created (if not already
there) inside the destination.
Example:
Let's assume that you create a
task and declare:
source = /home/luckyb/photos/
(that contains a large number of files)
destination =
/media/backups/pictures/
If you check the “do NOT create extra directory” box, then all files and folders from inside
/home/luckyb/photos/, will be copied inside
/media/backups/pictures/.
If you leave the box unchecked, then you will end up with the directory
/media/backups/pictures/photos/ (the whole source directory will
be copied inside the destination).
Use this task type in order to
sync the source with the destination by keeping the most recent
files at both of them.
It can prove really useful if
you modify specific files from different locations.
Example:
Let's assume that you are
working on a project. You have created the directory
/home/luckyb/project at your home PC and save all relevant files
in there. At the same time there is a need to work on some of
these files at another PC, so you copy them at your usb flash
drive (location: /media/myUSB/project).
There are times when you do not
remember which file you edited when and from where. So you create
a task declaring:
source: /home/luckyb/project/
destination:
/media/myUSB/project/
task type: “sync directories”
This will result in a 2-way
transfer. Newest modified files will be transfered from source to
destination or the other way round. Also freshly created files at
one of the locations will be copied over to the other.
Please note that if you
delete files at either the source or the destination and you
perform this task, you will end up with these files created again
because they still exist at the other location.
After
defining the name and the type of the task, you have to define
the source. That means the directory that holds the data that are
going to be backed-up. You can do that in 2 ways: 1.
Click on the “source” text field and type the full path
of the source directory. For example /home/luckyb. 2.
Click the “browse locally” button, located at the
right of the source text entry field. A normal file dialog will
appear. Navigate to the directory you wish to use as a source and
press the “choose” button
Declare a directory to use as a
destination, the same way as the source declaration procedure.
This is the directory where the source will be backed-up to. For
the “Backup my sidux home directory” example this could be
/media/backups/siduxHome.
why can't I declare my remote place ??
Every time a task is run the source data are backed-up as they are at that specific time.
Below is a screenshot of the
task properties dialog, with the name, source and destination
fields, ready.
As soon as you are finished
declaring all appropriate fields, click the “okay”
button.
If there are errors, you will
be informed by the application.
For safety reasons, if you have chosen "Backup the contents of the source directory" as task type, you will face the following WARNING message:
This is a reminder that the destination directory will finaly become a "clone" of the source.
Any irrelevant-to-the-source data it might contain, will be lost !!
Next, the main window will
regain focus, displaying the task you just created.
Note that the default
include state of a freshly created task is FALSE (not
included)
The task properties, as
discussed at the previous chapter, are quite simple and
straightforward. Now, it's time to have a much deeper look. If
you haven't done it already (out of curiosity), do it now. Go
ahead and press the advanced pushbutton at the “task
properties” window. This will result in a resizing of the
window and a display of much more information. It is not as complicated as
it looks !!
You can optionaly add a description for the current task here.
This
feature, allows the exclusion of certain file(s), folder(s),
pattern(s) from the task. Everything declared here, will not be a
part of the data transfer. It will be skipped.
The
Exclude tab is divided to: 1.
Templates Use
the checkboxes to exclude the following at will: Temp
folders. All
folders named tmp.
These are directories that are used for storing temporary data
that you would not mind losing. For example /tmp. pattern
used: **/*tmp*/
cache folders.
All folders named cache.
These folders are used by various application or systems for
storing cache data. Your browser for example, uses a cache
folder.
pattern used: **/*cache*/
& **/*Cache*/
backup files.
Backup files created by
various applications. These are files whose filenames have a
trailing “~”. For
example if you open the text file “LotsOfText.txt” for
editing, make changes and save it, then apart from the main
file, another one will be created named “LotsOfText.txt~”.
This is identical to the pre-modified “LotsOfText.txt” and
is created automatically for backup/safety purposes.
pattern
used: **~
mount directories.
System normal mount points.
These would be /media and /mnt.
If you decide to use your “/” directory
as source, then it would by wise to check this for various
reasons. The most important one is to avoid backing up the
destination onto its self!! Usually, the destination is a hard
disk partition, different from the one that your distro is
installed and your root directory (“/”) is located. This
will be normally mounted at point /media or /mnt.
