SDB: How to Perform Backups in eMail Server 3.1

How to Perform Backups in eMail Server 3.1

Support knowledgebase (rsimai_imap31_quick-backup)

Situation

Backups in eMail Server 3.1

Apart from specific backup programs, some of the tools included in eMail Server can be used to perform a backup, too. These lines describe the procedure with tar, which can be transformed into a script.

Attention: This is a compilation of the directories necessary for a complete backup on a standard system. A data backup can be made e.g. after a new installation of the system. The directories have been assorted to the best of our knowledge. However, we cannot provide any guarantee. We recommend you to always reproduce a 'disaster scenario' in a non-productive system first!

Procedure

Stop the services
- rcldap stop
- rcpostfix stop
- rcfetchd stop
- rccyrus stop
- rcinetd stop
- rcskyrixgreen stop
- rcpostgresql stop

Make a backup of the files
First create an explicit name for the backup file, e.g.:
```
BACKUPFILE="backup-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S).tar"
```
- tar cvf $BACKUPFILE /etc/
- tar rvf $BACKUPFILE /var/imap/
- tar rvf $BACKUPFILE /var/spool/imap
- tar rvf $BACKUPFILE /var/spool/postfix/
- tar rvf $BACKUPFILE /var/lib/ldap
- tar rvf $BACKUPFILE /var/lib/pgsql/
- tar rvf $BACKUPFILE /var/named/
- tar rvf $BACKUPFILE /var/www/htdocs/freebusy/
- tar rvf $BACKUPFILE /usr/sieve/
- tar rvf $BACKUPFILE /usr/ssl/
If you enter all directories in a single command line, you can use the option 'z' to make tar compress the archive with gzip when creating it. Do not forget to adapt the file name accordingly (.tar.gz or .tgz). For additional information, please refer to the man page man tar.

Possible problem: tar is capable of handling files up to 2GB. Depending on the amount and size of mailboxes, this limit might be reached. In this case you have to create more than one backup file.

Start the services
- rcldap start
- rcpostgresql start
- rcskyrixgreen start
- rcinetd start
- rccyrus start
- rcfetchd start
- rcpostfix start

Consider the following when recovering a complete system:

The archive does not contain any absolute path. It will be unpacked in the current directory without any additional instruction
The newly mounted system must be configured using identical data
Finally, start SuSEconfig

See also:

Important Files and Directories in eMail Server 3

Keywords: IMAP31, BACKUP

Categories: SuSE Linux IMAP Server

Feedback welcome: Send Mail to srsimai@suse.de (Please give the following subject: SDB-rsimai_imap31_quick-backup)

SDB-rsimai_imap31_quick-backup, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 03. Sep 2002
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 16. Dec 2002 by ip (sdb_gen 1.40.0)