Re: [BackupPC-users] Migration to Backuppc

Hi,

vincentp AT maunakeatech DOT com wrote on 2014-10-21 15:46:10 +0200 
[[BackupPC-users] Migration to Backuppc]:
> [...]
> I would like to know how I can use the data that already exists on my
> backup server.
> 
> 2 hosts are using about 3 TB  and 4 TB of data, I would like to avoid
> to sync them over the network again, and use the local backup to create
> the complete backup of backuppc.
> 
> Is this possible to convert or move the data from a local folder to the
> backuppc storage ?

this does come up quite often, and it definitely is a valid requirement.
Whether it's about using pre-existing backup data or doing the first import
via sneakernet rather than a low-bandwidth network connection, it's really
both the same thing.

With BackupPC 3.x, this is currently only possible with some tricks. You
need to change the backup definition so that it temporarily points to your
local source. The problem is that there are some constraints which may be
hard to fulfill.

With BackupPC 4.x, things should be a lot easier. At least in theory, you'd
simply create a dummy backup definition (a.k.a. "host") which points at your
local source, do a backup, and that's it. Once the data is in BackupPC's pool,
the rsync XferMethod should avoid needing to transfer it, even for other
hosts -- at least for unchanged files (changed files are a different matter;
they won't magically have a sensible reference against which to transfer a
delta).

Since BackupPC 3.x will probably be around for quite a while yet (personally,
I don't much like the idea of keeping part of the data in a database), I
intend to write a BackupPC_import script. If you give me a week, I think
I can find the time to come up with something.

If things are more urgent, please provide the following information, so
I can narrow down my description:

- XferMethod to use (probably rsync or rsyncd, considering the question),
  or better yet, your host config file (or relevant non-sensitive parts
  thereof).
- Can you put the data in the same place (i.e. path) on the BackupPC
  server as it is on the original host (e.g. 'mount --bind ...'), at
  least temporarily for the duration of a backup?

Regards,
Holger

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