[Dovecot] backup strategy
what's the prefered way to backup users mail? i use doevcot shipping with debian/etch an maildir.
thanx
-- jochen
On 04.02.2008 21:12, Jochen Kaechelin wrote:
what's the prefered way to backup users mail? i use doevcot shipping with debian/etch an maildir.
thanx
http://www.mail-archive.com/dovecot@dovecot.org/msg06254.html
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i agree with rsync too, you can see http://www.rsnapshot.org/ for snapshots (my very best backup solution )
Jochen Kaechelin wrote: | what's the prefered way to backup users mail? | i use doevcot shipping with debian/etch an maildir. | | thanx
Evaggelos Balaskas - http://ebalaskas.gr Unix System Engineer Informatics Engineer Technological Education -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
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Jochen Kaechelin wrote:
what's the prefered way to backup users mail? i use doevcot shipping with debian/etch an maildir.
thanx
Have you considered Amanda or Bacula?
www.amanda.org www.bacula.org
Regards,
Hugo Monteiro.
-- ci.fct.unl.pt:~# cat .signature
Hugo Monteiro Email : hugo.monteiro@fct.unl.pt Telefone : +351 212948300 Ext.15307
Centro de Informática Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa Quinta da Torre 2829-516 Caparica Portugal Telefone: +351 212948596 Fax: +351 212948548 www.ci.fct.unl.pt apoio@fct.unl.pt
ci.fct.unl.pt:~# _
On Wed, 2008-02-06 at 13:23 +0000, Hugo Monteiro wrote:
Jochen Kaechelin wrote:
what's the prefered way to backup users mail? i use doevcot shipping with debian/etch an maildir.
thanx
Have you considered Amanda or Bacula?
www.amanda.org www.bacula.org
IMHO, if you're going to use tapes, just buy ArcServe. I've used it for years on Netware, and was unable to get it to work with Debian (so I'd suggest rsync/mysqldump to a supported box). Now I've been using bacula, and it's just not a polished solution. I'm no *nix newbie, but just setting up a rotation was a headache, and the expiration doesn't seem to work right. Missing a job means you have to go back and start pruning - and I still don't have a proper "last day of week is weekly, unless it's the last day of month" rotation - and that's with one tape, daily, FULL, backups.
I have been able to restore from it, though due to setup issues, I've again had to do more work than necessary. It seems the backup database gets HUGE (possibly due to lack of incrementals), even though it's SQL, and that slows things down too. Like NTFS, it leaves me wishing I had Novell's Salvage so I could just pull the file back and be done with it.
Backup just isn't something I feel I should ever have to really think about.
ArcServe and Netware are probably the only two pieces of software I can easily justify purchasing.
Rick
On Feb 6, 2008, at 5:40 AM, Rick Romero wrote:
IMHO, if you're going to use tapes, just buy ArcServe. I've used it for years on Netware, and was unable to get it to work with Debian (so I'd suggest rsync/mysqldump to a supported box). ... Backup just isn't something I feel I should ever have to really think about.
ArcServe and Netware are probably the only two pieces of software I
can easily justify purchasing.
So. . . If you want tape backups, buy ArcServer and Netware because it
doesn't work on Linux?
Forgive me if I disagree.
Whilst the whole rsync or other on-line solution is fine for those who
want that, my solution was a little more direct: use dump (ufsdump on
Solaris). Don't use dump on Linux, it won't work (so says Linus: http://dump.sourceforge.net/isdumpdeprecated.html
, except the links don't work. Sigh. I can't find the direct
link.). At least not on live filesystems.
However, if you OS supports it, using snapshots will work, and get you
what you want. Even if you dump to a file instead of tape, it works
quite well. And you can have nice rotations and everything. I use an
SSH key to run a dump command on my selected filesystem (using
snapshots is trivial in Solaris now, on UFS filesystems).
Of course, you have to think about your backups. But I think it's a
worthwhile investment to actually think about your backups, your
rotation and retention schedule, and not just trust the vendor.
Sean
Sean Kamath wrote:
On Feb 6, 2008, at 5:40 AM, Rick Romero wrote:
IMHO, if you're going to use tapes, just buy ArcServe. I've used it for years on Netware, and was unable to get it to work with Debian (so I'd suggest rsync/mysqldump to a supported box).
snip<<<
Forgive me if I disagree.
