[ltp] backing up a laptop

[Tod Harter]

It seems to be completely reliable. The basic process is you install it (it=
=20
does need cdrecord, mkisofs, 'buffer', and a couple other minor=20
dependencies). I just set it up for a customer on MDK 9.1 the other day usi=
ng=20
the generic RPMs they supply on the mondo site.=20

Then you just run something like:

mondoarchive -O -d/var/lib/mondo

and that would build your ISO images in /var/lib/mondo. It will also use a=
=20
good bit of scratch space in your cwd. If you just want to burn discs=20
immediately you can use

mondoarchive -Oc 16 -d0,0,0=20

(assuming your CDR was 16x and 0,0,0 was the SCSI id, see the MAN page or g=
et=20
the mondo PDF to get an explanation of how to figure out what those numbers=
=20
are, its pretty easy and you probably know already if you burn CDs much).=20

You can verity a backup disk set with

mondoarchive -Vc -d/mnt/cdrom

(assuming your drive mounts at that mount point)

Restoring consists of booting off the 1st disk image and playing 20 questio=
ns.=20
Basically for a simple restore everything its pretty simple. If you need to=
=20
repartition or restore to a different set of drives you have to text edit a=
=20
couple of files, but even then its prety easy to figure out unless you're=20
completely tech challenged...=20

The author claims data loss is virtually unknown with this tool. I have not=
=20
had any problems. Obviously you CAN shoot yourself in the foot, as with any=
=20
similar tool. The actual archives are afio (cpio compatible ascii archives)=
,=20
so even worst-case the data can be recovered as long as your media is good.=
=20
Just be sure to verify disc sets after you make them!=20

On Wednesday 22 October 2003 10:45 am, Gonzalo Avaria wrote:
> Hi Tod
> I want to ask you a question, have you used Mondo?? is it reliable???
> That=B4s all, thank you
>
> On Wednesday 22 October 2003 17:26, Tod Harter wrote:
> > You might try playing around with 'mondo', which is a tool for building
> > backup iso-9660 images, and restoring them. It can build a bootable ima=
ge
> > that will let you get yourself back up to where you were, you can also
> > give boot options that let you manually repartition before restore, etc.
> > Its proven pretty handy in a lot of shops for bare metal recovery.
>
> --
> Gonzalo Avaria S.
> Linux User from the end of the World
> CHILE
>
> Registered User #329224 (counter.li.org)
> Box #213779

=2D-=20
Tod Harter
Giant Electronic Brain
http://www.giantelectronicbrain.com