[Solved] Some help with bup

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-15 12:31:56

I have no idea whether what I did worked. How to I check the results since git is not real files is it? just 'snapshots'?

I initaially tried following this. I was able to set the destination directory (step 3) but when I got to

bup index -uv /mnt/directory/backupdir

I got the error

/home/username/.bup/' is not a bup repository; run "bup init"

. I don't get this since I just set it the step before and it said that it was created successfully.

So I decided to try going with the default to test it would work of

bup index -ux /home/symboliclinktodir

. It said it finished but since the symbolic link is not the full path will it have backed anything up? How am I supposed to check what has actually happened?

I also don't want to use the default home directory for this since it is a smaller partition I want to use the specific destination I originally intended which is on my big storage drive.

So how can I untangle this mess? And delete anything I may have created in the home directory.

I get invalid argument for every directory when I do

bup -d /home/vorlis/bigstorage/backups/bup/pyproj index -ux .

or

bup index -ux .

or doing the full paths of both. Same invalid argument every time.

Last edited by MarthaParkin (2016-06-23 18:47:32)

Tutti · 2016-06-15 14:10:34

I just tried this, following the guide you linked (I'm assuming you installed bup from the arch repos).

On step 3 you temporarily set the variable BUP_DIR, and it appears you also need it for step 4.
In my case doing

BUP_DIR=/mnt/backupdir bup index -uv /home/tutti/projects

built the index correctly.
You could also use

export BUP_DIR=/mnt/backupdir

before performing step 3 and 4 in that guide.

edit:
If you used the -n option when saving, ala:

bup save -n projects /home/tutti/projects

you can list the files saved in the backup with

bup index -p projects

For further reading see: the bup man pages

Last edited by Tutti (2016-06-15 14:28:36)

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-15 14:30:57

Tutti wrote:

I just tried this, following the guide you linked (I'm assuming you installed bup from the arch repos).
On step 3 you temporarily set the variable BUP_DIR, and it appears you also need it for step 4.
In my case doing
BUP_DIR=/mnt/backupdir bup index -uv /home/tutti/projects
built the index correctly.
You could also use
export BUP_DIR=/mnt/backupdir
before performing step 3 and 4 in that guide.
edit:
If you used the -n option when saving, ala:
bup save -n projects /home/tutti/projects
you can list the files saved in the backup with
bup index -p projects
For further reading see: the bup man pages

Thanks I tried as you suggested but still got the same error. It is the projects directory that is making the errors for me not the backup destination directory.

Last edited by MarthaParkin (2016-06-15 14:31:54)

Tutti · 2016-06-15 14:44:07

I'm not sure I follow, could you post the commands you performed in the order you performed them?

Just to clarify my own points:
BUP_DIR should point to the backup directory (check with echo $BUP_DIR), if it is empty you get:

/home/username/.bup/' is not a bup repository; run "bup init"

when you attempt to use

bup index ...

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-15 14:57:58

Tutti wrote:

I'm not sure I follow, could you post the commands you performed in the order you performed them?
Just to clarify my own points:
BUP_DIR should point to the backup directory (check with echo $BUP_DIR), if it is empty you get:
/home/username/.bup/' is not a bup repository; run "bup init"
when you attempt to use
bup index ...

step 3=

BUP_DIR=/mnt/bigstorage/backups/bup/pyproj bup init

step 4=

BUP_DIR=/mnt/bigstorage/backups/bup/pyproj bup index -uv /mnt/bigstorage/pyproj

Last edited by MarthaParkin (2016-06-15 14:59:25)

Tutti · 2016-06-15 15:42:46

I don't have anything else to suggest, hopefully someone more familiar with bup comes along.
Could you update the previous post to include the output messages you get from those two commands?

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-15 18:40:03

Tutti wrote:

I don't have anything else to suggest, hopefully someone more familiar with bup comes along.
Could you update the previous post to include the output messages you get from those two commands?

[Errno 22] Invalid argument: '/mnt/bigstorage/pyproj/'

and the same for every file and folder in the directory.

Tutti · 2016-06-15 19:10:50

Is that the error you got when responding to my first post in this thread? Additionally, is that the complete output?

The drive/partition you attempt to make a backup on/of, is it an NTFS volume?

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-15 20:12:04

Tutti wrote:

Is that the error you got when responding to my first post in this thread? Additionally, is that the complete output?
The drive/partition you attempt to make a backup on/of, is it an NTFS volume?

