Simplebackup Documentation

This software is a cross-platform backup program that you can use to build automatic backups of directories and files.
Here are the very basic steps to get simplebackup doing a backup/restore :

Check the requirements.
Install simplebackup.
Create a configuration file.

unix: simplebackup.pl --econf /tmp/my_new_config_file.conf
windows using perl: perl -w simplebackup.pl --econf c:\my_new_config_file.conf
windows using the executable: simplebackup --econf c:\my_new_config_file.conf

Test the configuration file.

unix: simplebackup.pl --tconf /tmp/my_new_config_file.conf
windows using perl: perl -w simplebackup.pl --tconf c:\my_new_config_file.conf
windows using the executable: simplebackup --tconf c:\my_new_config_file.conf

Executing the backup.

unix: simplebackup.pl --conf /tmp/my_new_config_file.conf
windows using perl: perl -w simplebackup.pl --conf c:\my_new_config_file.conf
windows using the executable: simplebackup --conf c:\my_new_config_file.conf

Executing the restore.

unix: simplebackup.pl --rconf /tmp/my_new_config_file.conf
windows using perl: perl -w simplebackup.pl --rconf c:\my_new_config_file.conf
windows using the executable: simplebackup --rconf c:\my_new_config_file.conf

Notes:

The configuration file can be created and placed in any location.
There is no limit on the number configuration files created and used.
This is a command line program, there are no fancy buttons or graphics.
To check all command line options open a prompt/shell and type:

unix: simplebackup.pl
windows using perl: perl -w simplebackup.pl
windows using the executable: simplebackup.exe

If you are updating check the section "Updating from previous simplebackup versions"

[ 5. Running Simplebackup (Details) ],

Here is a detailed explanation on all simplebackup arguments and options :

Simplebackup is a perl application designed to run across many different systems so there are 3 ways to call the simplebackup program.

Under Unix systems (Linux, Solaris, OpenBds, etc) simply type [ simplebackup.pl +arguments ].
Under Microsoft Windows systems (Windows NT4 and above) and if using the Perl version type [ perl -w simplebackup.pl +arguments ]. This needs perl 5.6.1 or above installed but notice the use of perl 5.8.x is recommended.
Under Microsoft Windows systems (Windows NT4 and above) and if using the Win32 Compiled version [ simplebackup.exe ] type [ simplebackup +arguments ] . This is a self contained program, perl does not need to be installed, but will only run on x86 32 bits (or 32 bits compatible) machines running Microsoft Windows.

Simplebackup arguments are :

[ --econf ], for creating or editing the configuration file. This argument makes simplebackup creates (if file does not exist) configuration files and then editing them using the operating system default text editor, vi for Unix systems and notepad for Windows systems. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --econf c:\new_config.conf ].
[ --tconf ], for testing the configuration file. This makes simplebackup test the configuration file showing the configuration if no errors occurred or reporting what errors where found. Users should pay attention to the configuration info to all extra notes or warnings reported. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --tconf c:\new_config.conf ].
[ --conf ], to run a backup. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --conf c:\new_config.conf ].
[ --rconf ], to run a restore. Simplebackup has several restore modes and options making him extremely powerful.

[ --rconf configuration_file.conf ], to run a restore in manual mode, using the restore text menu, with default the settings. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --rconf c:\new_config.conf ].
[ --rconf configuration_file.conf +extra_options ], to run a restore using the restore options, please notice that you can use one or more options.

[ --rlist_file list.txt ], use a text file that contains a list of what to restore and optionally where to restore, check the "Restore list file on the Simplebackup files technical documentation" for more details. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --rconf c:\new_config.conf --rlist_file my_restore_list.txt ]
[ --to some_path ], default restore path where files and directories will be restored. This can be overwritten by using options in restore menu or by the restore list file (--rlist_file). Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --rconf c:\new_config.conf --to r:\ ]
[ --session session_number ], session number to take has a reference during restores, if this is used only files and directories existing during that backup session will be restored. If defined has 0 (zero) simplebackup will match up against the most recent backup session, this is the default value. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --rconf c:\new_config.conf --session 5 ]
[ --erase_extra yes/no ], erase or not files and directories not found on the defined session number (--session), default value is no (in manual or auto modes) or yes (in autosync mode). Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --rconf c:\new_config.conf --erase_extra yes ]
[ --mode manual/auto/autosync ], how simplebackup will restore. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --rconf c:\new_config.conf --mode autosync ]
- in [ manual ] a menu will be presented and questions will be made, this is the default mode.
- in [ auto ] the restore starts and no questions are made.
- in [ autosync ] the restore starts and no questions are made but only restores the backup files and directories that where backup ed after the last autosync restore session, it will also automatically erase files and directories not found on the last backup session (similar to using --session 0 --erase_extra yes), notice that this can be changed by using --erase_extra no. This allows simplebackup to create syncing mechanisms across different systems.

[ --lconf ], to show the log file belonging to the configuration file using the operating system editor, vi for Unix systems or notepad for Windows systems. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --lconf c:\new_config.conf ].
[ --sconf ], list the existing backup sessions or the details of a backup session for a given configuration file.

[ --sconf configuration_file.conf ], to list the existing backup sessions. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --sconf c:\new_config.conf ].
[ --sconf configuration_file.conf session_number ], to list what a given backup session contains. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --sconf c:\new_config.conf 10 ].

[ --ffconf ], to force a full backup when running in differential or incremental backups, this will erase the management data records from the support file. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --ffconf c:\new_config.conf ].
[ no arguments ], to check the arguments simply type simplebackup. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl ].
[ --help ], to check the arguments with full details. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --help ].
[ --requirements ], to show a full list of all simplebackup requirements and in what situations. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --requirements ].
[ --version ], to print a single line with the simplebackup version. Example [ perl -w simplebackup.pl --version ].

Notice that the examples use Windows paths just for question of documentation simplicity, Unix paths are fully supported.
The configuration keys present on the configuration files are fully documented on them self's, just create and edit them using the [ --econf ] argument.

[ 6. How it works ],

Sometimes a image is worth more than a thousand words so for better understanding here are the simplebackup backup and restore schemes.

[ 7. Features ],

Support for three backup modes: full, incremental and differential.
Restores can be made automatically or manually using text menus. [ improved in version 1.8.x ].
Can create syncing mechanisms across different systems, even unix to windows or windows to unix. [ improved in version 1.8.x ].
Support for several backup formats (rar, 7z, zip, tar, tar.Z, tar.gz, tar.bz2). [ improved in version 1.8.x ].
Can encrypt the backup data using a build in encryption algorithm, the SimpleCrypt algorithm.
The SimpleCrypt algorithm is also available has the separated simplecrypt program included in the simplebackup package. This program can be used to encrypt/decrypt any file desired.
Creates separate backup files for each backup directory or file on the backup list.
Can read the backup list from a separated text file.
Can read the restore list from a separated text file, even with the use of wild cards and with the definition of the restore path. [ new in version 1.8.x ].
Backups can be made on a type of system (example windows) and restored on a different type (example linux). [ new in version 1.8.x ].
Allows the selection of the compression ratio.
Can reject files and directories by full paths, even with the use of wild cards. [ improved in version 1.8.x ].
Can reject files by file type/extention.
Can reject files by full name.
Can reject files by size limit, example only backup files up to 1 Megabyte.
Can limit the maximal size of the backup data, this can control the amount of data that will flow into the backup destination.
Can backup into ftp servers, and make use a ftp proxy (must be in open mode). [ improved in version 1.8.x ].
Can backup into ssh/sftp servers with or without the use of public/private keys. This backup mode uses ssh2 encryption so it's very safe to use across the internet. [ new in version 1.8.x ].
Can backup into http web-dav servers. [ new in version 1.8.x ].
Can backup by email into one or more email accounts.
Under unix operating systems it can backup into tape devices, but beware that this feature is experimental.
Also related to tape devices, it can execute any command desired before and after writing to tape, example mt -t /dev/tape0 rewind.
Works fully unattended, so you can easily program a at/cron job (unix) or task scheduler (windows).
Automatic backup session management, old backup data can be automatically erased.
Can run a script/batch file/command before the backup, example, you can use this feature to shut-down the database and free the data files for backup.
Can run a script/batch file/command after the backup, again a example, you can use this feature to bring the database back on-line.
Can run a script/batch file/command before the restore, example, you can use this feature to shut-down the database and free the data files for restore.
Can run a script/batch file/command after the restore, again a example, you can use this feature to bring the database back on-line.
Can send backup reports by e-mail (using smtp mail servers only).
Very detailed log information. [ improved in version 1.8.x ].
Build in debug to help in the detection of possible bugs or problems.
Can export the backup reports into any external program(s) or command(s).
Can log all operations into a file that can be consulted latter.

[ 8. Runs On (Portability) ],

Should run on almost all Unix systems.
Microsoft Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003.

[ 9. Tested Systems ],

System	Compatible	Notes
Microsoft Windows 95/98	No	lack of file locking ability.
Microsoft Windows Millennium	Unknown	Operating system was not tested.
Microsoft Windows NT4	Yes	Need to install Perl 5.6.1 or over *1, or use the Win32 compiled version (simplebackup.exe / simplecrypt.exe). It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules if using the Perl version (simplebackup.pl), check the requirements for more details.
Microsoft Windows 2000	Yes	Need to install Perl 5.6.1 or over *1, or use the Win32 compiled version (simplebackup.exe / simplecrypt.exe). It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules if using the Perl version (simplebackup.pl), check the requirements for more details.
Microsoft Windows XP	Yes	Need to install Perl 5.6.1 or over *1, or use the Win32 compiled version (simplebackup.exe / simplecrypt.exe). It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules if using the Perl version (simplebackup.pl), check the requirements for more details.
Microsoft Windows 2003	Yes	Need to install Perl 5.6.1 or over *1, or use the Win32 compiled version (simplebackup.exe / simplecrypt.exe). It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules if using the Perl version (simplebackup.pl), check the requirements for more details.
Microsoft Windows Vista	Unknown	Operating system was not tested.
Redhat 8.0 Linux	Yes	It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules, check the requirements for more details.
Redhat 9.0 Linux	Yes	It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules, check the requirements for more details.
SuSe 8.1 Linux	Yes	It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules, check the requirements for more details.
SuSe 9.1 Linux	Yes	It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules, check the requirements for more details.
Openbsd 3.5	Yes	It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules, check the requirements for more details.
Openbsd 3.6	Yes	It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules, check the requirements for more details.
Openbsd 3.8	Yes	It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules, check the requirements for more details.
FreeBsd 4.1.0	Unknown	Operating system was not tested. It requires a perl version upgrade since the one build in is far to old.
FreeBsd 5.2.1	Yes	It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules, check the requirements for more details. The Perl libnet module is definitely required to use ftp/email backups and email reporting.
Mac OS/X	Unknown	Operating system was not tested, but success runs have been reported by some users.
HP-UX	Unknown	Operating system was not tested, but the tar command is very limited so tar or tar like backups will not work with simplebackup.
Solaris 10	Yes	It might be needed to install some extra Perl modules, check the requirements for more details.
Aix	Unknown	Operating system was not tested.
Other Unix's	Unknown	Since simplebackup is a Perl program it should work on almost all Unix like systems.

