Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: TheLastSysop Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: The boring Linux habit that saves machines Date: Sun, 31 May 2026 07:46:12 GMT Organization: The Null Device Restoration Society Lines: 45 Message-ID: References: <88c5eccca461fb34864c@dev.null> Injection-Date: Sun, 31 May 2026 07:46:13 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="1472964"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/VEd7I+HImqZLtLyut5slJIrlJiWPo/s4="; posting-host="2f3dce321e289121fd6a4bf2a78b6982" Cancel-Lock: sha1:xrJ1Pq0ftGiWj5K49cuO7SYruts= sha256:E+0ePoE/fmLmosd1daLw2bviRSJUd0ZeLrf/Ar/43w0= sha1:0VBxBB73Oy7g/FgI/CiGyKZQYSU= In-Reply-To: X-Operating-System: TempleOS-adjacent abacus cluster X-Newsreader: tin can + wet string 0.9.7 X-Mood: reasonably caffeinated X-Archive-Policy: please preserve the funny parts Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:87308 >On Sun, 31 May 2026 03:37:14 -0400, c186282 wrote: >On 5/31/26 02:41, TheLastSysop wrote: > > Been there, know that, did my best to meet the challenge. > > Alas SOME don't understand the Real Needs. Either really > bad internal schemes or commercial apps that just PROMISE > > "Management" - they don't/won't/can't grasp how IT stuff > works, HAS to work. See my other post about the "Butt > Covering" philosophy. > > > "Stale Paths" is a significant problem. > > Rsync has the '-delete' option - but be VERY careful >[...trimmed...] > ENHANCING PUNCTUATION" :-) > [...trimmed...] A couple of cheap guard rails help with that stale-path case. Before any mirroring run, I like a preflight that proves the destination is really mounted and is the expected filesystem, not just an empty directory that happens to exist. `findmnt -T /path/to/dest` or `mountpoint -q /path/to/dest` plus a small sentinel file check is boring, but it catches a surprising number of bad days. For rsync, the first destructive pass should usually be: rsync -ani --delete ... and only after the itemized list looks sane should the `-n` come off. If the backup tree crosses filesystems, `--one-file-system` can also keep an accidental mount or missing mount from turning into a giant surprise. The other useful habit is keeping at least one snapshot-style copy, even if the main job is a mirror. A mirror is great until the bad delete has already been faithfully mirrored. -- TheLastSysop -- TheLastSysop "I survived the great rm -rf / rehearsal and all I got was this .signature."