3.3. Automated Backups

Procedure 3.3. Automating Backups

#!/bin/bash
{
/usr/sbin/rhn-satellite stop
su - oracle -c'
d=db-backup-$(date "+%F");
mkdir -p /tmp/$d;
db-control backup /tmp/$d
';
/usr/sbin/rhn-satellite start
} &> /dev/null

1. Create a new file called move-files.sh containing the following script. This script will use rsync to move the backup files to a directory to be stored:

   #!/bin/bash
   rsync -avz /tmp/db-backup-$(date "+%F") [destination] &> /dev/null
   

   Replace [destination] with the path to the backup directory.
   Alternatively, the following script uses scp to achieve the same goal:

   #!/bin/bash
   scp -r /tmp/db-backup-$(date "+%F") [destination] &> /dev/null
   

2. Switch to the root user, and open the crontab in a text editor:

   crontab -e
   

   Note

   The crontab will open in vi by default. To change this behavior, change the EDITOR variable to the name of the text editor you prefer.
3. In the crontab, use the first five fields (minute, hour, day, month, and weekday) to schedule the backup scripts to run:

   0 3 * * * backup-db.sh
   0 6 * * * move-files.sh
   

   This crontab entry will run the backup at 03:00, and transfer the backup files at 06:00. Other options can be included as needed. You can also include a clean up script to remove older backup directories and prevent the backup storage from filling up.
4. To save the crontab, simply exit from the text editor. The new cron rules will be put in to place immediately.