Re: [rdiff-backup-users] IOError in backup.log

[Andrew Ferguson]

On Oct 14, 2008, at 10:52 AM, Bob Mead wrote:

> Hi Andrew:
> Thanks for your reply.  I am aware of the incompatibility between  
> versions. I've got 1.0.5 running on both  ends  (has to be - older  
> Gentoo server is very fragile - no chance of upgrading).



Ok, good.


The traceback you posted shows that the error occurred while it was  
trying to read a certain file while copying it.

You should add the "-v 5" option to rdiff-backup. This will print more  
verbose logging messages, including each file it is working on while  
it is doing the backup. The last file it is trying to copy before the  
error message occurs is the file which is giving it problems. If we  
know which file it is, then we can diagnose further.

Also, are you using the --exclude-sockets --exclude-fifos and -- 
exclude-device-files options? Those are probably good, since they tell  
rdiff-backup to skip certain special files which can be difficult to  
replicate and will generally be re-created by the OS or applications  
anyway.

What command line are you using to call rdiff-backup?

Lastly, to open a log file which ends with ".gz", use the 'gunzip'  
command to uncompress it. The 'tar' command is to open "TApe  
aRchives" (.tar). Many tar files are also compressed with gzip  
compression, making them ".tar.gz" ... the command to "tar xzf  
file.tar.gz" means to extract (x) and uncompress (z) the given file  
(f) -- it is equivalent to doing: 'gunzip file.tar.gz; tar xf  
file.tar". Tar files are a container format, gzip files are  
compressed. The Unix philosophy is to separate programs which perform  
distinct functions, so that the individual components can be re-used  
or mixed-and-matched. (ie, the compression and container).


Andrew