The 15-Minute Backup Solution

Secure Network Backups in a Heterogeneous Environment in the Time it Takes to Have Pizza Delivered (All Using Open Source Software!)

This setup below was performed using Amanda 2.5.1p2. To learn how to set up:

- the latest version of Amanda 3.x with new configuration tools

- the new Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) based Zmanda Windows Client Community Edition

Please register on Zmanda Network and read Setting-Up an Open Source Backup Software Amanda Community in About 15 Minutes white paper available in the Resources section.

Today’s businesses rarely run on just one operating system. Linux users and administrators often have strong preferences for one distribution over another; web designers might lean towards the Mac; legacy software and hardware can include various UNIX operating systems. Despite the complexity of modern business computing environments, a system administrator is expected to find a reliable backup solution.

Even in the case where users are expected to keep important files on networked resources, for true intellectual data security, desktop machines and laptops will also be backed up. The price of hard disk storage is continuously falling, bringing terabytes of storage within reach, and increasing the amount of data that can potentially be lost. (The amount of data that you have will always expand to fit the storage available; as the golden rule states.) We live in a global and e-commerce economy, where businesses run around the clock and crucial business data changes commensurately.

The Challenge

For our 15-minute challenge, you will backup two Linux systems (each running a different Linux distribution) and one Windows system, using freely downloadable open source software.

Our scenario is as follows:
The user "pavel" works with sensitive information. We need to make an encrypted backup of his home directory, /home/pavel, which resides on a Fedora Core Linux system called Iron. Our webmaster needs the webserver's document home backed up, the /var/www/html directory on a SUSE Enterprise Linux system called Copper. Our manager works solely on a Windows XP system called Uranium, and keeps all of his work in the MyDocuments folder, so we will need to add //Uranium/MyDocuments to our backup configuration.

The Solution: Amanda

Amanda is open source backup software that is flexible, secure and scalable to dynamic computing environments. Amanda can save you from expensive proprietary backup software and those custom backup scripts that have a propensity to break at the worst times. Dating back to 1991, Amanda has been used successfuly in environments from one standalone machine to hundreds of clients. Amanda is so thoroughly documented, from community wikis to published system administration texts, that it might be hard to discern just how easy an Amanda backup can be.

This article will show you how, in about 15 minutes, you can:

1. Install and configure the Amanda backup server.

2. Prepare three different clients for backup.

3. Set backup parameters.

4. Verify the configuration.

5. Verify the backup.

We will install and configure Amanda backup server software on Quartz, which is running Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We will install and configure Amanda backup client software on Copper and on Iron. The Windows XP client, Uranium, will be backed up with Amanda server software running in conjunction with Samba on the backup server, Quartz.

Client	Filesystem	OS	Compression	Encryption
Copper	/var/www/html	SLES9	Yes	No
Iron	/home/pavel	FC4	Yes	Yes
Uranium	//uranium/MyDocuments*	WINXP	Yes	No
* using Samba (i.e. without installing any software on the Windows system)

Amanda gives you the capability to use disk storage as backup media. Configuring, initiating and verifying a backup will complete the backup cycle, all in less than the time it takes for a pizza to be delivered!

Prerequisites

The basic Amanda setup consists of an Amanda server, the Amanda client or clients that are to be backed up, and the backup storage media such as a tape or hard disk device. An intermediate holding area for caching data is not absolutely necessary, but will improve performance significantly and is considered part of a basic setup.

Before we begin, please review the introduction to Amanda. Then, note the following prerequisites:

tar 1.15 or later and xinetd are installed on Quartz, Iron and Copper.
Quartz is able to send mail to the root user.
The systems are all on the same network and available.
You have root access, and root access through SSH is enabled and working.
The directories to be backed up exist.
The Amanda 2.5.1p2 backup_server RPM should be available on Quartz, and the backup_client RPM should be available on Iron and Copper. Amanda binary and source RPM packages and source tarballs are freely available from Zmanda.
Quartz, the backup server, is running Samba client software. Samba is also freely available open source software.

To support the encrypted backup of /home/pavel on Iron, the following packages should be installed and available on Iron:

sharutils (for the tool uuencode)
gpg

Also note that this article assumes a fresh install of Amanda. If you have an existing Amanda installation, additional steps are needed to ensure the proper upgrade to the latest Amanda release, (2.5.1p2 and later).

TIP: You can copy and paste all of the examples here, making appropriate modifications for your environment.

