Ubuntu Feisty 7.04 manual page repository
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Provided by: afbackup-client_3.4-3ubuntu1_i386
NAME
client.conf - client side configuration file for afbackup
DESCRIPTION
This file needs not be edited by hand with an editor, instead the pro‐
gram /usr/sbin/afclientconfig can be used. If you are running X, the
programs are the same, but start with an ’x’; (Tcl/Tk must be
installed): and /usr/sbin/xafclientconfig. The parameters described
below are the same for both versions. Entries consist of lines start‐
ing with the parameter name, then follows a colon and the value of the
parameter. Comment lines can be inserted as desired starting with the #
character.
ENTRIES
BackupHosts
These are the hostnames of the machines where a server side of
the backup service resides. Some kind of streamer device must be
connected to these machines. The files and directories, that
should be saved, are packed, eventually processed somehow, and
then sent to the named machines, who writes them to the con‐
nected device. The named machines are tested for service avail‐
ability. If a server is busy, the next one is tried. Backup‐
Ports can be configured in the same order as the host entries
supplied here. The servers in this list may be separated by
whitespace and/or commas. If a backup server is the same host as
the client, the use of the name localhost is encouraged.
BackupPorts
These are the port numbers on the backup server machines, where
the backup server processes listen. The default is 2988 or the
number found in the file /etc/services (or in NIS if it is con‐
figured). Several ports can be supplied, positionally according
to the backup server hosts supplied in the BackupHosts parame‐
ter. The numbers can be separated by whitespace and/or commas.
If fewer numbers are supplied than backup servers, the default
port 2988 applies for the rest. If more port numbers are given,
the superfluous ones are ignored.
CartridgeSets
The cartridge sets on the server side to use for backups. They
must bes legal number between 1 and the number of cartridge sets
configured on the appropriate server side. Several sets can be
supplied, positionally according to the backup server hosts sup‐
plied in the BackupHosts parameter. The numbers can be separated
by whitespace and/or commas. If fewer numbers are supplied than
backup servers, the default set # 1 applies for the rest. If
more cartridge set numbers are given, the superfluous ones are
ignored.
PrintServerMessages
By default the server sends messages about current problems or
required actions to a maintainer or, if determinable and config‐
ured, to the user on the client side. They cannot be seen as
output on the client side. When this parameter is set, these
messages are also output on the client side. The first word must
consist of the letters b, v, r and c i.e. messages are output
during backup, verify, restore, and/or copy-tape depending on
what letters appear. The next fields must name the respective
single stream server ports or service names according to the
configured ports in BackupPorts, i.e. wherever a multi stream
port appears in the configuration in BackupPorts, here the
respective single stream service must be named. If not given the
values default to the ones configured in BackupPorts. If this
parameter is not properly configured, the messages might not be
seen on the client side for technical reasons.
RootDirectory
This is the directory, the backup client changes to before pack‐
ing the files and directories. Their names should be supplied
relative to this directory, e.g. ./home .
DirsToBackup
These are the names of files and directories, that should be
saved. Wildcards in the usual manner are allowed (shell- style
or glob-style). They should be supplied relative to the working
directory, the client changes to when starting. Descending into
directories can be limited to the current filesystem by preced‐
ing the filename with the four characters .//. or the option -m
(and a space). The prefix .//. is stripped off the name before
saving. Supplying a filename preceded with the four characters
/../ (what makes no sense normally) or the option -r (and a
space) forces the file contents to be saved regardless of the
file type. This way raw partitions or similar things can be
saved. The prefix /../ is stripped off the name before saving.
These file contents are by default never processed for safety
reasons. If you want to force processing nonetheless, use //../
as prefix or precede the name with the option -R (and a space).
