1BACKUPNINJA(1) backupninja package BACKUPNINJA(1)
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6 BACKUPNINJA - A lightweight, extensible meta-backup system
7 "a silent flower blossom death strike to lost data."
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10 backupninja [ -h ] [ -d ] [ -n ] [ -t ] [ -f filename ] [ --run file‐
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14 Backupninja allows you to coordinate system backups by dropping a few
15 simple configuration files into /etc/backup.d/. Most programs you might
16 use for making backups don't have their own configuration file format.
17 Backupninja provides a centralized way to configure and coordinate many
18 different backup utilities.
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21 - easy to read ini style configuration files.
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23 - you can drop in scripts to handle new types of backups.
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25 - backup actions can be scheduled.
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27 - you can choose when status report emails are mailed to you (always,
28 on warning, on error, never).
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30 - console-based wizard (ninjahelper) makes it easy to create backup
31 action configuration files.
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33 - passwords are never sent via the command line to helper programs.
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35 - in order to backup a db or sql database, you cannot simply copy data‐
36 base files. backupninja helps you safely export the data to a format
37 which you can backup.
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39 - works with Linux-Vservers.
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41 Backup types include:
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43 - secure, remote, incremental filesystem backup (via rdiff-backup).
44 incremental data is compressed. permissions are retained even with an
45 unpriviledged backup user.
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47 - basic system and hardware information.
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49 - encrypted remote backups (via duplicity).
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51 - safe backup of MySQL, PostgreSQL, OpenLDAP, and subversion databases.
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53 - burn CD/DVDs or create ISOs.
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57 -h, --help
58 Show summary of options
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60 -d, --debug
61 Run in debug mode, where all log messages are output to the cur‐
62 rent shell.
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64 -f, --conffile CONF_FILE
65 Use CONF_FILE for the main configuration instead of /etc/backup‐
66 ninja.conf
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68 -t, --test
69 Run in test mode, no actions are actually taken.
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71 -n, --now
72 Perform actions now, instead of when they might be scheduled.
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74 --run ACTION_FILE
75 Runs the action configuration ACTION_FILE and exits.
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79 General settings are configured in /etc/backupninja.conf. In this file
80 you can set the log level and change the default directory locations.
81 See backupninja.conf(5).
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83 To preform the actual backup actions, backupninja processes each action
84 configuration file in /etc/backup.d according to the file's suffix. See
85 backup.d(5).
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89 Backupninja can be used to implement whatever backup strategy you
90 choose. It is intended, however, to be used like so:
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92 First, databases are safely copied or exported to /var/backups. Often,
93 you cannot make a file backup of a database while it is in use, hence
94 the need to use special tools to make a safe copy or export into
95 /var/backups.
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97 Then, vital parts of the file system, including /var/backups, are
98 nightly pushed to a remote, off-site, hard disk (using rdiff-backup).
99 The local user is root, but the remote user is not privileged. Hope‐
100 fully, the remote filesystem is encrypted.
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102 In order for this to work (ie for diff-backup to run unattended), you
103 must create ssh keys on the source server and copy the public key to
104 the remote user's authorized keys file. For example:
105 root@srchost# ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
106 root@srchost# ssh-copy-id -i /root/.ssh/id_dsa.pub
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109 Now, you should be able to ssh from user 'root' on srchost to user
110 'backup' on desthost without specifying a password. When prompted for a
111 password by ssh-keygen, just leave it blank by hitting return. The
112 "wizard" ninjahelper(1) will walk you through these steps.
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116 /usr/sbin/backupninja main script
117 /etc/backupninja.conf main configuration file; general options
118 /etc/cron.d/backupninja runs main script hourly
119 /etc/logrotate.d/backupninja rotates backupninja.log
120 /etc/backup.d directory for configuration files
121 /usr/share/backupninja directory for handler scripts
122 /usr/share/doc/backupninja/examples example action configuration
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127 ninjahelper(1), backupninja.conf(5), backup.d(5),
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130 BACKUPNINJA was written by the riseup.net collective.
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134riseup October 10, 2005 BACKUPNINJA(1)