Creating the Array Using mdadm

[root@backup ~]# mdadm -C -l 5 -n 4 /dev/md0 /dev/etherd/e1.[0-3]

Create /dev/md0 as a RAID5 array consisting of /dev/etherd/e1.0,  /dev/etherd/e1.1, /dev/etherd/e1.2, and /dev/etherd/e1.3.

Examining this command with options (per man mdadm):

-C or –create, Create a new array

-l 5 or –level 5,  Set raid level 5.

When used with –create, options are: linear, raid0, 0, stripe, raid1, 1, mirror, raid4, 4, raid5, 5, raid6, 6, raid10, 10, multipath, mp, faulty. Obviously some of these are synonymous.

When used with –build, only linear, stripe, raid0, 0, raid1, multipath, mp, and faulty are valid.

Not yet supported with –grow.

-n 4 or –raid devices 4,  Sets the number of active devices in the array.

This, plus the number of spare devices (see below) must equal the number of component-devices (including “missing” devices) that are listed on the command line for –create. Setting a value of 1 is probably a mistake and so requires that –force be specified first. A value of 1 will then be allowed for linear, multipath, raid0 and raid1. It is never allowed for raid4 or raid5.
This number can only be changed using –grow for RAID1 arrays, and only on kernels which provide necessary support.

New Drive Setup in Coraid Rack

Drives need initialization before use.  Use minicom to access the Coriad via serial:

[root@backup ~]# minicom

Welcome to minicom 2.00.0

OPTIONS: History Buffer, F-key Macros, Search History Buffer, I18n
Compiled on Feb 21 2005, 19:32:30.

Press CTRL-A Z for help on special keys

Issue the Coraid show command in the minicom terminal window:

SATA shelf 1> show -l
1.0 400.088GB up
1.1 400.088GB up
1.2 400.088GB up
1.3 400.088GB up

Issue the jbod Coraid command in the minicom terminal window:

SATA shelf 1> jbod 1.0-3
making 0
making 1
making 2
making 3

Issue the list Coraid command to verify the jbod creation:

SATA shelf 1> list -l
0 400.088GB online
0.0 400.088GB raidl
0.0.0 normal 400.088GB 1.0
1 400.088GB online
1.0 400.088GB raidl
1.0.0 normal 400.088GB 1.1
2 400.088GB online
2.0 400.088GB raidl
2.0.0 normal 400.088GB 1.2
3 400.088GB online
3.0 400.088GB raidl
3.0.0 normal 400.088GB 1.3

Exit the Coraid shelf and minicom (CTRL-A Z X)

[root@backup ~]# modprobe aoe
[root@backup ~]# aoe-stat
e1.0 400.088GB eth0 up
e1.1 400.088GB eth0 up
e1.2 400.088GB eth0 up
e1.3 400.088GB eth0 up

Create the array

[root@backup ~]# mdadm -C -l 5 -n 4 /dev/md0 /dev/etherd/e1.[0-3]
mdadm: array /dev/md0 started.

Create the volume

[root@backup ~]# pvcreate /dev/md0
Physical volume “/dev/md0″ successfully created

Create the pool

[root@backup ~]# vgcreate pool0 /dev/md0
Volume group “pool0″ successfully created

Verify the pool

[root@backup ~]# vgdisplay pool0
— Volume group —
VG Name pool0
System ID
Format lvm2
Metadata Areas 1
Metadata Sequence No 1
VG Access read/write
VG Status resizable
MAX LV 0
Cur LV 0
Open LV 0
Max PV 0
Cur PV 1
Act PV 1
VG Size 1.09 TB
PE Size 4.00 MB
Total PE 286165
Alloc PE / Size 0 / 0
Free PE / Size 286165 / 1.09 TB
VG UUID f1emjX-S33L-Y3Av-7Xlr-YSgM-Dc4u-h4t0Xw

Create the logical volume

[root@backup ~]# lvcreate -l 286165 -n vol1 pool0
Logical volume “vol1″ created

Format the volume

[root@backup ~]# mkfs -t ext3 /dev/pool0/vol1
mke2fs 1.35 (28-Feb-2004)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
146522112 inodes, 293032960 blocks
14651648 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=293601280
8943 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
16384 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872, 71663616, 78675968,
102400000, 214990848

Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (8192 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 24 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
[root@backup ~]#

Mount the volume

[root@backup ~]# mount /dev/pool0/vol1 /mnt/vol1

Rsync the backuppc config files

rsync -av -v /home/config/ /home/backuppc/

Note: If you get the following error: rsync: mkdir “/home/backuppc” failed: File exists (17), recreate the link from /home/backuppc to /mnt/vol1/backuppc.

