[rdiff-backup-users] CIFS filesystem and symbolic links to other directories

[Ian Jones]

Hello. I have the following problem.

I am trying to use rdiff-backup to backup from a Linux (Debian lenny) 
machine to a CIFS mounted filesystem (which is located on a Droboshare - 
http://www.drobo.com.)

# python -V
Python 2.5.2
# rdiff-backup -V
rdiff-backup 1.1.16


It works fine if I use --exclude-symbolic-links, but without this I get 
the errors posted below.

Specifically:

If I try to backup a directory containing symbolic links to the same 
directory, it works:
# ls –l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 2008-07-06 04:58 index.html
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2008-07-06 05:03 test -> index.html
# rdiff-backup --no-hard-links . /drobo/MX/www
# ls -l /drobo/MX/www/
total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 2008-07-06 04:58 index.html
drwx------ 3 root daemon 0 2008-07-06 05:22 rdiff-backup-data
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root daemon 10 2008-07-06 05:22 test -> index.html

However, if I link to a file in another directory:
# echo "test" > ../test2
# ln -s ../test2
# ls –l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 2008-07-06 04:58 index.html
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2008-07-06 05:03 test -> index.html
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 2008-07-06 05:27 test2 -> ../test2
# rdiff-backup --no-hard-links . /drobo/MX/www
Exception '[Errno 2] No such file or directory' raised of class '<type 
'exceptions.OSError'>':
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/Main.py", line 302, 
in error_check_Main
try: Main(arglist)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/Main.py", line 322, 
in Main
take_action(rps)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/Main.py", line 278, 
in take_action
elif action == "backup": Backup(rps[0], rps[1])
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/Main.py", line 344, 
in Backup
backup.Mirror(rpin, rpout)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/backup.py", line 
38, in Mirror
DestS.patch(dest_rpath, source_diffiter)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/backup.py", line 
232, in patch
ITR(diff.index, diff)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/rorpiter.py", line 
281, in __call__
last_branch.fast_process(*args)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/backup.py", line 
531, in fast_process
rpath.rename(tf, mirror_rp)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/rpath.py", line 
255, in rename
rp_source.conn.os.rename(rp_source.path, rp_dest.path)

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/rdiff-backup", line 23, in <module>
rdiff_backup.Main.error_check_Main(sys.argv[1:])
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/Main.py", line 302, 
in error_check_Main
try: Main(arglist)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/Main.py", line 322, 
in Main
take_action(rps)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/Main.py", line 278, 
in take_action
elif action == "backup": Backup(rps[0], rps[1])
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/Main.py", line 344, 
in Backup
backup.Mirror(rpin, rpout)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/backup.py", line 
38, in Mirror
DestS.patch(dest_rpath, source_diffiter)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/backup.py", line 
232, in patch
ITR(diff.index, diff)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/rorpiter.py", line 
281, in __call__
last_branch.fast_process(*args)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/backup.py", line 
531, in fast_process
rpath.rename(tf, mirror_rp)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/rdiff_backup/rpath.py", line 
255, in rename
rp_source.conn.os.rename(rp_source.path, rp_dest.path)
OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

The same exercise, but using a local filesystem as the target, works 
fine. I have also tried creating a link to subdirectory rather than a 
file in the parent directory, but that has the same problem.

Help would be appreciated!
Regards,
Ian.