Disaster recovery

[Jim Sander]

> And with a .tar file, is it possible to resore the /usr partition over
> top of a clean FreeBSD install .. etc

   Although it's arguably not the best system, it works. I have done it
several times. Problems that I've seen...

1. Can't boot crappy old hardware from CD-ROM to do minimal install
2. Backups dutifully copy corrupt files
3. Trying to "cheat" and not go into single-user mode, thus in-use files
   aren't overwritten in the restore
4. Kernel/World mismatch problems

   To get around those problems, I now try to restore into /usr/old or
somesuch- and then "manually" move things into place. (if space permits, I
keep the "fresh" /usr/* around as well- just in case) You can also...

1. Keep a "clean" install on a spare drive, to speed the process
2. Make sure you do your install from the same CDs you originially used
   (unless of course you update with cvsup, etc.)
3. Do direct file copies (via scp or NFS) from similarly configured
   machines on your network

   This "restore in place" procedure is very simple, and most problems
I've had with it are easily resolved. If you can't justify a more complex
and/or expensive solution I don't see why it won't work for you.

-=Jim=-