Partition Image Operation Steps

complete documentation at
PartImage.org

See New Generation No activity since 2010 dedicated site no longer available

Partimage 0.6.8 is included on the SystemRescueCD
which includes remote file system support for Samba(CIFS, MS windows) and NFS (Network File Systems)
and defaults to requiring a login and SSL. Use --noSSL and --noLogin if desired.

no activity since 2010-07-25 V0.6.9

file-server mode Using a linux system to store the image. At the file-server Prepare destination For backing up to a local MS Windows volume ( after booting a live CD like SystemRescueCD) Check the list of the partitions: fdisk /dev/hda print quit Make a directory for a "mount point" mkdir /mnt/images mount the partition with the MS windows target volume on the "mount point" mount /dev/hda9† /mnt/images Check the available space on the volume df /mnt/images Verify what is there is what you expect! ls -ltr /mnt/images | more Make sure the volume is writable touch /mnt/images/`date +%y-%m-%d_%H:%M`.laBerlin† Establish authorization for saving user adduser partimage† Verify that the user has write access to the volume for storage of the image su partimage touch /images/0_partImages exit At the Client being saved mkdir /mnt/partimgVault prepare network connection to destination Using a remote MS windows system with a file share as the repository: mount -t cifs //fdSeville/images /mnt/partimgVault password: Continue with client       or Using a network file system server mount -t nfs fdSeville:images /mnt/partimgVault Continue with client

partimaged-server mode

1. At the partimaged server computer
   If no user authorization will be used (--noLogin) skip to "Start the daemon"

   If using --login, or partimage was compiled requiring user authorizations:

   1. Establish authorizations
      

      for /etc/passwd	Partimage authorization file Not needed with system Rescue CD since partimage is set to nologin
      Create server user partimgd   sudo adduser --create-home /var/log/partimage partimaged sudo passwd partimaged	Create partimage auth file  (if using System Rescue CD skip to add clients) cat > mkPartimgAuth.sh mkdir $1 touch $1/partimagedusers chmod 600 $1/partimagedusers chown partimgd $1/partimagedusers ^D sudo sh -x mkPartimgAuth.sh /etc/partimaged
      Create clients users cat > mkPartClients.sh adduser --comment "partimageID" -M fdLondon passwd fdLondon adduser --comment "partimageID" -M ladMilan passwd ladMilan adduser --comment "partimageID" -M franckParis passwd franckParis … ^D sudo sh -x mkPartClients.sh	add clients cat >> /etc/partimaged/partimagedusers franckParis ladMilan fdLondon ^D sudo sh -x mkPartCLientsA.sh

   2. check destination:
                touch /partImages/Seville/0_partionImage_images
   3. Start the daemon:

      Switch to an alternate console [Alt][F2]

      partimged -d /partImages/Seville [--nologin]

      
      Switch back to original console [Alt][F1]
      

      partimaged options:

      -d /dd/ddd --dest/dd/ddd	destination directory
      -ppppp --port=pppp	server's port listening (default: 4025)
      -D --daemon	start in daemon mode, not foreground
      -i --compilinfo	show compilation options used
      -r dir --chroot dir	use chroot to improve security
      -g[2|3] --debug=[2|3]	set the debug level (default: 1)
      -L --nologin	disable login from clients( See compilation options)
      -n --nossl	dissable SSL
      -h --help	show help
      -v --version	show version

At the Client

1. Display partitions

   sfdisk --list |more
   

   Disk /dev/sda: 4865 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
   Units = cylinders of 8225280 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0
   
      Device Boot Start     End   #cyls    #blocks   Id  System
   /dev/sda1   *      0+    536-    537-   4305640+   c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
   /dev/sda2        536+   2382-   1847-  14832216    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
   /dev/sda3       2432    4865-   2434-  19543104    7  HPFS/NTFS
   /dev/sda4          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
   /dev/sda5        536+    791-    256-   2048728+   7  HPFS/NTFS
   /dev/sda6        791+   1047-    256-   2056288+   7  HPFS/NTFS
   /dev/sda7       1047+   1111-     64-    514048+   c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
    

2. Save partition table information to files
   1. sfdisk --dump > ladBerlin.partTable.`date +%y%m%d_%H%M`.dmp
   2. sfdisk --list > ladBerlin.partTable.`date +%y%m%d_%H%M`.txt 2> /dev/null
      

3. Copy partition table information to server
   • cp ladBerlin.partTable.081231.* /mnt/partimgStore
     or
   • ncftp -u partimage -p secret fdLondon
cd images
dir
mput ladBerlin.partTable.*.txt
mput ladBerlin.partTable.*.dmp
dir
quit

4. Begin backup

   The gui is nice but rather unforgiving as errors in last entry will abort and necessatate starting over.
   Maybe you might want to use the command line after all as you can use command line editor to correct command errors. (ed)

   1. start GUI

      partimage [--noLogin --noSSL]

      
      Additinal documentaion on GUI (character) usage is at:
      partimage.org/Partimage-manual_Usage
      
      Tips:
      • use [tab] to advance fileds.
      • To save to a file server set up in step I,
        use /mnt/partimgVault for
        Image file to create/use and
        do not select [ ] Connect to server
      • to save to a partimaged running on the same system,
        use localhost for IP/name of the server

