Re: [rdiff-backup-users] backup from linux to windows

[Dominic]

jara wrote:
> I need to backup from linux to windows server. I do have a ssh client set up
> on windows. Do I still need rdiff-backup.exe to be installed on windows? Is
> there any other way to avoid it?
>   
The optimal solution is to have, on the windows server, rdiff-backup.exe 
and either an ssh server (if you are doing a 'push' backup i.e. 
initiated from the linux client) or plink.exe (if you are doing a 'pull' 
backup i.e. initiated from the windows server). It is best to have 
rdiff-backup on both client and server, because in this way it can 
cooperatively optimise file transfers (I presume). The communication is 
secure and fast.

A workaround is to have the backup folder on the windows server directly 
accessible by the linux client through a share (see, for instance, 
http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/how-to-mount-remote-windows-partition-windows-share-under-linux.html); 
then you can run rdiff-backup on the client from the source to the 
mounted remote share: e.g. rdiff-backup /home/jara /mnt/jaras_archive. 
You don't need Windows ssh server (or client) in this case. It will be 
slower though.

If the two machines are not on a secure lan and are communicating via 
the internet I think you would also need some additional security 
because the communication is not through ssh. There are some 
instructions here 
http://www.nikhef.nl/~janjust/CifsOverSSH/Howto_Loopback.html about how 
to do a cifs mount over ssh, or you could use a vpn.

Dominic