mondoarchive(8)                                                mondoarchive(8)



[1mNAME[0m
       mondoarchive - a backup / disaster-recovery tool.


[1mSYNOPSIS[0m
       [1mmondoarchive -O [22m[ [4moptions[24m ] : backup your PC
       [1mmondoarchive -V [22m[ [4moptions[24m ] : verify your backup


[1mDESCRIPTION[0m
       [4mmondoarchive[24m  backs  up a subset of your files, your entire filesystem,
       or even images of non-Linux filesystems to CD's, tape, ISO images or an
       NFS  mount. In the event of catastrophic data loss, you will be able to
       restore everything, taking a PC from bare metal to its  original  state
       if necessary.

       With  [1m-O[22m,  it  backs  up your filesystem to CD, tape, ISO images or NFS
       share. Boot floppies or a special boot CD will be created to allow  you
       to restore from bare metal if necessary.

       With  [1m-V[22m,  it  verifies  the  backup  against the live filesystem. This
       option may be used in combination with [1m-O [22mto verify a backup after  its
       creation, or on its own to see how much the live filesystem has changed
       since the backup was made.

       Call mondoarchive [1mwithout flags [22mto make it auto-detect as many settings
       as  possible, ask you politely for the rest, and then backup and verify
       your OS or a subset thereof.

       To restore data, either run [4mmondorestore[24m from the command line or  boot
       from the emergency CD/floppies generated during the backup process. The
       latter will come in handy if a gremlin wipes your hard disk.


[1mBACKUP MEDIA[0m
       You must specify one of the following:-


       [1m-c [4m[22mspeed[24m     Use CD-R drive as backup device and its (write-once) disks
                    as backup media.


       [1m-w [4m[22mspeed[24m     Use  CD-RW  drive as backup device and its (write/rewrite)
                    disks as backup media.  Mondo will wipe media before writ-
                    ing to them.


       [1m-r           [22mUse  DVD  drive  as  backup device and its disks as backup
                    media. Growisofs decides on the best speed for your drive.
                    Note  that calling mondoarchive [1musing sudo when writing to[0m
                    [1mDVDs will fail [22mbecause growisofs does not support  this  -
                    see the growisofs manpage for details.


       [1m-C [4m[22mspeed[24m     Use  CD-R  drive as a streaming device, almost like a tape
                    streamer. Use write-once disks as backup  media.   [1mExperi-[0m
                    [1mmental.[0m


       [1m-p [4m[22mprefix[24m    Use  [1mprefix  [22mto  generate the name of your ISO images.  By
                    default, mondoarchive calls images mondorescue-1.iso, mon-
                    dorescue-2.iso,  ...   Using  [1m-p machine [22mit will call your
                    images machine-1.iso, machine-2.iso, ...


       [1m-i           [22mUse ISO files (CD images) as backup media.  This  is  good
                    for  backing  up your system to a spare hard drive. The [1m-n[0m
                    switch is a wiser choice if you plan  to  restore  from  a
                    remote filesystem.


       [1m-n [4m[22mmount[24m     Use  files  residing  on  NFS  partition  as backup media.
                    [4mmount[24m     is     the     remote     mount-point,      e.g.
                    '192.168.1.3:/home/nfs'  for  my file server. Please mount
                    it before backing up/verifying.


       [1m-t           [22mUse tape streamer as backup device and its tapes as backup
                    media.


       [1m-u           [22mUse  a generic streaming device as backup device. Use this
                    if you want to write your backup to a device that  is  not
                    directly  support by mondoarchive. This will send the data
                    directly to a raw device.  [1mFor experienced users only.[0m


[1mMAJOR OPTIONS[0m
       [1m-D           [22mMake a differential backup:  examine  the  filesystem  and
                    find  which  files have changed since the last full backup
                    was carried out. Backup only those files.


       [1m-E [4m[22m"path[24m [4m..."[0m
                    Exclude path(s) from backup. The paths should be separated
                    with a whitespace.  Note that mondo automatically excludes
                    removable media (/mnt/floppy, /mnt/cdrom, etc.). For exam-
                    ple,  if you are backing up to an NFS mount but you do not
                    want to include the contents of the  mount  in  a  backup,
                    exclude  your  local mount-point with this switch. It will
                    also work with partitions, e.g.  /dev/sdd4 if you  have  a
                    peculiar SCSI zip drive which insists on showing up in the
                    mountlist. NB: If you  exclude  /dev/sdd4  then  the  /dev
                    entry  itself  will  still  be  backed up, even though the
                    mountlist entry will be suppressed.  NOTA: If you  precise
                    a directory with a final / its content will be archived so
                    it won't do what you expect.


