[SWLUG] Network backups

[Glenn Booth]

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can offer me some advice on backing up an Ubuntu server
over a (local) network to
a second Ubuntu host.

I was planning to use a simple rsync script, but I'm not clear on how to set
it up so that the user that 'rsync'
runs as can get access to all the necessary files.

I need to backup the entire /home directory (there are four users, and about
130 gigs of data to
back up). My first effort with rsync went like this (at the machine to be
backed up):

glenn at alfie:~$ rsync -e ssh -varuzP /home bkp_server:/media/data/homebkp

where bkp_server is the host where I want to put the backup.

This worked fine for files owned by me, but barfed (for what now seem
obvious reasons) on files
owned by other users.

So, to the question. Should I just enable the Ubuntu root account(s) and do
the backup as root, or
is there a better way? This is a one-off job so that I can rebuild the
server. I don't need it to be
automated in any way.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Thanks,

Glenn.
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