Back-up Server

[GlacierBill]

I have 2 FC4 servers and am wanting one to act as a back-up to the other. I need it to maintain the same users, mail and some directorys, does anyone know what I can do other than do it manualy?

Bill

[anomie]

When you say "back-up" do you mean a cold spare that could be synced with its prod counterpart nightly?

If so, you might like to try rsync over ssh. You could sync the /home, /var/spool/mail, etc. directories as a nightly cronjob.

[GlacierBill]

Yes, the idea is if a server fails that all the settings (user accounts, groups, mail, websites, etc) will be backed up every X hours to a second server then is the primary fails they back-up can be braught online untill I get the primary repaired.

Bill

[anomie]

rsync would be a reasonable choice, then.

Make yourself a checklist of things that need to happen when bringing the backup online, and test it regularly.

[GlacierBill]

I have tested it and it works, Thanks, but a few more questions if I may. I tested the line 'rsync -a -e ssh /home/ shuksan:/home/' and that worked great, but when I add the --password-file=/sbin/.sid 'rsync --password-file=/sbin/.sid -a -e ssh /home/ shuksan:/home/' it still prompts me for a password. In the .sid file I have tried just the pswd and rootswd Any ideas? And lastly, how do I sync the users and groups?

Bil

[anomie]

I actually haven't used rsync with a --password-file, but the rsync man pages specify that this option is only to be used when you're running an rsync daemon (and not using a shell transport).

As a good alternative, I'd suggest setting up pubkey authentication (with no passphrase) for sshd on the backup server.

Off the top of my head, to sync users and groups you'll need:

• /etc/passwd
• /etc/shadow
• /etc/group
• /home

Might be some others I am forgetting (e.g. user cronjobs).. When you test all this hopefully it will be clear if anything is missing.

[GlacierBill]

I tried setting up a public key but it fails, it still asks for a password, does the syntax of the rsync command change?

[GlacierBill]

Got it, I re-built my keys and it worked, many thanks for the help

Bill

[anomie]

The way to test that pubkey authentication is working is with a regular ssh login (don't worry about rsync for now -- it's syntax won't need to change).

Although it's a separate issue from what you started this thread with, what steps did you follow to setup pubkey authentication?