rebuilding a production server

last updated: Apr. 2005

The installation commands can be run from a Putty window in a "cut-and-paste" style layout or copied to a script. Notes on Putty best practices can be found here.

Backup files in /etc:

mkdir -p /home/backup

cd /etc
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/etc.tar.gz \
passwd \
shadow \
group \
gshadow \
proftpd.conf \
httpd/conf/httpd.conf \
aliases \
mail/access \
mail/local-host-names \
mail/virtusertable \
cron.hourly/* \
cron.daily/* \
cron.weekly/* \
named.conf \
webalizer.conf \
syslog.conf \
logrotate.conf \
shells \
warnquota.conf \
rc.d/init.d/webcp \
mrtg/* \
sysconfig/network \
sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

Backup /var files

mkdir -p /home/backup

cd /var
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/var.tar.gz \
lib/mysql/* \
lib/mod_watch/* \
named/* \
spool/mail/* \
## imap/*

Backup /home files:

mkdir -p /home/backup

cd /home

tar -zcpvf /home/backup/1.tar.gz 1*
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/2.tar.gz 2*
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/3.tar.gz 3*
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/4.tar.gz 4*
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/5.tar.gz 5*
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/6.tar.gz 6*
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/7.tar.gz 7*
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/8.tar.gz 8*
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/9.tar.gz 9*

tar -zcpvf /home/backup/webcp.tar.gz webcp/*
tar -zcpvf /home/backup/webmail.tar.gz webmail/*

tar -cpvf /home/backup/sym+quota.tar *.*

Export the mysql webcp data and schema to a text file:

mysqldump -u root -p webcp > /home/backup/dump.sql

scp the tar.gzipped files to a remote server:

scp /home/backup/* devel.hosting.hacks:/home/restore

RESTORE DATA

/home data

cd /home
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/1.tar.gz
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/2.tar.gz
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/3.tar.gz
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/4.tar.gz
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/5.tar.gz
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/6.tar.gz
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/7.tar.gz
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/8.tar.gz
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/9.tar.gz

tar -zxpvf /home/restore/webcp.tar.gz
tar -xpvf /home/restore/sym+quota.tar

/var

cd /var
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/var.tar.gz

/etc

cd /etc
tar -zxpvf /home/restore/etc.tar.gz

Transfering Data to a USB Drive

Hot-plug a USB drive and confirm that the OS found it:

tail -f /var/log/messages
Oct 29 17:02:22 subzero kernel: SCSI subsystem driver Revision: 1.00
Oct 29 17:02:22 subzero kernel: Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
Oct 29 17:02:22 subzero kernel: usb.c: registered new driver usb-storage
Oct 29 17:02:22 subzero kernel: scsi0 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Oct 29 17:02:22 subzero kernel: usb-uhci.c: interrupt, status 3, frame# 2001
Oct 29 17:02:22 subzero kernel:   Vendor: Generic   Model: STORAGE DEVICE    Rev: 1.25
Oct 29 17:02:22 subzero kernel:   Type:   Direct-Access                      AN
Oct 29 17:02:22 subzero kernel: USB Mass Storage support registered.
Oct 29 17:02:23 subzero devlabel: devlabel service started/restarted

Note: make sure you have a recent RedHat kernel (2.4.20+) as there are some fixes for certain types of USB memory cards.

partition the drive:

fdisk /dev/sda

To doublecheck the partitioning scheme use: fdisk -ul /dev/sda

format it and mount the drive:

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda1
mkdir /mnt/usb
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb

Note: You can use mkfs.vfat for a smaller filesystem if you plan to copy the contents to a windows box for safekeeping

start the backup:

cd /
tar -zcpvf /mnt/usb/system.tar.gz \
bin/* \
sbin/* \
lib/* \
usr/* \
etc/* \
var/* \
home/* 

umount /mnt/usb

Rebuild the system by reformatting with the kickstart file (use the same partitioning scheme!) then boot the system, mount the drive and restore the system:

mkdir /mnt/usb
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb

cd /
tar -zxpvf /mnt/usb/system.tar.gz

reboot the system.