UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I have a script in the same directory as some files and directories im trying to tar up and I have it run in cron. Well it runs but says it can't find the directories, you need to be in the directory where the script is for it to work. Here is my cron and script its crappy but it does the trick =). Is there anyway in cron or my script to get this script to run correctly?

0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * * tmp/daily_backups/daily_backup.pl

$dirtocopy = '/tmp/daily_backups/';
$backupfile = 'backup.tar';

print "Tar'n up directories... \n";
print `tar -cf backup.tar Baro Nitro Turbo`;
print "Done Tar'n directories... \n";

print "Backing up $dirtocopy$backupfile \n";
print `ls | grep backup.tar | cpio -ocB > /dev/rmt/0`;
print "Backup is now complete... \n";

print "Rewinding tape... \n";
print `mt -f /dev/rmt/0 rewind`;
print "Tape rewound...";

You just need to change to the directory before you begin tarring. The line before the tar command should be "cd /tmp/daily_backups" for example.

Carl

Thanks! Are there any limits on how big a tar file can be, or file size that will let me tar it.

That depends on several factors... older versions of tar, the filesystem the tar is being saved to, and the operating system itself can all limit the maximum tar size to 2 gigabytes under some situations. If you dodge all these bullets, the theoretical max is extremely large.