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LBackup Frequntly Asked Questions
- Q : What is LBackup?
- A : LBackup is a backup wrapper for rsync. LBackup is aimed at system administrators who require reliable backups.
- LBackup is designed to work with POSIX compliant, *NIX based systems; including Mac OS X, Debian, Ubuntu, BSD and more.
- Q : Should I be using LBackup?
- A : Maybe. We recommend that you use a backup tool which meets the requirements of your backup policy.
- If you have questions relating to LBackup then post a message to the discussion mailing list.
- If you are looking for an alternative backup tool you may wish to visit the alternatives page.
- Q : Where can I learn about about LBackup and its' features?
- A : Visit the about page. Also you are welcome to post questions relating to LBackup to the discussion mailing list.
- Q : Are there mailing lists for discussing the development or asking questions regarding LBackup?
- A : Yes. Visit the mailing lists page.
- Q : Where do I report a bug in LBackup?
- A : You may report bugs, request features and submit patches to the LBackup discussion mailing list.
- Q : How can I see LBackup in action without having to go though the install process?
- A : Visit the screencats page, and see for yourself how LBackup works.
- Q : Is the LBackup Source Code available?
- A : Yes, the source code is available from the LBackup source code page.
- Q : Under which license is LBackup released.
- A : The LBackup backup program is released under the GNU GPL.
- Q : How much do I have to pay to use LBackup?
- A : You pay nothing. But that's not all, act now and take advantage of our amazing buy one get one free offer.
- Q : Why is LBackup free as in freedom?
- A : Free software is the best. LBackup is free.
- Q : Is there professional support available for LBackup?
- A : Yes, visit the LBackup support page for details.
- Q : How do I check all my backups are working.
- A : If you are looking for more than regular email reports, then visit the monitoring multiple backup logs page.
- Q : Who made LBackup?
- Q : How do I know that LBackup is safe to run on my computer?
- A : Take our word for it.
- A : Inspect the source code yourself.
- A : Assume that because LBackup is used by various prominent institutions that it is safe.
- A : Use some anti-malware software to scan the LBackup download.
- Q : Will LBackup preserve the various Mac OS X specific meta data?
- A : Some versions of rsync preserve various Mac OS X related metadata.
- A : Setup a backup and confirm that your backups preserve the metadata required by your backup policy.
- A : Mac OS X specific metadata such as ACL's and resource forks may be preserved provided the following criteria are meet :
- The backup is performed by rsync v3 and is compiled according to these instructions.
- Q : WARNING : This copy of RSYNC may not support certain Mac OS X meta-data. What does this message mean?
- A : Some versions of rsync will not preserve certain Mac OS X related metadata.
- A : Check that your backups contain all the metadata your backup policy requires.
- A : You are not using rsync v3 compiled according to these instructions.
- Q : Will LBackup support rsync v3?
- A : Yes. The latest version of LBackup fully supports rsync v3 on Mac OS X.
- Q : Will LBackup work with Mac OS X Server?
- A : Yes. LBackup is an open source backup solution for Mac OS X Server.
- A : LBackup is able to transfer user files from Mac OS X server.
- A : This data may be regularly copied automatically over the network via SSH.
- Q : LBackup hangs towards the end of a backup on Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard)?
- A : If you are using a custom version of rsync then it is recommended that you compile a new version for your system.
- A : This issue is outlined on the upgrade notes page.
- Q : What is the following error : “LSOpenURLsWithRole() failed”?
- A : On Mac OS X this part of system security.
- A : A pre or post action script may be trying to interact with the GUI, and is not being granted access.
- Q: What is the following warning : “some files vanished before they could be transferred (code 24) at main.c(1042)”?
- A : If a file which is scanned for transfer is removed from the file system is removed then rsync will output this error.
- It is possible to use this rsync wrapper shell script if this is rsync warning is causing problems with your backup.
- Q: What is the following warning : “rsync: rsync_xal_set: lsetxattr(<snip>) failed: Invalid argument (22)”?
- A : This kind of error is a problem with transferring an extended attribute.
- It is possible to use the xattr command to edit / modify the extended attributes of any problimatic files. If you require assistance then please contact us.
- Q : I would like to install LBackup on an operating system other than Mac OS X, is this possible?
- A : Yes, provided your system has meets the LBackup requirements.
- A : Yes, visit the operating system specific builds page.
- Q : How do I install LBackup on Debian / Ubuntu / Mac OS X?
- A : Follow the instructions on the install page
- Q : How do I install LBackup on an operating system for which there is no install package?
- Q : Will LBackup support the backup of multiple source directories / files with a single configuration directory?
- A : No. At this point you are limited to one backup directory source per backup configuration.
- It is possible to backup the root directory of a system and then add entries into the excludes file.
- It is possible to configure multiple backup configuration directories; one for each source directory / file.
- Q : How do I restore files made with LBackup?
- A : Jump to details from the documentation. It may be important disable any automated backups prior to restore.
- Q : What is the recommended destination file system type when running on Darwin (Mac OS X)?
- A : HFS+ is the typically the recommended choice. Many other file systems will also work.
- Some file systems will not support hard linking, files greater than 4GB or special file types such as symbolic links. If you are having success using a destination file system other than HFS+ on Mac OS X then please share your experiences.
- Q : I would like to backup data in the cloud, is LBackup an option?
- A : Yes (for some services). LBackup requires no graphical interface for setup, maintenance, backup or restore.
- LBackup is fully configurable via a console. Backup to and from servers within a cloud evniroment on which you have a shell account and which also meet the other LBackup requirements is not only possible but is also reliable. Further details regarding cloud computing are available from this Wikipedia article.
- Q : Backup server running Mac OS X is slow or unresponsive even when no backup is taking place.
- A : As a first step visit the spotlight wiki page and check to see if spotlight is enabled on your backup volume.
- If disabling spotlight on your system has not resolved the speed issue then please contact us or post a message to the discussion mailing list.
- A : Next it may be that build_hd_index is working to catalog all the files within your backup.
- Visit the build_hd_index page for further information.
- A : Use a system monitoring tool (OS X - /Applications/Activity Monitor.app) to further investigate.
- If you need additional assistance then contact us or post a message to the discussion mailing list.
- Q : Seeing the following error : “rsync: unpack_smb_acl: sys_acl_get_info(): Undefined error: 0 (0)”
- A : Try making initiating a full backup. It may be that the ACL's are not matching between systems.
- This may happen after a major system upgrade or migration. The users for the ACL's may not not be correct. Hence this error is being issued.
- A : If ACL's do not need to be preserved, then you could add the following line to the LBackup configuration :
disable_acl_preservation=“YES”