[Box Backup] ExcludeFile command being ignored with Win32 client.

Chris Wilson boxbackup@fluffy.co.uk
Mon, 14 Aug 2006 09:41:37 +0100 (BST)


Hi John,

> I tried the latest version and all seems great for the windows version with 
> regards to the exclude directives. Thanks for your help and responsiveness!

No problem, thanks for testing it.

> I did notice that for the ExcludeDir the following did not seem to work:
>
> ExcludeDir = C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.MYSERVER\Cookies\
>
> But it did work when I removed the trailing slash:
>
> ExcludeDir = C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.MYSERVER\Cookies

I thought I mentioned that in my email, sorry if I omitted it. Perhaps I 
should add a warning in the code as well.

> Have you or anyone else done any testing on restoring a Windows box from 
> scratch via Box Backup? (sorry if this has already be addressed)

It's currently impossible, since Windows locks several critical files like 
the SAM, and we have no way to back them up. There is some discussion of 
adding support for Volume Shadow Services to Box, which should fix this, 
and then it might be possible.

Also, we don't currently have support for backing up or restoring NTFS 
permissions, so an NTFS volume would be hopelessly insecure after it was 
restored.

Ben has always said that it makes more sense to reinstall the OS and 
restore the data than to back up the whole OS, but I'm not sure whether I 
agree - the fastest recovery from a disaster would be a total restore, as 
far as I can tell.

Cheers, Chris.
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