Order Pizza

Call your favorite pizza delivery place, set your stopwatch and...

Install and Configure the Amanda Backup Server

1. Log in as root on Quartz, the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 server.

2. Install the Amanda 2.5.1p2 amanda-backup_server RPM. Installing the package also creates a user named amandabackup who belongs to the group disk.

[root@quartz server]# rpm -ivh amanda-backup_server-2.5.1p2-1.rhel4.i386.rpm

warning: amanda-backup_server-2.5.1p2-1.rhel4.i386.rpm: V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 3c5d1c92
Preparing...                ########################################### [100%]
Jan 5 2007 12:12:55: Preparing to install: Amanda Community Edition - version 2.5.1p2
Jan 5 2007 12:12:55: Checking for 'amandabackup' user...
Jan 5 2007 12:12:55:
Jan 5 2007 12:12:55: The Amanda backup software is configured to operate as the
Jan 5 2007 12:12:55: user 'amandabackup'. This user exists on your system and has not
Jan 5 2007 12:12:55: been modified. To ensure that Amanda functions properly,
Jan 5 2007 12:12:56: please see that the following parameters are set for that
Jan 5 2007 12:12:56: user.:
Jan 5 2007 12:12:56:
Jan 5 2007 12:12:56: SHELL:          /bin/sh
Jan 5 2007 12:12:56: HOME:           /var/lib/amanda
Jan 5 2007 12:12:56: Default group: disk
Jan 5 2007 12:12:56:
Jan 5 2007 12:12:56: Checking ownership of '/var/lib/amanda'... correct.
Jan 5 2007 12:12:57:
Jan 5 2007 12:12:57: === Amanda backup server installation started. ===

1:amanda-backup_server ########################################### [100%]

Jan 5 2007 12:13:05: Updating system library cache...done.
Jan 5 2007 12:13:21: Installing '/etc/amandates'.
Jan 5 2007 12:13:21: The file '/etc/amandates' has been created.
Jan 5 2007 12:13:21: Ensuring correct permissions for '/etc/amandates'.
Jan 5 2007 12:13:21: '/etc/amandates' Installation successful.
Jan 5 2007 12:13:22: Checking '/var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts' file.
Jan 5 2007 12:13:22: Checking for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile' and ensuring correct environment.
Jan 5 2007 12:13:23: Setting ownership and permissions for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile'
Jan 5 2007 12:13:23: === Amanda backup server installation complete. ===
Amanda installation log can be found in '/var/log/amanda/install.log' and errors (if any) in '/var/log/amanda/install.err'.

3. The Amanda services are started by the extended internet daemon, xinetd, which is why you must have xinetd installed on every Amanda server and client. In any text editor, create one xinetd startup file, /etc/xinetd.d/amandaserver , with content as follows.

For the /etc/xinetd.d/amandaserver file, on Quartz:

# default: on
#
# description: Amanda services for Amanda server and client.
#
service amanda
{
        disable         = no
        socket_type     = stream
        protocol        = tcp
        wait            = no
        user            = amandabackup
        group           = disk
        groups         = yes
        server          = /usr/lib/amanda/amandad
        server_args     = -auth=bsdtcp amdump amindexd amidxtaped
}

4. Restart xinetd on Quartz.

[root@quartz xinetd.d]# service xinetd reload
Reloading configuration: [ OK ]

5. Note the time. Only about five minutes should have passed!

Install and Configure Three Different Amanda Clients

Installation of Amanda Client RPM on Iron (FC4)

1. Log in as root on Iron, your Fedora Core 4 client.

2. Install the Amanda 2.5.1p2 backup_client RPM. Installing the package also creates a user named amandabackup who belongs to the group disk.

[root@iron client]# rpm -ivh amanda-backup_client-2.5.1p2-1.fc4.i386.rpm
warning: amanda-backup_client-2.5.1p2-1.fc4.i386.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 3c5d1c92
Preparing...                ########################################### [100%]
Jan 5 2007 10:17:16: Preparing to install: Amanda Community Edition - version 2.5.1p2
Jan 5 2007 10:17:16: Checking for 'amandabackup' user...
Jan 5 2007 10:17:16:
Jan 5 2007 10:17:16: The Amanda backup software is configured to operate as the
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17: user 'amandabackup'. This user exists on your system and has not
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17: been modified. To ensure that Amanda functions properly,
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17: please see that the following parameters are set for that
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17: user.:
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17:
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17: SHELL:          /bin/sh
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17: HOME:           /var/lib/amanda
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17: Default group: disk
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17:
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17: Checking ownership of '/var/lib/amanda'... correct.
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17:
Jan 5 2007 10:17:17: === Amanda backup client installation started. ===