*1 The use of Perl 5.8.x is recommended.

[ 10. Requirements ],

At least one of the following programs on your operating system $PATH variable :

Requirement	Notes
Perl 5.6.1 or over *1	If running simplebackup or simplecrypt with the Perl version [ simplebackup.pl ; simplecrypt.pl ].
rar/winrar 3.6 or over	For the creation of rar type of archive backups.
7-Zip v4.42 or over	For the creation of 7z type of archive backups.
info-zip zip 2.3 or over	For the creation of zip type of archive backups (A windows version of info-zip, zip v2.3.1 and unzip 5.53 is included with the simplebackup package) *2.
info-zip unzip 5.52 or over	For the creation of zip type of archive backups (A windows version of info-zip, zip v2.3.1 and unzip 5.53 is included with the simplebackup package) *2.
tar	For the creation of tar type of archive backups, *3.
tar and compress	For the creation of tar.Z type of archive backups, *3.
tar and gzip	For the creation of tar.gz type of archive backups, *3.
tar and bzip2	For the creation of tar.bz2 type of archive backups, *3.
Openssh sftp	For secure ftp (sftp) backup when using the sftp transport (sftp_transport = sftp), this is usually used on Unix systems.
Putty psftp	For secure ftp (sftp) backup when using the sftp transport (sftp_transport = psftp), this is on Windows systems only *2.
cat	For passing the backup or restore list into the archive command *4.
vi	For editing configuration files and showing the log file *4.
type	For passing the backup or restore list into the archive command *5.
notepad	For editing configuration files and showing the log file *5.
HTTP::DAV perl module	Required if you intend to do http web-dav backups/restores 6 7.
Libnet perl module	Required if you intend to do ftp or email backups/restores or if using email reporting 6 7.
Authen-SASL perl module	Required if your smtp mail server needs authentication 6 7.
Expect perl module	Required if you intend to do sftp (secure ftp) backups/restores using the openssh sftp program, this usually is only required on unix systems 6 7.

*1 - The use of Perl 5.8.x is recommended, mainly because of all the Perl improvements and bug fixes and to fully support unicode (required by the rar and 7-Zip formats).
*2 - The Windows compiled version [ simplebackup.exe ] features build in zip archive support and sftp backup/support support, for more info check the faq "Q. What is build into [ simplebackup.exe ] ?"
*3 - Notice there are two differente ways to support tar under simplebackup, standard tar (tar ; tar.Z ; tar.gz ; tar.bz2), or "advanced" tar (advanced_tar ; advanced_tar.Z ; advanced_tar.gz ; advanced_tar.bz2), for more info check the faq "Q. What is the difference between standard tar and advanced tar ?"
*4 - This is a standard command for the Unix operating system.
*5 - This is a standard command for the Windows operating system.
*6 - Not required if you are using the windows compiled version [ simplebackup.exe ], for more info check the faq "Q. What is build into [ simplebackup.exe ] ?"
*7 - This perl module might required the installation of other perl modules prior to his installation, also called software dependencies.

[ 11. Links ],

The simplebackup package includes most of the required software including most Perl modules but if you want to download newer versions of the software here is a list and links of software.

Software	Link (URL)	Notes
Perl	http://www.perl.com	Source code version for compiling and installing in Unix systems.
Perl	http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl	Compiled version to use in Microsoft Windows systems.
Perl Cpan	http://www.cpan.org	This is the central area of Perl code, containing a large and updated collection of Perl modules and scripts. This site is mostly useless for Microsoft Windows users since it contains source code.
Activestate Programmer Network	http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN	This is the central area of Perl code and Perl compiled modules for ActiveState Perl. This site should be used by Microsoft Windows users to download and install Perl Modules.
Rar and Winrar	http://www.rarlab.com	This is commercial software, you can download and try it but to use it you need to buy a license (it's not very expensive).
7-zip	http://www.7-zip.org	This is open source software, unix versions exist but the main version is for Microsoft Windows only.
Info-Zip	http://www.info-zip.org	This is open source software, required to support zip archives. Versions exist for Unix and Microsoft Windows systems.
Tar	http://www.gnu.org/software/tar/tar.html	This is a link for the gnu tar version, generally this is not need in Unix systems and support in Microsoft Windows is bit problematic.
Gzip	http://www.gzip.org	This is open source software. Versions exist for Unix and Microsoft Windows systems.
Bzip2	http://sources.redhat.com/bzip2	This is open source software. Versions exist for Unix and Microsoft Windows systems.
Perl Cpan	http://www.cpan.org	This is the central area of Perl code, containing a large and updated collection of Perl modules and scripts. This site is mostly useless for Microsoft Windows users since it contains source code.
Putty SSH Tools	http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html	This is a group of free (not open source) ssh (secure comunications) programs and contains the psftp program that is used by simplebackup to allow sftp (secure ftp) backups and restores on Microsoft Windows systems.
Openssh	http://www.openssh.com	This is a group of open source ssh (secure comunications) programs and contains the sftp program that is used by simplebackup to allow sftp (secure ftp) backups and restores. This is source code and generally speaking it should only be compiled and installed in Unix Systems. Please notice that most modern Unix systems feature Openssh so probably you don't need to install this.

[ 12. Installing ],

[ 1. Under a Unix operating system ],

Uncompress the package,
Type: gzip -d simplebackup-1.8.0_rc1.tar.gz
Type: tar -xvf simplebackup-1.8.0_rc1.tar
(or you can use any other text or graphical utility).
Check were the Perl executable lives,
Type: which perl
or
Type: locate perl
Note: If you don't have Perl on your system check "Requirements" and "Links".
Check if the declare path on the simplebackup.pl file matches the one found on your system
Type: vi unix/simplebackup.pl
Now check the first line, by default the line reads
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
If the path is different replace it with yours, example: #!/opt/perl/perl -w
Check permissions, the adviced are:
chown root:root unix/simplebackup.pl
chmod 755 unix/simplebackup.pl
(owner root, others can only read and execute, but please notice that simplebackup can work and be installed by any user).
Copy the executable to any directory, it can live on the $PATH or not (it's your choice), example: [ cp unix/simplebackup.pl /usr/local/bin ].
Optionally you can also install the simplecrypt program:

Check were the Perl executable lives,
Type: which perl
or
Type: locate perl
Note: If you don't have Perl on your system check "Requirements" and "Links".
Check if the declare path on the simplecrypt.pl file matches the one found on your system
Type: vi unix/simplecrypt.pl
Now check the first line, by default the line reads
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
If the path is different replace it with yours, example: #!/opt/perl/perl -w
Check permissions, the adviced are:
chown root:root unix/simplecrypt.pl
chmod 755 unix/simplecrypt.pl
(owner root, others can only read and execute, but please notice that simplebackup can work and be installed by any user).
Copy the executable to any directory, it can live on the $PATH or not (it's your choice), example: [ cp unix/simplecrypt.pl /usr/local/bin ].

Check "Requirements" and "Links" to see what else you might need.
Now the program is installed you can create has many different backups has you want using simplebackup or encrypt/decrypt files using simplecrypt.

[ 2. Under a Microsoft operating system ],

Uncompress the [ simplebackup-1.8.0_rc1.zip ] file using Winrar, Winzip, etc.

If you intend to use the Perl version [ simplebackup.pl ],
1. install Perl 5.8.x or over (if not already installed), check "Requirements" and "Links".
2. >Copy the [ windows\simplebackup.pl ] file into a directory of your choice.
If you intend to use the windows 32 bits compiled version [ simplebackup.exe ] (under Windows this is recommended),
1. in this case you don't need to install perl, simply copy the [ windows\simplebackup.exe ] file into any directory on your $PATH variable.
  Notice : the file [ simplebackup.pl ] is only needed if you want to check the program source code.

Optionally you can also install the simplecrypt program :
- If you intend to use the Perl version [ simplecrypt.pl ],
  1. install Perl 5.8.x or over (if not already installed), check "Requirements" and "Links".
  2. >Copy the [ windows\simplecrypt.pl ] file into a directory of your choice.
- If you intend to use the windows 32 bits compiled version [ simplecrypt.exe ] (under Windows this is recommended),
  1. in this case you don't need to install perl, simply copy the [ windows\simplecrypt.exe ] file into any directory on your $PATH variable.
    Notice : the file [ simplecrypt.pl ] is only needed if you want to check the program source code.
Check "Requirements" and "Links" to see what else you might need.
Now the program is installed you can create has many different backups has you want using simplebackup or encrypt/decrypt files using simplecrypt.

[ 13. Updating from previous simplebackup versions ]

Make a backup copy of previous version.
Copy the program (file simplebackup.pl or simplebackup.exe) from the new version over the previous version (again file simplebackup.pl or simplebackup.exe).
Starting with version 1.8.0, there was major upgrade on how the backup and restore information is stored, everything is now stored on the "support file". For already running backups you need to move or erase all backup files created from the backup destination (output_backup), newer backups will be restarted at session number 1.

You can use the new options on old configuration files, just check them by creating a new configuration file [ --econf new_file.conf ] argument, and add the new options.
For new backups simply create a new configuration file, again with the [ --econf new_file.conf ] argument.

[ 14. Backup format differences ]

Please notice that this is the simplebackup author perceptions and opinions about the each of the backup formats, and has such they might be wrong or someone else might not agree.