Yes thats the error Ive always gotten throughout. And yes the drive is NTFS; it was my main storage drive when I had windows and I only switched exclusively to linux a few days ago. Are you saying it won't work with bup?

If so what are my options? just use another backup option ? that whole drive is 2.5 terabytes though only a fraction is taken up. I would have to have a long think about whether I would want to reformat it or not to ext filesystem. Currently using ntfs-3g.

Last edited by MarthaParkin (2016-06-15 20:13:30)

Tutti · 2016-06-15 21:03:10

Through the majority of my posts I thought you referred to the 'not a bup repositry' message...
Anyways, I googled bup + the error 22 message and got https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic … L4t7tMhOzE, which is why I asked about NTFS. You could send a mail to the list and ask if there are any solutions available.

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-15 21:08:19

Tutti wrote:

Through the majority of my posts I thought you referred to the 'not a bup repositry' message...
Anyways, I googled bup + the error 22 message and got https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic … L4t7tMhOzE, which is why I asked about NTFS. You could send a mail to the list and ask if there are any solutions available.

Well there's plenty of other backups on the market so I guess I'll keep shopping. Shame though as I liked the idea of git backups. Cest la vie.

On the other hand, as I said, the projects folder is only 3 megs so is pretty redundant

Last edited by MarthaParkin (2016-06-15 21:26:53)

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-22 16:08:32

Ok so I have now changed to ext4 filesystem and was able to complete a backup like so:

$ bup save -n 22-6-16_pyproj /mnt/bigstorage/pyproj
Reading index: 848, done.
Saving: 100.00% (5196/5196k, 848/848 files), done.    
bloom: creating from 1 file (1593 objects)

but I have no idea where it was saved?

In the directory where I did the dest url (step 3 from the tutorial in OP) and bup init it is nowhere to be found. Ive searched both drives for the backup name but it wasnt found in either. where is it hiding?

I looked in .bup in ~ as well and can't see it in there in branches. I presume that is the directory where backups should be?

Last edited by MarthaParkin (2016-06-22 16:15:31)

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-22 22:04:56

Tutti wrote:

I just tried this, following the guide you linked (I'm assuming you installed bup from the arch repos).
On step 3 you temporarily set the variable BUP_DIR, and it appears you also need it for step 4.
In my case doing
BUP_DIR=/mnt/backupdir bup index -uv /home/tutti/projects
built the index correctly.
You could also use
export BUP_DIR=/mnt/backupdir
before performing step 3 and 4 in that guide.
edit:
If you used the -n option when saving, ala:
bup save -n projects /home/tutti/projects
you can list the files saved in the backup with
bup index -p projects
For further reading see: the bup man pages

I followed these instructions of yours but when I got to the final part to print out the named backup I get an error that the filename is not found/doesnt exist.

$ bup index -p buptest
reduce_paths: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/vorlis/buptest/buptest'
WARNING: 1 errors encountered.

Last edited by MarthaParkin (2016-06-22 22:10:18)

Tutti · 2016-06-23 00:12:14

To #12: check the output of

ls ~/.bup/refs/heads

the name you used (22-6-16_pyproj) ~should~ appear there if the ~/.bup directory was used. I'm not sure how the backed up files are stored, I haven't invested the time to check the internals of git/bup/magic.
Make sure that either $BUP_DIR is set and pointing to the desired backup location, or use the bup -d flag

Now #13: That was a mistake on my part, what it (bup index -p projects) did was to treat 'projects' as a path. You'll notice that the directory I backed up and -n name I used were both 'projects'.
To quote the bup index manual

-p, --print
print the contents of the index. If paths are given, shows the given entries and their descendants. If no paths are given, shows the entries starting at the current working directory (.).

Meaning that you can:

bup index -p

which starts at the current directory and includes sub-directories.

bup index -p <path>

which prints the index for the <path>, which should be the path to the directory you backed up.