Please see the WARNING at the
end of this chapter.
patterns
used: /mnt/*/**
& /media/*/**
lost+found.
System folders named
lost+found.
pattern used: **/lost+found*/
system folders.
These would be /var,
/proc, /dev and /sys.
Again, you can use this option if you decide to backup your root
folder (“/”).
If it does not suit you and you want your own defined
directories to be excluded, feel free to leave this unchecked
and use the “user defined” way to declare anything.
patterns
used: /var/**,
/proc/**
, /dev/**
& /sys/**
Trash.
Directories named trash.
These are directories where files that you delete are stored.
patterns used: **/*trash*/
& **/*Trash*/
Example of an “Exclude” tab
:
2.
User defined
You can declare
anything you wish to be excluded from the task by adding it to
the “exclude list” in the following way:
Use the text
field located next to the add button to enter what is going to
be excluded. If you find it handy, use the "launch pattern editor"
button, located at the right of the text field, to open the
graphical pattern editor.
Press the add
button (or ENTER), to add the entered text to the exclude
list.
Remove an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the remove button.
Edit an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the edit button.
Change the item by using the keyboard.
click the done button.
Move an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the move up or down button.
Patterns can also be read from a file !!
An exclusion can
be a file, a directory or a list of files/directories that
follows a pattern.
Anything
you add as an exclusion must follow the
pattern rules, as
described at the end of the chapter.
WARNING DO
NOT FORGET TO EXCLUDE THE DESTINATION It
is possible sometimes, for the destination to be included in the
source. Meaning that the destination directory is a part of the
source hierarchy of files. examples: source
is your root directory (“/”) and destination is
/media/backups/ source
is your home directory and destination is /home/username/backup/ This
will result in unwanted data transfer. The destination will be
backed-up onto itself !! To
avoid such circumstances, do not forget, to add as an exclusion
the destination directory or a folder that contains the
destination directory.
Use this feature, to define specific file(s), folder(s) or pattern(s) to be included by the transfer.
1. Only include
Use this mode to backup/sync only specific file(s), folder(s) or pattern(s). For
example, you might not want to backup a whole directory structure
but just a single file ...or
a single directory
...or
2 single files and all the open-office writer documents within
this directory structure Please
note, that everything that you declare here, and only that,
will be taken into consideration when performing data transfers
of the specific task and nothing more.
2. Normal include
Use this mode, to define file(s), folder(s) or pattern(s) that will not be excluded by the transfer. Add
You can declare
anything you wish to be included by the task, by adding it
to the “include list” in the following way:
Use the text
field located next to the add button to enter what is going to
be included. If you find it handy, use the "launch pattern editor"
button, located at the right of the text field, to open the
graphical pattern editor.
Press the add
button (or press ENTER), to add the entered text to the
“only include” list.
Remove an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the remove button.
Edit an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the edit button.
Change the item by using the keyboard.
click the done button.
Move an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the move up or down button.
Read from file
Include patterns can also be read from a file !!
An inclusion can
be a file, a directory or a list of files/directories that
follows a pattern.
Anything
you add as an inclusion must follow the pattern
rules,
as described at the end of the chapter.
luckyBackup
uses some default rsync options to perform tasks. That is not
obligatory. You can remove any option and add others as you wish
by using the Command Options tab. This is divided in 2
sections Templates Here,
you will find normal checkboxes. These refer to some typical
rsync options. Simply
click a box to change its check state, so that to use or not the
option(s) it refers to. The
checkboxes provided and the relevant options they refer to are as
follows: Skip
newer destination files refers
to: -u,
--update
Delete files on the
destination refers to:
Recurse into directories
refers to:
Preserve ownership, times
refers to:
Preserve permissions
refers to:
Preserve symlinks
refers to:
Preserve device, special
files refers to:
Preserve hard links
refers to:
Ignore files the CVS way
refers to:
Destination is FAT/NTFS
refers to:
User
defined options Add
You can add any
rsync option you wish by adding it to the options list
in the following way:
Use the text
field located next to the add button to enter the option you
would like to add.