Format	Created by	Compression rate	Data corruption correction	Size limits	Speed	Notes
tar	tar	None	No	Depends on his version and "flavor"	Very Fast	This format has the main advantage of being a "standard" on all Unix systems, but it does not compresses the backup data and it has no build in data corruption correction, you can possibly fix a tar archive but you will lose some data. Windows support for it is not usual.
tar.Z	tar and compress	Poor	No	Depends on the version and "flavor" of both	Very Fast	The compress archiver is a very ancient piece of software, older than this developer, i'm shore that it had his prime time some day but from my testing (in HP-UX) it's fast but has a very limited compression algorithm and many others limitations. It's strongly recommended not USING it at all. Windows support for it is not usual.
tar.gz	tar and gzip	Good	No	Depends on the versions of both and the "flavor" of tar	Fast	The gzip archiver is a good archiver the algorithm is effective. For me the main bad thing about is that it can only compress files, so usually we have to create a tar archive and then gzip it, there for creating the tar.gz archive. It has no build in data corruption correction, you can possibly fix a tar.gz archive but you will lose some data. Windows support for it is not usual.
tar.bz2	tar and bzip2	Almost Excelent	No	Depends on the versions of both and the "flavor" of tar	Fast	The bzip2 archiver is a good archiver the algorithm is even more effective than gzip. For me the main bad thing about is that it can only compress files, so usually we have to create a tar archive and then bzip it, there for creating the tar.gz archive. It has no build in data corruption correction, you can possibly fix a tar.bz2 archive but you will lose some data. Windows support for it is not usual.
7z	7-Zip 7z.exe	Excelent	No	16000000000GB	Not very fast	The 7-ZIP archiver uses a very good algorithm, things get compressed a lot, the price you pay is time, loads of cpu time. For me the main bad thing about it is the lack of data corruption correction, if a 7z archive is corrupted i have no idea if you can recover it without losing something. Unix support for it exists but is a bit "erratic" to say the least, the program is open source but the main author of it is more of a Windows person i think. The compression technology is probably the best in this list, the program is stable for most uses but there are still some parts where it does not appear "stable".
zip	info-zip zip.exe and unzip.exe	Medium	No	2Gb on most systems	Fast	This format has the main advantage of being a web "standard" most systems and users can compress and uncompress zip archives, but it has limitations when dealing with large amounts of data and it has no error correction build in, you can possibly fix a zip archive but you will lose some data.
rar	rar or winrar	Excelent	Yes	8589934591GB	Not very fast	This is my favourite compression archiver, it's close source but the program is very reliable, with load of features, cross platform, easy to use, has very large limits almost has high has 7-ZIP, and the compression algorithm is very good, the error correction also enables it to recover from some error without losing data. Has a plus the main developer is a great person.

[ 15. License ],

This program is under the "GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, June 1991", see the copying.txt file for details.

[ 16. File list ],

/simplebackup-1.8.0_rc1/

File or Directory	Description
unix_readme.txt	The first simplebackup documentation (in Unix format) that points into the full documentation in the [ documentation/ ] directory.
windows_readme.txt	The first simplebackup documentation (in Microsoft format) that points into the full documentation in the [ documentation\ ] directory.
documentation/readme.html	The full simplebackup documentation under standard html format.
documentation/unix_readme.txt	Full Simplebackup documentation (in Unix format).
documentation/windows_readme.txt	Full Simplebackup documentation (in Microsoft format).
documentation/unix_copying.txt	GNU License, by which simplebackup is licensed (in Unix format).
documentation\windows_copying.txt	GNU License, by which simplebackup is licensed (in Microsoft format).

unix/
(Files and directories in unix ascii format)

File or Directory	Description
simplebackup.pl	The simplebackup program.
simplecrypt.pl	The simplecrypt encryption program, this can be used to encrypt/decrypt files using the SimpleCrypt algorithm.
perl.modules/readme.txt	Small help on how to install the perl modules.
perl.modules/Authen-SASL-2.10/	SASL 2.0.8 mail module for perl, required in mail reporting if you are using a smtp mail server that required authentication for sending emails. *4.
perl.modules/http-dav/	Contains all the perl modules and a c library required by simplebackup (and other perl programs) to support http web-dav backups and restores.
perl.modules/http-dav/HTTP-DAV-0.31/	Contains the Perl HTTP DAV module that is required by the Perl to support http web dav backups. *4.
perl.modules/http-dav/XML-DOM-1.44/	Contains the Perl XML-DOM module that is required by the HTTP Dav module *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/expat-2.0.0/	Contains the C expat library for parsing XML (written by James Clark Perl) it's needed by XML-DOM module *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/libwww-perl-5.805/	Contains the Perl Libwww module that are required by the HTTP DAV and XML-DOM modules *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/Digest-MD5-2.36/	Contains the Perl Digest-MD5 module that is required by the Libwww module. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/HTML-Parser-3.55/	Contains the Perl HTML-Parser module that is required by the Libwww module. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/HTML-Tagset-3.10/	Contains the Perl HTML-Tagset module that is required by the HTML-Parser module. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/Compress-Zlib-2.001/	Contains the Perl Compress-Zlib module that is required by the Libwww module. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/Compress-Raw-Zlib-2.001/	Contains the Perl Compress-Raw-Zlib module that is required by the Compress-Zlib module. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/IO-Compress-Zlib-2.001/	Contains the Perl IO-Compress-Zlib module that is required by the Compress-Zlib module. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/IO-Compress-Base-2.001/	Contains the Perl IO-Compress-Base module that is required by the IO-Compress-Zlib module. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/MIME-Base64-3.07/	Contains the Perl MIME-Base64 module that is required by the Libwww module. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/URI-1.35/	Contains the Perl URI module that is required by the Libwww module. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/Crypt-SSLeay-0.51/	Contains the Perl Crypt-SSLeay that is a optional requirement of the Libwww module. To install this you need to have the openssh and the openssh libraries installed. The Crypt-SSLeay provides https webdav support (encrypted http) to perl programs, future simplebackup versions might support this so you are suggested to install it. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/IO-Socket-SSL-1.01/	Contains the Perl IO-Socket-SSL that is a optional requirement of the Libwww module. The IO-Socket-SSL provides https webdav support (encrypted http) to perl programs, future simplebackup versions might support this so you are suggested to install it. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/Net_SSLeay.pm-1.30/	Contains the Perl Net_SSLeay that is a requirement of the IO-Socket-SSL module. To install this you need to have the OpenSSL and the OpenSSL libraries installed. The Net_SSLeay provides https webdav support (encrypted http) to perl programs, future simplebackup versions might support this so you are suggested to install it. *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/libxml-perl-0.08/	Contains the Perl libxml module that is required by the XML-DOM module *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/XML-Parser-2.34/	Contains the Perl XML-Parser module that is required by the XML-DOM module *4..
perl.modules/http-dav/XML-RegExp-0.03/	Contains the Perl XML Regular Expressions module that is required by the XML-DOM module *4..
perl.modules/Expect-1.20/	Contains the Perl Expect module that is required by simplebackup if you intend to do sftp backups (secure ftp) using the open ssh sftp program *4.
perl.modules/IO-Tty-1.07/	Contains the Perl IO-Tpy module that is required by the Perl Expect module. *4.
perl.modules/libnet-1.19/	LibNet module for Perl, required for ftp backup support, e-mail backups and mail reporting. Any standard Perl installation should already have this included but it's here just in case you require it *4.

windows\
(Files and directories in ms-dos ascii format)

File or Directory	Description
simplebackup.pl	The simplebackup program.
simplebackup.exe	The simplebackup program in Windows 32 bits compiled version, this can be used to run simplebackup in x86 Windows Machines without installing perl.
simplecrypt.pl	The simplecrypt encryption program, this can be used to encrypt/decrypt files using the SimpleCrypt algorithm.
simplecrypt.exe	The simplecrypt encryption program in Windows 32 bits compiled version, this can be used to run simplecrypt in x86 Windows Machines without installing perl.
info-zip\readme.txt	Small help about the info zip package and how to install it *1.
info-zip\zip-2.32\	A copy of the Info-Zip zip program v2.3.2 for Windows, downloaded from http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/ This is required by simplebackup if you want to create zip backups. Notice this is not my software and it's NOT under the GNU License, for license details about it see the LICENSE file inside of this directory 1 3.
info-zip\unzip-5.52\	A copy of the Info-Zip unzip program v5.5.2 for Windows, downloaded from http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/ This is required by simplebackup if you want to restore from zip backups. Notice this is not my software and it's NOT under the GNU License, for license details about it see the LICENSE file inside of this directory 1 3.
putty-0.58\readme.txt	Small help about the putty package and how to install it.
putty-0.58\putty-0.58-installer.exe	A copy of the putty install package v0.58 which includes several ssh programs such has putty.exe, pscp.exe, psftp 1, etc 3.
7-zip-4.42\readme.txt	Small help about the 7-zip package and how to install it .
7-zip-4.42\7z442.exe	A copy of the 7-zip v4.42 install program *3.
perl.modules\perl-5.6.x\readme.txt	A small help on how to install the activestate perl modules. This is relevant for activestate perl 5.6.x 1 2.
perl.modules\perl-5.6.x\install.cmd	A Windows cmd script to install all simplebackup perl modules on activestate perl 5.6.x 1 2.
perl.modules\perl-5.6.x\Authen-SASL-2.09\	SASL 2.0.9 mail module for activestateperl 5.6.x, required in mail reporting if you are using a smtp mail server that requires authentication for sending emails 1 2 *3.
perl.modules\perl-5.8.x\readme.txt	A small help on how to install the activestate perl modules. This is relevant for activestate perl 5.6.x 1 2.
perl.modules\perl-5.8.x\install.cmd	A Windows cmd script to install all simplebackup perl modules on activestate perl 5.8.x 1 2.
perl.modules\perl-5.8.x\Authen-SASL-2.10\	SASL 2.1.0 mail module for activestateperl 5.8.x, required in mail reporting if you are using a smtp mail server that requires authentication for sending emails 1 2 *3.
perl.modules\perl-5.8.x\http_dav_0.3.1\	HTTP-DAV v0.3.1 perl module, required to do http webdav backups/restores 1 2 *3.
perl.modules\perl-5.8.x\libxml-perl-0.08\	libxml v0.08, perl module required by the HTTP-DAV Module 1 2 *3.
perl.modules\perl-5.8.x\XML-DOM-1.44\	xml-dom v1.44, perl module required by the HTTP-DAV Module 1 2 *3.
perl.modules\perl-5.8.x\XML-RegExp-0.03\	xml-regexp v1.44, perl module required by the HTTP-DAV Module 1 2 *3.

