Backup /var

[Raisltin Majere]

Hello

I need to reimage my tivo hard drive but don't want to have to set up my hack directory again.

I have backed up my /var directory with the following command

tar -cvh var | gzip > var.tar.gz

and have FTP'd it to a fat partition on my PC. Is there anyway of checking that it has worked okay? I read something about permissions possibly being lost can this be checked?

Following the restore, is the correct command to replace the directory:

gzip -d var.tar.gz
cpio -H tar -i < var.tar

?

Can I backup rc.sysinit.author? I assume if I FTP it to my PC and don't touch it it will be okay?

Thanks

[Glesgie]

1. If you have winzip on your PC you should be able to see inside var.tar.gz

2. The commands to restore are OK, but you needthe current directory to
be correct (ethier / or /var from memory).

3. Yes you can backup rc.sysinit.author with ftp, but be careful that it ends up on the TiVo
in UNIX format. Best to copy it to /var and include it in var.tar.gz,

4. Do not forget that / is mounted read only, so to restore rc.sysinit.author you need to mount it RW first and set it back to RO afterwards.

[Raisltin Majere]

excellent, thanks Glesgie.

So, just to be sure...

I do the restore and run copykern (I think I'm okay with that)

Then I can mount my tivo drive and do

cp /dev/hdc3/var.tar.gz /mnt/tivo

gzip -d var.tar.gz
cpio -H tar -i < var.tar

and then

cd /

cp /mnt/tivo/var/rc.sysinit.author /etc/rc.d

and everything will be the same as it is now? All hacks, all calls to the hacks etc?

[Tivogre]

This may sound like a commercial, but I am not affiliated with the program below.... just a happy user.

I use a program called SyncBack SE to automate back-ups for ALL of my networked Tivos.

Once you set up the profiles, and set the schedules, it's hands off.

The program will log into the FTP port on the Tivo(s), copy the files you specify, then log out.

All binary transfers.

The same program does automated back-ups of my important data from all of my PCs to my RAID array on the server.

If you ever lose your /var directory (or anything else you backed up), the restore is just a couple of mouse slicks away.

Pretty nifty.

Program is available here:

http://store5.esellerate.net/store/catalog.aspx?s=STR2236179640&pc=

It's $25.00.... but that allows installation on 5 PCs. A great deal.

[BobBlueUK]

Can I backup rc.sysinit.author? I assume if I FTP it to my PC and don't touch it it will be okay?Best way to back up anything outside your /var/hack directory is to create a symbolic link inside /var/hack pointing to the file in question. Then when you do your tar backup of /var/hack the original file (e.g. rc.sysinit.author) gets included in the backup. Should you need to restore from your tarball later just move rc.sysinit.author from /tivo/hack to /etc/rc.d.

Great post here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=1724462&&#post1724462) with full instructions on what to do.