Rsync Seed

[gmc]

my question relates to the transger of seeded data from portable hard drive to nas.

have set up a rsync server on a nas and have seeded the 220gb to a portable hard drive.

can somebody please explain how i transfer the data from the drive to the nas ?

many thanks.

[michael.jones]

Hello,

Thanks for contacting us in relation to BackupAssist. I'm Michael Jones, one of the technical support engineers.

Here is a link to our white paper on rsync. It has a simple to follow procedure on the seeding process.
http://www.backupassist.com/rsync/Setti ... Server.pdf

Should you have additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me - I'd be glad to assist you.

[gmc]

Thanks for the information.

Regarding you PDF, I have gone to page 15, connected the USB, run the seed option and the job has run correctly.

What I am not sure of is how I now transfer the data from the USB to the NAS as per your instructions on page 16.

The pc is Win XP.

Many thanks.

[michael.jones]

Can you please tell me what step below is failing and what if any error youa re getting?

To copy the seed to your Rsync server: Note: these instructions are contained in the README.txt file located on your USB HDD

For a Windows server (assuming the seed is located on E:\SeedFolder)

i. Go to Start menu > CopSSH > Start a Unix BASH shell

ii. Enter the following command: bash "/cygdrive/e/SeedFolder/seed.sh"

[gmc]

The only problem is that I am not sure how to proceed !

You say go to start > CopSSH....Do I need to install the rsync programme onto the pc to get this far even though the rsync is running on a NAS ?

[michael.jones]

Hello ,


I'm sorry, no, you should not have to install anything in this case.
Follow the second part of the instructions:

For a Linux or Unix server (assuming the seed is located in /mnt/usbdrive/SeedFolder)

i. Run the following command in your shell: bash "/mnt/usbdrive/SeedFolder/seed.sh"

Should you have additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me - I'd be glad to assist you.

[gmc]

i. Run the following command in your shell: bash "/mnt/usbdrive/SeedFolder/seed.sh"

This is the part I am struggling with...how do I get to this point on a Windows XP Machine ?

[flub84]

Yeah, you guys really need to explain this process. You explain how to transfer the seed to a Windows or Linux SERVER, but not a NAS which typically does not give you access to a command prompt, even if it is actually running some embedded version of Linux. Your documentation for this process needs improving, as the process for doing it on a Windows server was missing some information last time I tried it too.

I don't have a clue how you would do a seed from a USB hard drive onto a NAS, but I am curious.

[gmc]

I am a little disappointed about the lack of response to be honest although I have managed to work it out.

First of all it depends on the type of NAS which you are using as from past experience you will screw it up if you make a mistake. I am using a ReadyNAs and the first thing you need to do is to enable SSH access. Netgear do realise the need that some users have to be able to go in at root access and accordingly they have a file which you can easily update using the update menu on their system. They do however make it quiet clear that in certain cases you may end up voiding the warranty if you go into areas of the root where you shouldnt be going.

So assuming the update has gone okay you now have obtained root access. Now all you need to do is to connect your PC to the nas. Again assuming you are using Windows, search for 'Putty SSH' and download the small software package onto your desktop. Double click the application, insert the IP of your NAS, select SSH and then click on open. A black screen will open and ask you for your login. In my case the login is ROOT and not ADMIN, the password is the normal password you use to access the NAS.

Next, connect the USB drive to the NAS and this is where Back Up Assist will tell you, you need to run the following command:
i. Run the following command in your shell: bash "/mnt/usbdrive/SeedFolder/seed.sh"


I am afraid that it isnt as easy as this as you need to actually find where your USB drive is located. The other problem I experienced was that the seed.sh file was not located beneath the SeedFolder as BAS state but in the root of the USB drive.

So to find where your USB folder is located and what it is called you will need to type into your shell the command:
ls /

This will display all folders on your NAS. Once you have found your USB, you need to run the bash command. So in my case the command will be:
bash "/USB_HDD_1/seed.sh"

The data should then start to be transferred from your USB drive to the NAS. In my case it did upto a point and then the data stopped transferring.

So although I can now know how to get to that point, I am still struggling transferring the whole of the USB

Hope this helps.

[Stuart]

Hi everyone,

It's Stuart here from the BackupAssist team.

An alternative to transfer the seed to a NAS device is take the NAS onsite and run the seed of the data directly to the NAS by running the first backup locally then just adjusting the backup job to refer to the NAS as it'll be represented offsite.

Hopefully this also helps.