SimpleBackup v1.8.1
Documentation

12 January 2007

[ Table of Contents ]

  1. Authors
  2. On-line help
    1. Forum
    2. Program E-Mail
  3. Program Site
  4. Quick start
  5. Running Simplebackup (Details)
  6. How it works
  7. Features
  8. Runs On (Portability)
  9. Tested Systems
  10. Requirements
  11. Links
  12. Installing
    1. Under a Unix operating system (Linux, HP-UX, Aix, IRIX, FreeBsd, OpenBsd, etc)
    2. Under a Microsoft operating system (Windows NT4, 2000, XP, 2003)
  13. Updating from previous simplebackup versions
  14. Backup format differences
  15. License
  16. File list
    1. unix
    2. windows
  17. Bugs and Bug Reporting
  18. Revision History (Change log)
  19. Future Plans (To do)
  20. Simplebackup files technical documentation
    1. Configuration file
    2. Log file
    3. Support file
    4. Backup list file
    5. Restore list file
  21. Faqs (Frequently Asked Questions)
    1. 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 ?
    2. Q. In a Microsoft windows system, simplebackup doesn't work it's not even a executable file !
    3. Q. Right fine, but i really really really want simplebackup to be a standard windows executable file (.exe).
    4. Q. What is the difference between the three backup modes: full, incremental and differential ?
    5. Q. What is the best backup mode ?
    6. Q. Starting with simplebackup 1.3.0, backups appear slower why ?, it takes a long time during the "Building backup list" phase.
    7. Q. In some backups during "Building backup list" phase the memory usage seams to go up a lot why ?
    8. Q. I have updated my simplebackup and the first time than i run a backup it reported that the management file was corrupted why ?
    9. 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 ?
    10. 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 ?
    11. Q. Simplebackup is reporting that the backup files are out of sync with the backup list, what does this mean ?
    12. Q. How can i force a full backup if i have the backups configured in incremental or differential mode ?
    13. 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 ?
    14. Q. Backup always fails during "Backup into temporary file" phase.
    15. Q. Backup always fails during "Moving temporary backup file..." phase.
    16. 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 ?
    17. 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 ?
    18. 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 ?
    19. Q. Backups/Restores don't work and nothing is reported in the log file.
    20. Q. Backups using a ftp server fail to erase previous backup files.
    21. Q. Backups using a ftp server still fail, and i have all those things you say on the previous faq.
    22. Q. Can i debug the ftp connection to check for any errors ?
    23. Q. Can i debug the mail connection to check for any errors ?
    24. Q. Can i debug the actual compress/uncompress commands to see what is happening ?
    25. Q. So what are the different debug levels ?
    26. Q. In the configuration file what is the default value ?
    27. Q. In the configuration what is the auto value ?
    28. Q. Can i use backup configuration files from the previous versions ?
    29. Q. So what is exactly the local database history file ?
    30. Q. So what is the local database restore history file ?
    31. Q. I'm doing a backup into a tape device and simplebackup reports that "Erasing previous backup session file from the history file (only !!)...", Why ?
    32. Q. How does simplebackup writes data into the tape device ?
    33. Q. Simplebackup is reporting "[ Error ], Net::FTP module wasn't found...", what does this mean ?
    34. Q. Simplebackup is reporting "[ Error ], Net::SMTP module wasn't found...", what does this mean ?
    35. Q. Why is there a unix version and a microsoft version of simplebackup ?
    36. Q. The backup e-mail report appears all weird on Microsoft Outlook XP.
    37. Q. Are there any plans to support other e-mail server, such has Exchange, imap or others ?
    38. Q. My smtp mail server is not running on the default port, how can make simplebackup use a port number different from 25 ?
    39. 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 ?
    40. Q. I get a error reporting "Authen::SASL module wasn't found" what does this means ?
    41. 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.
    42. Q. What can i do with the [ pass_log_to_external_cmd ] option ?
    43. Q. Why does simplebackup sometimes reports "Warning : unable to open the directory..." or "Warning : unable to access the empty directory..." ?
    44. Q. Why does simplebackup sometimes reports "Warning : unable to access the modification date/time of..."?
    45. Q. Why does simplebackup sometimes reports "Warning : rejection file [ ? ] is corrupted and his orders are being ignored" ?
    46. Q. What are the [ simplebackup_rejection.txt ] files ?
    47. Q. What is the logic used in the simplebackup version numbers ?
    48. Q. Can i change the detail level of the log ?
    49. Q. Can simplebackup do restores ?
    50. Q. What are the simplebackup restore modes ?
    51. Q. What can i do with the autosync restore mode ?
    52. Q. Can the restore command line arguments be used during manual restores ?
    53. Q. How does simplebackup deal with unix links ?
    54. Q. How to restore from email/smtp backups ?
    55. Q. How to restore from tape backups ?
    56. Q. What is this the encryption option, what does it do ?
    57. 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 ?
    58. Q. What are the SimpleCrypt algorithm features ?
    59. Q. How do i decrypt the backup files created by simplebackup ?
    60. Q. Encryption is slow when using the simplecrypt/simplebackup program
    61. Q. What is the difference between standard tar and advanced tar ?
    62. Q. What is the file number or file size limit on simplebackup ?
    63. Q. What is build into [ simplebackup.exe ] ?
    64. Q. What is the http webdav backup suppport and where can i backup into ?
    65. Q. Can i use a public/private key during secure ftp backups instead of using the combination username/password ?
    66. Q. How do i create and use a ssh key on Microsoft Windows ?
    67. Q. How do i create and use a ssh key on Openssh (usually Unix systems) ?
    68. Q. Restores when using the zip format are slow, why ?
    69. Q. Simplebackup is reporting "[ Error ], HTTP::DAV module wasn't found...", what does this mean ?
    70. Q. Simplebackup is reporting "[ Error ], Expect module wasn't found...", what does this mean ?
    71. Q. Is it permitted to change simplebackup in any way ?
    72. Q. Why use simplebackup ?
    73. Q. Why use backups in the first place ?
  22. SimpleCrypt algorithm
  23. Thanks to



[ 1. Authors ],

[ 2. On-line Help ],

[ 3. Program Site ],

[ 4. Quick start ],

[ 5. Running Simplebackup (Details) ],

[ 6. How it works ],

[ 7. Features ],

[ 8. Runs On (Portability) ],

[ 9. Tested Systems ],

[ 10. Requirements ],

[ 11. Links ],

[ 12. Installing ],

[ 13. Updating from previous simplebackup versions ]
  1. Make a backup copy of previous version.
  2. Copy the program (file simplebackup.pl or simplebackup.exe) from the new version over the previous version (again file simplebackup.pl or simplebackup.exe).
  3. 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.

[ 14. Backup format differences ]

[ 15. License ],

[ 16. File list ],

[ 17. Bugs and Bug Reporting ],

[ 18. Revision History (Change log) ],

[ 19. Future Plans (To do) ],

[ 20. Simplebackup files technical documentation ],

[ 21. Faqs (Frequently Asked Questions) ],

[ 22. SimpleCrypt algorithm ],

[ 23. Thanks to ],


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