To save the output of a command, supply (in double quotes) a
triple bar |||, followed by a space and the command. Another
triple bar must follow, after that another command doing the
opposite of the first one. This command gets the data written by
the first one as input at restore time. A triple sharp ### and a
comment may follow. A command can be supplied here, whose out‐
put is read and used as if it were written here literally. If
this is desired, the entry must start with a bar |, followed by
a mandatory space and the shell-command to execute. If the pat‐
tern %T appears in this command, it is replaced with a specifier
for the type of backup: F, if it’s a full backup; F<N>, if the
full backup is split into several parts with <N> being the part
number, e.g. F2; I, if it’s an incremental backup; L<N> for a
level <N> backup e.g. L5
DirsToBackupX
These are the names of files and directories, that should be
saved as part X. Wildcards in the usual manner are allowed
(shell-style or glob-style). They should be supplied relative to
the working directory the client changes to when starting (See:
RootDirectory). Descending into directories can be limited to
the current filesystem by preceding the filename with the four
characters .//. or the option -m (and a space). The prefix .//.
is stripped off the name before saving. Supplying a filename
preceded with the four characters /../ (what makes no sense nor‐
mally) or the option -r (and a space) forces the file contents
to be saved regardless of the file type. This way raw partitions
or similar things can be saved. The prefix /../ is stripped off
the name before saving. These file contents are by default never
processed for safety reasons. If you want to force processing
nonetheless, use //../ as prefix or precede the name with the
option -R (and a space). To save the output of a command, supply
(in double quotes) a triple bar |||, followed by a space and the
command. Another triple bar must follow, after that another com‐
mand doing the opposite of the first one. This command gets the
data written by the first one as input at restore time. A triple
sharp ### and a comment may follow. A command can be supplied
here, whose output is read and used as if it were written here
literally. If this is desired, the entry must start with a bar
|, followed by a mandatory space and the shell-command to exe‐
cute. If the pattern %T appears in this command, it is replaced
with a specifier for the type of backup: F, if it’s a full
backup; F<N>, if the full backup is split into several parts
with <N> being the part number, e.g. F2; I, if it’s an incremen‐
tal backup; L<N> for a level <N> backup e.g. L5 These parameters
may only be supplied if the parameter NumBackupParts is set
greater than 1 (!). Otherwise they must be commented out to pre‐
vent a mismatch.
FilesToSkip
These are the names of files, that should not be saved. Wild‐
cards in the usual manner are allowed (shell-style or glob-
style, furthermore path-patterns in the style of GNU’s find pro‐
gram with option -path. Note, that e.g. a*d matches ab/cd). E.g.
it does not usually make much sense to back up object files, as
they can be easily reproduced from existing program sources.
DirsToSkip
These are the names of directories, that should not be saved.
Wildcards in the usual manner are allowed (shell-style or glob-
style, furthermore path-patterns in the style of GNU’s find pro‐
gram with option -path. Note, that e.g. a*d matches ab/cd). E.g.
it does not usually make much sense to back up the lost+found
directory or such only containing object files, as they can be
easily reproduced from existing program sources.
FilesystemTypes
A list of filesystem types, separated by whitespace and/or com‐
mas. The type names can be prefixed with a plus, what is identi‐
cal with no prefix, with a dash - or a slash / . No prefix or a
plus means, that only files in filesystems of the given type are
saved, no others. A minus means, files in a filesystem of the
named type are not saved, nonetheless such filesystems are tra‐
versed to search for filesystems of other types probably mounted
underneath. The slash means, that such filesystems are not even
entered or traversed
ExcludeListFile
A file with the name supplied here can be present in any direc‐
tory. It should contain a list of file-/directory-names (or
glob-style patterns), that should be skipped during backup.
Each entry must be in an own line. The given names/patterns are
valid only in the same directory, where the file resides. Thus
each directory can have it’s individual exclusion list."
