Using sbackup for Ubuntu.

I've been using sbackup now for a couple of weeks and it's a great app. and simple to use, but there is one annoying thing about it and that is that it locks the files it writes to.
So you can't do anything with it, not even look at the content, it is possible to unlock it of course, using root, but this is only temporary until the next backup is scheduled, then the program will lock the directory and it's content again.

I've searched the project-page to find something to change the config but no go there, ubuntu-forums: no answer.

I think this is a flaw in the program, you must be able to copy a full backup to a external drive for safe keeping or delete older backups without al this hassle.
Is there light at the end of the backup-tunnel?

Lamehand

 

i saw this the other day
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuHomeBackup

 

That's something to try out, a good backup-system is essential.
Thanks for the link iceni.


Lamehand

 

the wiki is a great place to find stuff. i've added it as a search option in Opera.

 

I know, but i hadn't come across this one.
I'm gonna try to install it (with the emphasis on 'try')

Lamehand

 

it should install on Dapper, but i haven't tried it. i still have Breezy so you are on your own lol

BTW 'checkinstall' is better then 'make install' if you are just using it on your own system (not making a deb for others) it makes it easier to uninstall

sudo apt-get install checkinstall

 

Well, i unzipped the tar-file and tried to install but after i gave the command './configure' it came back with the un-welcome message 'can not find install-sh or install.sh', wich i don't understand because i can see it right there in the directory.
I also tried the developers suggestion; './autogen --prefix=/usr' but no go either.
So i'm at a loss right now for what would/could be the next step in solving this.


Lamehand

 

install-sh or install.sh, they are both symlinks which are pointing to the wrong place. i had that problem but just thought it was a Breezy, Dapper thing.

i don't know what to say

 

Maybe it's time to contact the developer of this application and see what he has to say, i will try this because this is a definite bug.
If this can't be resolved we have to wait until edgy eft is out, there will be a backup-utility integrated in that version.

Lamehand

 

I've e-mailed the developer, and now the waiting game has started.

Lamehand

Edit; The adress i mailed to doesn't exist annymore, so no go.

 

Lamehand,

Just for grins, I installed sbackup on my Ubuntu 6.06 instllation and viewed file 'sbackupd' in /usr/sbin. In this file, which is a python script, there is the following line of code:

os.umask( 077 )

Here is a link regarding umask 077:

http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=103639

"umask 077 will mean that no one besides you (and root), not even other users in the same group, will be able to even read your files. Its not unsafe to do, but if your situation requires that others at least read your files, you will be constantly changing permissions on the files to grant them access. The default umask is 022 for this very reason.

This means that if the backup process is run as root, only root will be able to read the files.

Does the same thing happen if you run a backup as a non-root user? If not, this might a rational approach to backups.

A change you could consider, with some potential security consequences,
would be to do the following:

> cd /usr/sbin
> sudo cp sbackupd sbackupd.orig (preserve the original file)
> sudo gedit sbackupd (open the script in the gedit text editor)

Use the Search->Find Menu item and search for the string 'umask'

Change 077 to 022

Save and exit gedit

Try it with the change.

Just a WAG.

bktII

 

i got it to install by doing this -
sudo apt-get install automake1.9

then CDing to the decompressed ubuntu-home-backup-0.1 directory and doing this
./configure
make
sudo checkinstall

checkinstall asks for a description, so i just put in backup program lol, then after hitting enter there's another prompt which i can't remember what it's for, so i just hit enter again after that it was installed.

then to run it do this
alt-f2
ubuntu-home-backup

i think it's made for Dapper because i can't get it to run

 

lamehand,

If you've still an interest in sbackup, I've gotten it to work on my Ubuntu installation where I do not need to be root in order to get into the directory where sbackup places its own directory, *.fil. In addition, once inside, I can enter the directory named *.ful as a non-root user and open the backup file with file-roller as a non-root user as well. A bit more involved than my prior post, but not too bad.

