BURP - BackUp and Restore Program
index why faq howto download contact



QUICK START

You need to compile burp on a unix-based operating system first.
Make sure that you have openssl, zlib and librsync libraries and development
libraries installed. With debian or ubuntu, this command should install them
for you:
apt-get install librsync-dev libz-dev libssl-dev
Change to the burp source directory and run "./configure --prefix=/usr",
then "make".
All being well, burp will compile successfully.
Then run "make install" as root to install.

Start the burp server with this command:
burp -c /etc/burp/burp-server.conf

UNIX CLIENT

The example client configuration file is /etc/burp/burp.conf.
It will backup /home/graham/testdir by default, which probably does not exist
on your system, so you will want to edit the config file to point to somewhere
that does exist.

To run a backup, start the burp client:
burp -a b

WINDOWS CLIENT

Pick the 32-bit or 64-bit Burp installer as appropriate - visit
http://burp.grke.net/ to find one of them.
Compilation instructions will be included in a separate guide.
The Windows installer will ask you for the address of your server, the client
name, and the client password. Burp will then installed its files to:
C:/Program Files/Burp
If you need to change client configuration settings, the file can be found at:
C:/Program Files/Burp/burp.conf
It will be configured to backup "C:/Documents and Settings".

To run a backup, start the burp client from within its directory:
cd "C:\Program Files\Burp\bin"
burp.exe -a b
If you are running Windows 7, you might need to start the command prompt with
"Run as Administrator".



For more help, see the man page - type 'man burp'.


For the benefit of the website, the man page now follows.


Burp(8) 							       Burp(8)



NAME
       Burp - BackUp and Restore Program

SYNOPSIS
       burp [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION
       BackUp and Restore Program.


SERVER OPTIONS
       -c path
	      Short  for  'config  file'. The argument is a path to the config
	      file. The default is /etc/burp/burp.conf.

       -n     No daemon mode. The program will accept  a  single  query,  deal
	      with it, and then exit. This is useful for debugging.


CLIENT OPTIONS
       -a [b|r|l|L]
	      Short  for 'action'. The arguments mean backup, restore, list or
	      long list, respectively.

       -b [number|a]
	      Short for 'backup number'. The argument is a number, or  'a'  to
	      select all backups.

       -c [path]
	      Short  for  'config  file'. The argument is a path to the config
	      file.  The  default  is	/etc/burp/burp.conf,   or   C:\Program
	      Files\Burp\burp.conf on Windows.

       -d [path]
	      Short  for 'directory'. The argument is a path to an alternative
	      directory to restore to.

       -f [path]
	      Short for 'force overwrite'. Without this option set, a  restore
	      will not overwrite existing files.

       -r [regex]
	      Short  for  'regular  expression'.  The  argument  is  a regular
	      expression with which to match backup files. Use	it  for  lists
	      and restores.


EXAMPLES
       burp -a l
	      Lists the available backups and dates

       burp -a l -b 1
	      Lists all the files in backup number 1.

       burp -a l -b a
	      Lists all the files in all the backups.

       burp -a l -b 1 -r myregex
	      Lists  all  the  files in backup number 1 that match the regular
	      expression 'myregex'.

       burp -a L -b 1 -r myregex
	      Long lists all the files in backup number 1 that match the regu-
	      lar expression 'myregex'. This is like doing an 'ls -l'.

       burp -a r -b 1 -r myregex
	      Restores all the files in backup number 1 that match the regular
	      expression 'myregex' back to their original location. You  won't
	      be given a warning if the files already exist there, so use with
	      caution.

       burp -a r -b 1 -r myregex -d /tmp/restoredir
	      Restores all the files in backup number 1 that match the regular
	      expression 'myregex' into the directory /tmp/restoredir.

       burp -a r
	      Restores all the files in the most recent backup to their origi-
	      nal location. You won't be given a warning if the files  already
	      exist there, so use with caution.


SERVER CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS
       mode=server
	      Required to run in server mode.

       port=[port number]
	      Defines the TCP port that the server listens on.

       directory=[path]
	      Path to the directory in which to store backups.

       clientconfdir=[path]
	      Path to the directory that contains client configuration files.

       lockfile=[path]
	      Path to the lockfile that ensures that two server processes can-
	      not run simultaneously.

       keep=[number]
	      Number of backups to keep. This can be overriddden by the client
	      configuration files in clientconfdir on the server.

       hardlinked_archive=[0|1]
	      On  the  server, defines whether to keep hardlinked files in the
	      backups, or whether to generate reverse deltas  and  delete  the
	      original	files. Can be set to either 0 (off) or 1 (on).	Disad-
	      vantage: More disk space will be used Advantage:	Restores  will
	      be faster, and since no reverse deltas need to be generated, the
	      time and effort the server needs at  the	end  of  a  backup  is
	      reduced.

       working_dir_recovery_method=[merge|use|delete]
	      This  option tells the server what to do when it finds the work-
	      ing directory of an interrupted backup (perhaps somebody	pulled
	      the plug on the server, or something). This can be overridden by
	      the client configurations files in clientconfdir on the  server.
	      Options are...

       delete: Just delete the old working directory.

       use: Convert the working directory into a complete backup.

       merge:  Merge  the working directory with the previous complete backup.
       The resulting backup will contain the newest files from the both.  This
       option  takes effect when you try to do a new backup on the client that
       was interrupted. Once the old  working  directory  is  dealt  with,  an
       entirely new backup will be made.


SERVER CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS
       mode=client
	      Required to run in client mode.

       server=[IP address or hostname]
	      Defines the server to connect to.

       port=[port number]
	      Defines the TCP port that the server is listening on.

       cname=[password]
	      Defines the client name to identify as to the server.

       password=[password]
	      Defines the password to send to the server.

       lockfile=[path]
	      Path to the lockfile that ensures that two client processes can-
	      not run simultaneously (this currently doesn't work on Windows).

       include=[path]
	      Path to include in the backup. You  can  have  multiple  include
	      lines.

       exclude=[path]
	      Path  to	exclude from the backup. You can have multiple exclude
	      lines.


SERVER CLIENTCONFDIR FILE
       For the server to know about clients that can contact it, you  need  to
       place  a  file  named  after the client in clientconfdir. The file name
       must much the name in the 'cname' field on the client. It needs to con-
       tain  a	line like "password=[password]" that matches the same field on
       the client. Additionally, the "keep" and  "working_dir_recovery_method"
       server options can be overridden here for each client.


Examining backups
       As  well  as  using the client list options described above, you can go
       directly to the storage directory on the  server.  The  backups	for  a
       client  are in the directory named after the client. Inside each backup
       directory is a file called manifest.gz.

       This contains a list of all the files in the  backup,  and  where  they
       originally came from on the client.

       There  is  also a 'log.gz' file in the backup directory, which contains
       the output generated by the server during the backup.

       The 'data' directory contains complete backup files.

       The 'deltas.reverse' directory contains	reverse  deltas  that  can  be
       applied	to the data from the next backup in the sequence (indicated by
       the contents of the 'forward' file).

       Anything with a .gz suffix is compressed in gzip format.  You  can  use
       standard  tools,  such  as zcat, zless or cp, to view them or copy them
       elsewhere.



BUGS
       If you find bugs, please report them to the email list. See the website
        for details.


AUTHOR
       The main author of Burp is Graham Keeling.


COPYRIGHT
       See the LICENCE file included with the source distribution.



				     Burp			       Burp(8)

Burp is open and free software. I work on it in my spare time. If you would like this work to continue, please consider making a small donation.


Late updated: February 2011