Whilst the whole rsync or other on-line solution is fine for those who want that, my solution was a little more direct: use dump (ufsdump on Solaris). Don't use dump on Linux, it won't work (so says Linus: http://dump.sourceforge.net/isdumpdeprecated.html, except the links don't work. Sigh. I can't find the direct link.). At least not on live filesystems.
snip<<<
curious... I've been using dump for decades (unix and linux) without any problems on mounted filesystems. And yes, I have restored successfully from those dumps. Perhaps I'm just one of the lucky ones. Anyone with half an ounce of common sense will use due caution backing up "live" data, regardless of the tool used, and will prefer to work with umounted filesystems when possible, but it isn't an imperative, nor always practical.
There are plenty of choices for all manner of backup and restore needs. It's always best to consider all options first and find your way to the one that works for you. And just because something doesn't work for you (or for someone else) doesn't mean it won't work for the next sys admin to come along. Simply present the options that worked for you and let the OP decide what works best for them.
A good reference for back and restore is: http://www.bookpool.com/sm/0596102461
Steve Lindemann __ Network Administrator //\\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign Marmot Library Network, Inc. \\// against HTML/RTF email, url: http://www.marmot.org //\\ vCards & M$ attachments email: mailto:steve@marmot.org voice: +1.970.242.3331 ext 116 fax: +1.970.245.7854
Quoting Steve Lindemann steve@marmot.org:
curious... I've been using dump for decades (unix and linux) without
any problems on mounted filesystems.
Well, any known/observed problems...
Anyone with half an ounce of common sense will use due caution
backing up "live" data, regardless of the tool used, and will prefer
to work with umounted filesystems when possible, but it isn't an
imperative, nor always practical.
Only if you want a good backup of the data... Okay, I will admit that I sometimes do backups with dump on live filesystems also... But I know what I'm doing, and why...
But again, this is getting off topic... So enough about this...
-- Eric Rostetter The Department of Physics The University of Texas at Austin
Go Longhorns!
On Thu, 2008-02-07 at 13:35 -0600, Eric Rostetter wrote:
Quoting Steve Lindemann steve@marmot.org:
curious... I've been using dump for decades (unix and linux) without
any problems on mounted filesystems.Well, any known/observed problems...
Anyone with half an ounce of common sense will use due caution
backing up "live" data, regardless of the tool used, and will prefer
to work with umounted filesystems when possible, but it isn't an
imperative, nor always practical.Only if you want a good backup of the data... Okay, I will admit that I sometimes do backups with dump on live filesystems also... But I know what I'm doing, and why...
But again, this is getting off topic... So enough about this...
Right. Cause anyone with a decent filesystem is using snapshots anyways ;)
Rick
Quoting Sean Kamath kamath@geekoids.com:
So. . . If you want tape backups, buy ArcServer and Netware because
it doesn't work on Linux?
This is straying off the intended topic...
Whilst the whole rsync or other on-line solution is fine for those
who want that, my solution was a little more direct: use dump
That's what I've always used too.
(ufsdump on Solaris). Don't use dump on Linux, it won't work (so
says Linus: http://dump.sourceforge.net/isdumpdeprecated.html,
except the links don't work. Sigh. I can't find the direct link.).
At least not on live filesystems.
That's because he later retracted that statement. Dump is as reliable on linux as anywhere else. Keypoint: dump isn't reliable on a live filesystem; either unmount it or use snapshots to get a consistent dump.
Of course, you have to think about your backups. But I think it's a
worthwhile investment to actually think about your backups, your
rotation and retention schedule, and not just trust the vendor.
Agreed.
And realize that no one backup system works for everyone, or every setup. You will have to think a bit to come up with a backup system that fits your own needs and resources.
Sean
-- Eric Rostetter The Department of Physics The University of Texas at Austin
Go Longhorns!
participants (8)
-
Eric Rostetter
-
Evaggelos Balaskas
-
Hugo Monteiro
-
Jochen Kaechelin
-
Nikolay Shopik
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Rick Romero
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Sean Kamath
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Steve Lindemann