Type the option,
starting with a “-” or a “--” (without the
quotes), followed by the appropriate string. Do not enter
spaces.
Example: “
--xattrs ”
Press the add
button (or press ENTER), to add the entered option to the
“options” list.
Remove
Remove an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the remove button.
Edit an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the edit button.
Change the item by using the keyboard.
click the done button.
Move an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the move up or down button. NOTE:
Please refer to the man page of rsync for a complete
reference of all possible options. It
is possible to use luckyBackup, not only for local transfers, but
also for remote ones. Data
transferring either to or from a remote host is possible. Tasks
between 2 remote hosts is not supported. To
use this feature, simply check the Use remote host box located on top of the
Remote tab. Source
or Destination First,
specify whether you want to use a remote host for your source or
destination data by choosing an appropriate radio-button, located
at the top of the Remote groupbox. Please
note, that the directory located at the remote host and
will be used by luckyBackup as source or as destination, has to be declared at the appropriate text-edit fields, labeled
source or destination accordingly,
that are visible at “task properties - simple mode”. user Enter
your username for the remote host at the user text-field. host Enter
the name of the remote host you would like to connect to, at the
@Host text-field. Note
that a host name can also be an ip address. host
names examples: freehosting.net 89.70.191.201 remote
module Connecting
to an rsync module. If
you are contacting an rsync daemon at the remote system directly
via TCP, then check the Remote module box. Some
modules on the remote daemon may require authentication. luckyBackup,
does not support either the definition of passwords as a task
property (for security reasons), or the entry of passwords when
prompted at the stage of a task execution (because it is possible
for the specific task to be scheduled). If
a password is required by the remote daemon, then you have to
create a password file and declare it at the relevant
text-field (use the browse button to open a graphical file dialog
and select your already created file). The
password file must not be world readable and it should
contain just the password as a single line. Please
do not confuse the password to connect to an rsync module with
the password needed if you use ssh as a transport shell. ssh If
you use ssh as a transport shell to connect to the remote host
then check the ssh box. As
clearly stated above (at the remote module section): luckyBackup,
does not support either the definition of passwords as a task
property (for security reasons), or the entry of passwords when
prompted at the stage of a task execution (because it is possible
for the specific task to be scheduled). For
an ssh connection to become possible, you have to do all actions
needed for a password-less connection, using an
OpenSSH key pair. However,
if you still wish to use a direct password or protect your key
with a passphrase, then you have to either: Some
helpful information on this ssh
authentication scheme follows: The
public key authentication scheme is based on public-key
cryptography, using cryptosystems where encryption and decryption
are done using separate keys, and it is unfeasible to derive the
decryption key from the encryption key. The
idea is that each user creates a public/private key pair for
authentication purposes. The server knows the public key, and
only the user knows the private key. ssh implements public
key authentication protocol automatically, using either the RSA
or DSA algorithms. The file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys lists the
public keys that are permitted for logging in. When the user logs
in, the ssh program tells the server which key pair it
would like to use for authentication. The client proves that it
has access to the private key and the server checks that the
corresponding public key is authorized to accept the account. example: To
create an appropriate public-private key pair, use the command $
ssh-keygen When
prompted to enter a passphrase, just press “ENTER” twice (no
passphrase). This
stores the private key in ~/.ssh/identity (protocol 1),
~/.ssh/id_dsa (protocol 2 DSA), or ~/.ssh/id_rsa (protocol 2 RSA)
and stores the public key in ~/.ssh/identity.pub (protocol 1),
~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub (protocol 2 DSA), or ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
(protocol 2 RSA) in your home directory. Then
copy the public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys in your home
directory on the remote machine. The authorized_keys file
corresponds to the conventional ~/.rhosts file, and has one key
per line, though the lines can be very long. After this, you can
log in without giving the password. Please
refer to the man page of ssh for a complete reference of ssh
connections. Enter
the full path of your private key file at the private key file
text-field (use the browse button to open a graphical file
dialog if you wish). Finally,
specify the port to connect to, on the remote host, by entering
its number at the port text-field. Leave it blank for the
default ssh port (normally no.22).