Start BackupPC

[root@backup home]# /mnt/vol1/backuppc/backuppc start
Starting BackupPC: [ OK ]

Using a Disk from Another Decommissioned RAID Array

Before you can reuse a disk from another RAID array, the disk’s superblock must be zeroed per the following command:

# mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/hdc1 --force
Note:  The equivalent to the superblock on Microsoft Windows filesystem is the file allocation
 table (FAT), which records which disk blocks hold the topmost directory.

Reloading the Hosts File

# /mnt/vol1/backuppc/backuppc reload

Installation | init.d Script

Per the README located in the extraction directory /root/backuppc/BackupPC-2.1.2/init.d, I did the following:

RedHat Linux:
============

When configure.pl is run, the script linux-backuppc is created. It
should be copied to /etc/init.d/backuppc:

cp linux-backuppc /etc/init.d/backuppc

After copying it, you can test it by running these commands as root:

/etc/init.d/backuppc start
/etc/init.d/backuppc status
/etc/init.d/backuppc stop

You should then run the following commands as root:

chkconfig –add backuppc
chkconfig –level 345 backuppc on
chkconfig –list backuppc

This will auto-start backuppc at run levels 3, 4 and 5.

Client | cygwin-rsyncd

Install the cygwin-rsyncd on WinXX clients. I tried using SMB, but it didn’t work. rsyncd works better per the BackupPC FAQ.

Windows XP Firewall Issue
Make sure that the Windows XP firewall, if turned on, is allowing connections through on port 873 (rsync).

Edit rsync.conf on the workstation

[CAM]
#
# Exact DOS style path to the file or directory to be rsync accessible
#
path = e:/CAM

#
# A short description of the module. This is what is printed when
# using rsync to “browse” the server for what modules are available.
#
comment = CAM Data

Make sure that the [Module Name] matches this client’s config.pl $Conf{RsyncShareName}. Otherwise the backup will fail.

CGI Authentication | AuthUserFile

In the Apache http.conf file, the backuppc directory has included the AuthUserFile directive. This allows for user / password authentication to the BackupPC CGI application. In order to add a user for access, issue the following command as root in /var/www/cgi-bin:

htpasswd -c .backuppcpsswd username

You’ll be prompted for a password. This password is encrypted in the .backuppcpsswd file.

Installation | http.conf

Need to edit Apache http.conf located at /etc/httpd/conf

# The following was added for BackupPC, JCSUOMI 05/01/2006 @ 12:31PM

user backuppc
group backuppc
ServerName backup

<Directory /var/www/cgi-bin/>
SetHandler perl-script
PerlResponseHandler ModPerl::Registry
PerlOptions +ParseHeaders
Options +ExecCGI
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from 172.16.0 127.0.0
AllowOverride Indexes AuthConfig
AuthName “Backup Admin”
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /var/www/cgi-bin/.backuppcpsswd
Require valid-user
</Directory>

Note: I had problems with an Apache error stating that ExecCGI wasn’t enabled. I found that I needed to search for “nested” options in the http.conf file. I # out the Options and the problem was resolved.

ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ “/var/www/cgi-bin/”

#
# “/var/www/cgi-bin” should be changed to whatever your ScriptAliased
# CGI directory exists, if you have that configured.
#
<Directory “/var/www/cgi-bin”>
AllowOverride None
# Disabled the following line for backuppc. JCSUOMI 05/01/2006
# Options None
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

Restart apache using the following command:

apachectl restart

Installation | config.pl

[root@backup BackupPC-2.1.2]# perl configure.pl

Is this a new installation or upgrade for BackupPC? If this is
an upgrade please tell me the full path of the existing BackupPC
configuration file (eg: /xxxx/conf/config.pl). Otherwise, just
hit return.

–> Full path to existing conf/config.pl []?

I found the following locations for these programs:

bzip2 => /usr/bin/bzip2
cat => /bin/cat
df => /bin/df
gtar/tar => /bin/gtar
gzip => /bin/gzip
hostname => /bin/hostname
nmblookup => /usr/bin/nmblookup
par2 =>
perl => /usr/bin/perl
ping => /bin/ping
rsync => /usr/bin/rsync
sendmail => /usr/sbin/sendmail
smbclient => /usr/bin/smbclient
split => /usr/bin/split
ssh/ssh2 => /usr/bin/ssh

–> Are these paths correct? [y]?

Please tell me the hostname of the machine that BackupPC will run on.

–> BackupPC will run on host [backup.cvx.com]?

BackupPC should run as a dedicated user with limited privileges. You
need to create a user. This user will need read/write permission on
the main data directory and read/execute permission on the install
directory (these directories will be setup shortly).

The primary group for this user should also be chosen carefully.
By default the install directories will have group write permission.
The data directories and files will have group read permission but
no other permission.

–> BackupPC should run as user [backuppc]?

Please specify an install directory for BackupPC. This is where the
BackupPC scripts, library and documentation will be installed.

