6 - Finally, using rsync I actually am doing two separate backups:
date; sudo rsync -avvzHAXPSish --delete --stats
--exclude={"/dev/*","/proc/*","/sys/*","/tmp/*","/run/*","/mnt/*","/media/*","/lost+found","/home/default/*"}
/ /media/default/USBHD005/Backup_of_Dell_Debian_dimwit/root_partition
[This backs up the filesystem EXCEPT for the home directory.]
And:
date; sudo rsync -avvzHAXPSish --delete --stats
--exclude={"/dev/*","/proc/*","/sys/*","/tmp/*","/run/*","/mnt/*","/media/*","/lost+found"}
/home/default /media/default/USBHD005/Backup_of_Dell_Debian_dimwit/home_partition
[This backs up the home directory.]
Note: my home directory is on a separate (extended) partition from my
root directory.
Another note: rsync did NOT like the -x option. I wanted to use that
to prevent getting into a recursive loop while backing up. Rsync just
refused, complaining with a sparse non-informative error code message.
But without it, it seems to work okay. Go figure.
According to the manual the -x option is:
-x, --one-file-system don't cross filesystem boundaries
I use that option all the time to keep from backing up my large
home directory when I only want the system directories under
root. It even keeps rsync from copying system directories like
/proc /dev and /sys.
Before I do a system update/upgrade I run rsnapshot (debian package) on the root system directories so I can get the system back in case of major failure in some of the updates (I run testing so I have to be careful). I do run this on a live system and on 3 or 4 occasions I have had to restore from the snapshot successfully getting my system back alive.
Do you have another system you could backup to? I can get around 50 mega bytes per second transfer over 1Gb Ethernet so you might try that.
My main backup is done by backuppc on a dedicated server . I
have 4 or 5 systems that get unattended daily backups with
versions going back about a year. All my systems use a 2 drive
raid1 array so I can survive a single disk crash without having
to resort to restoring a backup. Every few months I install an
extra drive in the backuppc server and have raid sync it to the 2
drives in the server. After syncing I pull the drive and put it
in my barn for offsite storage. Since it is a raid1 full copy you
can take that drive and mount it on another system and get the
files back if you need to (running the raid array in a degraded
mode).
I have been using rsync to backup live, from within Debian. Maybe not a good idea. I could instead try using rsync from a live usb, such as SystemRescueCD, etc. I'll try that later. After all, it does seem to make more sense to back up a dead filesystem from outside it than a live filesystem from inside it. Finally, after well over seven hours into rsyncing (with no end in sight) from the first external usb drive to the second one (both are HDD), I am beginning to wonder if that is a good idea. Those first full backups always take forever . . .