Backup in Linux

BRU2000 is a compact yet powerful backup
utility for Linux. It lets you take backups of a variety of media, including DAT and
DLT.
The software comes as a TAR file and is compact enough to fit into a single floppy.
Installation is straightforward, and once you’ve untarred it into a temporary
directory, you can start the install with a ./install.

The first step is to select the backup
device. The options available are:

• 1/4 inch cartridge tape-drive

• 4 mm DAT drive

• 8 mm (Exabyte) tape drive

• DLT (Digital Linear Tape), etc.

• selected a 4 mm DAT drive, and was given
  options of using a 2 GB DDS1 drive, a 4 GB DDS2 drive, or 12 GB drives.

You need to specify the appropriate device
names in the /dev directory. In our case, we have st0 for the rewinding
device and nst0 for the non-rewinding device. The install script makes the
appropriate entries in the /etc/brutab file.

Now we’ll proceed to install
XBRU, the
X11 front-end to BRU. For this, you should have TCl version 7.6 and Tk version 4.2 or
higher.

If you want to exclude files from the
backup, you should enter these in the /etc/bruxpat file. Also, backups can be
either to a backup device or a file.

To back up files, use the command:

cd /;bru -cvf /dev/tape
./files_to_backup

BRU doesn’t store absolute pathnames
unless specifically asked to. By default, everything’s stored relative to
"./".

On completion of the backup, BRU rewinds
the tape and runs an autoscan to verify the media. This is one feature that could save you
a lot of grief.

To restore files from the tape, use

bru -xvf /dev/st0
./files_to_restore

BRU also has an extensive set of command
line options.

If you’re not comfortable with
text-based command lines, there’s the graphical front-end that you can use.

Executing XBRU brings up a simple,
easy-to-use screen. Three levels of backup are possible with XBRU–full, level 1, and
level 2.

If you’re logged in as root, choosing
Full does a full backup of the system. Level 1 backs up files modified since the last Full
backup, and Level 2 backs up files modified since the last Level 1 backup. There’s a
message bar at the bottom of the screen that describes the action associated with each
button.

Select the files or directories you want
backed up and press Start Backup. You can choose more options here. For example, you could
chose compression, maintain log files, etc. The restore screen is very similar to the
backup screen.

BRU is a very powerful backup program with
a lot of flexibility. It supports CRC-error detection and verification after each backup
session to ensure that the media is not bad. BRU also has a scheduler to manage long-term
backup strategies and can handle tape autoloaders for multi-tape backups. It backs up all
types of files–device files, pipes, links, etc. An invaluable tool in your journey
with Linux.