                          -- or --

   2. enter command, for example:

      partimage --compress=2 --batch --nodesc \
  --noLogin --noSSL --server=dgNYCvault \
  save \
  /dev/sda3 \
  ladBerlin.testDB.081231.bgz

      partimage save \
  /dev/hda3 /mnt/partimgStore/franckParis_home_081231.pimg.gz

      partimage save \
  /dev/sda1 /mnt/partVault/fdLondon_root_081231.pimg.gz

  -------------------| save partition to image file |---------------
Partition to save: ........../dev/sda1
Size of the Partition .......9.77 GiB = 10487199744 bytes
Current iamge file:  ......../mnt/partimgStore/foxSDA1.000
Image file size:  ...........1.78 GiB¿
Available space for image ...4.43 GiB = 4756237312 bytes¿
Detected file ststem: .......ntfs
Compression level: ..........bzip2

Time elapsed: ................1m: 3Sec¿
Estimaged time remaining: ...21m:30sec¿
Speed: ......................151.98 MiB/min¿ 
Data copied: ................284.24 MiB / 3.40 GiB¿


                    20%        

Detailed options

partimage [imginfo|restmbr]image_file

	imginfo	show information about the image file
	restmbr	a MBR of the image file to an hard disk

or
partimage [options] [save|restore] device_partition image_file

partimage save --nossl --noLogin --server 192.168.1.8 /dev/sda2 /mnt/images/imageOfsad2.gz

device_partition	partition to save/restore (example: /dev/hda1)
image_file	name for image file (example: server.volume.yymmdd.gz For restore, image_file can be stdin which allows for providing image files via a pipe.

-sa.a.a.a --server=a.a.a.a	partimaged server ip address or name Examples: -s dgNYimages , --server=dgNYimages
-ppppp --port=pppp	partimaged server's listening port (default: 4025)
-L --noLogin	noLogin see partimaged server screen if ithis is permitted
-Uuname --username=uname	username on server
-Ppass --password=pass
partition related
-c --nocheck	don't check the partition before saving
-m --allowmnt	don't fail if the partition is mounted. warning, contents will be changing !
-e --erase	ZERO empty blocks on restore
-d --nodesc	don't ask for description
save destination related
Don't expect significant reduction if the partition being saved is a MS Windows volume with compression.
-z1 --compress=1	using gzip: fast and small image file (default)
-z2 --compress=2	using bzip2: very slow and very small image file.
-z3 --compress=3	using lz: fastest and smallest
-z0 --compress=0	don't compress: very fast but very big image file(not recommended)
-o --overwrite	overwrite the existing image file without confirmation
-V --volume	split image into multiple volumes files (when backup device fills up)
-Vxxx  --volume=xxx	create volumes with a size of xxx MB 4000 is a good number as you can watch the server as segments are created.
-w --waitvol	wait for a confirmation after each volume change
-M --nombr	don't create a backup of the MBR (Mast Boot Record) in the image file Normally the MBR is saved with every partition. However see forum regarding correct size of MBR! and destination.
when completed partimage should:
-f0 --finish=0	wait
-f1 --finish=1	halt (power off) the computer
-f2 --finish=2	reboot (restart the computer):
-f3 --finish=3	quit
-b --batch	batch mode: the GUI won't wait for an user action
-Bresp --fully-batch=resp	batch mode without GUI, resp is a challenge response string "quest=answer" gui=no
-y --nosync	don't synchronize the disks at the end of the operation (dangerous)
-n --nossl	disable SSL in network mode
-S --simulate	simulation of restoration mode. (verifies image file is valid)
-aopts --automnt=opts	automatic mount with opts options.
-g --debug=n	set the debug level to n 1(user), 2(developer) or 3(debugging), default 1
-h --help	show help
-v --version	show version
-i --compilinfo	show compilation options used Display from SysRescueCD: * Version is 0.6.7 [4.2.4 (Gentoo 4.2.4 p1.0)]. *Supported file systems: - ext2fs,ext3fs,reiserfsi-3.5,reiserfs-3.6,reiserfs,fat,fat16,fat32,ntfs, hpfs,jfs,hfs,ufs - Ext2fs support: Internal code * Debug options: - PARTIMAGE_LOG=/var/log/partimage-debug.log - PARTIMAGED_LOG=/var/log/partimaged.log - DEVEL DISABLED - DEFAULT_DEBUG_LEVEL=1 * Other options: - CURRENT_IMAGE_FORMAT=0.6.1 - USERS DON'T LOGIN - PARTIMAGED_USERS not used - SSL DISABLED - CHEUID* DISABLED

Additional Examples:

partimage -z2 -o -d save \
partimage -a/dev/hda6#/mnt/partimg#vfat -V1440 save \
 /dev/hda12 \
 /mnt/backup/ladBerlin.testDB.081231.bgz

partimage -m save \
/dev/hda9 /mnt/backup/franckZurich.SYS.WIN95-OSR2.081130.partimg.gz

Errors

1. Return Code 134 no space left(no error message!)
   Unknown error -47 no space left
   Cannot Create temp file No Space left on device return code 1
   return code 1 user canceled
   

   This occurs when the partimaged is expecting an SSL connection and partimage is not.
   start partimage with the -n

2. cannot create file temp.[.] user partimg not created

Additional notes:

Unstable version 7.x.x supports lz compression for -z3 and encryption.

Saving a partition on x86 architecture cannot be restored on a powerpc nor on a x64
"...This seems to be an endianness/types issue which leads to the data not being recognised correctly on other arches than the originating one.
Details here ...

-V sss Does not always work correctly. details

No support for evms volumes details

Other utilities of interest: FOG, Altiris, and Ghostcast, Clonezilla (unicasting and multicasting)
Filesystem supported:

1. ext2, ext3, ext4, reiserfs, reiser4, xfs, jfs of GNU/Linux,
2. FAT, NTFS of MS Windows,
3. HFS+ of Mac OS,
4. UFS of FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, and
5. VMFS of VMWare ESX.

DRBL Diskless Remote Boot in Linux,
partclone,
ntfsclone and
udpcast,
Amanda