   1:amanda-backup_client   ########################################### [100%]

Jan 5 2007 10:17:21: Updating system library cache...done.
Jan 5 2007 10:17:30: Checking '/var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts' file.
Jan 5 2007 10:17:31: Checking for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile' and ensuring correct environment.
Jan 5 2007 10:17:31: Setting ownership and permissions for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile'
Jan 5 2007 10:17:31: Checking for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile' and ensuring correct environment.
Jan 5 2007 10:17:31: Setting ownership and permissions for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile'
Jan 5 2007 10:17:31: === Amanda backup client installation complete. ===
Amanda installation log can be found in '/var/log/amanda/install.log' and errors (if any) in '/var/log/amanda/install.err'.

3. In any text editor, create an xinetd startup file, /etc/xinetd.d/amandaclient, with content as follows.

# default: on
#
# description: Amanda services for Amanda client.
#
service amanda
{
        disable         = no
        socket_type     = stream
        protocol        = tcp
        wait            = no
        user            = amandabackup
        group           = disk
        groups          = yes
        server          = /usr/lib/amanda/amandad
        server_args     = -auth=bsdtcp amdump
}

4. Restart xinetd on Iron.

[root@ironxinetd.d]# service xinetd reload
Reloading configuration: [ OK ]

5. Become the amandabackup user and append the line "quartz.zmanda.com amandabackup amdump" to the /var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts file on Iron. This allows Quartz, the Amanda backup server, to connect to Iron, the Amanda client.

Note that you should use fully qualified domain names when configuring Amanda.

-bash-3.00$ echo quartz.zmanda.com amandabackup amdump >> /var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts
-bash-3.00$ chmod 700 /var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts

6. Save the passphrase as a hidden file in the home directory of the amandabackup user. Protect the file with the proper permissions.

As the user amandabackup:

-sh-3.00$ chown amandabackup:disk ~amandabackup/.am_passphrase
-sh-3.00$ chmod 700 ~amandabackup/.am_passphrase

7. Create a script that enables encryption on the client Iron.

As root create a file /usr/sbin/amcryptsimple:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use Time::Local;
my $AMANDA='amandabackup';
$AMANDA_HOME = (getpwnam($AMANDA) )[7] || die "Cannot find $AMANDA home directory\n" ;
$AM_PASS = "$AMANDA_HOME/.am_passphrase";
$ENV{'PATH'} = '/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin';
$ENV{'GNUPGHOME'} = "$AMANDA_HOME/.gnupg";
sub encrypt() {
   system "gpg --batch --disable-mdc --symmetric --cipher-algo AES256 --passphrase-fd 3 3<$AM_PASS";}
sub decrypt() {
    system "gpg --batch --quiet --no-mdc-warning --decrypt --passphrase-fd 3 3<$AM_PASS";
}
if ( $#ARGV > 0 ) {
    die "Usage: $0 [-d]\n";
}
if ( $#ARGV==0 && $ARGV[0] eq "-d" ) {
   decrypt();
}
else {
   encrypt();
}

7. Change the owership and the permissions on the file /usr/sbin/amcryptsimple you just created:

[root@iron sbin]# chown amandabackup:disk /usr/sbin/amcryptsimple
[root@iron sbin]# chmod 750 /usr/sbin/amcryptsimple

9. This completes configuration of the Amanda client on Iron.

Installation of Amanda Client RPM on Copper (SLES9)

1. Log in as the root user on Copper, your SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 client.

2. Install the Amanda 2.5.1p2 backup_client RPM. Installing the package also creates a user named amandabackup who belongs to the group disk.

copper:/ # rpm -ivh amanda-backup_client-2.5.1p2-1.sles9.i586.rpm
warning: amanda-backup_client-2.5.1p2-1.sles9.i586.rpm: V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 3c5d1c92

Preparing... ########################################### [100%]

