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5 .TH BACKUPNINJA 1 "October 10, 2005" "riseup" "backupninja package"
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19 BACKUPNINJA \- A lightweight, extensible meta-backup system
22 "a silent flower blossom death strike to lost data."
24 .B "backupninja [ \-h ] [ \-d ] [ \-n ] [ \-t ] [ \-f filename ] [ \-\-run filename ]"
28 allows you to coordinate system backups by dropping a few
29 simple configuration files into /etc/backup.d/. Most programs you
30 might use for making backups don't have their own configuration file
31 format. Backupninja provides a centralized way to configure and
32 coordinate many different backup utilities.
37 easy to read ini style configuration files.
39 you can drop in scripts to handle new types of backups.
41 backup actions can be scheduled.
43 you can choose when status report emails are mailed to you (always, on warning, on error, never).
45 console-based wizard (ninjahelper) makes it easy to create backup action configuration files.
47 passwords are never sent via the command line to helper programs.
49 in order to backup a db or sql database, you cannot simply copy database files. backupninja helps you safely export the data to a format which you can backup.
51 works with Linux-Vservers.
53 .B Backup types include:
55 secure, remote, incremental filesytem backup (via rdiff-backup). incremental data is compressed. permissions are retained even with an unpriviledged backup user.
57 basic system and hardware information.
59 encrypted remote backups (via duplicity).
61 safe backup of MySQL, PostgreSQL, OpenLDAP, and subversion databases.
63 burn CD/DVDs or create ISOs.
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72 Show summary of options
75 Run in debug mode, where all log messages are output to the current shell.
77 .B \-f, \-\-conffile CONF_FILE
78 Use CONF_FILE for the main configuration instead of /etc/backupninja.conf
81 Run in test mode, no actions are actually taken.
84 Perform actions now, instead of when they might be scheduled.
86 .B \-\-run ACTION_FILE
87 Runs the action configuration ACTION_FILE and exits.
91 General settings are configured in /etc/backupninja.conf. In this file you
92 can set the log level and change the default directory locations. See \fBbackupnina.conf(5)\fP.
94 To preform the actual backup actions, backupninja processes each action configuration file in
95 /etc/backup.d according to the file's suffix. See \fBbackup.d(5)\fP.
99 Backupninja can be used to impliment whatever backup strategy you choose. It is intended, however, to be used like so:
101 First, databases are safely copied or exported to /var/backups. Often, you cannot make a file backup of a database while it is in use, hence the need to use special tools to make a safe copy or export into /var/backups.
103 Then, vital parts of the file system, including /var/backups, are nightly pushed to a remote, off-site, hard disk (using rdiff-backup). The local user is root, but the remote user is not privileged. Hopefully, the remote filesystem is encrypted.
105 In order for this to work (ie for diff-backup to run unattended), you must create ssh keys on the source server and copy the public key to the remote user's authorized keys file. For example:
107 root@srchost# ssh-keygen -t dsa
109 root@srchost# ssh-copy-id -i /root/.ssh/id_dsa.pub backup@desthost
111 Now, you should be able to ssh from user 'root' on srchost to user 'backup' on desthost without specifying a password. When prompted for a password by ssh-keygen, just leave it blank by hitting return. The "wizard" \fBninjahelper(1)\fP will walk you through these steps.
115 \fB/usr/sbin/backupninja\fP main script
117 \fB/etc/backupninja.conf\fP main configuration file; general options
119 \fB/etc/cron.d/backupninja\fP runs main script hourly
121 \fB/etc/logrotate.d/backupninja\fP rotates backupninja.log
123 \fB/etc/backup.d\fP directory for configuration files
125 \fB/usr/share/backupninja\fP directory for handler scripts
127 \fB/usr/share/doc/backupninja/examples\fP example action configuration files.
133 .BR backupninja.conf (5),
137 BACKUPNINJA was written by the riseup.net collective.