[Solved] LuckyBackup rsync with Synology DiskStation issue

[gflash]

Hello,

I'm having a small issue with using LuckyBackup. My DiskStation offers an rsync server with SSH security (not possible to switch off). If I copy the rsync command generated by luckybackup ("Validate") to console and execute it, console prompts me for my DiskStation user password, and after that the syncing works flawlessly.

But if I start the backup in LuckyBackup, authentication fails because there is no password prompt. I tried to check "RemoteModule" and provide a file with the password written to it, but then it didnt accept my destiation path ("cannot start with /" error). I know there is a way to create a SSH key from synology, but its not default and requires to mess with the Synology OS on command line level, which I want to avoid.

Is there another way to provide the password to luckybackup? Security is not the issue here, it's all happening in my local network an I switch the DiskStation off when not doing backups.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

[coffee412]

The last time I tried a Synology station I found out that it rejected dot files (.mozilla, .thunderbird, .*anything) and I ended up returning it. I think their reasoning was something about those files are not needed in a backup in their opinion. Obviously windows oriented only disk station. I do not know if that has changed as I just setup an external box - JBOD. And mdadm'ed them in mirrored sets. A lot more inexpensive to do.

Sorry I cannot answer your question but just wanted to post my experience with Synology. I do not really care for them.

[gflash]

Thanks for your reply.

I opened another topic (viewtopic.php?t=416311) for general file access to the Synology, this one here is for rsync.

But Windows<->Synology(smb interface) didn't give me any trouble ever. Mint(Nemo)<->Synology(smb interface) however did, see other topic.

[coffee412]

this one here is for rsync.

Yes, The rsync server software in the disk station is what I used and prevented the dot files. It would just error out in the term window when it came across a dot file and the rsync process would just end.

[AndyMH]

You need to setup key-pairs on the synology so you can ssh without a password. Synology have made this more difficult than it should be because of the permissions they set on user accounts/folders. What you need is here:
viewtopic.php?p=2334473&hilit=rsync+NAS#p2334473
I would not have got it working without a lot of help from rene (he has not posted for a while now, shame) and a lot of googling. It was a learning process I could have done without. Once you have read through the post your level of competence will be the same as mine.

My original objective was to use backintime, tried failed, and in the end wrote my own rsync script.

I suggest you setup a new user on the synology and mess around with that rather than using your main user, e.g. I now have a "backup" user and that is where my rsync backups are kept on the synology.

Dot files/folders - just checked, they are all there.

I'll look for your other problems with smb, it is reasonably straightforward to setup with a synology.

[gflash]

Andy,

thanks to your great support it's working now. Seems you ran into the same trouble a year ago. However, I didnt have the access right issues, "ssh-copy-id user@diskstation.local" just worked in my case. Maybe Synology did some patches in the meantime, I updated my Diskstation recently.

After setting up my backups with luckybackup and successfully testing them, I have a semi-related question. I'm also doing backups on a second local disk (built-in). It seems the disk isn't mounted automatically although I set the according options in the disk settings (See screenshot - sorry for all the German). After reboot the drive does not appear as "/media/user/drivename", so I expect my backups to fail if I don't mount it manually by opening it in Nemo.

Edit: Solved by correcting the mount path from /mnt... to /media/user...

[AndyMH]

Bad idea to use /media/you as a mount point. This is used by udisks to automount partitions on external drives you plug in. While you can mount anywhere you like in the filesystem, conventions are partitions on fixed drives in /mnt and removable drives in /media. But they are only conventions. Back when I started I dual booted. I had a shared ntfs data partition, D: in win and I mounted it in mint at /home/andy/data. I mount the partition on my backup drive in /media.

I'm not a fan of disks, it creates messy entries in fstab with a lot of options you don't need, better to learn how to do it manually. This is a good intro to fstab:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Fstab

and this is what the entry in fstab looks like for my backup partition:

Code: Select all

UUID=ebf8a5ec-e041-4324-93f3-222e5adc035d	/media/backup	ext4	defaults,nofail	0	0

If it was an ntfs partition the options would need to include uid=1000,gid=1000 to tell mint who owns it, just like you have to do with a cifs mount.

[gflash]

Bad idea to use /media/you as a mount point. This is used by udisks to automount partitions on external drives you plug in.

Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you, I'll change the mount paths.