Newbie full back up question here
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hey guys i tried checking out other posts that may answer this question before posting but couldnt find anything and if i missed it please shoot me a link so i can check it out.
in the meantime, here is my question that i have tried working with chat to get done and maybe i just cant do since i've spent quite some time trying and failing thinking it might be a hardware issue, when it might just be "you cant do it" issue
I have two of the same appliances and wanted to get both with the identical images in each of them so that if one goes down, i can just shut it down and throw in another one, while i fix the one that went down.
i know about the config.xml back up file and was pretty sure that it doesn't back up the crowdsec packages i have set installed and really just to avoid having to reinstall all of them manually, i wanted to try a full clone and load it up in the exact same way for both.
so i tried doing a clone with dd and tried loading it up through the rescue shell.
wont boot up. couldn't find the boot loader (even though the files copied properly and boot partition was correct.)tried making an back up image file (.img) and loading it up but
. wont boot up. couldn't find boot loader (even though boot loader partition and all files were copied properly)I thought this would work since i have switched the ram and hard drive after a malfunction from one appliance to another and it worked out fine doing that
So i have come to the conclusion that it just wont work. Am i correct?
I was hoping chat knew what he was talking about but im not sure yet and i guess here is the last place to ask.
if its not possible, ok well i will go with the config file back up and reinstall crowdsec manually with the bouncer, etc. but since i'm a little bit of a newbie, i wanted to know form the real experts, you guys...i thought it was a hardware sissue but i broke down and did a regular install and its held up fine, and depending on the responses i get here my next step is to load up config file and load up crowdsec packages...
it has been a failure so far but an achievement in how much i learned working in the console with the freebsd commands, getting to know all the gpart commands and learning to format drives in UFS, etc...etc...
or am i just a total idiot and instead of formatting to UFS i should have formatted the drive im copying the image/clone to in ZFS?
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@cyberstudentnewbie what kind of devices are we speaking of?
I did/do an image backup with clonezilla and since my device is an AMD64 based one, that works just fine.
You will have to boot up from an USB stick or a CD-ROM. A system can not backup itself, while running. Too many files that are in use and stuff like that.
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@patient0
yeah they are amd 64's intel celeron. i tried a zfs snapshot and tried the pool imports but have utterly failed...
spent so much time on it and totally failed...
i can create the image and back ups but i cant seem to load them up.
chat isn't reliable so i'm just gonna go with a config.xml file and load up the packages myself...
I know clonezilla is rock solid i just haven't worked with it yet, but have to learn it to get images for my Lite, Ubu Budgie, and Lubu i have set up the way i want it, and i'm hoping i can migrate it to there machines. they aren't teaching us this stuff in school so i gotta learn it myself...
im just burnt out on this project and might have to put it on the bvack burner for a couple of days and see if anyone else has any ideas...
But im glad you mentioned the clonezills, i definetly have to learn it... -
A full backup is nice for a desktop PC, or a server, or something else like that.
Not for a router, phone, coffee machine doorbel or access point, etc.
pfSEnse :
Get a copy of the latest ISO - or get the installer.
And
backup your config.xml daily. There is also the abc, but don't trust for 100 % as you'll be needing your pfSense abc ID, that might get lost if you loose your drive - or don't make any local backups.A complete pfSense restore is as easy as it sound : install the ISO or Installer, then import your config and done.
If you really need to have a full backup : use a VM ^^
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@cyberstudentnewbie if you’re not setting up HA so they are both on, one will eventually be a version behind so you’ll need to update then restore.
Same with a disk image unless you’re going to do it regularly.
If you’re just trying to get the same starting spot just doing a restore on the second will be much easier. A restore will install packages.
