I am testing out backuppc, which works great so far backing up windows clients on a LAN via SMB (no backup client/agent required).
However I have quite a few laptops and desktops that are in various remote locations – some of which move around.
I need some way to have that remote computer create an outgoing connection for backup purposes (Windows XP/7).
I know backuppc supports smb, rsync and 'tar', but I believe these are all connections going from the server TO the client.
SO, I either need a way to vpn the client on a timed basis, or it would be a lot better if the client could some how connect to the server (ssh?) and initiate it's own backup somehow (rsync?).
Of course this all needs to be pre-installed by me and require no maintenance by the end user, no dialogs on their side.
What do you think?
Best Answer
You don't necessarily need to have the computers establish a VPN connection on a timed basis. BackupPC will to backups on laptops and such whenever they are reachable. Partially, completed backups will be finished next time it connects.
Initial backups require transferring all the files being backed up. These will be the longest backups. Once that is done all subsequent backups will only require the differences from the last backup to be transferred. About 1% of the files will be transferred to validate the contents on the server.
You can use the alias to provide an alternate address to contact the fixed PCs at remote locations. You can also override the commands used to determine if a PC is reachable on a client by client basis. You can also run commands before and after a backup. This should give you lots of flexibility to handle remote PCs with fixed.
Ideally, you want the laptops to be reachable from time to time. However, if you can script a post to the web interface, the laptops should be able to trigger their own backups whenever they connect.
It may be better to install VPN software on the laptops and let BackupPC pickup the laptops when they are available. BackupPC will email the user specified in the host's user column if the backup gets too old.