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Backing-up Single Board Computer
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2024
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I wrote a bash script a while back that uses sshfs to mount an ssh server to the filesystem, then uses dd to write /dev/mmcblk0 to it as hostname-date.img and finally unmount the ssh server. Cron job runs that daily.
I run that on each of my rpis. (just one rn, but theres been as many as 4 going).
Any time I have an issue, be that my fault or not, I can just pull the sd card and write the last .img to it directly.
There's some extra stuff in there too: it checks for the dependancy sshfs and installs it if missing (for deploying to a new system without reconfiguring), cleans up backups older than x days, logging, and the ability to write the log file as a test instead of the whole filesystem.
Sorry, but do you have a setup where you don't need to worry about the atomicity of that operation? It sounds simple and effective, so I'd like to do it, but I'm concerned I may get something halfway through a write.
I suppose the odds are you'd have at worst a bad log file whereas config files and binaries are used read-only the majority of the time.
I've run it on every pi I've used for several years now, though they are typically pretty quiet systems. Usually something like pihole or a reverse proxy. Not much writing going on. I've restored about a dozen of those images and never had an issue.
I also tend to keep 3-6 backups at a time. If the most recent is messed up for some reason, there's others to try. (though I've never actually had to try more than one)