Jan 5 2007 07:20:21: Preparing to install: Amanda Community Edition - version 2.5.1p2
Jan 5 2007 07:20:21: Checking for 'amandabackup' user...
Jan 5 2007 07:20:21:
Jan 5 2007 07:20:21: The Amanda backup software is configured to operate as the
Jan 5 2007 07:20:21: user 'amandabackup'. This user exists on your system and has not
Jan 5 2007 07:20:21: been modified. To ensure that Amanda functions properly,
Jan 5 2007 07:20:21: please see that the following parameters are set for that
Jan 5 2007 07:20:22: user.:
Jan 5 2007 07:20:22:
Jan 5 2007 07:20:22: SHELL:          /bin/sh
Jan 5 2007 07:20:22: HOME:           /var/lib/amanda
Jan 5 2007 07:20:22: Default group: disk
Jan 5 2007 07:20:22:
Jan 5 2007 07:20:22: Checking ownership of '/var/lib/amanda'... correct.
Jan 5 2007 07:20:22:
Jan 5 2007 07:20:22: === Amanda backup client installation started. ===

   1:amanda-backup_client   ########################################### [100%]

Jan 5 2007 07:20:26: Updating system library cache...done.
Jan 5 2007 07:20:26: Checking '/var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts' file.
Jan 5 2007 07:20:27: Checking for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile' and ensuring correct environment.
Jan 5 2007 07:20:27: Setting ownership and permissions for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile'
Jan 5 2007 07:20:27: Checking for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile' and ensuring correct environment.
Jan 5 2007 07:20:27: Setting ownership and permissions for '/var/lib/amanda/.profile'
Jan 5 2007 07:20:27: === Amanda backup client installation complete. ===
Amanda installation log can be found in '/var/log/amanda/install.log' and errors (if any) in '/var/log/amanda/install.err'.

3. In any text editor, create an xinetd startup file, /etc/xinetd.d/amandaclient, with content as follows.

5. Restart xinetd on Copper.

copper:/ # /etc/rc.d/xinetd restart
Reload INET services (xinetd). done

6. Become the amandabackup user and append the line "quartz.zmanda.com amandabackup amdump" to the /var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts file on Copper. This allows Quartz, the Amanda backup server, to connect to Copper, the Amanda client.
Note that you should use fully qualified domain names when configuring Amanda.

-bash-3.00$ echo quartz.zmanda.com amandabackup amdump >> /var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts
-bash-3.00$ chmod 700 /var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts

7. This completes configuration of the Amanda client on Copper. If you check your watch, you should find that only about ten minutes have passed!

Configurations Required to Backup Windows Client Uranium

· Configuration done on backup server Quartz:

1. The file /etc/amandapass must be created manually, owned by the amandabackup user and have permissions of 700. The amandapass file contains share name to user name, password and workgroup mapping.

As the root user:

[root@quartz /]# echo //uranium/MyDocuments zmanda%amanda Workgroup >> /etc/amandapass

2. Change the ownership and permissions on this file:

[root@quartz etc]# chown amandabackup:disk /etc/amandapass
[root@quartz etc]# chmod 700 /etc/amandapass

· Configuration done on Windows client Uranium:

The directory getting backed up must be shared from Windows and must be
accessible by the Windows user zmanda with the password amanda.

Set Backup Parameters

1. On Quartz, as the amandabackup user, create the Amanda configuration directory.

[root@quartz etc]# su - amandabackup
-bash-3.00$ mkdir /etc/amanda/DailySet1

2. Copy the /var/lib/amanda/example/amanda.conf file to the /etc/amanda/DailySet1 directory. The amanda.conf file is the most important file for configuring your Amanda setup.

-bash-3.00$ cp /var/lib/amanda/example/amanda.conf /etc/amanda/DailySet1

3. The sample amanda.conf distributed with Amanda is over 700 lines long and is extensively commented. For more information, search for amanda.conf on the Amanda wiki. We will focus on just a few lines and make minimal modifications.

Open /etc/amanda/DailySet1/amanda.conf with any text editor and edit it to suit your environment.

· The following lines control some details specific to your organization and to your tape configuration.

org "YourCompanyName"                          # your organization name for reports
mailto "root@localhost"                        # space separated list of operators at your site
tpchanger "chg-disk"                           # the tape-changer glue script
tapedev "file://space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots" # the no-rewind tape device to be used
tapetype HARDDISK                              # use hard disk intead of tapes (vtape config)

· We add the following lines to specify the size of the virtual tapes:

define tapetype HARDDISK {
length 100000 mbytes
}

· We add the following lines to support the encrypted backup of /home/pavel on Iron:

define dumptype encrypt-simple {
root-tar
comment "client simple symmetric encryption, dumped with tar"
encrypt client
compress fast
client_encrypt "/usr/sbin/amcryptsimple"
client_decrypt_option "-d"
}

. Go to the “define dumptype global” section in the amanda.conf file and add the “auth "bsdtcp"” line right before the last “}” bracket. This is done to enable “BSDTCP” authentication.

