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<p>Hi all (PGRs and new people especially!),</p>
<p>This is a reminder to think about the data you work with, and to
safeguard it from mishaps. I recommend you keep at least two
copies/backups of your data; perhaps on one of our servers
(captain, odhar etc), on an external disk if you have one, or on a
cloud service such as OneDrive. If you need any advice,
suggestions or help with this, please get in touch. Note that
writable CD's and DVD's can be unreliable for long-term storage.<br>
</p>
<p>If you're using Linux, then I'd suggest using the 'rsync' command
to copy one or more directories to captain. Some examples of
using<br>
rsync are at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/rsync-command-examples/">http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/rsync-command-examples/</a> . This
can be made to<br>
run automatically – see below.</p>
<p>A suggested method of backing up to captain is as follows:</p>
<p>
First, set up password-less login to captain using a SSH key if
you haven't already - follow the procedure at<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.makeuseof.com/connect-without-password-copy-ssh-key-server/">https://www.makeuseof.com/connect-without-password-copy-ssh-key-server/</a>
.</p>
<p>
Make sure you can now ssh into captain without a password – this
is so the backup can be run automatically.<br>
Create a shell script to run rsync to captain and/or your external
disk: either a one-liner such as:<br>
<code>
rsync -a ~ captain:backup #copies your home directory to the
directory 'backup' on captain</code><br>
, or something more complex if necessary.</p>
<p>
This can be automated (eg run every night or weekend) via a 'cron'
task – see 'Automating rsync backups' at<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.howtogeek.com/135533/how-to-use-rsync-to-backup-your-data-on-linux/">http://www.howtogeek.com/135533/how-to-use-rsync-to-backup-your-data-on-linux/</a>
for an example.<br>
</p>
<p>Again, please let me know if you need any help or advice
regarding any of this.</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Phil P<br>
</p>
<br>
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