backupninja(1)

1BACKUPNINJA(1)                backupninja package               BACKUPNINJA(1)
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NAME

6       BACKUPNINJA - A lightweight, extensible meta-backup system
7       "a silent flower blossom death strike to lost data."
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SYNOPSIS

10       backupninja  [ -h ] [ -v ] [ -d ] [ -n ] [ -t ] [ -f filename ] [ --run
11       filename ]
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DESCRIPTION

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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FEATURES

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 ac‐
31         tion 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         Backup types include:
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41       - secure, remote, incremental filesystem backup (via rdiff-backup). in‐
42         cremental  data  is compressed. permissions are retained even with an
43         unpriviledged backup user.
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45       - basic system and hardware information.
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47       - encrypted remote backups (via duplicity).
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49       - safe backup of MySQL, PostgreSQL, OpenLDAP, and subversion databases.
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51       - burn CD/DVDs or create ISOs.
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OPTIONS

56       -h, --help
57              Show summary of options
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59       -V, --version
60              Show backupninja version number
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62       -d, --debug
63              Run in debug mode, where all log messages are output to the cur‐
64              rent shell.
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66       -f, --conffile CONF_FILE
67              Use CONF_FILE for the main configuration instead of /etc/backup‐
68              ninja.conf
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70       -t, --test
71              Run in test mode, no actions are actually taken.
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73       -n, --now
74              Perform actions now, instead of when they might be scheduled.
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76       --run ACTION_FILE
77              Runs the action configuration ACTION_FILE and exits.
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CONFIGURATION

81       General settings are configured in /etc/backupninja.conf. In this  file
82       you  can  set the log level and change the default directory locations.
83       See backupninja.conf(5).
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85       To preform the actual backup actions, backupninja processes each action
86       configuration file in /etc/backup.d according to the file's suffix. See
87       backup.d(5).
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EXAMPLE USAGE

91       Backupninja can be used  to  implement  whatever  backup  strategy  you
92       choose. It is intended, however, to be used like so:
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94       First, databases are safely copied or exported to /var/backups.  Often,
95       you cannot make a file backup of a database while it is in  use,  hence
96       the  need  to  use  special  tools  to  make a safe copy or export into
97       /var/backups.
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99       Then, vital parts of  the  file  system,  including  /var/backups,  are
100       nightly  pushed  to a remote, off-site, hard disk (using rdiff-backup).
101       The local user is root, but the remote user is  not  privileged.  Hope‐
102       fully, the remote filesystem is encrypted.
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104       In  order  for this to work (ie for diff-backup to run unattended), you
105       must create ssh keys on the source server and copy the  public  key  to
106       the remote user's authorized keys file. For example:
107              root@srchost# ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
108              root@srchost#      ssh-copy-id      -i     /root/.ssh/id_dsa.pub
109              backup@desthost
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111       Now, you should be able to ssh from user  'root'  on  srchost  to  user
112       'backup' on desthost without specifying a password. When prompted for a
113       password by ssh-keygen, just leave it  blank  by  hitting  return.  The
114       "wizard" ninjahelper(1) will walk you through these steps.
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EXIT VALUES

118       0        success
119       1        errors or warnings emitted during backup
120       2        one or more backup actions failed
121       3        syntax or usage error
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FILES

125       /usr/sbin/backupninja        main script
126       /etc/backupninja.conf        main configuration file; general options
127       /etc/cron.d/backupninja      runs main script hourly
128       /etc/logrotate.d/backupninja rotates backupninja.log
129       /etc/backup.d                directory for configuration files
130       /usr/share/backupninja       directory for handler scripts
131       /usr/share/doc/backupninja/examples        example action configuration
132       files.
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AUTHOR

139       BACKUPNINJA was written by the riseup.net collective.
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143riseup                         October 10, 2005                 BACKUPNINJA(1)