Back In Time

Long list of permission errors every day. What can't be opened?

Asked by Gregory Mason

Every day I get a long list of errors in either rsync opendir or rsync send_files. The always appears to reference the same files. All are in the root directory (boot, etc, usr, and var subdirectories). All have the message "Permission Denied (13)." I am new to Ubuntu and Linux, and I have no idea whether the files involved even need to be backed up. I have set up my Main profile to exclude all of the suggested patterns and the whole expansion drive on which the backups are kept. The listing of errors runs eight pages, so I won't list all the files. Random samples: /etc/cups/ssl, /etc/.pwd.lock, /var/log/upstart/cups.log.1.gz (in fact, the majority of the entries are log.n.gz entries). When I sign on as superuser, I am able to run the rsync command for several of the affected files (though with very simple -anv options). Do I even have a problem?

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Germar
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Paul Necsoiu (paul-necsoiu) said : 		#1

You used the Back in Time in time (Root) version ?

Revision history for this message
Gregory Mason (gmason07) said : 		#2

Paul:

Thanks for the rapid response. I don't know about the root version. Many of the root files are successfully backed up, and I got no application complaints when I included root directories in my profile.

g

----- Original Message -----

From: "Paul Necsoiu" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 11:11:46 AM
Subject: Re: [Question #262004]: Long list of permission errors every day. What can't be opened?

Your question #262004 on Back In Time changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/backintime/+question/262004

Status: Open => Needs information

Paul Necsoiu requested more information:
You used the Back in Time in time (Root) version ?

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Revision history for this message
Best Germar (germar) said : 		#3

Hi Gregory,

welcome to Linux and BackInTime. You get 'Permission Denied' errors because you user can't read those files. They are only readable by root. So if you want to back them up you'd need to start 'Back In Time (root)' from Starter/Dash.

But in most cases backing up the whole system with BackInTime is not necessary.
I'd suggest to run BackInTime as normal user to backup your /home/USER and use the script from FAQ #2455 to backup your installed package selection. Also run a second snapshot with 'Back In Time (root)' which will only backup /etc.

In case of a disaster recovery you only need to reinstall Ubuntu and BackInTime, recover /home/USER and /etc and follow the steps in FAQ #2456 to install all other packages again.

Regards,
Germar

Revision history for this message
Gregory Mason (gmason07) said : 		#4

Thanks Germar, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
Gregory Mason (gmason07) said : 		#5

Thanks for your sage advice and for your patience. I will do as you suggest.
g

----- Original Message -----

From: "Germar" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 4:51:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Question #262004]: Long list of permission errors every day. What can't be opened?

Your question #262004 on Back In Time changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/backintime/+question/262004

Status: Open => Answered

Germar proposed the following answer:
Hi Gregory,

welcome to Linux and BackInTime. You get 'Permission Denied' errors
because you user can't read those files. They are only readable by root.
So if you want to back them up you'd need to start 'Back In Time (root)'
from Starter/Dash.

But in most cases backing up the whole system with BackInTime is not necessary.
I'd suggest to run BackInTime as normal user to backup your /home/USER and use the script from FAQ #2455 to backup your installed package selection. Also run a second snapshot with 'Back In Time (root)' which will only backup /etc.

In case of a disaster recovery you only need to reinstall Ubuntu and
BackInTime, recover /home/USER and /etc and follow the steps in FAQ
#2456 to install all other packages again.

Regards,
Germar

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