This
option is used for the situation that you wish to run some
commands before and/or after the task execution.
add
Remove an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the remove button.
Edit an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the edit button.
Change the item by using the keyboard.
click the done button.
Move an item:
click on it to highlight it
click the move up or down button. STOP check boxes
On the left side of every command, there is a check-box available. by-pass warning
Checking this box means that all security checks that refer to this task will be skipped.
BEWARE:
Only use this option if you really (I mean really) know what you are doing.
WARNING
: The Dry-run feature
only affects the main task and NOT
pre/post command which are going to be executed normaly !!. complex commands
Please note that luckybackup only supports the direct declaration of a command and its arguments. Complex command syntax is not (yet) supported.
Validate The
validate
pushbutton can prove useful, if
you wish to perform some initial checks to all the fields you
have declared at the task properties window. As
soon as you click the validate
button, a pop-up
message will apear, informing you of any errors or warnings
found. In
addition to this, it will display the actual command that is
going to be executed.
Patterns
entered in the “Task properties” window must follow these
rules:
The pattern editor makes the definition of patterns much easier (...for some people). Specific directory
Use this if you want the pattern to refer to a specific directory. Specific file
Use this if you want the pattern to refer to a specific file.
Set of directories
Use this if you want the pattern to refer to a set of directories that their names have something in common, no matter their location inside the directory tree.
If you wish to anchor the pattern to the root of the transfer, check the use absolute path box.
When the use absolute path box is selected, the pattern will only take into consideration, directories that are one level below the declared folder.
Set of files
Use this if you want the pattern to refer to a set of files that their names have something in common, no matter their location inside the directory tree.
So,
you have managed to create a number of tasks and you are ready to
execute all or some of them. Before
doing so, you might want to review the following: Change
the include state of any existing task Just
click on an include checkbox, at the left of an task's name to
change its state to included (checked) or not included
(unchecked) Have
in mind that only included tasks will be executed. Also
note that the include state is a basic property of a task,
together with its name. Both these properties are saved inside a
profile. As
soon as you “include” a task you will notice that there is an
icon at the left of the task's name as well as some text
displaying in the information window: declared
data check A
directories check will be performed instantly. All declared
folders will be checked to see if they are empty or if they exist and
luckyBackup will warn you accordingly. This
task is performed to protect your data, either source or already
made backups. Please
note that directory pairs statuses are divided into 3 categories: 1.
ok: Both dirs are
ok. You
are ready to go as far as this pair is concerned.
2.
WARNING: This task
will be skipped to avoid doing something stupid with your data !! The
declared source directory does not contain any data or does not
exist at all. Most possible situation, is that you have forgotten
to mount a partition or have just mistyped a path. You wouldn't
like the foolish rsync command to make your already existent
500GB backup (that took 2 days to create), vanish in a second so
as to look the same with an empty directory !!
3.
CRITICAL: This
task will NOT BE SKIPPED.
The
declared destination directory does not contain any data or does
not exist at all. Most possible situation, is that you have
forgotten to mount a partition or have just mistyped a path. Of
course it might be the first time you perform the specific task,
and you just want you destination folder to be created or fill
with new data if it's empty. Beware
if it's not the first time you perform this task.
ADVICE:
Spend some time and have a good look at this window. Then decide
wisely whether to “Go
on” and execute
a bunch of rsync commands, or not and try to fix the errors that
cause the “bad” status messages. Tasks
of a profile are executed sequentially, one by one at the order
that they appear at the task list. You
can change the execution order of the tasks within a profile: Click
on an task to highlight it. Press
the up/down arrow keys located at the right of the “Task List”
to change its position inside the list. Now
is good time (actually, every time you change something regarding
a profile is a good time) to save the profile you created. Click
on the “save” button or select “Profile → save” from
the menu or just press ctrl+S .
After
all this preparation you are ready to have a go. Well,
just a final thought that might save you from a lot of trouble.