       [1m-I [4m[22m"path[24m [4m..."[0m
                    Include paths(s) in backup. The default backup path is "/"
                    but  you may specify alternatives, e.g. -I "/home /etc" to
                    override that.


       [1m-J [4m[22mfile[24m      Specify an explicit  list  of  files  and  directories  to
                    include in a plain text file, one item (file or directory)
                    per line. Beware that directories placed in that file  are
                    not  managed recursively contrary to what is done with the
                    -I option.


       [1m-N           [22mExclude all mounted network  filesystems.  This  currently
                    means  NFS,  SMB,  Coda,  MVFS,  AFS and Netware. In other
                    words, only backup the local hard disk(s).


       [1m-d [4m[22mdev|dir[24m   Specify  the  backup   device   (CD/tape)   or   directory
                    (NFS/ISO). For CD-R[W] drives, this is the SCSI node where
                    the drive may be found, e.g. '0,1,0'. For tape users, this
                    is the tape streamers /dev entry, e.g. '/dev/st0'. For ISO
                    users, this is the directory  where  the  ISO  images  are
                    stored.  For  NFS  users, this is the directory within the
                    NFS mount where the backups are stored.  The  default  for
                    ISO and NFS is '/root/images/mondo'.


       [1m-g           [22mGUI  mode.  Without this switch, the screen output of mon-
                    doarchive is suitable for processing by an 'expect'  wrap-
                    per,  enabling  the user to backup nightly via a cron job.
                    However, if you want to run this program with  an  attrac-
                    tive but non-cron-friendly interface then use '-g'.


       [1m-k [4m[22mpath[24m      Path  of user's kernel. If you are a Debian or Gentoo user
                    then specify [1m-k FAILSAFE [22mas your  kernel.  Otherwise,  you
                    will rarely need this option.


       [1m-m           [22mManual  (not  self-retracting) CD trays are often found on
                    laptops. If you are a laptop  user,  your  CD  burner  has
                    BurnProof technology or you experience problems with mondo
                    then please call mondoarchive with this switch.


       [1m-o           [22mUse LILO as boot loader of boot floppy/CD instead of  SYS-
                    LINUX/ISOLINUX.  By default, SYSLINUX is used for floppies
                    and ISOLINUX for CD's. Use LILO if you prefer to use  that
                    boot  loader.  NB:  This does not affect which boot loader
                    you use to boot your PC, merely the boot  loader  used  by
                    the  CD's/floppies  created  by  Mondo.  Use ELILO instead
                    which is mandatory for IA64 machines.


       [1m-s [4m[22msize[24m      How much can each of your backup media hold? You  may  use
                    'm'  and  'g' on the end of the number, e.g. '700m' for an
                    extra-large CD-R. You no longer need to specify  the  size
                    of your cartridges if you are backing up to tape.


       [1m-x [4m[22m'dev[24m [4m...'[24m Specify  non-Linux  partitions  which  you want to backup,
                    e.g. NTFS or BeOS.



[1mMINOR OPTIONS[0m
       [1m-[0-9]       [22mSpecify the compression level. Default is 3.  No  compres-
                    sion is 0.


       [1m-A [4m[22mcommand[24m   This  command will be called after each CD/NFS/ISO file is
                    written. It is useful if you want to do something with  an
                    ISO  after creating it, e.g. write it to a CD burner using
                    a non-standard command.  [1m-A [22munderstands two tokens - _ISO_
                    and  _CD#_ - which will be translated into the ISO's file-
                    name and its index number (1, 2,  ...)  respectively.  So,
                    you  could  use  [4m-A[24m [4m'foobackup[24m [4m_ISO_;[24m [4mrm[24m [4m-f[24m [4m_ISO_'[24m to feed
                    each ISO to some magical new backup tool.


       [1m-B [4m[22mcommand[24m   This command will be called before each CD/NFS/ISO file is
                    written. See [1m-A [22mfor more information.


       [1m-F           [22mDo  not  offer  to  write  boot+data floppy disk images to
                    3.5-inch  floppy  disks.   The  images  will   remain   in
                    /root/images/mindi until your next backup run, however.


