Tutorial: Installing Amanda on NetBSD

Introduction

Amanda is an open-source backup solution that allows you to backup multiple machines over a network to tape drives or disks. This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Amanda on a NetBSD machine.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

• A NetBSD machine with at least 2GB of RAM
• Root access to the NetBSD machine
• Internet connection

Step 1: Install Amanda

1. Open a terminal on your NetBSD machine.
2. Make sure your system is up to date by running the command:

   # pkgin update
   # pkgin full-upgrade
   

3. Install Amanda by running the command:

   # pkgin install amanda
   

4. Answer "yes" to any prompts that you receive.

Step 2: Configure Amanda

1. Open the Amanda configuration file "/usr/pkg/etc/amanda/amanda.conf" in your preferred text editor.
2. Modify the following options as required for your environment:
   • org – The name of your organization
   • mailto – The email address to send notifications to
   • tpchanger – The tape or disk changer you are using (if applicable)
   • tapedev – The tape device you are using (if applicable)
   • device_property – The device properties for the tape or disk changer (if applicable)
   • dumpcycle – How often backups should be performed
   • runtapes – The number of tapes you want to reserve for each backup run
   • tapecycle – How often a new tape should be used
   • tapetype – The type of tape you are using (if applicable)
   • holdingdisk – The directory where backups are stored before being moved to tape or disk (if applicable)
3. Save and close the configuration file.

Step 3: Create a Data Directory

1. Create the data directory that Amanda will use to store backups:

   # mkdir /data
   

2. Set the permissions for the data directory so Amanda can access it:

   # chown -R backup:backup /data
   # chmod -R 700 /data
   

Step 4: Run Amanda

1. Start the Amanda server by running the command:

   # amandad
   

2. Run a backup by running the command:

   # amdump <config_name>
   

   Replace "" with the name of the configuration file you created in Step 2.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Amanda on your NetBSD machine and completed your first backup. You can now schedule regular backups to protect your data.

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