Yast system backup

I’m confused by this… I’ve been trying twice today to create a backup, but all I get is an xml file in the backup location, and no .tar file. I’ve gone through all the configuration options carefully and can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. Here’s the xml file, in case it provides any clues:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE profile>
<profile xmlns="http://www.suse.com/1.0/yast2ns" xmlns:config="http://www.suse.com/1.0/configns">
  <deploy_image>
    <image_installation config:type="boolean">false</image_installation>
  </deploy_image>
  <keyboard>
    <keyboard_values>
      <capslock config:type="boolean">false</capslock>
      <delay></delay>
      <discaps config:type="boolean">false</discaps>
      <numlock>bios</numlock>
      <rate></rate>
      <scrlock config:type="boolean">false</scrlock>
      <tty>tty1 tty2 tty3 tty4 tty5 tty6</tty>
    </keyboard_values>
    <keymap>english-us</keymap>
  </keyboard>
  <language>
    <language>en_AU</language>
    <languages>en_AU</languages>
    <rootlang>yes</rootlang>
  </language>
  <restore>
    <archives config:type="list">
      <archive>file:///media/Backup/my_backup.tar</archive>
    </archives>
  </restore>
</profile>

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Wild guess as I’ve never used this feature myself: Does /media/Backup
(the directory) already exist? Perhaps the backup software does not
create the path if it does not. Also make sure the case matches as it
always matters.

Good luck.

gminnerup wrote:
> I’m confused by this… I’ve been trying twice today to create a backup,
> but all I get is an xml file in the backup location, and no .tar file.
> I’ve gone through all the configuration options carefully and can’t
> figure out what I’m doing wrong. Here’s the xml file, in case it
> provides any clues:
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> <?xml version=“1.0”?>
> <!DOCTYPE profile>
> <profile xmlns=“http://www.suse.com/1.0/yast2ns” xmlns:config=“http://www.suse.com/1.0/configns”>
> <deploy_image>
> <image_installation config:type=“boolean”>false</image_installation>
> </deploy_image>
> <keyboard>
> <keyboard_values>
> <capslock config:type=“boolean”>false</capslock>
> <delay></delay>
> <discaps config:type=“boolean”>false</discaps>
> <numlock>bios</numlock>
> <rate></rate>
> <scrlock config:type=“boolean”>false</scrlock>
> <tty>tty1 tty2 tty3 tty4 tty5 tty6</tty>
> </keyboard_values>
> <keymap>english-us</keymap>
> </keyboard>
> <language>
> <language>en_AU</language>
> <languages>en_AU</languages>
> <rootlang>yes</rootlang>
> </language>
> <restore>
> <archives config:type=“list”>
> <archive>file:///media/Backup/my_backup.tar</archive>
> </archives>
> </restore>
> </profile>
> --------------------
>
>
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Yes, it exists (it’s an external USB HD). System Backup goes through all the motions without an error message and the backup seems to have proceeded ok after an hour or so, telling mne it’s 30-odd GB, but all I find in the backup location is that XML file…

If you want to investigate a simple but effective backup tool (automated or manual), I can recommend backintime (available from packman repo). Very eay to configure and use. There are gnome and kde front-ends available.

I’m using that already to make daily backups of my /home partition, and yes, it works very well. Just thought I’d make additional weekly backups with the Yast utility because I liked the idea of being able to restore the entire SUSE installation to its current state in the event of diaster (without cloning the entire hard drive).

Understood. However, I’ve thought about that, and think I could suffer a reinstall if a disaster happened, so long as my data and config files on /home was backed up. In any case, if a hardware failure occurred, this may require a new computer or MB for example, so a new OS install would then be required anyway.

True. There’s really three different emergencies to guard against:

  1. Need to restore data/configs from /home. Backintime will (I hope) take care of that.
  2. Hardware disaster: only real protection is a cloned hard drive.
  3. (and that’s what I’m after): need to restore the current/recent state of the installation for some reason short of a hardware disaster. It’s mainly about backing up additional software/updates that differ from the original 11.1 DVD.

You’ve probably already seen this, but I include it anyway:

YaST/Modules/System Backup - openSUSE

Another HOW TO with GParted or Clonezilla LiveCD:

How to Backup & Restore Your Installation - LinuxQuestions.org

Thanks for both links. Yes, I’d read the first one but as it doesn’t seem to work for me, and as the absence of any comments here also seems to suggest that few use the Yast tool - perhaps for good reason - I might look into regular Clonezilla/GParted or similar backups on top of the daily Backintime ones.