>> 2. Some of the files I back up only allow root to read. I can run >> rsync as root on each system, but I don't allow root logins. This >> means in order to rsync the second "sync" system with the first "sync" >> system, I must run the rsync command from the first "sync" system. >> This means I have to run rsyncd on the second "sync" system in >> addition to the first "sync" system. I'd rather only run one instance >> of rsyncd. Can anyone think of another option? > > Allow root logins only with a key, set up a specific user on the backup > server to run the backup tasks and add that users key to the > authorized_users file on the machine to be backed up. > >> 3. The rsync process always completes with "rsync error: some >> files/attrs were not transferred". How can I get more information >> about which files this pertains to? > > Run rsync with the verbose option and direct stdout and stderr to files. > >> 5. If I end up with filesystem corruption on the SRC system, will that >> corruption transfer over to the DST system during an rsync, or will >> the transfer just fail? > > If data is corrupted, that will be backed up. If the filesystem > corruption causes read errors, rsync will bail out. > >> 6. Can I run rsyncd on a system facing the internet without fear? > > Yes, as long as the rsync ports are closed in your router. > > Instead of all this, I'd recommend BackupPC. It handles all of your > issues and more and is efficient at backing up multiple machines. You > could run one BackupPC server and then rsync its store to the backup > backup server. The latest version in portage is old, get the 3.x ebuild > from bgo.
BackupPC does look pretty good. Would anyone recommend I *don't* can this whole thing and set up BackupPC instead? - Grant