# index yes
# record no
# split_diskbuffer "/raid/amanda"
# fallback_splitsize 64m
auth "bsdtcp"

4. As the root user, create a cache directory to use as a holding disk.

[root@quartz ~]# mkdir -p /dumps/amanda
[root@quartz ~]# chown amandabackup:disk /dumps/amanda
[root@quartz ~]# chmod 750 /dumps/amanda

5. Create the virtual tapes. Dedicated directories are used as “virtual tapes” called vtapes. You work with vtapes in the same way that you work with physical tapes. Vtapes can even simulate tape changers, as you will see in our example.

For security reasons, limit access to the vtapes directory to the amandabackup user.

As the root user:

[root@quartz ~]# mkdir -p /space/vtapes
[root@quartz ~]# chown amandabackup:disk /space/vtapes
[root@quartz ~]# chmod 750 /space/vtapes

As the amandabackup user:

-bash-3.00$ touch /etc/amanda/DailySet1/tapelist
-bash-3.00$ mkdir -p /space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots
-bash-3.00$ cd /space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots
-bash-3.00$ for ((i=1; $i<=25; i++)); do mkdir slot$i;done
-bash-3.00$ ln -s slot1 data

6. Test the virtual tape setup.

-bash-3.00$ ammt -f file:/space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots status
file:/space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots
status: ONLINE

7. Just as with physical tapes, the virtual tapes now need to be labeled. (Please note that the output below has been truncated.)

bash-3.00$ for ((i=1; $i<=9;i++)); do amlabel DailySet1 DailySet1-0$i slot $i; done
changer: got exit: 0 str: 1 file://space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots
labeling tape in slot 1 (file://space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots):
rewinding, reading label, not an amanda tape (Read 0 bytes)
rewinding, writing label DailySet1-01, checking label, done.
...
changer: got exit: 0 str: 9 file://space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots
labeling tape in slot 9 (file://space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots):
rewinding, reading label, not an amanda tape (Read 0 bytes)
rewinding, writing label DailySet1-09, checking label, done.

-bash-3.00$ for ((i=10; $i<=25;i++)); do amlabel DailySet1 DailySet1-$i slot $i; done
changer: got exit: 0 str: 10 file://space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots
labeling tape in slot 10 (file://space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots):
rewinding, reading label, not an amanda tape (Read 0 bytes)
rewinding, writing label DailySet1-10, checking label, done.
...
changer: got exit: 0 str: 25 file://space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots
labeling tape in slot 25 (file://space/vtapes/DailySet1/slots):
rewinding, reading label, not an amanda tape (Read 0 bytes)
rewinding, writing label DailySet1-25, checking label, done.

8. Now we need to reset the virtual tape changer back to the first slot.

-bash-3.00$ amtape DailySet1 reset
changer: got exit: 0 str: 1
amtape: changer is reset, slot 1 is loaded.

9. Create an /etc/amanda/DailySet1/disklist file in the Amanda configuration directory. The disklist contains the fully qualified backup client names, the directory or directories to be backed up and the dumptype.

copper.zmanda.com /var/www/html comp-user-tar
iron.zmanda.com /home/pavel encrypt-simple
quartz.zmanda.com //uranium/MyDocuments comp-user-tar

10. As the user amandabackup, append the following lines to the /var/lib/amanda/.amandahosts file to allow the backup clients to connect back to the server when doing restores. Specify fully qualified domain names.

iron.zmanda.com root amindexd amidxtaped
copper.zmanda.com root amindexd amidxtaped
quartz.zmanda.com root amindexd amidxtaped
quartz.zmanda.com amandabackup admump

11. Create a cron job that will execute amdump and initiate your backups automatically. As the amandabackup user, run crontab -e,and add the following line to run backups Monday through Friday at 1am.

