Whatcha all Windows users using for backup up your main PCs?
I'd like to backup most of my files, but I have less than 15GB
space free on a 250GB HDD. Can't add an extra HDD/SDD or
replace the existing HDD at the moment (PC is a bit hard to
access).
The goal is to send the files to an offsite server, automated.
But I am not interested in paying for a VPS for that. I'd like
to encrypt the files myself and upload a bundle.
Whatcha all Windows users using for backup up your main PCs?
The goal is to send the files to an offsite server, automated.
But I am not interested in paying for a VPS for that. I'd like
to encrypt the files myself and upload a bundle.
I experimented with 7Zip and gpg, but found out that 7zip
doesn't support pipes.
Is there another rudimentary grassroots way to achieve this?
August Abolins wrote to All <=-
Whatcha all Windows users using for backup up your main PCs?
I experimented with 7Zip and gpg, but found out that 7zip
doesn't support pipes.
Is there another rudimentary grassroots way to achieve this?
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
Whatcha all Windows users using for backup up your main PCs?
I'd like to backup most of my files, but I have less than 15GB
space free on a 250GB HDD. Can't add an extra HDD/SDD or
replace the existing HDD at the moment (PC is a bit hard to
access).
The goal is to send the files to an offsite server, automated.
The goal is to send the files to an offsite server, automated.
But I am not interested in paying for a VPS for that. I'd like
But I am not interested in paying for a VPS for that. I'd like
to encrypt the files myself and upload a bundle.
I experimented with 7Zip and gpg, but found out that 7zip
doesn't support pipes.
If I recall, you've asked this question before and I've
proposed that you use the shareware Drive Snapshot.
Nothing comes to close to it unless you start looking at
more commercial trialware like Veeam, which I believe no
longer supports Windows 7.
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by you want
to backup to an offsite server but not wanting to pay for
a VPS... its an offsite server that you already
provisioned, control, pay Internet and have a VPN
connection to then?
Windows Backup for Windows 7 for primary backups. Media is
synced to a NAS using Resilio Sync, and the NAS is backed
up to an external drive.
I'm planning on adding a cloud backup to the equation when
I move to fiber internet and gain some upload speed. Now,
I'm on cable and my upload is around 20 mbps.
I experimented with 7Zip and gpg, but found out that 7zip
doesn't support pipes.
Is there another rudimentary grassroots way to achieve this?
Can rsync do inline encryption?
I use restic for all my backuping, it works on many OSes
incl Windows.
You can use many backup "targets" (local drive, S3
endpoint, another restic, and some more I think), but I
use S3 (minio running on a NAS).
For my important data, on the NAS, I backup to another
drive in the NAS (with restic), that is then replicated
into pcloud - which is there incase my house burns down.
It by default encrypts, compressions and only backs up
changed files...
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
August Abolins wrote to All <=-
Whatcha all Windows users using for backup up your main PCs?
Windows Backup for Windows 7 for primary backups. Media is synced to a
NAS using Resilio Sync, and the NAS is backed up to an external drive.
I'm planning on adding a cloud backup to the equation when I move to
fiber internet and gain some upload speed. Now, I'm on cable and my
upload is around 20 mbps.
The "restic repair [command]" option sounds ominous. Have you
ever encountered the need to repair a backup? Have you ever
restored a back up with restic?
I don't think it was me. I never really worried about offsite
backups before.
Like anything that is encrypted, if you loose the key your backups are toast, so dont loose the key. :)
i just archive my files. i dont bother imaging anything.
then i reinstall windows and copy shit over and run nnite
for some programs. i can get everything back up pretty
quick.
now terabytes of family pictures, videos, legal documents, finances etc.
While the solutions others mentioned are good... theres something of peace of mind with a very simple Windows program that takes a raw image of the entire system, OS and programs included. Drive snapshot has the functionality of professional grade software in one executable file and just works.
It has ran here for many years now, backing up everything to local NAS and
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
Hello Jas Hud!
** On Sunday 17.09.23 - 19:03, Jas Hud wrote to Kurt Weiske:
i just archive my files. i dont bother imaging anything.
then i reinstall windows and copy shit over and run nnite
for some programs. i can get everything back up pretty
quick.
But you lose original configurations of the apps. And, ninite
But you lose original configurations of the apps. And, ninite
seems to only handle free programs.
