hi guys linux noob here wanting to learn linux scripting, i need help with a backup script that not only allows me to back up my files but restore them to my own personal directory, had a look at some of the coding from the scripts section on this site but still lost.
any help is much appreciated
this may not be the right place where you get canned scripts. but if you are ready to get your hands wet and want to know how, this is a great place to be
i'm doing this in my spare time so just plodding about tinkering with commands etc, so as long as its not too long & complicated for a noob like me then i am willing to get my hands wet (with xmas around the corner) i hope this is the right saying "my mind is an open book"
Hi Burnie,
First of all you should tell us about the backup process you want to run. Solutions might change from one backup process to another. Step by step specify your requirements, your environment and if it is daily backup or monthly?
i am hoping to start a linux college course next year but wanted to have some experience before starting so got some past papers from a college student i know on some linux course questions (a few years old) and working through them. the edited question is a company wishes to to develop a new utility which will aid the users in backing up and restoring files in their own personal directory area. in doing this development, it should be recognised that script files are treated like any other i.e. they should be stored in a directory called scriptfiles.
only one utility is to be developed
the utility will give the user the option to back upor restore a set of files
the utility will give the user the ability to specify which type of file is to be used in particular back up or restore session.
the utility should be robust with respect to files and directories and the possible overwriting of files
i'm sorry for the size of the question but did not know what to leave out
thanks for any help
Mate you can get much more help from people here as long as you describe your needs very well, there are too many experts here (im just ordinary shell scripter!).
I have worked with some backup issues last months, let me give you some idea with some codes i wrote for production backup processes.
you can compress directories, files and move them from one path to another:
#!/bin/bash
DATE=`date +%Y%m%d%H%M`
cd /directory_that_you_want_to_copy
cp -r application /put_ur_path_here/backup$DATE
cd /put_ur_path_here
tar -cvfX backup$DATE.tar
you can specify some types of files before you send, move them :
find . \( -name "*.gz" -o -name "*.tar" -o -name "*.rar" \)
or you can even choose files which "modified earlier than 9 days" adding mtime and redirect them to another directory:
find . \( -name "*.gz" -o -name "*.tar" -o -name "*.sh" \) -mtime -9
you can FTP the compressed files or do many things, its up to you, Besides you can schedule the backup scripts using Cron job. Keep searching in this forum, you will find many things usefull.
Regards
thank you for the response but this going to be harder than i thought so this is the details in full:
a software company has established standards with regards to the naming and organisation of files in its linux based filestore. in particular, users are directed to store files of a particular type in the same directory, for example, users sre instructed to store all word processor files in a directory named wp. for the purpose of this exercise therea re 3 types of file available - wordprocessing, spreadsheet and picture files.
up until now house keeping practices have been a bit haphazard and it has been upto the individual user as to the manner in which they organise back up of files, if indeed this is done at all. therefore the company wishes to to develop a new utility which will aid the users in backing up and restoring files in their own personal directory area. in doing this development, it should be recognised that script files are treated like any other i.e. they should be stored in a directory called scriptfiles.
only one utility is to be developed
the utility will give the user the option to back up or restore a set of files
the utility will give the user the ability to specify which type of file is to be used in a particular back up or restore session.
the utility should be robust with respect to files and directories and the possible overwriting of files; the utility should provide help to allow the novice user to make use of the utility.
hopefully someone can understand what is required (because i dont) and hopefully when i do start college it wont be as hard as this for a beginner
cheers
If that's the path yo uwant to take in life, stick around until next year and try to learn the basics.
Learning howto solve small/basic problems will help you understand complex one 
Taking in consideration your current knowledge level this problem is over your head for the moment.
its just this was the last one, i managed to get through some vi, grep, permissions and firewall tutorials by looking online and with a book but the scripting is a bit vague in the book and i dont really understand the question as to what to look for and was hoping for a heads up
thanks