That would be a... simulation
execution If
you are unsure of the effects on your data when executing an
rsync command try the simulation option. luckyBackup will perform
a trial run that doesn't make any changes (and produces mostly
the same output as a real run). Note:
The progress-bar might be misleading when using this. WARNING
: The Dry-run feature only affects the main task and NOT
pre/post commands which are going to be executed normaly !!. Check
the “dry” check-box
to enable this option. Go
on now. Click on that big purple button button that is clearly
labeled: Run. task
list check For
safety reasons, luckybackup will first check the task list for
“errors” and pop up a relevant warning message if something
is found unsatisfactory. For
example if you haven't included any tasks, you will get a warning
message at the information window. The
most important check of all is the one of many
tasks that share the same destination. When
luckyBackup performs a task the “normal” way (meaning, you
were not tempted to click that “advanced” button and change
stuff), you end up with a destination directory that is identical
to the source. Any file that existed at the destination and did
not at the source, will be deleted.
Now imagine the situation of
creating a number of tasks with different sources, the same
destination (for example /media/backups) and “backup dir
contents” as task type.
The first task will execute ok
resulting to a “cloned source” destination.
The second task will clone the
source again (which is different this time) to the same
destination directory. This means the first task's backup will be
lost. The second task will cancel the first.
“backup dir by name” should
have been selected as task type, so as to end up with the
destination directory containing all the sources of your tasks as
sub-folders.
So do not be
surprised if you face the following warning message as soon as
you press the “start” button.
Well,
you've done it. You wisely chose to “Run”
and let the party begin. The main window fills with scrolling data
calculating and transferring, messages and the progress-bar shows
the progress of the current task (not in simulation mode):
NOTE :
The application window cannot be closed while task execution is in progress. If the window close button is clicked, luckyBackup will minimize to the tray area
just like in silent mode.
Smash
the “ABORT”
pushbutton any
time during the execution of tasks if you feel like something is
going wrong (or just want to see what will happen :-p).
Press the "shutdown”
pushbutton down to shutdown your system as soon as the execution of all tasks finishes.
All done
As soon as all
tasks are complete you will face the following window.
Please
notice that a log file
is created every
time you come along this window. It is hosted in your home
directory under ~/.luckyBackup/logs
and can be viewed easily by using the luckybackup logviewer or any text file viewer.
Silent, as the word describes, is that mode when luckybackup is executed in a discrete way.
Silent mode can be invoked by using the --silent argument. eg:
luckybackup --silent [profile]
Please refer to the terminal arguments chapter for a full
[options] and
[profile] description and usage.
For
those of you that for any reason would like to execute
luckyBackup without a graphical user interface (gui), it is
possible to run it in...
Command-line mode can be quite
useful at systems where a graphical desktop is not available (eg servers).
luckybackup [options] [profile]
Please refer to the terminal arguments chapter for a full [options] and
[profile] description.
The options that invoke the command-line mode are:
When the execution of a profile at command-line mode finishes, the application provides the following error codes:
It is possible for
luckyBackup to “make arrangements” for specific profiles to
be executed at regular intervals automatically, without the need
to run the gui of the application. If you wish to take
advantage of that feature, click on the schedule
button located at the toolbar of the main window or select schedule from the profile menu.
To
add a new schedule, click the add button and define the
following:
Profile
declaration Select
an already existent profile from the Profile list. Skip
critical As
described earlier, before the actual execution of tasks,
luckyBackup first checks all declared data for errors and
produces relevant messages. Those, that appear with a WARNING
message are skipped anyway to protect your data. But those with
a CRITICAL message,
although suspect, are not going to be skipped. If you wish the
latter to be skipped at schedules then check the skip
critical box. The
default and advised state of this check-box is checked
(meaning skip all
tasks that appear with a critical message).