1) As root, I created a directory named 'backups' at /home

> cd /home (it can be located anywhere of your choosing)
> sudo mkdir backups (it can be named whatever you like)
> sudo chown -R lamehand:lamehand backups (non-root user is now the owner)

2) As root, I modified the sbackupd python script

> cd /usr/sbin
> sudo cp sbackupd sbackupd.orig
> sudo gedit backupd

Use the Search->Find Menu item and search for the string 'umask'
Change '077' to '000'

Use the Search->Find Menu item and search for the string '0700'
Change '0700' to '0777'

Save and exit gedit.

Now try it with the change.

I tried running sbackupd as a non-root user from the terminal window and received the following message "Currently sbackup is only runnable by root". So much for that!

You should be aware that the security built into sbackup is a consious design and implementation decision to protect the files you are backing up. The modifications I have provided here make sbackup less secure, but more convenient. The security vs. convenience issue is solely yours to judge.

If you DO decide to try this, just remember that when the sbackup package is updated, the changes made in step 2) above will be removed as a new version of sbackupd will replace the existing version and you will be back where you started.

Regards,

bktII

 

Yes,bktII i am still interested in sbackup, i understand that not being able to read or write to the backup-directory is for security reasons, but the fact that you as an owner or legit user can't even move it or copy to a external drive was/is going a bit to far for my taste, on top of that you, want to be able to delete older full backups and incrementals for obvious reasons. I have to become root with 'sudo -i' to change the ownership and then restart the computer to be able to change things around.

The strange thing about this is that this only happens on one computer, i backup my second computer to the same partition in another folder via SSH and with this directory i can do anything, like deleting backups or whatever, it doesn't get 'locked'

@iceni; i will certainly try your suggestion because i want this to work and try it out, it's always good to have something to fall back on.

Thanks
Lamehand

 

I've changed the 'os umask'-value in 022 and the directory and it's content became unlocked, i could delete old backups, so that worked!
After that i made a backup and that locked the directory again, i don't see this as a problem because when i restart the computer the directory becomes unlocked again and the owner/group is still root, so tampering with it is impossible.

To answer your earlier question about the security versus convinience issue, i think that when you store your backups on a removeable drive the data is quite safe from tampering, or the the computer must be compromised before it makes it's daily backup.

Lamehand

 

@iceni; i can't make it work here either, i did everything you suggested and then some, but it wouldn't cooperate.
For now it is of the 'things-to-install' list, i'll stick with sbackup until something better is available.

Thanks for the help and info.
Lamehand

 

Lamehand,

"...but the fact that you as an owner or legit user can't even move it or copy to a external drive was/is going a bit to far for my taste, on top of that you, want to be able to delete older full backups and incrementals for obvious reasons. I have to become root with 'sudo -i' to change the ownership and then restart the computer to be able to change things around.

This is not an uncommon feature in Linux apps. For example, the intrusion detection program AIDE (Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment) works the same way. You can't get into the database directory and view the files except as root. Many people are paranoid when it comes to their data as well.

It WOULD be a nice feature if sbackup enabled the user to select a security level for the backup files in the GUI given that only root can run the program. But this was a fairly simple "hack", and is one of the advantages of open source software.

Also, the user could choose to use encryption software like Truecrypt or Axcrypt to protect backup files on an internal or external hard drive.

bktII

 

And that's what i like about linux, you can change everything to your own liking.
Despite of all the security issues and the paranoia about personal data by some people, i am very pleased with this simple hack for now, it will do for the moment.
I don't want to store any sensitive data on these systems, computers with internet connection are not the place for that , i think.
And if i get the urge to be really safe i could, as you suggested, use truecrypt.

Lamehand

 

i haven't tried using it yet though.

 

I've tried to install it several times to make sure it won't work on my system, i got lists of error messages a mile long, so now i know for sure it won't work here.
And if you're thinking of hitting that backup-button, be carefull!, it might bite.

Lamehand