MKBKUP - Make a Bootable Backup

Last Modified: 03/31/2006

MKBKUP (version 3.2) - Make a Bootable Backup of a Linux OS

DESCRIPTION

mkbkup.pl is a program written in Perl, and developed on Linux distributions, RedHat 8.0, Suse 9.2, and Suse10. Its function is to create a bootable backup of the Operating System on a separate hard drive. mkbkup.pl is available under an OpenBSD License template, License, which defines the terms under which the software is offered to the general public.

FEATURES

a bootable backup that makes use of labeled filesystems allowing flexibility in backup drive placement.
a bootable backup can be created with different partition sizes than the system being backed up.
hard drives with different geometries and capacities than the system being backed up can be used as the bootable backup.
/boot/grub/grub.conf and /etc/fstab on the bootable backup are updated to reflect any changed partition information.

OPERATION

mkbkup.pl accomplishes bootable backup creation by a 5-step process.

Designated backup drive and new partitions are determined by command-line parameters.
The designated backup drive is partitioned, either according to parameters, or according to the original partitions.
All data on the original drive is copied in tree structure order starting from '/'. Filesystems on the backup drive are created and mounted as needed.
A master boot record is created on the designated backup drive via grub (Grand Unified Boot Loader).
/boot/grub/grub.conf and /etc/fstab on the designated backup drive are modified to reflect any partition changes from current to backup.

Once mkbkup.pl has completed its operation and there are no errors, the backup drive is ready for booting and use as if it were the current OS.

PROJECT CURRENT STATUS

mkbkup.pl is currently a simple unix command-line program. It was developed using perl(v5.8.7), grub(Gnu Grub 0.96), and linux OS(/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.13-15). Read thoroughly the distribution License and the manpages before using mkbkup.pl.

NOTE there may be problems downloading signature files with firefox & mozilla(Konqueror & IE are ok)

Download File	SHA1 Checksum	# bytes	Signed Checksum File
mkbkup.v3.2.tar.gz	83453290ab832d7b552d98319ae021c2d5f1889e	31,895	mkbkup.v3.2.tar.gz.sig
mkbkup.v2.2.tar.gz	d4708ead6ee71e1e6f2728af60e51017f48ecc76	26,407	mkbkup.v2.2.tar.gz.sig

NOTE: mkbkup.v3.2 is designed to simplify handling of non-disk partition file systems (e.g., /proc, /sys, /media, .... and occasionally /tmp when it is mounted over ram. This version is also intended to support all distros supported by previous versions of mkbkup.pl.