*1 - This is not required to be installed if you are using the windows compiled version (simplebackup.exe).
*2 - The most recent version of this module can be downloaded and installed from activestate.
*3 - This this program/software is included to make installation easier. All have a "free use" license, no money is required, but is not done by me and you should read each software license for legal details. You should not assume them to be open source.
*4 - The most recent version of this module can be downloaded and installed from perl cpan.

[ 17. Bugs and Bug Reporting ],

This program was heavily tested in several different operating systems and it's being used by me daily, on a Microsoft Windows XP and on a Linux system so there are no bugs that i'm aware. If you think you found one please e-mail to [ migas.miguel@gmail.com ] or use the support forum [ http://sourceforge.net/projects/migas-sbackup ]. Your help is greatly appreciated.
The following things can help to better determine and fix the problem :

A detailed expanation on what happen and how it can be reproduced.
Sending the configuration and log files.
Sending the debug dump of the process by :
1. Editing the configuration file and adding the configuration key [ debug_level = full ].
2. Running the backup or restore process and redirecting the debug dump into a text file, example simplebackup.pl --conf my_config_file.conf > backup_debug.txt
3. Now please compress the debug dump file and send it.
Providing a patch fix is very appreciated since i'm a bit lazy :).

[ 18. Revision History (Change log) ],

To view this information edit the [ simplebackup.pl ] file using a text editor (notepad, vi, jedit, etc) and search for the "Revision History", or check the [ Program Site ].

[ 19. Future Plans (To do) ],

Add a build in logic to allow backup file spanning, so that it is possible to span large backup files across different backup mediums, for example across two or more dvd's.
Add backup support to CD-R/CD-RW or DVD-R/DVD-RW.
Create a cross-platform graphical front-end possibly using Java.
Add a install/uninstall program.
Implement sftp support using perl modules.
Adding multi-language support, English and Portuguese for a start.

[ 20. Simplebackup files technical documentation ],

Simplebackup can use and generate several auxiliary files.

Configuration file
This is the configuration file for any backup session.

Always required.
This file can and should be edited to configure each backup session.
Use one configuration file per backup session.
Defines the paths into all other files related to the backup session.
Can be created by simplebackup, using the command [ simplebackup.pl --econf new_config_file.conf ].
Ascii format, the line termination depends on how the file was created originally by the user.
Comments are supported, just include the # char in the start of any line.
Contains several configuration parameters, some are optional or have default values while others must always be configured. The general format is similar to the squid proxy configuration syntax.
Each configuration key is written in a single file line and is defined by the combination : key_name = key_value.
For a full list of all configuration keys simply create a new configuration file.

Log file
The log file is where simplebackup keeps all the messages related to the backup activities.

Not always required.
This file shouldn't be edited.
It's defined in the configuration file in the key [ log_file ].
You can share a single log file for all your simplebackup backups, but it's not recommended since it tends to mix up all the backup messages.
It's created by simplebackup.
Can be safely erased.
Ascii format, the line termination depends on the host operating system.
Comments are not supported.
It's defined in the configuration file key [ log_file ].
There are 3 level of messages, Informative, Warnings and Errors :

Informative just produce some kind of extra information, example reporting the type of backup.
Warnings show a tolerable error.
Errors are serious messages that cause the backup or restore to fail.

Notice for security reasons if any error is detected on the configuration file, a error message is printed into the terminal but nothing is written to the log file.

Support file
A central "database" file that keeps information about the backup data managed by simplebackup in relation to a configuration file. This file contains information about backup and restore activities and because it's so vital for simplebackup operations up to 3 copies of it per configuration file can exist.

Always required.
Can't share support files across different configuration files.
This file should NEVER be edited, if corrupted backups and restores can fail.
Using a system similar to oracle database control files, up to 3 copies of this file can exist and be managed by simplebackup, if one copy is corrupted simplebackup will use another one.
If all support file copies are corrupted simplebackup will be unable to backup or restore.
Comments are not supported.
Ascii format, the line termination depends on the host operating system. It might change to unicode format in the future.
It's defined in the configuration file keys [ backup_support_file_copy1 , backup_support_file_copy2, backup_support_file_copy3 ].
The structure of the file is constituted several parts. A start marker, one or more different data lines and end marker, example (with microsoft paths) :

<-- start of support file -->
write_counter = 2
current_session = 2
current_session_date = friday 20-10-2006
autosync_session = 0
autosync_session_date = never_restored
restore_count = 0
last_restore_date = never_restored
last_restore_username = never_restored
backup_working = local file system
backup_mode = differential
backup_host_os = winnt4/win2000/xp/2003
backup_real_host_os = MSWin32
backup_os_name = DGOI249
backup_username = miandsio
total_lines_number = 32
0<crc805025609<v:\<9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url<1073422104<198
0<crc805025609<v:\<9ias\NT05\EMPTY_DIR<1072703411<dir
0<crc805025609<v:\<9ias\NT05\TEMPORARY_DIR<1022705411<dir
1<crc805025609<disk_v.1 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip<1594675373<never_restored<0
1<crc805025609<disk_v.2 full thursday 20-10-2006 crc805025609.zip<1594000000<never_restored<0
2<crc805025609<disk_v.1 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip<v:\<9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url<1073422104<198<never_restored<0
2<crc805025609<disk_v.1 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip<v:\<9ias\NT05\EMPTY_DIR<1072703411<dir<never_restored<0
2<crc805025609<disk_v.1 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip<v:\<9ias\NT05\TEMPORARY_DIR<1022705411<dir<never_restored<0
2<crc805025609<disk_v.2 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip<v:\<9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url<1073422104<198<never_restored<0
2<crc805025609<disk_v.2 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip<v:\<9ias\NT05\EMPTY_DIR<1072703411<dir<never_restored<0
3<1<v:\<9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url<198
3<1<v:\<9ias\NT05\EMPTY_DIR<dir
3<1<v:\<9ias\NT05\TEMPORARY_DIR<dir
3<2<v:\<9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url<198
3<2<v:\<9ias\NT05\EMPTY_DIR<dir
<-- end of support file -->

Line by Line explanation :

The marker that says that the support file start here.
The write counter, reports the number of times that this file has been written by simplebackup. It's used to determine what is the most recent support file in a given backup configuration detecting synchronization problems. This is similar to the Sync number user by oracle control files.
The last backup session used by simplebackup, this is a number that increases every time a backup is done.
The weekday and date of the last backup session.
The last session used during the last autosync restore. This is used during autosync restores that enable simplebackup to act has a syncronization tool, similar to rsync. For example if working in autosync and if this reads 12 then only files and directories with backup session number over 12 will be restored.
The weekday and date when the last autosync restore occured.
The total number of restores done, in any mode: manual, auto or autosync.
The weekday and date of the last restore session, in any mode: manual, auto or autosync.
The operating system user name of the last person that did a restore, in any mode: manual, auto or autosync.
How was the backup operating during the last backup execution, local directory, smtp, ftp, sftp, tape, etc.
What was the backup mode configured (in configuration file) during the last backup executaion, full, incremental or differential
The operating system detected by simplebackup, winnt4/win2000/xp/2003 or Unix.
The operating system detected by perl, MSWin32, Linux, Solaris, OpenBsd, etc
The name of the machine that did the last backup.
The name of the user that did the last backup.
Total lines that the support file has, this is used has a control.
This is a management file record it's used by simplebackup during incremental and differential backup to now what files and directories changed and there for determining what needs to be backup ed, by comparing the file modification time and file size. There can be one or more lines or this type, one per each file or directory (empty directories only !!).
It's constituted by 6 columns separated by the < char, for example [ 0<crc805025609<v:\<9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url<1073422104<198 ] :
1. [ 0 ] means that this line is a management file record.
2. [ crc805025609 ] is a crc32 number generated from the path referred in the configuration file (input_backup configuration key), in this case [ v:\ ].
3. [ v:\ ] is the root directory in relation to what is being backup ed, it is used by simplebackup has a marker for him to know where to change directory, in this case [ cd v:\ ]
4. [ 9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url ] is the relative path into the file, link or directory to be backup.
5. [ 1073422104 ] is a number that represents the file/link modification time. In case of a empty directory the number is replaced by the string [ dir ].
6. [ 198 ] is a number that represents the file/link size in bytes. In case of a empty directory is replaced by the string [ dir ].
Same has line 17.
Same has line 17.
This is the backup file record, it's used by simplebackup to keep a record of the backup files created by him.
It's constituted by 6 columns separated by the < char, for example [ 1<crc805025609<disk_v.1 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip<1594675373<never_restored<0 ] :
1. [ 1 ] means that this line is a backup file record.
2. [ crc805025609 ] is a crc32 number generated from the path referred in the configuration file (input_backup configuration key), in this case [ v:\ ].
3. [ disk_v.1 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip ] is the name of the backup file.
4. [ 1594675373 ] is the size of the backup file in bytes..
5. [ never_restored ] is the last restore date in the format weekday day-month-year, example [ monday 30-10-2006 ]. If the file was never restored by simplebackup then it's replaced by the string [ never_restored ].
6. [ 0 ] is the total number of times that this file was restored.
Same has line 20.
This is the backup file details record, it's used by simplebackup to know what files and directories are inside of the backup files created by him.
It's constituted by 9 columns separated by the < char, for example [ 2<crc805025609<disk_v.1 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip<v:\<9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url<1073422104<198<never_restored<0 ] :
1. [ 2 ] means that this line is a backup file details record.
2. [ crc805025609 ] is a crc32 number generated from the path referred in the configuration file (input_backup configuration key), in this case [ v:\ ].
3. [ disk_v.1 full thursday 19-10-2006 crc805025609.zip ] is the name of the backup file.
4. [ v:\ ] is the root directory in relation to what was backup ed, in this case [ cd v:\ ]
5. [ 9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url ] is the relative path into the file, link or directory that was backup ed.
6. [ 1073422104 ] is a number that represents the file/link modification time. In case of a empty directory the number is replaced by the string [ dir ].
7. [ 198 ] is a number that represents the uncompress file/link size in bytes. In case of a empty directory is replaced by the string [ dir ].
8. [ never_restored ] is the last restore date in the format weekday day-month-year, example [ monday 30-10-2006 ]. If the file/link or directory was never restored by simplebackup then it's replaced by the string [ never_restored ].
9. [ 0 ] is the total number of times that this file/link or directory was restored.
Same has line 22.
Same has line 22.
Same has line 22.
Same has line 22.
This is the full list record, it's used by simplebackup to keep a list of files/links and directories (empty directories only !!), every time simplebackup makes a backup it creates a list of everything existing on his backup list (input_backup), even if it's not backup ed.
It's constituted by 5 columns separated by the < char, for example [ 3<1<v:\<9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url<198 ] :
1. [ 3 ] means that this line is a full list record.
2. [ 1 ] is the backup session number used by simplebackup when it created this record entry.
3. [ v:\ ] is the root directory in relation to what was backup ed, in this case [ cd v:\ ]
4. [ 9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url ] is the relative path into the file, link or directory that was backup ed.
5. [ 198 ] is a number that represents the file/link size in bytes. In case of a empty directory is replaced by the string [ dir ].
Same has line 27.
Same has line 27.
Same has line 27.
Same has line 27.
The marker that says that the support file ends here.