MS Office or any other particular programs and utilities, for
example.
i used to think like that. but then you get a bad raw image and you are fucked.
i prefer to archive my files and password protect them and have them backe up up at home and online. I'm the king of backups. so many sysops 'lost it all in a crash'. they talk about how they have tape backup systems and ot shit they never use. here i am copying shit and doing better than most ot people in the hobby.
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
On 18 Sep 23 16:40:39, Jas Hud said the following to Nick Andre:
i used to think like that. but then you get a bad raw image and you
are
fucked.
Highly unlikely here, actually impossible.
a VPS... its an offsite server that you already
provisioned, control, pay Internet and have a VPN
connection to then?
Correct.. I can utilize the unlimited space that my hosting
company provides.
you never took an image and it was bad? not in all your years?
i find that hard to believe , but whatever dude.
But you lose original configurations of the apps. And, ninite
seems to only handle free programs. It wouldn't help restoring
MS Office or any other particular programs and utilities, for
example.
Unless you enjoy reinstalling your OS and all your programs ;)
OS, programs, registry etc... So when the image is restored, you are back to the exact
moment in time the image was taken.
Unless you enjoy reinstalling your OS and all your programs ;)
Nick
some people are pros (me) and can whip it all back together in an hour, or for big things, a day.
some people do things the old ways and can't see the forest for the trees. probably some fella who runs windows xp.
Whatcha all Windows users using for backup up your main PCs?
I use restic for all my backuping, it works on many OSes incl Windows.
Can rsync do inline encryption?
i used to think like that. but then you get a bad raw image and you are fuc
i prefer to archive my files and password protect them and have them backed here i am copying shit and doing better than most other people in the hobby.
Nothing is impossible.
you never took an image and it was bad? not in all your years?
i find that hard to believe , but whatever dude.
Unless you enjoy reinstalling your OS and all your programs ;)
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
On 19 Sep 23 22:31:59, Jas Hud said the following to Nick Andre:
some people are pros (me) and can whip it all back together in an hour, or for big things, a day.
some people do things the old ways and can't see the forest for the trees. probably some fella who runs windows xp.
The mental gymnastics you go through to say nothing is hilarious.
Nick
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
Unless you enjoy reinstalling your OS and all your programs ;)
I LOVE installing DOS 6.22 ..... Brings back some many memories. :)
I assume you don't want a full system backup, but just to
backup some user files.
I'd go with rclone. You can use rclone to place your
backups on local hard drives, ftp servers, Nextcloud
servers... it supports so many backends it is crazy.
It also supports encrypted backups. Not a plug and play
solution, but not hard either.
gpg for backups if a bit ugly. I would only do it if
processing backup images (this is, you have a backup
program that produces a big badass 250 GB archive with all
your stuff, and then you pipe it into gpg).
When you backup your system you expect a solution that
will backup everything and that should mean to include the
entire state of the system, OS, programs, registry etc...
So when the image is restored, you are back to the exact
moment in time the image was taken.
I don't remember taking bad images, but I remember hard drives containing good images going bad.
I also remember a file based backup system got a critical file corrupted because the hard drive got a bad sector just where the file resided. It was silent corruption. I detected it because I had a job checking the hash of the files every week and I got a nice email with a "read error" message XD
I have heard that restic is not officially tested on Windows and that WINdows support is mostly accidental (ie. all its dependencies happen to run on Windows and Go happens to run on Windows, therefore it happens to run on Windows despite the fact development is Linux centri.
I have heard some complaints against restic's performance on Windows, but I'd love to hear more comments on this.
Truth to be told, if an 8 years old node gets toasted, chances are you are taking advantage of the fact it kicked the bucket to install something moder on a new machine.
Your recommendation for drivesnapsot reminded me of driveimg
which operates the same way. I have used driveimg when i had
spare external drives. It worked flawlessly in the reverse
direction to rebuild a system onto a new HDD.
I think I will simply need to get an 2TB external drive and
just use driveimg for the full system backup.
But I am liking the idea of using gpgtar | winscp or restic for
SFTP'ing copies of some important directories.
So in my case image-backups solved all of these problems and can be restored to different hardware if necessary. If my apartment gets ripped off, burned down, laptop destroyed, whatever, I'm back in business relatively painless.
Its interesting convo that backups are really different for everyone which is why I said there are many good solutions discussed here.
It also supports encrypted backups. Not a plug and play
solution, but not hard either.
I haven't noticed the encrypted part in the docs yet.
My personal laptop I do everything on is Windows 11 with a mountain of apps configured to my satisfaction... registry tweaks and having things exactly t way that I like it. There's just no way I'm ever reinstalling the OS and all the apps I use. Not practical and some apps cannot be reactivated anymore.