Last edited by Tutti (2016-06-23 00:13:25)

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-23 08:09:41

Tutti wrote:

To #12: check the output of
ls ~/.bup/refs/heads
the name you used (22-6-16_pyproj) ~should~ appear there if the ~/.bup directory was used. I'm not sure how the backed up files are stored, I haven't invested the time to check the internals of git/bup/magic.
Make sure that either $BUP_DIR is set and pointing to the desired backup location, or use the bup -d flag
Now #13: That was a mistake on my part, what it (bup index -p projects) did was to treat 'projects' as a path. You'll notice that the directory I backed up and -n name I used were both 'projects'.
To quote the bup index manual
-p, --print
print the contents of the index. If paths are given, shows the given entries and their descendants. If no paths are given, shows the entries starting at the current working directory (.).
Meaning that you can:
bup index -p
which starts at the current directory and includes sub-directories.
bup index -p <path>
which prints the index for the <path>, which should be the path to the directory you backed up.

Ah cool both were in there when I did

ls ~/.bup/refs/heads

however I specifically set the $BUP_DIR on each of those so why are they in home directory rather than the directory I stated in bup_dir?

I am also learning git as well as this and since it is based on that I find both to be kind of nebulous since they don't save things like a normal simple backup which I could check. It feels like I am submitting everything to the ether and hoping for the best . Gotta make sure things are actually going through.

Last edited by MarthaParkin (2016-06-23 08:11:52)

Slithery · 2016-06-23 08:34:04

MarthaParkin wrote:

I am also learning git as well as this and since it is based on that I find both to be kind of nebulous since they don't save things like a normal simple backup which I could check. It feels like I am submitting everything to the ether and hoping for the best . Gotta make sure things are actually going through.

You should take a read of the Pro Git book (or at least the first couple of chapters), it's available for free online...
https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2

It really helped me get my head around how git works when I first started using it.

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-23 15:28:10

Ye I am reading pro git just havent gotten very far into it yet.

The file heirarchies seem different with bup though. Well once in the directories they look the same but unlike git which keeps its repos in the working directory bup seems to chuck everything in the ~ directory; so far even when I told it not to.

Tutti · 2016-06-23 15:43:14

Did you set $BUP_DIR with "$BUP_DIR=<path>" or "BUP_DIR=<path>"? When performing init bup will tell you where it initialized the GIT repository.
Alternatively did you try using the -d flag?
e.g.

bup -d <b_path> init
bup -d <b_path> index -uv <t_path>
bup -d <b_path> save -n branch_name <t_path>
bup -d <b_path> index -p <t_path>

b_path = path where backup should be stored
t_path = path you want to backup

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-23 17:21:55

Tutti wrote:

Did you set $BUP_DIR with "$BUP_DIR=<path>" or "BUP_DIR=<path>"? When performing init bup will tell you where it initialized the GIT repository.
Alternatively did you try using the -d flag?
e.g.
bup -d <b_path> init
bup -d <b_path> index -uv <t_path>
bup -d <b_path> save -n branch_name <t_path>
bup -d <b_path> index -p <t_path>
b_path = path where backup should be stored
t_path = path you want to backup

Alright cool the above seems to have worked . -d is alot simpler than the BUP_DIR crap. Is -d necessary all the time or is it just for this test? I will have a play and see for future. Doesn't matter to much as I will make a script I guess at some point.

Tutti · 2016-06-23 17:46:35

AFAIK, the -d flag will be necessary all the time, if you don't set the BUP_DIR variable. However, I don't believe it will be much of a convenience issue if you're intending to make it work with scripts and automation.

If/when your issue is solved please remember to mark the thread as solved.

MarthaParkin · 2016-06-23 18:47:13

Sure. Thanks for the help

Arch Linux

#1 2016-06-15 12:31:56

[Solved] Some help with bup

#2 2016-06-15 14:10:34

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#3 2016-06-15 14:30:57

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#4 2016-06-15 14:44:07

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#5 2016-06-15 14:57:58

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#6 2016-06-15 15:42:46

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#7 2016-06-15 18:40:03

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#8 2016-06-15 19:10:50

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#9 2016-06-15 20:12:04

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#10 2016-06-15 21:03:10

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#11 2016-06-15 21:08:19

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#12 2016-06-22 16:08:32

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#13 2016-06-22 22:04:56

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#14 2016-06-23 00:12:14

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#15 2016-06-23 08:09:41

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#16 2016-06-23 08:34:04

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#17 2016-06-23 15:28:10

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#18 2016-06-23 15:43:14

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#19 2016-06-23 17:21:55

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#20 2016-06-23 17:46:35

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

#21 2016-06-23 18:47:13

Re: [Solved] Some help with bup

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