Backup list file
A text file that contains a list of files and directories to backup.

Not always required.
This file is not created by simplebackup to use it you can created it using any standard text file editor.
Ascii format, the line termination depends on how the file was created originally by the user.
The use of wild cards is not supported.
It's used by using the configuration file key [ input_backup ], for example [ input_backup = file://@c:\my_backup_list.txt
Comments are supported, just include the # char in the start of any line.

v:\9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url
t:\
#v:\trash

Line by Line explanation :

In this line the file [ v:\9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url ] will be backup ed.
In this line the entire [ t:\ ] drive will be backup ed.
This line is comment out it will be ignored by simplebackup.

Restore list file
A text file that contains a list of files and directories to restore and optionally where to restore them.

Not always required.
This file is not created by simplebackup to use it you can created it using any standard text file editor.
Ascii format, the line termination depends on how the file was created originally by the user.
The use of wild cards is supported.
It's used during restores by using the [ --rlist_file ] argument.
Comments are supported, just include the # char in the start of any line.
If used, files and directories not listed on this file are not restored, unless the user is working in manual mode and changes the restore list on the restore menu.

v:\9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url
*.txt < d:\tmp
v:\9ias\ora_dmp\*
c:\mp3\music\good*.mp3
#c:\mp3\music\good2*.mp3

Line by Line explanation :

In this line the file [ v:\9ias\HTTPS-WDOMUS.url ] is restored into the original path.
In this line all text files are restored into [ d:\tmp ], the restore path will be created if it does not exists.
In this line all files and directories existing in [ v:\9ias\ora_dmp ] will be restored into their original path.
In this line all mp3 files with the name starting with [ good ] in the directory [ c:\mp3\music\ ] will be restored into their original path.
This line is comment out it will be ignored by simplebackup.

[ 21. Faqs (Frequently Asked Questions) ],

Q. In a Unix system, why does the program works correctly if i run it on a shell, and under a cron or at job it fails ?
A. Your [cron or at] environment $PATH variable is different from the one used on your shell, this causes the failure since simplebackup calls some external programs (rar, zip, tar, gzip, bzip, compress). In Unix(Linux at least) you can add the path variable to your crontab (check man 5 crontab), is is a sample of my crontab:

Q. In a Microsoft windows system, simplebackup doesn't work it's not even a executable file !
A. Starting with simplebackup 1.6.0 a compiled version (simplebackup.exe) is being included with the simplebackup package.
But notice there is more than a way to execute a program on a operating system, this is a interpreted program which means that it can be executed by a interpreter, in this case it's Perl. There is no point in compiling everything. By the way Windows is a very limited platform with almost no utilities build in, if you want to run simplebackup check the "Requirements", "Links" and "Installing" sections.
Some examples of lack of utilities in windows:

There is no way you can create zip file, in XP you can open them up but you can't create them with out installing something, Winrar, Winzip, etc.
Complete lack of any decent script languages, batch files are created using a very (VERY !!) poor language, Microsoft could have included on of the many free available: Perl, Python, etc.
No free compilers.
Almost no "command line" administration tools, that could help a lot in system administration and remote administration.

Q. Right fine, but i really really really want simplebackup to be a standard windows executable file (.exe).
A. Starting with simplebackup 1.6.0 a compiled version (simplebackup.exe) is being included with the simplebackup package, simply copy this file into any directory on your $PATH and use it.

Q. What is the difference between the three backup modes: full, incremental and differential ?
A.

[ In full mode ], simplebackup will always backup everything found. To do a full restore you only have to restore the most recent compress backup file, you gain simplicity in both backups and restores but comes at a price of more space used and generally more used time.
Backup scheme : full_backup->full_backup->full_backup->full_backup
Notice that simplebackup can also delete older full backups by using the configuration key [ keep_last_n_files = ? ].
[ In incremental mode ], simplebackup will only backup files that where modified in relation to the last backup, this is done by comparing each file modification time and size with a list that is keep on the support file. You gain the use of less space and generally less used time, but comes at a price of a more complicated restore method.
Backup scheme : full_backup->update_list->delete_previous_backups->incremental->update_list->incremental->etc
The full backup day is defined by the configuration key [ full_backup_day = ? ].
[ In differential mode ], the backup is similar to the incremental mode, but here simplebackup will only backup files that where modified in relation to the last full backup, this again is done by comparing the each file modification time and size with a list that is keep on on the support file. This method is a mix of the full and incremental modes with advantages and disadvantages of both.
Backup scheme : full_backup->update_list->delete_previous_backups->differential->differential->etc
The full backup day is defined by the configuration key [ full_backup_day = ? ].
Notice that all backup modes will consider the available restrictions (defined in the configuration file), like:

full path rejections [ backup_full_path_rejections = ? ].
extension rejections [ backup_extension_rejections = ? ].
file size limit [ backup_file_size_limit = ? ].
filename rejections [ backup_filenames_rejections = ? ].

Also notice that starting with simplebackup 1.8.0 the restore algorithm was hugely improved, and simplebackup takes care of all the backup file selections automatically. So for the end user the restore will be "easy" to use in any backup mode.

Q. What is the best backup mode ?
A. There is no definite answer, it all depends on your needs and the data that is going into the backup. You will have to know each backup mode (check the upper faq) and the actual data to backup.

Q. Starting with simplebackup 1.3.0, backups appear slower why ?, it takes a long time during the "Building backup list" phase.
A. The speed of simplebackup was hugely improved in simplebackup 1.5.0, please upgrade to a newer version.

Q. In some backups during "Building backup list" phase the memory usage seams to go up a lot why ?
A. Simplebackup generates the entire backup list in memory, so if you have many files and directories to backup the memory usage will rise accordantly.

Q. I have updated my simplebackup and the first time than i run a backup it reported that the management file was corrupted why ?
A. Starting with simplebackup 1.8.0 this error no longer occurs because there is no management file, please update.

Q. Simplebackup is reporting in a warning that there is no data do backup, but there are several files or directories available why isn't him doing a backup ?
A. You are using a incremental or differential backups or you have turn on one or more advance restrictions (backup_extension_rejections ; backup_file_size_limit ; backup_filenames_rejections ; backup_full_path_rejections) simplebackup has follow all this rules and found nothing to backup. You have to edit the backup configuration file and check if the rules are correct.
Examples:

You are using incremental backups, and there was a full backup on monday, in the meanwhile no files where changed so the next backup on tuesday come up with nothing to backup.
You have configured simplebackup to reject mp3 audio files (backup_extension_rejections) and you attempted to backup a directory that only contains mp3 files.
You have limit of 1 megabyte maximal file size on your backup (backup_file_size_limit) and all the files are 20 megabytes each.

Q. Simplebackup is doing a backup of a specific backup file even if i have one or more advance restrictions (backup_extension_rejections ; backup_file_size_limit ; backup_directory_rejections ; backup_filenames_rejections ; backup_full_path_rejections), why ?
A. Because you pointed a specific file to backup, simplebackup will assume that you REALLY want that file to be backup so it will NOT use those rules.

Q. Simplebackup is reporting that the backup files are out of sync with the backup list, what does this mean ?
A. Has a precaution simplebackup will force a full backup during incremental/differential backup modes, if the total of full backup files available on the backup destiny (defined in configuration key output_backup) is different from the total groups required (defined in the configuration key input_backup) or if incremental/differential files are detected and the backup mode is working in the reverse backup mode, this situation could occurred if the you add a new directory or file into the backup list, if you accidentally erase a full backup file or if you started doing incremental backups but then switch into differential backups (or the other way around).

Q. How can i force a full backup if i have the backups configured in incremental or differential mode ?
A. You can edit the configuration file and change the backup mode or type use the --ffconf argument [ simplebackup.pl --ffconf config_file.conf ], to force a full backup just this time. The [ --ffconf ] argument will make simplebackup erase the management data from the support file and force a single full backup.

Q. Some times a backup fails during "Backup into temporary file" when in other backup directories or even in the same backup directory it works without problems why ?
A. If you are using the same type of configuration on the configuration files check if you aren't having, permission problems or lack of free space on the temporary area indicated by the [ temporary_dir ] variable in the configuration file.

Q. Backup always fails during "Backup into temporary file" phase.
A. Make shore that all the required executables are in your $PATH variable, simplebackup makes use of some executables, which depend on the select operating system and on the type of backup. Here is the full list:
In a Unix system:
- [ rar ] for rar type of archives, [ backup_format = rar ].
- [ 7z ] for 7z (7-zip) type of archives, [ backup_format = 7z ].
- [ zip ] for zip type of archives, zip is info-zip 2.3 or over, [ backup_format = zip) ].
- [ tar ] for tar type of archives, [ backup_format = tar ].
- [ tar and compress ] for tar.Z type of archives, [ backup_format = tar.Z ].
- [ tar and gzip ] for tar.gz type of archives, [ backup_format = tar.gz ].
- [ tar and bzip2 ] for tar.bz2 type of archives, [ backup_format = tar.bz2 ].
In a Microsoft windows system:

[ rar ] for rar type of archives, [ backup_format = rar ].
[ 7z ] for 7z (7-zip) type of archives, [ backup_format = 7z ].
[ zip ] for zip type of archives, zip is info-zip 2.3 or over [ backup_format = zip ] *2.
[ tar ] for tar type of archives, [ backup_format = tar ] *1.
[ tar and compress ] for tar.Z type of archives [ backup_format = tar.Z ] *1.
[ tar and gzip ] for tar.gz type of archives [ backup_format = tar.gz ] *1.
[ tar and bzip2 ] for tar.bz2 type of archives [ backup_format = tar.bz2 ] *1.

