Backup & Scheduling Commands

Does Linux have an official backup tool?

no

How can you create a custom backup solution in Linux?

using cron job scheduling and file copy scripts, possibly with tar or gzip

What are some backup products available for Linux?

Amanda, Bacula, Fwbackups, and Rsync

What service is used to run batches of commands or scripts for backups or maintenance tasks?

cron

Where can each user schedule tasks for cron?

in their personal crontab

How often does cron check the system-wide schedule?

every minute

What command shows a user's scheduled cron jobs?

crontab -l

What command removes scheduled cron jobs?

crontab -r

What command opens the crontab editor?

crontab -e

What is the default editor for crontab -e?

vi

What do the crontab fields mm, hh, dd, MM, weekday, and command represent?

minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week, and command or script with full path

What values can mm use in crontab?

0–59

What values can hh use in crontab?

0–23

What values can dd use in crontab?

1–31

What values can MM use in crontab?

1–12 or jan, feb, mar

What values can weekday use in crontab?

0–7 or sun, mon, tue

What does * mean in crontab?

any value

What does , mean in crontab?

multiple values

What does - mean in crontab?

range of values

What does /n mean in crontab?

every nth value

What does this crontab entry do: 15 02 * * 5 /usr/bin/rsync -av --delete /home/sam /mount/rsync?

runs rsync at 2:15 a.m. every Friday to synchronize files from /home/sam to /mount/rsync

What does the -v option do in the rsync example?

increased verbosity

What does the --delete option do in the rsync example?

removes files on the source side that don't exist on the destination

What is tar commonly used for in Linux backups?

easy to script into a backup schedule

What is rsync used for in Linux backups?

sync files between storage devices, instantly or on a schedule