WriteChecksums
This flag specifies, whether CRC32 checksums are written to the
backup or not. Checksumming costs performance but might be
desired to achieve additional safety, that the recovered files
are intact
UseCTime
When this flag is set, not only a filesystem entry’s modifica‐
tion time (mtime) is evaluated when selecting objects to store
during incremental or a level X backup, but also the inode
change time (ctime). In this mode the filesystem entries access
time (atime) is not restored to the value it had before saving
it, because that would again change the ctime, thus each incre‐
mental backup would result in a full backup
NumBackupParts
If you have to backup a large amount of files and the full
backup can’t be done during one run (e.g. over a weekend), you
can divide the full backup into pieces. This number determines,
how many pieces you need. If this number is not equal to 1, you
have to supply which files and directories you want to save in
which piece. You do so by setting the parameters DirsToBackupX
with X equal to the number of the backup part the files belong
to.
ProcessCmd
If you want your files to be processed during save (e.g. com‐
pressed), you can supply the name of the program that should
perform the desired processing here. If you do so, you MUST also
supply the appropriate unprocess- program. Note that this pro‐
gram may be specified with options but no shell-like construc‐
tions such as pipes, variables or wildcards. This program must
read standard input and write to standard output. For pattern
replacements see Logging File.
UnprocessCmd
The counterpart to the process program. You must either supply
both process- and unprocess-program or neither of them. Like the
Process program, the unprocess-program must read standard input
and write to standard output. For pattern replacements see Log‐
gingFile.
Built-inCompressionLevel
A number, that specifies the level of built-in compression, if
present, otherwise no built-in compression will be performed.
If a processing program is also specified, the order of process‐
ing is: First the data is piped through the external program and
then built-in compression is done. Uncompressing works the other
way round.
IndexFilePart
The name of the file where the names of the saved files are
stored. The current number is appended to this filename. The
number is incremented each time a full backup starts. For pat‐
tern replacements see LoggingFile.
IndexProcessCmd
The program to preprocess the index file, in most cases some
kind of compression. If this parameter is not set, it defaults
to the setting of the ProcessCmd. If you set it, you MUST also
supply the appropriate unprocess- program. Note that this pro‐
gram may be specified with options but no shell-like construc‐
tions such as pipes, variables or wildcards. This program must
read standard input and write to standard output. For pattern
replacements see LoggingFile
IndexUnprocessCmd
The counterpart to the index processing program. If not given,
it defaults to the setting of the UnprocessCmd. You must either
supply both process- and unprocess-program or neither of them.
Like the index process program, the unprocess-program must read
standard input and write to standard output. For pattern
replacements see LoggingFile
ProcessBackupedFiles
This flag specifies, whether the files, that are saved, should
be processed by the configured processing program.
ProcessLogfiles
This flag specifies, whether the filename logging files should
be processed by the configured processing program.
DoNotProcess
These patterns or filenames specify files, that no processing is
attempted on. Normally this is done for all files. This might be
unefficient, e.g. compressing files, that are already com‐
pressed, so their compression can be suppressed with this param‐
eter. The value of this parameter must be a list separated by
whitespace. Double quotes may enclose list elements.
NumIndexesToStore
This number determines how many log files of previous full back‐
ups are saved. These files may serve for the restore of older
files than those present in the current backup. Of course there
must be sufficient space to hold all the data for the backups.
It doesn’t help to save all the saved filenames but not to have
them available on tape.
DaysToStoreIndexes
Instead of the number of index files to be kept (previous param‐
eter), their maximum age can be configured in days (floating
point number allowed). Older index files will be automatically
removed. If this parameter is configured and the previous one at
the same time, the longer duration will be applied to avoid
accidental removal of indexes on configuration errors.
NumIndexesToScan
This is the maximum number of index files, that will be scanned
during restore. This can be helpful, if it takes too much time
to scan through all index files, what is done, if restrictions
are given, such as before time, after time or certain tapes.
This parameter can be overridden by option -N of afrestore.
DaysToScanIndexes
Instead of configuring the maximum number of index files to be
scanned (previous parameter), their maximum age in days can be
configured (floating point number allowed). This parameter can
be overridden by option -O of afrestore.
