Re: Why or why not back up "/lost+found"
On Thu, Aug 10, 2023 at 09:15:31PM -0400, Default User wrote:
> Fortunately, since my lost+found directories are all empty, I have no
> "raw material" to practice extraction on.
There's no "extraction". If a file is there, it will be a file. It
will have a meaningful owner, group and permissions. It will have a
meaningless name. You will have to guess what it is based on the
owner, group, permissions, timestamps, and contents.
> Now at this point, it seems that I could:
>
> 1) Continue to back up /home/lost+found and /var/lost+found, but NOT
> back up /lost+found.
>
> 2) Start backing up /home/lost+found AND /var/lost+found AND
> /lost+found.
>
> 3) Start NOT backing up /home/lost+found OR /var/lost+found OR
> /lost+found.
>
> What is everyone else doing about backing up, or not backing up, the
> various lost+found directories on their systems?
You are asking the wrong question.
If you find a file in lost+found, SOMETHING BAD HAS HAPPENED. You
will want to figure out how bad the damage is, and decide what to do
about it.
If the damage is extremely small, then you might be able to figure
out where the files go, and move them.
If the damage is large, you may need to replace the disk and restore
your last working backup. Which will not have anything in lost+found.
Backing up lost+found is pretty meaningless, because if you're backing
up a lost+found with files in it, it means you're backing up a damaged
file system.
What you should be asking instead is whether your backup should ALERT
you if it finds stuff in lost+found. Having it quietly back up the
files is not as helpful as you might be imagining.
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