So in my case image-backups solved all of these problems and can be restored to different hardware if necessary. If my apartment gets ripped off, burned down, laptop destroyed, whatever, I'm back in business relatively painless.
Arelor wrote to Kurt Weiske <=-
If you control the destination server, you can create an encrypted filesystem on it and rsync into such filesystem. THat way you won't
need encryption at the client level. I personally only do those things
if the whole server is encrypted.
T.J. Mcmillen wrote to Nick Andre <=-
Unless you enjoy reinstalling your OS and all your programs ;)
I LOVE installing DOS 6.22 ..... Brings back some many memories. :)
whatever works for you, and if it's proven to work that's good.
just don't be the guy who lost it all in 'a crash' because we all should know better.
How many people keeps identical laptops or desktops so they can take one and pipe a backup image taken from an identical machine into a blank one? Not ma
In that regard Windows sucks harder than a weaning foal because you can do a bit copy from a hard drive and transfer it to a newer machine, and it won't work because "reasons" whereas most modern BSDs or Linuxes won't really noti
If backups are slow it wouldnt bother me as I have it
running in the background while I do something else. The
hardware that runs my Windows is an atom server under
VMware, so its slow anyway...
..(Compression in restic only came recently, so I need
to ugprade to take advantage of that.)
rclone.org/crypt/
The idea is you configure rclone to use your SFTP target,
and then you configure a virtual remote that encrypts
everything and uses your SFTP target.
I didn't say it was plug-and-play.
..you can do a bit copy from a hard drive and transfer it
to a newer machine, and it won't work because "reasons"
whereas most modern BSDs or Linuxes won't really notice.
I dont recall if I've done any restores, with restic.
If backups are slow it wouldnt bother me as I have it
running in the background while I do something else. The
hardware that runs my Windows is an atom server under
VMware, so its slow anyway...
I know it'd be an old version, so I might upgrade it and
redo a backup and see how it goes. (Compression in restic
only came recently, so I need to ugprade to take advantage
of that.)
"Configure crypt using rclone config. In this example the crypt
remote is called secret, to differentiate it from the
underlying remote.
When you are done you can use the crypt remote named secret
just as you would with any other remote,
e.g. rclone copy D:\docs secret:\docs, and rclone will encrypt
and decrypt as needed on the fly."
That isn't to bad at all. Thx.
Having some issues with restic.
I tried restic -r sftp:user@server.com:/restic/archive
..and it complained:
Fatal: Create repository at sftp:user@server.com:/restic/
archive failed: cmd.Start: exec: "ssh": executable file not
found in %PATH%.
I tried the -o sftp.command="prog" parameter where prog is
putty.exe with full path to its location, but it claimed it was
not found.
I had better luck with winscp:
winscp sftp://user@server.com:2222//enc/archive
I tried restic -r sftp:user@server.com:/restic/archive
..and it complained:
Fatal: Create repository at sftp:user@server.com:/restic/
archive failed: cmd.Start: exec: "ssh": executable file not
found in %PATH%.
Right, you would need SSH as well if you wanted to pipe it through SSH/SFTP.
I use an S3 target, ie : -r s3:http://minio:9000/bucket as my target,
with environment variables containing the authentication credentials.
I tried the -o sftp.command="prog" parameter where prog is
putty.exe with full path to its location, but it claimed it was
not found.
Why putty?
I had better luck with winscp:
winscp sftp://user@server.com:2222//enc/archive
Does winscp provide SFTP? (I dont use it, so dont know). You might be
able to use -o sftp.command=winscp ?
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
T.J. Mcmillen wrote to Nick Andre <=-
Unless you enjoy reinstalling your OS and all your programs ;)
I LOVE installing DOS 6.22 ..... Brings back some many memories. :)
Installing DOS, then finding the right floppy disk with the Sony CD-ROM driver on it, and getting MSCDEX to work. Weird proprietary interface CD-ROMs, Bus Mice - all those things remind me of supporting DOS
machines.
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
On 20 Sep 23 23:46:30, Jas Hud said the following to Nick Andre:
whatever works for you, and if it's proven to work that's good.
just don't be the guy who lost it all in 'a crash' because we all should know better.
Yessir professor.
Nick
I'm one of those people... the habit of having replacement parts, identical things stuck with me a lonnnnnng time ago. Am using a laptop which is a
very common model; all the parts are cheap. If its totally destroyed or stolen or whatever its really not a big deal... easily replaced, nothing fancy.
