git as backup and file sync system

git as backup and file sync system

[Simon]

Hi there,
  I'm not sure if this post will be very welcome, but I'd like your
feedback or suggestions.  I've been reading Jon Loeliger's book about
git and I've understood many many things.  I'm interested in using git
as a backup and sync system between computers.

The one thing I'm missing is files metadata.  I thought the simplest
approach would be to create a "hidden" file containing the output from
stat (or something similar but more helpful).  Then hash that "hidden"
file as well or even make it part of the real file (ie first line of
every file are their metadata)...  I think I should look into some
hooks, but I'd need some guidance to get started...  help appreciated!

Simon

Re: git as backup and file sync system

[Sverre Rabbelier]

Heya,

On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 13:16, Simon <turner25@gmail.com> wrote:
>  I'm not sure if this post will be very welcome, but I'd like your
> feedback or suggestions.  I've been reading Jon Loeliger's book about
> git and I've understood many many things.  I'm interested in using git
> as a backup and sync system between computers.

You might want to look into 'bup', [0] designed specifically for that
purpose. It seems like introduction post about it on apenwarr.ca is
down though [1].

[0] http://github.com/apenwarr/bup
[1] http://apenwarr.ca/log/?m=201001#04

-- 
Cheers,

Sverre Rabbelier

Re: git as backup and file sync system

[Avery Pennarun]

On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Sverre Rabbelier <srabbelier@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 13:16, Simon <turner25@gmail.com> wrote:
>>  I'm not sure if this post will be very welcome, but I'd like your
>> feedback or suggestions.  I've been reading Jon Loeliger's book about
>> git and I've understood many many things.  I'm interested in using git
>> as a backup and sync system between computers.
>
> You might want to look into 'bup', [0] designed specifically for that
> purpose. It seems like introduction post about it on apenwarr.ca is
> down though [1].
>
> [0] http://github.com/apenwarr/bup
> [1] http://apenwarr.ca/log/?m=201001#04

Yeah, sorry, apenwarr.ca is flakey at the best of times.  It takes after me :)

Disclaimer: bup does lots of neat backup-related stuff, but it doesn't
*yet* support detailed metadata.  We're working on it:
http://groups.google.com/group/bup-list/browse_thread/thread/e899a579a6f7ae55

If you're only storing a relatively small number of files (say /etc),
then something like etckeeper might do what you want.  Or more
generally, metastore (which etckeeper uses):
http://david.hardeman.nu/software.php

Unfortunately neither git nor metastore can handle the high data
volumes that bup is aimed at (ie. your entire filesystem, including
huge files), which is why bup exists.  Give it a few weeks and we
should have some decent metadata handling in place though.

Have fun,

Avery

Re: git as backup and file sync system

[Simon]

Hey thanks guys!

This looks cool, I mean, I don't really care that it doesn't support
everything topshape, I'm sure I can manage something with this.  I'll
clearly look into it.  What I like most is that development on it is
alive now. =)

Simon

On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 3:49 PM, Avery Pennarun <apenwarr@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Sverre Rabbelier <srabbelier@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 13:16, Simon <turner25@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>  I'm not sure if this post will be very welcome, but I'd like your
>>> feedback or suggestions.  I've been reading Jon Loeliger's book about
>>> git and I've understood many many things.  I'm interested in using git
>>> as a backup and sync system between computers.
>>
>> You might want to look into 'bup', [0] designed specifically for that
>> purpose. It seems like introduction post about it on apenwarr.ca is
>> down though [1].
>>
>> [0] http://github.com/apenwarr/bup
>> [1] http://apenwarr.ca/log/?m=201001#04
>
> Yeah, sorry, apenwarr.ca is flakey at the best of times.  It takes after me :)
>
> Disclaimer: bup does lots of neat backup-related stuff, but it doesn't
> *yet* support detailed metadata.  We're working on it:
> http://groups.google.com/group/bup-list/browse_thread/thread/e899a579a6f7ae55
>
> If you're only storing a relatively small number of files (say /etc),
> then something like etckeeper might do what you want.  Or more
> generally, metastore (which etckeeper uses):
> http://david.hardeman.nu/software.php
>
> Unfortunately neither git nor metastore can handle the high data
> volumes that bup is aimed at (ie. your entire filesystem, including
> huge files), which is why bup exists.  Give it a few weeks and we
> should have some decent metadata handling in place though.
>
> Have fun,
>
> Avery
>