rfs is a shell script for creating/updating a spare system disk. The
main goal is to recover quickly a working system after a crash. Quickly
means : the time you need to reboot the machine.

rfs works on Gnu/Linux platforms and supports ext2/ext3 file systems.

You need two physical disks : one contains the entire system, the other
is an identical model, dedicated to backup. Once you plugged this
second disk, there's no more need to open your box. The backup is based on
rsync : your system remains fully-working while the backup is processed.

The very first version of rfs was "sauver_sys.sh", a shell script
written by Eric Gerbier . rfs stands for
"replication of file systems".

Requirements
============

sed   >= 3.95
rsync >= 2.5.6
lilo  >= 5

Backup
======

run `rfs -h' to see available options.

If /dev/hda is your original system disk and /dev/hdb your spare one,
running "rfs /dev/hda /dev/hdb" will clone hda partitions on hdb (thus
you cannot use hdb for others purposes).

____ hda _____             ____ hdb _____
| partition 1 | ---------> | partition 1 |
| partition n | ---------> | partition n |
--------------             --------------
| LILO        | ---------> | LILO        |
--------------             --------------

To know about witch partitions are to be copied, rfs uses /etc/fstab. In
its default interactive mode, you're asked for confirmation if /etc/fstab
differs from the partition table stored on hda : you should want to
exclude partitions from the backup, or you should not. It's up to you.

Note that recursive mount points are supported. e.g : /dev/hda6 mounted
on /home/user and /dev/hda7 mounted on /home/user/data.

Consider using the -s switch if you plan to work in silent mode : you
won't be asked anything.

Testing
========

Process with backup as described above. Then reboot using the spare system
as described below.

When a system crash occurs
==========================

Put the target disk in place of the source disk and reboot.
Your machine is up again.

Schedule
========

You may want to periodically refresh your backup. This should goes faster :
only new files are updated. Old files are deleted on the spare disk if
the are no longer present on the original disk.

Feedback
========

Your feedback is welcome, especially with a raid machine.

Does it work for you ?
Witch Software/Hardware do you use ?
Witch versions of lilo/rsync do you use?
...

Authors
=======

Nicolas Jouanne 
Eric Gerbier 

License and Copyright
=====================

rfs is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
See the included file "COPYING".

Copyright (C) 2004 2005 Nicolas Jouanne