*1 It's not very likely that a Windows system has this kind of Unix commands but if yours does, then simplebackup can use them.
*2 The Windows compiled version [ simplebackup.exe ] features build in zip support, so you will not need to install info-zip on your path.

Q. Backup always fails during "Moving temporary backup file..." phase.
A. Starting from version 1.1.0, simplebackup will (in most but not all backup modes) check if the file already exists on the destiny backup directory (or remote location), if the file exists simplebackup will NOT ! overwritten it and it will fail.

Q. I'm using a tar type of backup (backup_format = tar ; backup_format = tar.Z ; backup_format = tar.gz ; backup_format = tar.bz2) and the empty directories (directories with no files or sub-directories) are not being backup, what is wrong ?
A. Some tar commands have a limitation (i consider it a bug) and will refuse to do backups of empty directories if we passed it a list of files or directories to backup.
To overcome this you can :

Attempt to use the advanced_tar, and see if your tar version supports it.
Use a different backup format, zip is fine, rar is excellent but proprietary and not supported on all the systems.

Q. When simplebackup builds the backup list and if i'm using some kind of tar backup (backup_format = tar ; backup_format = tar.Z ; backup_format = tar.gz ; backup_format = tar.bz2) the backup always fails when creating the tar file why ?
A. You are using a Tar that does not support the -I (openbsd, freebsd, etc) or -T parameter (gnu tar) or -L (Aix). The only example that i know of this limitation is the HP-UX tar that is unable to read a external backup/restore list from a file.
You can:

Update your tar, check the [ Links ] section.
Use a different backup format.

Q. I used tar and (gzip/bzip2) compression method, backup_format = tar.gz ; backup_format = tar.bz2 and Winrar keeps telling that the file is corrupted, what's up ?
A. Try to uncompress the file using unix tools (tar and gnu gzip/bzip2), you can easily do this in Linux or in Windows if you have the gnu tools (Cygwin Unix tools for example), if you uncompress the file without problems then it's a Winrar bug. From the tests that i made it has something to do with non US chars on names of files or directories inside of the compressed file, this causes Winrar to say that the file is corrupted, but it's not. This has been reported by me to the Rar/Winrar Developers, and i was reported that it will be fixed on the next version of Winrar.

Q. Backups/Restores don't work and nothing is reported in the log file.
A. The configuration file has some kind of problem, when this occurs simplebackup will print out a error message into the command line, since the log file is declared on the configuration file simplebackup doesn't have a file to log into, even if a file is declared for security reasons simplebackup will not trust the value. Solution is to edit the configuration file and fix the configuration values, you can run simplebackup in test mode until you have the configuration file fixed (--tconf test mode), in unix type: simplebackup.pl --tconf /path/file.conf in Windows type: perl -w simplebackup.pl --tconf \path\file.conf do this until simplebackup stops reporting errors and dumps the configuration of the file. After this you can try to do a real backup (--conf backup mode), in unix type: simplebackup.pl --conf /path/file.conf in Windows type: perl -w simplebackup.pl --conf \path\file.conf. Also notice in Unix (at least) you can redirect the prints from simplebackup into a text a text file using the unix redirects [ 1> /somefile.log ].

Q. Backups using a ftp server fail to erase previous backup files.
A. You must check the log backup file to see if anything is being reported, your ftp account might not have the permissions required for a correct operation by simplebackup. Simplebackup must be able to:

connect into the ftp server so check firewall, proxy, ftp port, etc,
login into the ftp server (using your account),
upload files into the remote backup directory (put),
delete files from the remote backup directory (delete).

Q. Backups using a ftp server still fail, and i have all those things you say on the previous faq.
A. The problem with "weird" ftp servers was fixed in simplebackup 1.8.0 by using the support file technology, please update.

Q. Can i debug the ftp connection to check for any errors ?
A. Yes, activate the option the debug option by editing the configuration file key [ debug_level = full ].

Q. Can i debug the mail connection to check for any errors ?
A. Yes, activate the option the debug option by editing the configuration file key [ debug_level = full ].

Q. Can i debug the actual compress/uncompress commands to see what is happening ?
A. Yes, activate the option the debug option by editing the configuration file key [ debug_level = full ].

Q. So what are the different debug levels ?
A. By default simplebackup doesn't print out anything and keeps a extensive log of his operations, but in order to debug possible problems there are 3 debug levels.

[ debug_level = none ] this is the default mode, nothing is printed,
[ debug_level = half ] in this mode simplebackup will report what is the internal function() that it's running and print out all log messages generated,
[ debug_level = full ] in this mode simplebackup will do the same has the half mode plus it will also do a full debug of any smtp(mail), ftp/sftp/webdav communications and any used compressed/uncompressed commands.

Q. In the configuration file what is the default value ?
A. Most configuration options have a default value, this value is what simplebackup will use if nothing is configured by the user, and can be checked by testing the configuration by using the --tconf option, example [ simplebackup.pl --tconf your_config_file.conf ]. Notice that not all configuration options support this.

Q. In the configuration what is the auto value ?
A. This configuration value will force simplebackup to auto detect a option, example auto detect the operating system. Notice that not all configuration options support this.

Q. Can i use backup configuration files from the previous versions ?
A. Yes ! Simplebackup is 100% compatible the previous configuration files, but please don't forget to read the Updating from previous simplebackup versions section.

Q. So what is exactly the local database history file ?
A. The use of this type of file was dropped in simplebackup 1.8.0, everything is now centralized on the support file.

Q. So what is the local database restore history file ?
A. The use of this type of file was dropped in simplebackup 1.8.0, everything is now centralized on the support file.

Q. I'm doing a backup into a tape device and simplebackup reports that "Erasing previous backup session file from the support file (only !!)...", Why ?
A. Simplebackup is unable to know what is on the actual tape, there for it can't know if it's erasing something on the tape or not. So in order to prevent the support file from growing forever simplebackup will, ONLY, erase the file record from it.

Q. How does simplebackup writes data into the tape device ?
A. Simplebackup will create the backup compressed file on the temporary directory based on what was chosen on the configuration file, then renamed the temporary file into the final name and finally write the file into the tape using a tar command with full path's.
Resuming the tape backup steps are:

Build the backup list (if required),
Compress the backup data based on the selected data example: [ create /tmp/_tmp_1.usr.zip ],
Rename the backup file example: [ /tmp/_tmp_1.usr.zip -> /tmp/1.usr.zip ],
Place the file on tape example: [ tar -cf /dev/ftape /tmp/1.usr.zip 2>/dev/null ]. Future versions of simplebackup might support other backup formats.

Please notice that the tape backup support is experimental, the simplebackup author has his tape device damaged so his unable to do any further testing. It's NOT advised to use this feature on important data.

Q. Simplebackup is reporting "[ Error ], Net::FTP module wasn't found...", what does this mean ?
A. By some strange reason your perl installation is lacking the libnet library or this one is corrupted, this library is standard and it should always be installed, it's required by simplebackup for ftp backups and email reporting.

Under Microsoft Windows you should reinstall activestate perl.
Under a Unix system you can install the library from your operating system package if it's included (this is the recommended method), compiled it from perl cpan or you can compile the library from the version included with the simplebackup package.

Q. Simplebackup is reporting "[ Error ], Net::SMTP module wasn't found...", what does this mean ?
A. By some strange reason your perl installation is lacking the libnet library or this one is corrupted, this library is standard and it should always be installed, it's required by simplebackup for ftp backups and email backups and email reporting.

Under Microsoft Windows you should reinstall activestate perl.
Under a Unix system you can install the library from your operating system package if it's included (this is the recommended method), compiled it from perl cpan or you can compile the library from the version included with the simplebackup package.

Q. Why is there a unix version and a microsoft version of simplebackup ?
A. The only difference is the way that the file was saved, one version is using a unix line termination (\n), and the other is using microsoft line termination (\r\n), a part from this both files (simplebackup.pl) are exactly the same. This was done to make it easy for users to see the perl code on their systems.

Q. The backup e-mail report appears all weird on Microsoft Outlook XP.
A. Microsoft Outlook XP automatically removes the line termination chars if the text line is to long, you can click on the message option to restore them or change for all messages in the Microsoft Outlook configuration. It might also occurred on Microsoft Outlook 2003 or over, i have not test it. This is a stupid setting and i have no plans to even attempt to control this, since it could break other e-mail programs.

Q. Are there any plans to support other e-mail server, such has Exchange, imap or others ?
A. If i find portable way i might support imap mail servers or others, but i have no plans to support the closed Microsoft Exchange protocol used by Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook and some few others, simplebackup can work with a Exchange server if the standard smtp relay is enabled.

Q. My smtp mail server is not running on the default port, how can make simplebackup use a port number different from 25 ?
A. If you are using email for your backup resports edit your backup configuration file, and activate (by removing the # char) or add the option [ mail_port ]. For example if you mail server is running on port 2025 you type [ mail_port = 2025 ]. If you are using email for the actual backup (email backup) then you should edit the configuration file and write the mail port on the backup url, example: [ output_backup = smtp://mail_server:2025?mail_from_address=my_email@mail_server&mail_to_addresses=my_email@mail_server,boss_email@another_server1.com ].

Q. My smtp mail server requires authentication, to send a e-mail i must send a valid username and password, how can i make simplebackup use this information ?
A. Edit your backup configuration file, and activate (by removing the # char) or add the options [ mail_username ] and [ mail_password ]. For example if the username is migas and the password is my_cute_password you would type [ mail_username = migas ] and [ mail_password = my_cute_password ]. This will make simplebackup use SASL authentication, so remember to that you must have Authen-SASL library installed.

