Last modified: 17 April 2007 Backing up office and lab computers
The Department of Physics has a server dedicated for use as a location for backups of office and lab computers. Before getting into the details of how to use this resource, a brief word is needed about it's use:
- The use of this server is only for BACKUPS. It is not intended to be a location for use for computers which do not have sufficient disk space for normal use.
- Keep in mind that a "backup" is a different concept than an "archive". Archives are permanent copies of files which are no longer needed on a computer. Archives are best achieved by writting the files to a CD or DVD.
- Files placed on this server should utilize some form of backup program such as a Windows .bkf package, a Unix/Mac tar.gz file, etc.
- You MUST know your Physics account userid & password. Further, when you change your Physics account password (required every 6 months), you will need to change the password used for the backup program.
- The use of this server is only for BACKUPS. It is not intended to be a location for use for computers which do not have sufficient disk space for normal use. You might notice we put this point on here twice!
Initial setup for all users
Note: this section is mostly just documentation for the computer support group. But everyone should read this section so that you know:
- the name of the computer holding your backups
- the sharename you will connect your computer to
1. Before the server can be utilized, space must first be allocated by one of the computer services support staff. We must create a directory in the /mass filesystem on userbackup.physics.tamu.edu and set file permission ownership to the user.
2(a). For backups of office computers, the directory is created matching the userid of the user. For individual users, the sharename will match their Physics userid.2(b). For backups for a lab, a group must be created in LDAP (if one does not already exist) and the /etc/samba/smb.conf be edited (on userbackup.physics.tamu.edu) to create a share (be sure to restart samba after editing the file). The directory created to hold the backups for the lab should match the LDAP groupname and sharename. Also, setting the "sticky bit" for the group permissions is a good idea (that way the files are not usable by only one user).
3. Remember that all of these backups require that you (the user) use your Physics account userid & password. That means when you change your password (required every 6 months), you need to remember to change the password that gets used by the backup program used by your computer.
Instructions for users, by operating system