–> Install directory (full path) []? /usr/backuppc

Please specify a data directory for BackupPC. This is where the
configuration files, LOG files and all the PC backups are stored.
This file system needs to be big enough to accommodate all the
PCs you expect to backup (eg: at least 1-2GB per machine).

–> Data directory (full path) []? /home/backuppc

BackupPC can compress pool files, providing around a 40% reduction in pool
size (your mileage may vary). Specify the compression level (0 turns
off compression, and 1 to 9 represent good/fastest to best/slowest).
The recommended values are 0 (off) or 3 (reasonable compression and speed).
Increasing the compression level to 5 will use around 20% more cpu time
and give perhaps 2-3% more compression.

–> Compression level [3]?

BackupPC has a powerful CGI perl interface that runs under Apache.
A single executable needs to be installed in a cgi-bin directory.
This executable needs to run as set-uid backuppc, or
it can be run under mod_perl with Apache running as user backuppc.

Leave this path empty if you don’t want to install the CGI interface.

–> CGI bin directory (full path) []? /var/www/cgi-bin

BackupPC’s CGI script needs to display various GIF images that
should be stored where Apache can serve them. They should be
placed somewher under Apache’s DocumentRoot. BackupPC also
needs to know the URL to access these images. Example:

Apache image directory: /usr/local/apache/htdocs/BackupPC
URL for image directory: /BackupPC

The URL for the image directory should start with a slash.

–> Apache image directory (full path) []? /var/www/icons
–> URL for image directory (omit http://host; starts with ‘/’ []? /icons

Ok, we’re about to:

- install the binaries, lib and docs in /usr/backuppc,
- create the data directory /home/backuppc,
- create/update the config.pl file /home/backuppc/conf,
- optionally install the cgi-bin interface.

–> Do you want to continue? [y]?
Created /usr/backuppc/bin
Created /usr/backuppc/doc
Created /usr/backuppc/lib/BackupPC/CGI
Created /usr/backuppc/lib/BackupPC/Lang
Created /usr/backuppc/lib/BackupPC/Xfer
Created /usr/backuppc/lib/BackupPC/Zip
Created /var/www/html/backuppc
Created /home/backuppc/.
Created /home/backuppc/conf
Created /home/backuppc/pool
Created /home/backuppc/cpool
Created /home/backuppc/pc
Created /home/backuppc/trash
Created /home/backuppc/log
Installing binaries in /usr/backuppc/bin
Installing library in /usr/backuppc/lib
Installing images in /var/www/icons
Making init.d scripts
Installing docs in /usr/backuppc/doc
Installing config.pl and hosts in /home/backuppc/conf
PING backup.cvx.com (127.0.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from backup.cvx.com (127.0.0.1): icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.048 ms

— backup.cvx.com ping statistics —
1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, time 0ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.048/0.048/0.048/0.000 ms, pipe 2
Installing cgi script BackupPC_Admin in /var/www/cgi-bin

Ok, it looks like we are finished. There are several more things you
will need to do:

- Browse through the config file, /home/backuppc/conf/config.pl,
and make sure all the settings are correct. In particular, you
will need to set the smb share password and user name, backup
policies and check the email message headers and bodies.

- Edit the list of hosts to backup in /home/backuppc/conf/hosts.

- Read the documentation in /usr/backuppc/doc/BackupPC.html.
Please pay special attention to the security section.

- Verify that the CGI script BackupPC_Admin runs correctly. You might
need to change the permissions or group ownership of BackupPC_Admin.

- BackupPC should be ready to start. Don’t forget to run it
as user backuppc! The installation also contains an
init.d/backuppc script that can be copied to /etc/init.d
so that BackupPC can auto-start on boot. This will also enable
administrative users to start the server from the CGI interface.
See init.d/README.

Enjoy!
[root@backup BackupPC-2.1.2]#

Client and Server Setup | New Win Workstation

Client Setup

Install the cygwin-rsyncd on the workstation.

Copy the config and secrets file from a working workstation.

Server Setup

Make a new directory to hold the backup files

mkdir /home/backuppc/pc/comp37

Copy the config.pl from a similar workstation

cp /home/backuppc/pc/comp50/config.pl /home/backuppc/pc/comp37/config.pl

Verify that the config.pl is correct for the new install. Pay attention to the module names in config.pl and the workstation config.

pico -w /home/backuppc/pc/comp37/config.pl

Change ownership of all files in the new directory

chown backuppc:backuppc /home/backuppc/pc/comp37 -R

Edit the hosts file to include the new workstation

pico -w /home/backuppc/conf/hosts

Reload the hosts file

# /mnt/vol1/backuppc/backuppc reload

Edit the backup include file for HD swapout and swapin

pico -w /home/config/backup.inc

Include the new workstation name + comp37