Q. I get a error reporting "Authen::SASL module wasn't found" what does this means ?
A. This occurs because you attempting to use the email backup report with authentication (mail_username = some_user ; mail_password = some_pass), and your perl installation does not have the standard SASL authentication module installed. If your mail server not not require authentication to send emails simply comment out both configuration keys with the # char. If your mail server requires authentication you need to install the appropriate Authen::SASL package to your perl, you can use the copies supplied with simplebackup or get it from perl cpan (unix) and from activestate perl (windows).

Q. Why must i use two e-mail accounts, one to send the e-mail and one to receive ?, all i want is to get my backup report in my e-mail account.
A. Well you don't, for security and practical reasons simplebackup requires that you always declare from which e-mail account the e-mail comes, but nothing stops you from declaring the same e-mail account on both situations, you can send a e-mail to your self ;). There for you can use the same e-mail account on the [ mail_from_address ] and in the [ mail_to_addresses ].

Q. What can i do with the [ pass_log_to_external_cmd ] option ?
A. Anything you want, this option makes simplebackup pass the backup log into a external command or commands using the standard input (stdin). It's similar to using pipes in Unix or Windows, think about this has something similar to : type log_file.log | your_command. In real life, you can use this to print the backup log, send it into a sql server, convert the ascii into xml, html, etc. It all depends on what the command or commands do.

Q. Why does simplebackup sometimes reports "Warning : unable to open the directory..." or "Warning : unable to access the empty directory..." ?
A. Simplebackup was building a backup list (during incremental/differential or other advanced backup modes) and couldn't access the listed directory, this directory will not be added into the backup and you can miss some data. This can occur because of lack of permissions, file lock (mainly under Windows), or file system corruption.

Q. Why does simplebackup sometimes reports "Warning : unable to access the modification date/time of..."?
A. Simplebackup was building a backup list (during incremental/differential or other advanced backup modes) and couldn't access the listed file modification date (the date when the file was last modified), the file will not be added into the backup and you can miss some data. This can occur because of lack of permissions, file lock (mainly under Windows), file system corruption or if the file modification date is bellow 00:00 January 1, 1970 GMT (Unix Epoc).

Q. Why does simplebackup sometimes reports "Warning : rejection file [ ? ] is corrupted and his orders are being ignored" ?
A. Starting with simplebackup 1.8.0 the use of this type of files was dropped, so this message no longer occurs.

Q. What are the [ simplebackup_rejection.txt ] files ?
A. Starting with simplebackup 1.8.0 the use of this type of files was dropped and replaced by the configuration key [ backup_full_path_rejections ].

Q. What is the logic used in the simplebackup version numbers ?
A. A 3 field number is used, separated by the . char, example 1.3.0. The first number, in this case 1, marks the main program version and should only change if the program is fully re-written. The second part, in this case 3, marks the feature number, when ever new features are added or major changes are done this number will increment. The last part, in this case 0, refers to the bug fix part and it's only applied to stable versions, if one or more bugs are found and fixed on the stable version then this number is incremented.

Q. Can i change the detail level of the log ?
A. Sorry no, it's always at "full level", what you can do is select if the list of files and directories backup ed or restored will be included on the log file by using the configuration keys [ backup_list_on_log ] and [ restore_list_on_log ].

Q. Can simplebackup do restores ?
A. Yes, starting with version 1.6.0 simplebackup can backup and restore. Several restore options and modes are available.

Q. What are the simplebackup restore modes ?
A. Simplebackup can restore in 3 different ways, the so call restore modes.

Under manual restore mode (--mode manual), simplebackup will read any available command line restore arguments, show up a text menu that will allow the user access to several restore options before starting the restore. Please notice by default the restores are done under manual mode.
Under auto restore mode (--mode auto), simplebackup will read any available command line restore arguments and start the restore.
Under autosync restore mode (--mode autosync), simplebackup will read any available command line restore arguments and start the restore, but it will ONLY restore backup files that where never restored before, extra files and directories that existed on the restore destination but that did not existed on the backup source will be erased.

Q. What can i do with the autosync restore mode ?
A. This mode allows you to do a limited synchronization across different systems. For example, do a daily ftp backup of a web site from Server A (in Portugal) into Server B (in France) and daily restore the web site in Server B (in France). Under this restore mode only the backup files that where never restored before are restored, files and directories that where erased on Server A (in Portugal) will also be erased on Server B (in France).

Q. Can the restore command line arguments be used during manual restores ?
A. Yes, the command line arguments can be used under any restore mode.

Q. How does simplebackup deal with unix links ?
A. Starting with version 1.6.0 simplebackup will always save the unix link has a link and not has the file/directory where the link pointed, a note will also be written on the backup log for each link detected. This might be configurable in future versions.

Q. How to restore from email/smtp backups ?
A. Simplebackup is unable to read from email accounts, so it cannot restore files directly. You need to access the email account where the backup files where done, save the files into one directory, then create a configuration file similar the one that did the backup (or make a copy of it) and make the output_backup configuration key point into the directory where you saved the files, now you can use simplebackup to do restore using the "special" configuration file. As a alternative you can save and uncompress backup files directly using any standard archive tool (info-zip, gzip, Winzip, Winrar, etc) .

Q. How to restore from tape backups ?
A. My tape device is damaged, so i cannot test tape restores :(. You need to access and extract from the tape device using the tar command and save the files into one directory, then create a configuration file similar the one that did the backup (or make a copy of it) and make the output_backup configuration key point into the directory where you saved the files, now you can use simplebackup to do restore using the "special" configuration file. As a alternative, and if the files are not encrypted, you can extract and uncompress backup files directly from the tape device and use any standard archive tool (info-zip, gzip, Winzip, Winrar, etc). If the files are encrypted you can decrypt them using the simplecrypt tool.

Q. What is this the encryption option, what does it do ?
A. Starting with simplebackup 1.7.0 encryption of the backup data is possible, if you define a password in the configuration key encryption_passwd, simplebackup will create the backup files (has usual in a give format, zip, rar, tar, etc) and then encrypt each backup file using your password and (if any) your encryption options. The encryption is done using a new encryption algorithm named SimpleCrypt created by me, Miguel Angelo Martins Morais Leite migas.miguel@gmail.com.

Q. This new encryption algorithm (SimpleCrypt) is it any good ? is it secure ? why didn't you use any of the other tried algorithms available ?
A. The SimpleCrypt algorithm is design to be has secure and has portable has i know how, it should work on any operating system that supports perl, to make it secure it uses several tricks and allows several user options (not only the password) but only time will tell how secure it is. The encryption option was never intend to be the ultimate security feature, it aims at providing a simple and portable solution, if you need absolute security please look for other tools to replace or complement simplebackup. Already existing algorithms where consider and studied but in the end where rejected because :
1. Simplebackup aims at being a simple backup tool, with low install requirements, using other algorithms usually imply that the user must install even more perl modules, complicating the installation a bit.
2. The author wanted to create a cross-platform encryption algorithm for fun.
Any way, this is not a radical position, if required this algorithm can be improved or even replaced in the future.

Q. What are the SimpleCrypt algorithm features ?
A. The main SimpleCrypt features are :

Elaborated encryption logic.
User can configure several encryption options (password, number of encryption cycles and what level is the data is encrypted, there for cracking attempts should be harder (so i hope...).
Takes the configuration options from the user and information from each individual file to create the encryption key and the encryption method.
Can be expanded in the future.
Cross-Platform, should work on any system that supports perl.
Files created on a operating system can be decrypted on a different operating system (example encrypt on Windows and decrypt on Openbsd).

Q. How do i decrypt the backup files created by simplebackup ?
A. You can use simplebackup to restore the data and he will automatically decrypt the data or you can use simplecrypt to decrypt each encrypted backup file. Either way you must use the correct encryption options (password, encrypting times and encrypting level).

Encryption is slow when using the simplecrypt/simplebackup program
A. The simplecrypt algorithm used by the simplecrypt and simplebackup programs was design to be has safe as possible, speed was a concern but came after security. There is no data size limit but it's advice to use the build in encryption in backups with small amounts of data, for large amounts of data you should use specialized security tool.

Q. What is the difference between standard tar and advanced tar ?
A. Simplebackup is a program that attempts to run under most operating systems so under this design the tar support was divided in two methods "standard" (backup_format = tar ; tar.Z ; tar.gz ; tar.bz2) and "advanced" (backup_format = advanced_tar ; advanced_tar.Z ; advanced_tar.gz ; advanced_tar.bz2). Under the "standard" method simplebackup uses the most compatible tar command options that should run on most operating systems, empty directories on the backup are not backup ed because some tar commands don't support this and the compression (if used) is done after the tar is created, imagine if you are creating a gzip tar archive using a command similar to "tar -cf some.tar -I backup_list.txt && gzip -9 some.tar" will be used, this will result in a temporary but much larger disk space usage on the temporary directory. Under the "advanced" method simplebackup will attempt to support more modern tar commands (such has openbsd tar, gnu tar, solaris tar, etc), this allows empty directories to be backup ed and the compression will be directly done by the tar command, imagine again if you are creating a gzip tar archive using a command similar to "tar -czf some.tar.gz -I backup_list.txt" will be used, this will result in a much smaller disk space usage of the temporary directory but might result in a slightly increase of space usage on the backup destination because the compression will be done using the build in tar compression level.

Q. What is the file number or file size limit on simplebackup ?
A. Simplebackup has no build in limitation, in theory it can do backups of any number of files and directories of any size. In the real world simplebackup depends on external factors and limits such has available memory (ram), operating system limits, file system limits and on the archiver (zip, rar, tar, etc) program limits. For example generally the zip support has a 2 Gb limit. It's suggested that you try a different backup format if you hit a limit.

Q. What is build into [ simplebackup.exe ] ?
A. The [ simplebackup.exe ] file is a Windows 32 bits executable, that can be run across several Microsoft Windows systems without the need to have Perl installed.
It includes :
- Compiled with active perl 5.8.8.
- All required Perl modules (for http webdav, ftp, smtp, etc) are included.
- Full zip support, info-zip [ zip.exe ] and [ unzip.exe ] files are compiled in and will be automaticly used when needed.
- Full secure ftp support, putty [ psftp.exe ] file is compiled in and will be automatically used when needed.

