Installing Bareos on Arch Linux

Bareos is a popular open-source backup solution that can be used to backup and restore data in both on-premises and cloud environments. In this tutorial, we will learn how to install Bareos on Arch Linux.

Prerequisites

It is assumed that you have a running Arch Linux system and a user account with sudo privileges.

Installing Bareos

Follow the steps below to install Bareos on your Arch Linux system:

1. Open the terminal window and update the system package list:

sudo pacman -Syy

2. Install the Bareos package from the community repository:

sudo pacman -S bareos

3. Enable and start the Bareos director and storage services:

sudo systemctl enable bareos-dir.service
sudo systemctl start bareos-dir.service

sudo systemctl enable bareos-sd.service
sudo systemctl start bareos-sd.service

4. Verify the service status:

sudo systemctl status bareos-dir.service
sudo systemctl status bareos-sd.service

You should see a message indicating that the services are active and running.

Configuring Bareos

Once Bareos is installed, you need to configure it to meet your backup and restore needs. You can use the default configuration files provided by Bareos or create new ones based on your backup requirements.

Follow the steps below to modify the Bareos configuration:

1. Open the bareos-dir.conf file in a text editor:

sudo nano /etc/bareos/bareos-dir.conf

2. Modify the file to specify your backup policies and schedules. For example, you can define backup jobs, backup clients, backup schedules, retention policies, and more.

3. Save the file and quit the text editor.

4. Open the bareos-sd.conf file in a text editor:

sudo nano /etc/bareos/bareos-sd.conf

5. Modify the file to specify the storage daemon parameters. For example, you can define the default storage location, file pool parameters, tape library configuration, and more.

6. Save the file and quit the text editor.

7. Restart the Bareos Director and Storage services to apply the new configuration:

sudo systemctl restart bareos-dir.service
sudo systemctl restart bareos-sd.service

Testing Bareos

At this point, Bareos should be up and running on your Arch Linux system. You can test it by performing a backup and restore operation on a test file.

Follow the steps below to perform a backup and restore test:

1. Create a test file to backup:

echo "This is a test file." > /tmp/testfile

2. Save the file to the Bareos client directory:

sudo cp /tmp/testfile /var/lib/bareos/storage/testfile

3. Start the Bareos Console to initiate the backup job:

sudo bareos-console

4. Run the run command to start the backup job:

run

5. Select the backup job and confirm the prompt.

6. Wait for the backup job to complete.

7. Open the Bareos WebUI and verify that the backup job completed successfully.

8. Restore the test file:

sudo bareos-console

9. Run the restore command to start the restore job:

restore

10. Select the restore-by-name job and confirm the prompt.

11. Select the test file to restore and confirm the prompt.

12. Wait for the restore job to complete.

13. Verify that the test file has been restored to the specified destination.

And that's all there is to it! Bareos is now installed and configured on your Arch Linux system, and you're ready to start backing up and restoring your critical data.

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