My images can be restored to different hardware. I tested this with a backed up image of a desktop which got restored to Vsphere.
What happened were the typical Windows quirks like re-activating Windows etc but all of the apps and profile settings were spot on. I do agree with you that disaster-recovery seems to be an afterthought in Windows.
I had better luck with winscp:
winscp sftp://user@server.com:2222//enc/archive
Does winscp provide SFTP? (I dont use it, so dont know). You might be able to use -o sftp.command=winscp ?
c:\rclone copy \temp\xxxx test1:\temp\archive
..everything in \temp\archive was in the clear.
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
Hello Deon George!
** On Friday 22.09.23 - 11:28, Deon George wrote to August Abolins:
I tried restic -r sftp:user@server.com:/restic/archive
..and it complained:
Fatal: Create repository at sftp:user@server.com:/restic/
archive failed: cmd.Start: exec: "ssh": executable file not
found in %PATH%.
Right, you would need SSH as well if you wanted to pipe it through SSH/SFTP.
So.. restic is not all-in-one and still relies on external
progs?
I use an S3 target, ie : -r s3:http://minio:9000/bucket as my target, with environment variables containing the authentication credentials.
S3 is Amazon's cloud space?
I tried the -o sftp.command="prog" parameter where prog is
putty.exe with full path to its location, but it claimed it was
not found.
Why putty?
I dunno.. it just seemed like a good one to try and see if
restic could at least *find* it.
I had better luck with winscp:
winscp sftp://user@server.com:2222//enc/archive
Does winscp provide SFTP? (I dont use it, so dont know). You might be able to use -o sftp.command=winscp ?
Not sure if winscp can be utilized in place of the SSH exec
that restic is looking for. I wish there were more examples
of usage out there.
So.. restic is not all-in-one and still relies on external
progs?
S3 is Amazon's cloud space?
Not sure if winscp can be utilized in place of the SSH exec
that restic is looking for. I wish there were more examples
of usage out there.
..you can do a bit copy from a hard drive and transfer it
to a newer machine, and it won't work because "reasons"
whereas most modern BSDs or Linuxes won't really notice.
So.. a bit copy from a legacy harware linux pc will succeed in
a newer pc with linux?
sorry if you're not following along, gilligan.
maybe some day you might try big bad linux and not hate it so much.
so how awesome is your windows xp system that you have all these irreplacea programs that you don't want to run setup.exe on and apparently spend a lot time setting up?
So.. a bit copy from a legacy harware linux pc will succeed in
a newer pc with linux?
So.. it seems that restic is not entirely complete in one
binary and needs external programs such as ssh.exe ?
I went thru the config. I really liked the step-by-step system
for config. I *think* I established a "test1:" as my encrypted
remote, but when I went to use it:
OK.. I learned something else. I needed to create a new
type="crypt" remote in config.
Nick Andre wrote to Arelor <=-
I'm one of those people... the habit of having replacement parts, identical things stuck with me a lonnnnnng time ago. Am using a laptop which is a very common model; all the parts are cheap. If its totally destroyed or stolen or whatever its really not a big deal... easily replaced, nothing fancy.
I keep aspiring to upgrade my homelab, but what I like about it is that
it's running on a laptop - I have a similar laptop sitting in a drawer
that can act as a backup if I have a hardware failure.
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
On 21 Sep 23 22:15:15, Jas Hud said the following to Nick Andre:
sorry if you're not following along, gilligan.
maybe some day you might try big bad linux and not hate it so much.
I administer several Linux VM's at work...
Nick
Pretty awesome the XP BBS been running for 21 years without shit happening... and mine is a system that has always sat on port 23, routinely clobbered by scriptkid scans. But never crashed and never "hacked" like others loved to proclaim... others who would often run stock Linux boards
That reboot is scripted too...
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
On 22 Sep 23 09:13:00, Kurt Weiske said the following to Nick Andre:
I keep aspiring to upgrade my homelab, but what I like about it is that
it's running on a laptop - I have a similar laptop sitting in a drawer
that can act as a backup if I have a hardware failure.
I'm the same but more a fan of Vmware especially... any Vmware server can run all my crap from any backup set.
I administer several Linux VM's at work...
sure you do.
From Newsgroup: micronet.comp
On 22 Sep 23 20:12:44, Jas Hud said the following to Nick Andre:
I administer several Linux VM's at work...
sure you do.
