cback-span(1) Kenneth J. Pronovici cback-span(1)
NAME
cback-span - Span staged data among multiple discs
SYNOPSIS
cback-span [switches]
DESCRIPTION
This is the Cedar Backup span tool. It is intended for use by people who back up more data than can fit on a single disc. It allows a
user to split (span) staged data between more than one disc. It can't be a Cedar Backup extension in the usual sense because it requires
user input when switching media.
Generally, one can run the cback-span command with no arguments. This will start it using the default configuration file, the default log
file, etc. You only need to use the switches if you need to change the default behavior.
This command takes most of its configuration from the Cedar Backup configuration file, specifically the store section. Then, more informa-
tion is gathered from the user interactively while the command is running.
SWITCHES
-h, --help
Display usage/help listing.
-V, --version
Display version information.
-b, --verbose
Print verbose output to the screen as well writing to the logfile. When this option is enabled, most information that would normally
be written to the logfile will also be written to the screen.
-c, --config
Specify the path to an alternate configuration file. The default configuration file is /etc/cback.conf.
-l, --logfile
Specify the path to an alternate logfile. The default logfile file is /var/log/cback.log.
-o, --owner
Specify the ownership of the logfile, in the form user:group. The default ownership is root:adm, to match the Debian standard for
most logfiles. This value will only be used when creating a new logfile. If the logfile already exists when the cback script is
executed, it will retain its existing ownership and mode. Only user and group names may be used, not numeric uid and gid values.
-m, --mode
Specify the permissions for the logfile, using the numeric mode as in chmod(1). The default mode is 640 (-rw-r-----). This value
will only be used when creating a new logfile. If the logfile already exists when the cback script is executed, it will retain its
existing ownership and mode.
-O, --output
Record some sub-command output to the logfile. When this option is enabled, all output from system commands will be logged. This
might be useful for debugging or just for reference. Cedar Backup uses system commands mostly for dealing with the CD recorder and
its media.
-d, --debug
Write debugging information to the logfile. This option produces a high volume of output, and would generally only be needed when
debugging a problem. This option implies the --output option, as well.
-s, --stack
Dump a Python stack trace instead of swallowing exceptions. This forces Cedar Backup to dump the entire Python stack trace associ-
ated with an error, rather than just progating last message it received back up to the user interface. Under some circumstances,
this is useful information to include along with a bug report.
RETURN VALUES
This command returns 0 (zero) upon normal completion, and six other error codes related to particular errors.
1 The Python interpreter version is < 2.5.
2 Error processing command-line arguments.
3 Error configuring logging.
4 Error parsing indicated configuration file.
5 Backup was interrupted with a CTRL-C or similar.
6 Other error during processing.
NOTES
Cedar Backup itself is designed to run as root, since otherwise it's difficult to back up system directories or write the CD or DVD device.
However, this command can be run safely as any user that has read access to the Cedar Backup staging directories and write access to the CD
or DVD device.
SEE ALSO
cback(1)
FILES
/etc/cback.conf - Default configuration file
/var/log/cback.log - Default log file
BUGS
Report bugs to <support@cedar-solutions.com>.
AUTHOR
Written by Kenneth J. Pronovici <pronovic@ieee.org>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2007,2010 Kenneth J. Pronovici.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICU-
LAR PURPOSE.
Cedar Backup July 2010 cback-span(1)