From 1f1bc59f5347d162fc87cc09364fc4bcdad6d593 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Sergey Poznyakoff Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 17:38:44 +0300 Subject: Improve docs. * NEWS: Update. * README: Rewrite. Provide enough documentation for startup. * doc/beam-cleaner.1in: New file. * doc/Makefile.am: Build and install beam-cleaner.1. * doc/beam-backup.1in: Fix the time-stamp-start variable. * doc/beam-restore.1in: Likewise. * doc/beam-s3.1in: Likewise. * doc/beam.conf.5in: Likewise. * backup.in: Mark with sh magic. * beam.in: Likewise. * lib/beam/common.in: Likewise. * lib/beam/fs.sh: Likewise. * lib/beam/mysql.sh: Likewise. * lib/beam/postgres.sh: Likewise. * lib/beam/s3.sh: Likewise. * restore.in: Likewise. * s3.in: Likewise. --- README | 129 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 128 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'README') diff --git a/README b/README index cee4adf..070bdc6 100644 --- a/README +++ b/README @@ -1 +1,128 @@ -This package provides generic backup and restore scripts. +BEAM README file. +Copyright (C) 2012 Sergey Poznyakoff +See the end of file for copying conditions. + +* Introduction + +BEAM is a flexible and configurable tool for backup management. Its +name is an acronym for "Backup Easy And Manageable". The tool +provides utilities for backing up files and databases, restoring them +from existing backups and examining backup archives. + +BEAM is written in a reasonably compatible POSIX shell language. The +only deviation from the POSIX standard is that it makes use of the +"local" keyword. + +* Prerequisites + +1. A POSIX-compatible shell that supports the "local" keyword. Most +existing shells do. + +2. GNU tar version 1.16 or newer. + +3. For backing up MySQL databases: mysql and mysqldump. + +4. For backing up PostgreSQL databases: PostgreSQL. In fact, the +following utilities are used: pg_dump, pg_restore, dropdb, createdb, +and psql. + +5. If you plan to keep backups on Amazon S3 storage: s3backer. It is +available from http://code.google.com/p/s3backer. + +* Installation + +The usual way: + + ./configure + make + # [become root] + make install + +The configure script provides lot of options to tailor the +installation to your needs. + +Most important options are: + + --prefix=DIR + Use DIR as the installation prefix. Installation prefix is + appended to the normal paths when installing the system. BEAM + uses the following locations: + + PREFIX/etc -- configuration directory + PREFIX/libexec -- directory for low-level beam utilities + PREFIX/lib/beam -- directory for beam modules. + + --sysconfdir=DIR + Use DIR as the system configuration directory. + + --libdir=DIR + Install BEAM modules in DIR/beam. + + --libexecdir=DIR + Install low-level utilities in DIR. + + --with-s3 + Install modules for handling file systems backed by the Amazon + Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). + +For the list of available generic options, consult the file INSTALL. + +* Overview + +The "beam" utility works as a primary dispatcher tool. It takes a +command and its options as the arguments. The following commands +are available: + + beam backup - runs a backup + beam restore - restores from a backup + beam s3 - manages the s3-backed file system + beam help COMMAND - displays a short help for COMMAND + +Configuration settings are read from the file beam.conf, located in the +system configuration directory (see above). + +The package uses modular structure which makes it extremely flexible. +The low-level commands are located in the LIBEXECDIR. For example, +running "beam backup" indirectly invokes LIBEXECDIR/beam-backup utility. + +Particular backup items are handled by modules, located in the +directory PREFIX/lib/beam. Each module is a shell program providing +primitives for a paricular task. For example, the mysql.sh module +handles backups of MySQL databases. + +* Documentation + +The documentation in man page format is available: + + beam(1) + beam-backup(1) + beam-restore(1) + beam-s3(1) + beam.conf(5) + +* Bug reporting + +Send bug reports to . + + +* Copyright information: + +Copyright (C) 2012 Sergey Poznyakoff + + Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim + copies of this document as received, in any medium, provided that + the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, + thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn. + + Permission is granted to distribute modified versions + of this document, or of portions of it, + under the above conditions, provided also that they + carry prominent notices stating who last changed them. + + +Local Variables: +mode: outline +paragraph-separate: "[ ]*$" +version-control: never +End: + -- cgit v1.2.1