You're boring. And contribute ziltch. In the ignore filter you go.
Re: backup for windows pc?
By: August Abolins to Arelor on Thu Sep 21 2023 11:34 pm
OK.. I learned something else. I needed to create a new
type="crypt" remote in config.
If you were doing it from scratch, you would:
1) Use rclone config to create a regular unencrypted remote, pointing at your actual storage (such as ftp.server.com)
2) Test your remote works by using rclone to send some harmless pictures.
rclone copy horse_picture.jpg remote:
3) Create a crypt remote that used the regular remove you created before
as its target.
4) Test it
rclone copy spionage_secrets.txt cryptremote:
..and then I was stuck. What do I enter there if I want the
the remote destination to be at user@ftp.kolico.ca:2222 ?
You enter "test1:".
This way "mycrypt" will place all its encrypted stuff in the storage set for test1.
..but, the contents of sss did NOT end up in /arn/archive.
Instead, the encrpyted dir/files were deposited in the root of
my account. :(
..but, the contents of sss did NOT end up in /arn/archive.
Instead, the encrpyted dir/files were deposited in the root
of my account. :(
That is because your crypt remote is configured to use
test1: instead of test1:/arn/archive as its target.
Think of "mycrypt:" as a virtual folder that resides in
wherever you point it at. If you instruct rclone to put
stuff in mycrypt:/arn/archive, it will create "/arn/
archive" within the virtual folder, and then upload the
whole virtual folder to the path you pointed it at which,
in your case, is test1: (root of your hosting folder.
OK.. so it appears that it created the encrypted directories
because I configured it to do that. Had I stipulated that
mycrypt: NOT encrypt the directories, using mycrypt:/arn/
archive would have placed the encrypted files in the actual
/arn/archive location?
OK.. so it appears that it created the encrypted directories
because I configured it to do that. Had I stipulated that
mycrypt: NOT encrypt the directories, using mycrypt:/arn/
archive would have placed the encrypted files in the actual
/arn/archive location?
I don't understand the question.
"mycrypt:" uses any path you set for it. It might be
test1:, test1:/folder or whatever. If you use test1:/
horse_pictures then anything you upload to it (ie. rclone
copy horse.jpg mycrypt:) will be placed, in encrypted form,
under test1:/horse_pictures/.
Not sure if winscp can be utilized in place of the SSH exec
that restic is looking for. I wish there were more examples
of usage out there.
winscp.com /script=script.txt
contents of script.txt
-- begin --
AFAIK restic has all the conre functionality integrated,
but if you need a task through an external program (such as
ssh) you DO need that external program.
So.. restic is not all-in-one and still relies on external
progs?
It is. But I think your intermixing "transport" with "backup".
OK.. if sftp is built into restic, why does it report an SSH
errr? I guessing that its sftp requires a non-password
session?
According to the docs
"In order to backup data via SFTP, you must first set up a server with
SSH and let it know your public key. Passwordless login is important
since automatic backups are not possible if the server prompts for credentials."
Does that answer your question?
If I use "rclone copy [files] mycrypt:" ..without any directory
parameter after mycrypt:, the files get stored at the root
level of my webhost account.
I happend to notice some restic examples that use rclone in the
mix.
restic -r rclone:remotdrive:backup init
That would be interesting, and it would solve the ssh/sftp
transport error I was getting with restic alone, I guess.
restic -r rclone:remotdrive:backup init
That would be interesting, and it would solve the ssh/sftp
transport error I was getting with restic alone, I guess.
I'd rather use rclone with restic only if you need to use some storage restic does not support more directly.
(But yeah, it should work)
Re: backup for windows pc?
By: August Abolins to Arelor on Tue Sep 26 2023 09:05 pm
If I use "rclone copy [files] mycrypt:" ..without any directory
parameter after mycrypt:, the files get stored at the root
level of my webhost account.
Then mycrypt is not configured to use a subfolder of your webhost account.
Is you do try to place files un a subfolder via the crypt subsystem
"rclone copy horse.jpg mycrypt:/horses/pictures/" then your crypt subtree will be uploaded to the root of your webhost in obscured form, and that is expected behavior.
I've never had any issues so never had to think about the "repair" command.
I dont do a "purge" that often - every month or so (some backups are purged weekly via a cron, but some arent) - so my backup has many 1000's of "snapshots" as it refers to them.
Like anything that is encrypted, if you loose the key your backups are toast, so dont loose the key. :)
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