Please refer to chapter declared data check for more
information about messages. Console-mode
Check this box if you wish this schedule to be executed in command-line mode. Execute
every It
is possible to schedule a specific profile to execute at a
specific time, at specific intervals by declaring the following: Month
& day of month Declare
the specific date you wish your profile to be executed, by
selecting the relevant month & day of month
(for example every February the 26th). If
you do not wish to use this option leave both listboxes to Any. Day
of week Choose
the day of week, you wish your profile to be executed (for
example every Sunday). If you do not wish to use this option
leave it to Any. NOTE:
If you use both “Month & day of month” and “Day of
Week” then the profile will be executed when at least one of
them matches the relevant time criteria. For example if you
declare “every February the 26th “ as well as
“every Sunday”, the schedule will run every Sunday and
every February 26th. TIP:
If you wish the schedule to run every day, leave all 3
fields to Any. Time Declare
the specific time at which you want a profile to be executed by
entering appropriate data at the hour & minute
boxes. Use the up/down arrows if you find them handy. e.g.
for execution at time 17:45, enter hour:17 &
minute:45. @reboot
For the profile to be executed once, at system startup, check the @reboot box. add
To finish the procedure of
adding a new schedule, click the okay pushbutton.
A new line will appear at the
window above “Profile execution details”, stating the
profile you have chosen and when this is scheduled for
execution. To
modify an existing schedule: Select
a schedule at the window, so that it is highlighted and click
the modify
button.
Change everything at your will
and click the okay button when you're finished.
Click
on a schedule at the window to highlight it. Click
the remove pushbutton. Whenever
you have finished adding, modifying, removing schedules click the
cronIT pushbutton for the changes to take effect at your
system.
luckyBackup
uses the current user's crontab
to schedule the execution of profiles. Please
do not confuse that with the file /etc/crontab or anacron.
If you wish to use these instead, you must manually alter
relevant configuration files by adding lines that will execute
luckyBackup in silent or command-line mode. See
the man pages of cron and crontab (1 & 5) for more details.
To display the current crontab, click the view current crontab pushbutton located at the bottom left of the dialog.
luckyBackup
uses the current user's crontab
to schedule the execution of profiles.
Troubleshooting sheduled backups 1: cron user permissions Some
useful (terminal/console) commands: crontab
-l causes
the current crontab to be displayed on standard output. crontab
-r causes
the current crontab to be removed. 2: X-Server user permissions 3: cron locale settings
4: luckyBackup own cron config file
The output of execution of scheduled profiles is saved in the following log file located at your home directory: ~/.luckyBackup/logs/PROFILENAME-LastCronLog.log
luckyBackup can use already installed tools to send e-mail reports after a profile execution. If you wish to take
advantage of that feature, click on the email
button located at the toolbar of the main window or select email from the profile menu.
This field is used to define the full command with arguments to run so that an email is sent.
Define here, various conditions that have to be met for an email message to be sent.
Instead of typing normal text at the provided fields, you can type the percentage symbol (%), followed by a letter, to use one of the available variables.
test
Use the test button any time to send a message with the arguments provided.
logging
A couple of logfiles are available after an email is sent and located at the user's home directory (~): ~/.luckyBackup/logs
profile run output email run output
This feature is used to manage already created backups.
View log Click the view log button to launch the log viewer for the selected snapshot
Calculate differences Click the Calculate differences button for all the differneces between the source and the selected snapshot to be displayed.
delete backup
Click the delete pushbutton to wipe out the selected snapshot.
restore
The restore button's purpose is to transfer your data
The main goal of luckyBackup, as its name states, is the creation of backups of your data. Somebody once said: “ if you haven't backed up your data is like not having them at all !! ” That is because, based at the laws of probability, some time, for some reason, something will happen and you will lose valuable data. Another guy once said: “ computer users can be divided into 2 categories: Those that have lost data ...and those that have not lost data YET ”
I really wish you to never come to that situation. But
if you do, then I hope that you backed up your data the very last
minute either by using this application or not :-) restore wizard This method is thoroughly described at the manage backup - restore chapter of this manual. restore task The second restore procedure that luckyBackup utilizes is actually a normal task that is created from the original one with some crucial changes:
The advantage of this method over the restore wizard is that you have full control of the situation.
If you wish to create a restore task then proceed to the following:
Click ok to proceed.
EpilogueWish you good, fast, reliable, safe and usable backups (no matter if you use luckyBackup or not) luckyb :-)
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