Re: RC levels

[Robert Brockway <rbrockway@opentrend.net>]

On Thu, 7 Apr 2005, Tom Allison wrote:

> I'm trying to set up backups for my computers and I think I've worked myself
> into a small corner between a rock and a hard place.
> 
> In order to do "good" backups, I should to 'telinit 1' to kill off all the
> processes I can.

xfs developers on the xfs list have advised that xfsdump may be used on 
read-write mounted filesystems safely so no need to go to runlevel 1 
really.

You could use LVM to do snapshots.

> I am trying to backup headless machines, so having a local terminal isn't
> really an option...

You could setup serial consoles and have full access to the box remotely.  
It does require another box near the one with the serial console that you 
totally trust.

> I don't know if I can modify rc2 and still keep my installations reasonable.
> When debian installs packages (services like postfix) it will put rc links
> into rc2 through rc5.  Is there some way to block these?

Just remove the S??service link if you do not service starting in that 
runlevel.  Don't ever delete the entries in /etc/init.d.

> This also seques into a problem of fsck on a headless machine when root
> maintenance is required.....

A serial console helps here too.

Rob

-- 
Robert Brockway B.Sc.
Senior Technical Consultant, OpenTrend Solutions Ltd.
Phone: +1-416-669-3073 Email: rbrockway@opentrend.net http://www.opentrend.net
OpenTrend Solutions: Reliable, secure solutions to real world problems.
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