0 1 * * 1-5 /usr/sbin/amdump DailySet1

Verify Your Configuration

1. On Quartz, as amandabackup, run the amcheck tool to verify that you can successfully perform a backup.

-bash-3.00$ amcheck DailySet1
Amanda Tape Server Host Check
-----------------------------
Holding disk /dumps/amanda: 16714488 KB disk space available, using 16612088 KB
slot 1: read label `DailySet1-01', date `X'
NOTE: skipping tape-writable test
Tape DailySet1-01 label ok
NOTE: conf info dir /etc/amanda/DailySet1/curinfo does not exist
NOTE: it will be created on the next run.
NOTE: index dir /etc/amanda/DailySet1/index does not exist
NOTE: it will be created on the next run.
Server check took 4.259 seconds
Amanda Backup Client Hosts Check
--------------------------------
Client check: 3 hosts checked in 27.097 seconds, 0 problems found
(brought to you by Amanda 2.5.1p2)

Run a Backup

1. On Quartz, as amandabackup, run amdump to start the DailySet1 backup.

-bash-3.00$ amdump DailySet1

2. Amanda will email a detailed status report from the amandabackup user to you, the root user on Quartz.

From amandabackup@quartz.zmanda.com Fri Jan 5 13:04:20 2007
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 13:04:19 -0800
From: Amanda user
To: root@quartz.zmanda.com
Subject: YourCompanyName AMANDA MAIL REPORT FOR January 5, 2007

These dumps were to tape DailySet1-02.
The next tape Amanda expects to use is: a new tape.
The next new tape already labelled is: DailySet1-02.

STATISTICS:
Total Full Incr.
-------- -------- --------

Estimate Time (hrs:min)    0:00
Run Time (hrs:min)         0:00
Dump Time (hrs:min)        0:00       0:00       0:00
Output Size (meg)           3.5        3.5        0.0
Original Size (meg)        11.8       11.8        0.0
Avg Compressed Size (%)    29.7       29.7        --
Filesystems Dumped            3          3          0
Avg Dump Rate (k/s)       292.8      292.8        --
Tape Time (hrs:min)        0:00       0:00       0:00
Tape Size (meg)             3.7        3.7        0.0
Tape Used (%)               0.0        0.0        0.0
Filesystems Taped             3          3          0
Chunks Taped                  0          0          0
Avg Tp Write Rate (k/s) 8509.1     8509.1        --

USAGE BY TAPE:

Label Time Size % Nb Nc
DailySet1-02 0:00 3744K 0.0 3 0

NOTES:
planner: Forcing full dump of copper.zmanda.com:/var/www/html as directed.
planner: Forcing full dump of iron.zmanda.com:/home/pavel as directed.
planner: Forcing full dump of quartz.zmanda.com://uranium/MyDocuments as directed.
taper: tape DailySet1-02 kb 3744 fm 3 [OK]

DUMP SUMMARY:
                                       DUMPER STATS               TAPER STATS
HOSTNAME     DISK        L ORIG-KB OUT-KB COMP% MMM:SS   KB/s MMM:SS   KB/s
-------------------------- ------------------------------------- -------------
copper.zmand -r/www/html 0    7640    2336   30.6    0:03 910.6   0:00 8680.7
iron.zmanda. /home/pavel 0    3530    1024   29.0    0:07 149.1   0:00 12486.1
quartz.zmand -yDocuments 0     960     384   40.0    0:03 101.0   0:00 4295.3
(brought to you by Amanda version 2.5.1p2)

3. You can also run the tool amadmin with a find argument for a quick summary of what has been backed up.

-bash-3.00$ amadmin DailySet1 find
Scanning /dumps/amanda...

date                host              disk                  lv tape or file file part status
2007-01-05 13:04:03 copper.zmanda.com /var/www/html          0 DailySet1-02    2   -- OK
2007-01-05 13:04:03 iron.zmanda.com   /home/pavel            0 DailySet1-02    3   -- OK
2007-01-05 13:04:03 quartz.zmanda.com //uranium/MyDocuments 0 DailySet1-02    1   -- OK

Success!

In just about 15 minutes, we installed and configured a secure, heterogeneous network backup, verified our configurations and ran a backup. We did it with freely downloadable open source software that you can install from binaries or compile for your unique needs. The pizza, which should be getting delivered right about now, will be that much more enjoyable with the clear conscience and peace of mind that comes with knowing that your data is secure.

Recovery

Based on feedback received on our forums we are adding a section that shows the ability to do a restore.