Q. What is the http webdav backup suppport and where can i backup into ?
A. The webdav is a standard and open protocol that defines methods on how to interact with http servers enabling reading, witting, erasing and changing data on remote http servers, you can know about it in http://www.webdav.org, it has support from many software companies (including all the big ones) and from several open source projects. Simplebackup can use remote http servers to do his backups and restores opening a large array of possible backup destinations, for example backups can be made into any Apache Webdav enabled server, into Microsoft IIS server, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Sharepoint (directly into Microsoft Sqlserver), into the Zope (directly into the Zope Database), etc, basically the sky is the limit ;).

Q. Can i use a public/private key during secure ftp backups instead of using the combination username/password ?
A. Yes simplebackup can use either a combination of username/password or if available a combination of public key (on the remote ssh server) and private key (on the machine doing the backup), with the "very recommended" option of using a passphrase on the private key.

Q. How do i create and use a ssh key on Microsoft Windows ?
A. In Microsoft Windows simplebackup will usually use the putty psftp program, which in turn uses the puttygen program to create and maintain ssh keys. To create the public and private configuration key you need to know the ssh username, password and server name. Here are the full steps:

Run the puttygen program.
Click on the "Generate" button and move the mouse on the black area (has instructed) until the graphic reaches the end.
You should end up with a screen similar to this.
It's recommended that you enter your passphrase on the "Key passphrase" and "Confirm passphrase" *1.
Click on the "Save private key" button and save the private key into a file, for example into [ c:\sftp_backups\web\private_key_file.ppk ].
Click on the "Save public key" button and save the public key into a file and store it into somewhere safe (a CD/DVD and into a vault :) would be great) but do not store it on the backup machine.
Now use the public key on the remote ssh server, notice that this are instructions for Openssh that where adapted from the puttygen manual, if you are using another ssh server please check your server documentation on the public key section.
1. Connect to your SSH server using PuTTY with the SSH protocol. When the connection succeeds you will be prompted for your user name and password to login, please type in the remote sftp user that will be used during backups (output_backup). Once logged in, you must configure the server to accept your public key for authentication:
2. you should change into the .ssh directory and open the file authorized_keys2 (for sftp/ssh2) with your favourite editor. (You may have to create this file if this is the first key you have put in it). Then switch to the PuTTYgen window, select all of the text in the "Public key for pasting into authorized_keys file" box, and copy it to the clipboard (Ctrl+C). Then, switch back to the putty window and insert the data into the open file, making sure it ends up all on one line. Save the file.
3. You may also need to ensure that your home directory, your .ssh directory, and any other files involved (such as authorized_keys, authorized_keys2 or authorization) are not group-writable or world-writable. You can typically do this by using a command such as type :> [ chmod go-w $HOME $HOME/.ssh $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys ]
4. Now test the connection by attempting to connect into the remote ssh server with putty using the private key file.
If all worked edit the simplebackup configuration file, look for the configuration key [ psftp_private_key_file ] and add the full path into the private key file here. Example [ psftp_private_key_file = c:\sftp_backups\web\private_key_file.ppk ], and of course properly configure the [ output_backup ] configuration key with the correct url (server namer, username, passphrase *1 if any, backup directory).

*1 A passphrase is a password that protects the opening of the private key, it can and should be something complete different from the ssh password. The use of a passphrase is recommended because if provides a extra security against private key tampering without any costs.

Q. How do i create and use a ssh key on Openssh (usually Unix systems) ?
A. Openssh will usually be only used in Unix systems. Here are the full steps:
1. open a shell and login into the machine that will do the backups (not the machine that accepts the backups) with the user that will do the backups
2. type : [ ssh-keygen -t rsa ] to create a rsa key *2.
3. Press enter when asked where to safe the key.
4. Write a the passphrase (recommended *1) or just type enter for no passphrase.
5. Reenter the passphrase (recommended *1) if needed.
6. This creates two files in .ssh directory of the backup user home directory
7. Login into the remote ssh server that will accept the backup files with the remote backup user (has defined in the backup_output configuration key), check if the file [ .ssh/authorized_keys2 ] exists:

*1 A passphrase is a password that protects the opening of the private key, it can and should be something complete different from the ssh password. The use of a passphrase is recommended because if provides a extra security against private key tampering without any costs.
*2 Check the ssh-keygen manual (man ssh-keygen) for more advanced options, this are the basic steps to have a working pair of keys, but saffer options are possible.
*3 The [ your_remote_ssh_server ] should be replaced by the name of the remote ssh server.
*4 The [ remote_sshuser ] username should be replaced by the ssh username on the remote ssh server that will accept the backup files.

Restores when using the zip format are slow, why ?
A. For cross platform abilities simplebackup uses the info-zip (zip and unzip) programs, but the unzip program has big limitations when using a restore list. Simplebackup must call the unzip program for each file or directory on the restore list, so depending on the number of things to restore and the speed of the system the restore operation can get a bit slow.

Q. Simplebackup is reporting "[ Error ], HTTP::DAV module wasn't found...", what does this mean ?
A. You are using the simplebackup perl version [ simplebackup.pl ] and trying to do a http dav backup or restore. To do this simplebackup needs to have the HTTP::DAV perl module installed.

Under Microsoft Windows you need to have activestate 5.8.0 or over installed and install all perl modules supplied with the simplebackup package in the directory [ windows\perl.modules\perl-5.8.x ], then check the [ readme.txt ] file in that directory for more details.
Under a Unix system you can install the library from your operating system package if it's included (this is the recommended method), compiled it from perl cpan or you can compile the library from the version included with the simplebackup package.

Q. Simplebackup is reporting "[ Error ], Expect module wasn't found...", what does this mean ?
A. You are using the simplebackup perl version [ simplebackup.pl ] and trying to do a sftp (secure ftp / ssh2) backup or restore and you are using the sftp openssh program, configuration key [ sftp_transport ], usually this only occurs on unix systems. To do this simplebackup needs to have the Expect perl module installed.

Under Microsoft Windows you can't use this option, please use the putty psftp program by editing the configuration file and checking the [ sftp_transport ] key.
Under a Unix system you can install the library from your operating system package if it's included (this is the recommended method) or you can compile the library from the version included with the simplebackup package or download and compile from perl cpan site.

Q. Is it permitted to change simplebackup in any way ?
A. Yes ! Simplebackup is open source software, you are permitted to change it in any way you like, but remember that you must also share your work, for legal details check the [ copying.txt ] file.

Q. Why use simplebackup ?
A. Well it beats blue screens :), seriously for me it works great, and lift's me from the worries of doing backups of my works and documents, if you need a simple file backup solution that just works with no major buttons or complicated setup's, in a unattended mode then this is one possible solution.

Q. Why use backups in the first place ?
A. Daaaaa... living on the edge... jumping of roof's with out a parachute is fun and well up until to the point where your boss is screaming down your neck, or your neck is broken hehehe.

[ 22. SimpleCrypt algorithm ],

This section is not yet complete, in the mean while if you want to know how the simplecrypt algoritm works please edit the [ simplecrypt.pl ] file and check the source code.

[ 23. Thanks to ],

Nick for reporting a bug and presenting a patch related to ftp support when using proftp servers. This type of servers fails to support the ftp size command if not working in binary mode.
Joseph Bacino for helping me test simplebackup.
Norman Uittenbogaart for his support and testing.
Eugene Roshal for his support and patience helping me fix a problem with the rar backups. Check out his rar archive program (http://www.rarlab.com) it's excellent, stable, can also create zip files, is supported by simplebackup and it's not very expensive.
Patrick, for reporting a problem with ftp support.
Jorge Gomes, for all is 100% support in my development and for being my friend.
Thomas Schwarz, for reporting a english bug and for being a nice guy to talk to.
Mikey, for reporting a bug that occurred under tape backups, the null device was being incorrectly added into the tape before backup and tape after backup procedures.
Uwe, for reporting a english bug :).
Davide Veneziano, for several test and tips, and for being a great guy to talk to.
Brandon Zehm , for his email file attachment code that was adapted from his send_attachment() function in the SendEmail program (http://caspian.dotconf.net/menu/Software/SendEmail) into simplebackup in the function create_email_attachment(), and for being a great guy to talk to. By the way, if you have the time, check his email anti-spam system in http://www.dotclean.com it seams a very interesting project.
John, for reporting a bug on the input_backup configuration key that would a backup failure if simplebackup was using multi-directories or multi-files and space chars.
Huge thanks to Dr. A.M. Genaev (Alexandr), for reporting a bug and presenting a patch to the backup list coming from a external file.
Wolfgang Fleischmann wfl@ebi.ac.uk, for his crc32 algorithm that was adapted from Swissknife library (crc32.pm module) into simplebackup in the function build_crc32().
Dave Edwards, for a excellent feature request, he requested that simplebackup add the hostname into the backup files, for several tests and for reporting a problem under simplebackup 1.5.0.
McLeod, for reporting a bug and presenting a patch in the mail authentication, this was a most excellent work ! thanks, and for presenting a true interest to improve the program.
Thomas, for a excellent feature request, he requested that simplebackup reported the size of the current backup session and of all backup sessions, both features where included in simplebackup 1.4.0.
lcdm, for reporting a bug in the zip format suppport that only occurs under unix operating systems.
Renato Leon, for several tests that help me fix a bug on the mail support, for pushing me to add tape support to simplebackup and for being a excellent guy to talk to.
Steve, for a excellent and patient testing.
Nelmar Alvarenga, for a good sugestion, for being a excellent tester and for being a great guy.
Alexandre Pereira, for several tests and suggestions, and for being my friend.
Goncalo Diniz Oliveira, for his help on general Unix support, and for being my friend.
João Santos, for his explanations on the old Windows 98, general Windows help, and for being my friend.
Nuno Muñoz (Piri), for helping me test the ftp module, and for being my friend.
Carla Alexandra, the love of my life, for all her 100% support, friendship, love and affection :).
Finally to any person that has send me feedback positive or negative.

And thanks to you for downloading me :)
Stay happy, live long and prosper - Miguel Angelo (Migas)

SimpleBackup v1.8.1Documentation

SimpleBackup v1.8.1Documentation

[ Table of Contents ]

SimpleBackup v1.8.1
Documentation

SimpleBackup v1.8.1
Documentation