       [1m-H           [22mWhen  you  boot  from the tape/CD, your hard drive will be
                    wiped and the archives will be restored. Your decision  to
                    boot from the tape/CD will be taken as consent. No further
                    permission will be sought.  [1mUse with caution.[0m


       [1m-L           [22mUse lzo, a fast compression engine, instead of bzip2.  You
                    may find lzo on Mondo's website or via FreshMeat. WARNING!
                    Some versions of LZO are unstable.


       [1m-R           [22mEXPERIMENTAL. Do not use in mission-critical environments.
                    Star  is  an alternative to afio. Mondo now supports POSIX
                    ACLs and extended attributes, so -R is essentially  redun-
                    dant for now.


       [1m-P [4m[22mtarball[24m   Post-nuke  tarball.  If you boot into Nuke Mode and every-
                    thing is restored successfully then the  [4mpost-nuke[24m  script
                    will  be  sought and executed if found. This is useful for
                    post-restore customization. It is assumed that the tarball
                    (.tar.gz  ) will contain not just the [4mpost-nuke[24m script (or
                    binary, or whatever it is) but also any files it requires.


       [1m-S [4m[22mpath[24m      Specify the scratchdir, the directory where ISO images are
                    built before being archived. If you have plenty of RAM and
                    want  to use a ramdisk for scratch space, specify its path
                    here.


       [1m-T [4m[22mpath[24m      Specify the tempdir, the directory where  temporary  files
                    (other than ISO images being assembled) are stored. See [1m-S[0m


       [1m-W           [22mDon't make your backup self-booting. This is a really  bad
                    idea, IMO. Don't do this unless you have really great boot
                    disks in your hand and you are an anally retentive SOB who
                    can't  wait  2 minutes for Mindi to run in the background.
                    If you use -W then you'd better know what the hell  you're
                    doing, okay?


       [1m-b           [22mSpecify  the  internal  block size used by the tape drive.
                    This is usually 32K but some drives just don't like  that.
                    They  should but they don't. That's what happens when tape
                    drive vendors don't talk to kernel driver writers. Try 512
                    or 16384.


       [1m-e           [22mDon't eject the CD or tape when backing up or restoring...
                    unless cdrecord insists on it. If it  does,  well,  tough.
                    Sorry. :)


       [1m-f [4m[22mdevice[24m    Specify  the drive on which your Master Boot Record lives.
                    Usually, this is discovered automatically.


       [1m-l [4m[22mGRUB|LILO|ELILO|RAW[0m
                    Specify the boot loader.  By  default,  your  Master  Boot
                    Record is examined and the boot loader can usually be dis-
                    covered. If you specify RAW then the MBR will be backed up
                    and  restored  byte-for-byte  without  any analysis. It is
                    likely that you will also need to specify the boot  device
                    with -f <dev>. ELILO is mandatory for IA64 machines.


       [1m-Q           [22mGive more detailed information about the boot loader.


       [1m-K [4m[22mloglevel[24m  Specify the loglevel.



[1mDIAGNOSTICS[0m
       Mondo   generates   two  additional,  and  Extremely  important  files:
       [1m/var/log/mindi.log [22mand [1m/var/log/mondo-archive.log.  [22mWhen seeking  tech-
       nical support, attach these two files to your email.




[1mFILES[0m
       [4m/var/log/mindi.log[24m  This log contains important information required to
       analyse mindi problem reports.

       [4m/var/log/mondo-archive.log[24m  This  log  contains  important  information
       required  to analyse mondoarchive problem reports. Mondo support highly
       recommends sending these files with support questions.


[1mNOTES[0m
       A link to Mondo's HTML-based manual (by Bruno Cornec, Mikael  Hultgren,
       Cafeole,  Randy  Delphs,  Stan Benoit, and Hugo Rabson) may be found at
       [4mhttp://www.mondorescue.org/docs.shtml[24m - or in [4m/usr/share/doc/mondo-x.xx[0m
       on your hard drive.


[1mBUGS[0m
       It  is  recommend that your system has more than 64 MB ram. SCSI device
       order change with nuke can have unexpected results. It  is  recommended
       you use expert mode with drastic hardware reconfigurations.


[1mEXAMPLES[0m
       [1mISO:  [22mBackup  to  a  directory;  note  that /mnt/foo's contents will be
       backed up except for its ISO's unless you exclude it, as follows:-
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Oi[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/mnt/foo[24m [4m-E[0m

       Backup  to  ISO's  non-interactively,  e.g.  as  a   job   running   in
       /etc/cron.daily:
       [4mmkdir[24m [4m-p[24m [4m/bkp/[0m



Mondo Rescue 2.2.0-rRRR           2006-10-08                   mondoarchive(8)