1. On Copper, as root, create the "/etc/amanda" directory.

copper:~ # mkdir /etc/amanda

copper:~ # chown amandabackup:disk /etc/amanda

2. As amandabackup, create a file "/etc/amanda/amanda-client.conf" and insert the lines below in to the file.

# amanda.conf - sample Amanda client configuration file.
#
# This file normally goes in /etc/amanda/amanda-client.conf.
#
conf "DailySet1" # your config name

index_server "quartz.zmanda.com" # your amindexd server

tape_server "quartz.zmanda.com" # your amidxtaped server

#tapedev "/dev/null" # your tape device
# auth - authentication scheme to use between server and client.
# Valid values are "bsd", "bsdudp", "bsdtcp" and "ssh".
# Default: [auth "bsdtcp"]

auth "bsdtcp"

# your ssh keys file if you use ssh auth

ssh_keys "/var/lib/amanda/.ssh/id_rsa_amrecover"

3. As root run "amrecover" to initiate the data recovery process.

copper:/etc/amanda # amrecover
AMRECOVER Version 2.5.1p2. Contacting server on quartz.zmanda.com ...
220 quartz AMANDA index server (2.5.1p2) ready.
Setting restore date to today (2007-01-08)
200 Working date set to 2007-01-08.
200 Config set to DailySet1.
501 Host copper is not in your disklist.
Trying host copper.zmanda.com ...
200 Dump host set to copper.zmanda.com.
Use the setdisk command to choose dump disk to recover
amrecover>

4. The list of commands below will demonstrate a recovery of a set of different files and directories to the "/tmp" directory.

amrecover> listdisk
200- List of disk for host copper.zmanda.com
201- /var/www/html
200 List of disk for host copper.zmanda.com
amrecover> setdisk /var/www/html
200 Disk set to /var/www/html.
amrecover> ls
2007-01-05-13-04-03 tar-1.15/
2007-01-05-13-04-03 .
amrecover> cd tar-1.15
/var/www/html/tar-1.15
amrecover> ls
2007-01-05-13-04-03 scripts/
2007-01-05-13-04-03 doc/
2007-01-05-13-04-03 configure
2007-01-05-13-04-03 config/
2007-01-05-13-04-03 COPYING
2007-01-05-13-04-03 AUTHORS
2007-01-05-13-04-03 ABOUT-NLS
amrecover> add scripts/
Added dir /tar-1.15/scripts/ at date 2007-01-05-13-04-03
amrecover> add configure
Added file /tar-1.15/configure
amrecover> add doc/
Added dir /tar-1.15/doc/ at date 2007-01-05-13-04-03
amrecover> lcd /tmp
amrecover> extract
Extracting files using tape drive chg-disk on host quartz.zmanda.com.
The following tapes are needed: DailySet1-02
Restoring files into directory /tmp
Continue [?/Y/n]? y
Extracting files using tape drive chg-disk on host quartz.zmanda.com.
Load tape DailySet1-02 now
Continue [?/Y/n/s/t]? y
./tar-1.15/doc/
./tar-1.15/scripts/
./tar-1.15/configure
./tar-1.15/doc/Makefile.am
./tar-1.15/doc/Makefile.in
./tar-1.15/doc/convtexi.pl
./tar-1.15/doc/fdl.texi
./tar-1.15/doc/freemanuals.texi
./tar-1.15/doc/getdate.texi
./tar-1.15/doc/header.texi
./tar-1.15/doc/stamp-vti
./tar-1.15/doc/tar.info
./tar-1.15/doc/tar.info-1
./tar-1.15/doc/tar.info-2
./tar-1.15/doc/tar.texi
./tar-1.15/doc/version.texi
./tar-1.15/scripts/Makefile.am
./tar-1.15/scripts/Makefile.in
./tar-1.15/scripts/backup-specs
./tar-1.15/scripts/backup.in
./tar-1.15/scripts/backup.sh.in
./tar-1.15/scripts/dump-remind.in
./tar-1.15/scripts/restore.in
amrecover> quit
200 Good bye.

5. We can now verify that the files have been recovered successfully by running run the following command.

AMANDA The 15-Minute Backup Solution

The 15-Minute Backup Solution

Secure Network Backups in a Heterogeneous Environment in the Time it Takes to Have Pizza Delivered (All Using Open Source Software!)

The Challenge

The Solution: Amanda

Install and Configure Three Different Amanda Clients