Backing up mail on OS X 10.6 Dovecot server

[mgnicks]

Hello everyone. Hope you’re all well.

I was just looking into updating my Mail server to 10.6.3. I see there is a fix for dovecot in the list. Before I go ahead and update the server I want to backup the mail store. I have read through the Mail Service PDF on the Apple website. It says to use the Ditto command line tool. Unfortunately what it fails to tell me is what i should type to back up the mail store properly. Do i preserve ACLs? Do i need to follow resource forks?

Considering since 10.5 + OS X Server suppose to be for the non-technical minded person, if it ever came to a disaster they would be screwed as there doesn’t seem to be any easy method documented to create regular backups for maintenance sake or how to restore in case of such a disaster.

Some say that Time machine is adequate. Some say that it is not due to the fact it doesn’t stop services before-hand. 😕

So I was wondering if any of you guys know how best to back up this mail store on Snow Leopard?

I used to use MailBFR before. 😀

TIA.

[uptimejeff]

The best advice I can give you is to clone your drive(s) to another volume(s).
This allows you to roll-back should there by any issues with the update.
[b]You should be cloning for alot of reasons

[/b]It’s best to stop services during the clone, but not required….

Carbon Copy Cloner is nice/free but might leave you with more questions.
SuperDuper is easier and has a nice friendly (green or red) feedback after the clone is done.
The defaults in either program are fine.

Jeff

[mgnicks]

Thanks Jeff.

Would you say this is the same when the server is set to be an OD Master? The server in question is an OD master, Mail server and Web server.

I have read a few stories of concerns over backing up a fully functioning OD Master while the service is still switched on. Would you say this is a non-issue with Cloning?

Thanks for the reply. Most appreciated.

[uptimejeff]

I you are concerned, then boot from another volume when you make the clone… then you are sure that all files are not active.
There are many ways to do this- one option, you could boot from your installer CD and use Disk Util to clone (it’s called Restore in Disk Util)

That said….
I’ve never had an issue with a cloned OD Master, even when the clone was made while the system was live.
That’s not to say it won’t happen to you though 🙂
You are making backups of your OD (ldap) database, right?

You backup scheme should contain several layers…. app/db dumps, raid/mirror, clones, offsite
There are 100 ways of doing this… so I can’t say what is best for you.
Clones can save your butt.. you should be cloning at least 1 generation and ideally 2 or 3 generations of the OS so you have fall-back options.
Additionally, dump your OD (ldap) database and any other DB files on a regular schedule.

Jeff

[mgnicks]

At the moment there is no Backup being done at all whether it be LDAP, OD or anything. I didn’t know the best way to do this. You could say that it’s a bit foolish to not do any backups at all. 😳

I just need to know the best ways to go about setting up a backup procedure. Is there a way to automate the OD Schema backups? I know that you can backup the OD Schema using Server admin but is there a a way to automate this using a schedule. You’re going to say scripts now aren’t ya? 😉

I have looked a SuperDuper. There is an option to download a free version to do a complete backup. But it also does scheduled automatic backups for $30. I think that’s quite reasonable. I will look into this software further. Thanks for the heads up.

I have scheduled the MySQL admin tool to backup the MySQL database. This was quite easy to do through the software 😀

Thanks for your input.

Mark

[uptimejeff]

Disclaimer- this is not a comprehensive backup plan.. this could be part of one- but it’s not complete…
It would be MUCH better than nothing though 🙂

At minimum, user SuperDuper to do automated nightly smart-backup (incremental vs erase/backup) to an external firewire drive.
Event better, do the same to more than 1 drive.

To backup OD automatically requires a script…. Unless you have frequent updates to your users/groups, why don’t you just make regular dumps via serveradmin (to a folder on your boot drive) then these dumps will be backed up with your clone routine.

Jeff

[mgnicks]

That sounds like a plan or the start of one at least.
We don’t actually change the users in the OD that often. So backing up the users once a month would perhaps be often enough in our case.

Thanks for your help.

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