CheckRestoreAccessPerms
When this flag is set, during restore started by a normal user
(not the superuser) it is checked, whether the user has suffi‐
cient access permissions in the directory, where the files are
recovered. When relocating using option -C this is default
behaviour. With this flag set it will be enforced also when not
relocating. This has pros and cons. It might be desirable, that
users can also restore their own files in directories owned by
root (e.g. at-job files or the CDE calendar stuff). On the other
side this might be considered a security problem.
LoggingFile
The name of a file error messages or other notable events are
written to. A dash - stands for no logging. The pattern %V will
be replaced with the full path to the var-directory, %B with the
bin directory, %L with the lib directory, %C with the configura‐
tion directory and %I with the logging directory (usually == %V)
ClientIdentifier
The identifier for the client. Default: The official hostname.
This entry is required, it several afbackup clients reside on
one host and the multi stream server is used. In this case the
multi stream server must be able to distinguish the clients to
distribute the pieces of backup data on tape correctly. Other‐
wise the data would be mixed up and be unusable for the reading
client. The multi-stream server writes the data to backup
piecewise to tape, each chunk preceded with an identifier. This
identifier is by default the official hostname of the connected
client. If several client programs are running on the same
client host, this procedure must fail. Any data prefixed with
the name of the client would be delivered to the client program
when reading (restore, verify, ...) and thus be a mixture of
data previously sent to the server by both client programs with
the same identifier (official hostname by default). For this
reason the server denies to serve several connected clients with
the same identifier. If several afbackup clients should be
installed on one host, different client identifiers must be set
in their configuration files.
VarDirectory
The directory, where varying files should be put in. These
files must not be deleted. The information they contain is nec‐
essary for restore.
EncryptionKeyFile
The file containing the encryption key for authenticating the
backup client to the server. This file must contain at least 5
characters and must not have read permission for group or world.
For pattern replacements see LoggingFile.
LockFile
To prevent client programs from being started several times a
lock file is created and this is it’s name. For pattern
replacements see LoggingFile.
StartupInfoProgram
This is the (shell-) command to run to save the startup informa‐
tion of an incremental or full backup, sometimes called boot‐
strap information. This program should read the standard input
and do something reasonable with it, e.g. append it to some
file. The produced information can be used to recover from a
hard crash, when the files are lost, that are containing the
names of the saved files. Therefore this information should not
be saved locally on the client host, but e.g. on an NFS-mounted
filesystem, a floppy disc or in a mail-file (then this command
should be sth. like: mail someuser). For pattern replacements
see LoggingFile.
InitProgram
A (shell-) command to be run before a backup is attempted. If
this program returns an exit status unequal to 0, no backup is
performed. This parameter makes only sense when backup is
started remotely, cause in that case no shell- command can be
supplied. If backup is started locally, there is no problem to
run whatever is necessery before the backup explicitly. For pat‐
tern replacements see LoggingFile.
ExitProgram
This parameter may specify a (shell-) command to run at exit
time of a full or incremental backup. The following patterns are
replaced as explained: %l by the name of the file containing the
filelists
%r by the name of the file containing statistics (this file is
automatically removed after execution of this program)
%e by the overall exit status
%i with the minimum restore information
For more pattern replacements see LoggingFile. Under very trou‐
blesome circumstances (e.g. several clients are trying to con‐
nect a busy single stream server and timeout, or a client pro‐
gram is killed) it might happen, that the ExitProgram is not
executed. If you rely on the actions of the ExitProgram you bet‐
ter implement the desired functionality outside of the afbackup
system.
FILES
/usr/server/lib/server.conf
Server configuration file
/var/log/afbackup
The directory for logging the server actions
/var/lib/afbackup
Some internal state information of the server.
incr_backup(8),
update_indexes(8),
afmserver(8),
tar(1)
AUTHOR
afbackup was written by Albert Fluegel (af@muc.de). This manpage was
extracted from the text docs by Christian Meder (meder@isr.uni-
stuttgart.de).