Forcing full backups
Hello all,
My configuration is to use Grover's custom N-chain backup strategy. However, I have recently started using Clonezilla every month so that if I have to recover I can start with the clone image and then only restore a small subset of deltas.
I have been successful in the past forcing ATI to create a new full backup by moving the existing tib files into a different directory. For some reason, that is no longer working. Once the backup is complete I get an error attempting to validate the backup. It complains that the files I moved are missing.
Any thoughts as to what I am doing wrong?
Cheers!
bT
It looks like ATI is trying to validate against all the information in the database.xml file. When you delete files manually, then run validation, if this is true, it would be looking for the deleted files.You might want to have a script deleting the archives.xml file before you launch ATI... Not sure...
Hmmmm....that makes sense. Is there a way to tell the database to drop the validation data from the menu short of deleting the backup definition? I am happy to try scripting as I am a software engineer. Not sure where to start though. This is the first I have heard of scripting with ATI.
It would be slick to be able to save off a backup definition as a template. That would allow users to drop and reinstantiate backup definitions quickly.
bT
You could create a windows batch command file where your first line would erase the archives.xml file, and the second would run the ATI task (create a shortcut for your backup task from ATI to see the parameters needed). You would schedule this with Windows Scheduler.
This is something to try. I have never done it. It would be risky to delete the archives.xml files while ATI is running, hence the need to switch to some windows batch file.
so that if I have to recover I can start with the clone image and then only restore a small subset of deltas.
Not sure about it. If you restore disks/partitions from True Image backup, it doesn't matter what was on the disk originally - it overwrites the partition with the contents of the archive at the selected date. And it does it in one operation, not like you need to apply all incrementals manually one by one.
I am performing file based backup, not disks/partitions. I sync the clone with the first full backup so that I can point to a date and only recover the deltas. Unlike many users I've actually pulled disks and performed fire drills to be sure I can actually recover. However, I just started using this new approach and have not tested it yet. That is something I need to do soon!
bT
Bumping this thread to see if anyone has an answer. In a nutshell, I want to run clonezilla and then tell True Image to perform a full backup (rather than an incremental). If I have to recover, I want to be able to use clonezilla to restore the partition and the pull deltas from TI.
bT
I know of no way to force a full backup if a inc or diff is the next type due up within that chain.
Have you considered setting up a special purpose task which will only create full backups and only use that for your Clonezilla purposes.
Grover, maybe I am going about this all wrong. The goal is to sync all of the full backups with my creation of the Clonezilla image. Restoring from a clone image is much faster than from a full file backup in TI.
One method which works is to clone settings to a new backup and unschedule the old backup. But, it is fairly labor intensive and prone to error.
If you set up a non-scheduled task as illustrated in link GH11, the full backup can be created manually "on demand" (GH4) either before or after the Clonezilla backup. Each full will match the Cloneszilla of the same time period. It is not necessary to create a task before each backup. One ongoing task will suffice.
GH4. Illustrate Manual Backup Now option or Repeat backups.
GH0. 56872: New! Grover's How to Backup 2014 from within Windows.
GH1. How to change a backup task from scheduled to "Do Not Schedule".
GH2. How to enable a backup task schedule or change a schedule time..
GH3. How to create a non-scheduled backup task on the first try.
I think I am tracking with you. So, if I ran clonezilla and then the non-scheduled task on January 1 and needed to recover on January 5 I would restore the partition from the clonezilla image and then pick up all the incremental changes since January 1? Perhaps I really don't need the full backup. The goal was to be able to easily bring over small sets of incrementals since the clonezilla image was made. The last thing I want is to have a full backup a few days after the clonezilla image was made.
I think I need to ponder this a few days. It would be better to schedule the clonezilla runs based upon my chain schedule but clonezilla can take a day or two to run and validate.
My comments do not involve Clonezilla. I have no knowledge about its use or functions.
Any restore by TrueImage of a partition(s) will overlay the existing partition so any old contents of the old partiton will be lost and the contents of the TI backup will be put onto the partition in place of any existing contents. A restore of Clonezilla followed by a partition restore of TrueImage will wipe all Clonezilla contents off the partition.
Grover, I am not using TrueImage for partition backup and restore (per #5). I am using clonezilla for that due to a number of reasons. I use TI only for file based backup and recovery.