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Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory?

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Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory?
This is urgent. I need to back up all the links in five categories I have created so far. There are a total of 10,000 links. I looked into Links.pm file and there is no mention of 7 backups. I found 7 in nph-build.cgi. I looked into my backup directory, but found nothing there. I cannot afford to lose my links. What exactly do I need to back up and where are the files in backup directory?

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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
Hi,

All you need to do is follow the instructions:

# Set to 1 to enable backups, 0 to disable backups.
$LINKS{build_use_backup} = 1;



Can't be any easier than that! :)

BTW... the 7 is how old to consider files as "new".

There was a discussion here about making a change to the backup routine to keep 7 or 10 or whatever # of backups, but only one from any given day.

PUGDOGŪ
PUGDOGŪ Enterprises, Inc.
FAQ: http://postcards.com/FAQ


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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
Pugdog:

I cannot find the code described in your reply in Links.pm. Is it in nph-build.cgi? Thanks

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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
Pugdog:

Please ignore my reply to you because I have found the code in Links.pm. I changed it to 1. After I did a build, three files appeared in backup directory: links, categories, subscribers. Which file is my data? In case I have to reformat my drive and reinstall Linux, which file is my data file with all my links? Which is my configuration files that I need to keep after the installation? I am worried now because hackers may have broken into my web server already.

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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
Seems pretty self explanatory but perhaps not,
Links should be your links database
catagories should be holding your catagories database and
subscribers, well you get the picture.

I would strongly suggest that you backup those three files, as well as anything that resides in your admin directory and sub directories, in this way You'll have a copy of everything that is necessary to run the administration section. The regular cgi scripts are easy enough to replace from the originals.

Harrison

"I've got if's pretty good, but that's about it"
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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
You need all three of the files, or _AT_LEAST_ the Categories and Links files to restore your directory.

Each backup will number the files with a 1 or 2 ... up to ... the cutoff #.

Make sure you keep all the numbered files together.... Or the links and categories will be out of sync.

BTW... under UNIX, you almost never have to reformat, reinstall, or otherwise play the games that M$ has made us accustomed to over the past decade.

Under Unix and a Sparc chip set, if you have to get to the point of doing that, your disk drive probably needs to be replaced, not just reformatted.

The only time you would voluntarily think of this is if you had to change partition sizes, and you had no more room to add another disk (the much easier option) or you were wasting so much space in one partition you wanted to reclaim it. But, even then, there are better ways to do it :)

I LOVE UNIX !! :)

Remember, Windows systems measure uptime in hours, Unix systems it's days, weeks, months, or even years under normal use. My server reports it's last boot was 157 days ago. :) ... and that was only because I was trying to trace a bug, and wanted to eliminate that very, very small source of error.

I LOVE UNIX !! :)


PUGDOGŪ
PUGDOGŪ Enterprises, Inc.
FAQ: http://postcards.com/FAQ


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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
In Reply To:
Windows systems measure uptime in hours
I recently went 8 months without a Windows 2000 crash (only interrupted by reboots necessitated by program and hardware installations) -- ended abruptly and shockingly while clicking on reply in Outlook Express. Of course, my previous computer was lucky to achieve 8 minutes of uptime under Windows 98...

Dan

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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
Dan,

>> I recently went 8 months without a Windows 2000 crash
>> only interrupted by reboots necessitated by program and hardware installations

When was the last time you had to shut down a Unix system to install a new program? Be it perl, apache, mysql, gcc, or anything short of a new kernal?

Even CPAN will re-install itself while you are working in it!

I rebooted the system because _I_ wanted to eliminate that as a source of bugs... not because it was necessary -- or even warranted -- but I am a product of M$ influence. <G>

Previously, I rebooted the system to check my procedure for rebooting the system <G> I wanted to make sure that my reboot scripts worked in a "non crunch" time, so that if I ever did get crunched for some reason, I didn't have to deal with a non-working start protocol. The system is restarted so infrequently, It's nice to check that every 6 months or so <G>


PUGDOGŪ
PUGDOGŪ Enterprises, Inc.
FAQ: http://postcards.com/FAQ


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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing i backup directory? In reply to
Thank you all for your replies. I am running two web servers on Linux. Hackers have broken into one four times. Each time they used this Linux machine as a base to attack some remote networks and I got complaints. Several days ago I found some strange IPs that tried to FTP into Links SQL server. I was told that once your machine is broken into, you need to erase everything no matter if you are running Unix or Windows. I am thinking of erase everything and reinstall everything. I am also doing research on Linux security. Welcome comments or suggestions.

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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing i backup directory? In reply to
Well, in that case, the reason they suggest to remove everything is in case the hackers put in any code to let them get back in. If you know how they got in, close the door.

There are a number of hacker tools out there to keep people out, monitor your system, and close as many holes as possible.

The best thing to do is take the box down, reinstall a virgin copy of the OS, leave no code around, and use NO BACKUPS. Then, start with removing anything from the system you don't need to turn the machine on, and run the web server.

From that point on, you can turn on services as you need them down the road, but the #1 mistake is trying to give too many people access to the server, or to use the server as an application machine not just a server.

For instance, there is really no need to make a public FTP, mail or other server that let's people log into your machine. Why? There are already dozens if not hundreds of services that allow that, and are set up for it, so the user who choses to use your machine is more likely to be a hacker trying to get in.

Provide web-based services only, so you are going through first Apache, then Unix security.

Anyway, if you've been broken into 4 times, you are doing something to encourage them, or you have left a door wide open that needs to have an armed guard standing at it.

PUGDOGŪ
PUGDOGŪ Enterprises, Inc.
FAQ: http://postcards.com/FAQ


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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
In Reply To:
When was the last time you had to shut down a Unix system to install a new program?
Can't argue with that. Actually, Win 2000 should not be required to reboot with the majority of program installs, but many programs appear to have not updated their installation procedure to realize this... At any rate, just pointing out that Microsoft (who I'm as critical of as anyone) has made huge strides with the stability of Win 2000, only to then place the emphasis on Windows ME...

Dan

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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
Oddly, I got this in my mail box yesterday. It's a minor modification of something I saw first at least 10 years ago, but it certainly does express this situation very, very well:

In Reply To:

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated "if GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating:

If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:
l. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the car windows, shut it off, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Only one person at a time could use the car unless you bought "CarNT", but then you would have to buy more seats.
6. MacIntosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would only run on five percent of the roads.
7. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "General Protection Fault" warning light.
8. New seats would force everyone to have the same sized butt.
9. The airbag system would ask "are you SURE?" before deploying.
10. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
11. GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of Rand McNally road maps (now a GM subsidiary), even though they neither need nor want them. Attempting to delete this option would immediately cause the car's performance to diminish by 50% or more. Moreover, GM would become a target for investigation by the Justice Dept.
12. Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
13. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

PUGDOGŪ
PUGDOGŪ Enterprises, Inc.
FAQ: http://postcards.com/FAQ


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Re: Urgent! Why do I have nothing is backup directory? In reply to
I've seen that a few times; always good for a laugh. Smile

Dan