I would use dump and restore to backup the system, it creates an image on the tape of the partitions
I would guess the tape device is /dev/nst0
mt -f /dev/nst0 status dump -0uf /dev/nst0 /dev/sda1
==to backup partition sda1 etc etc
I have a script that does this, that can even pipe it down an encrypted ssh tunnel from one linux box to another if the machine housing the tape unit is in a different linux box....
P.
Paul Schoonderwoerd wrote:
On Saturday 19 August 2006 11:10, Geert Batsleer wrote:
Hello,
I want to backup my PE2800 on tape but I'm not sure how to do this.
My PE2800 has a RAID5 setup with 2 72GB SCSI disks and a Seagate DAT-2 72GB internal tape-streamer and I'm running Centos 4.3 with the latest yum updates.
I'm not sure if this tape-streamer is recognised by the OS properly because it doesn't show up along with my DVD/floppy
I also recieved with the server a copy of Galaxy Express software from Dell but from what it looks this seems to be more of a client/server backupprogram and not really functional on a standalone server.
So how does one backs up + restores a complete HD (incl. MBR) like a ghost image or something on a tape. Any good software or howto's you can suggest would be much appreciated.
kind regards,
Geert
Geert,
Have a look at the mt command. This will amongst other things show you the status of the tapedrive ( mt -f /dev/mt0 status ). /dev/mt0 is most likely the devicename for your tapedrive.
I can recommend Lone-tar from www.cactus.com. Have long time experience with it, very good and solid. Bare metal restore from two floppies (or CD) and your tape in under 2 hours. Lots of options but still easy. You can download a trial version. Costs somewhere between 400 and 500 Euro's. If that's is too much, have a look at Bacula. No personal experience with that though.
Good luck,