This document will illustrate how to use Symantec Ghost 2001 to back up a Linux system. I am using an IBM ThinkPad i1483 with an 11.5Gb hdd, 192Mb of RAM, dual-boot using Win98 on a 2.72Gb partition(hda1) and Caldera eDesktop2.4 on the remaining 9Gb.

The Linux partitions are:

• /dev/hda5 ext2
• /dev/hda6 ext2
• /dev/hda7 swap
• /dev/hda8 ext2
• /dev/hda9 ext2
• /dev/hda10 ext2

1. Basic Instructions
1. Using Windows, create the 2 floppy boot disks needed for using Ghost 2001. One if you store your backup on a CD, the other if you leave your backups in a Windows folder.
2. Clean up your Linux system, getting it to where you feel it's perfect.
3. Choose the appropriate floppy, insert and reboot. Once the floppy loads, the Ghost 2001 DOS window appears. You will be given a choice of using "Disk" (for systems with separate hard drives) or "Partition".
4. Now simply go to your ext2 Linux partitinos and copy each one individually to a Windows folder on your C drive. I make it easy on myself and na,e each copy with a name that corresponds to the partition I am copying. Ghost sees each partition as a number that corresponds to the initial Windows partition (which is "1" in this case). This means your first Linux partition (hda5) becomes "2" in Ghost's eyes. So, I name my hda5 backup Linux2.GHO and send it to a windows folder. Whem I and through, I have files numbered Linux2.GHO through Linux7.GHO. I then copy these files to a CDR.
5. Once you have decided its time to reinstall your backed-up Linux system, simply insert the appropriate floppy and reboot. Once the Ghost window appears, go into the Windows folder (or CDR) and reinstall each partition individually. Remember that each partition will be COMPLETELY OVERWRITTEN! You will be brought back to the pristine Linux system you backed up.
2. Some problems...sometimes
• Having used this process about 10 times so far (I really screw up my system a lot) I had, in the beginning, noticed that Ghost had a problem copying all the Linux files. Sure enough, at the Symantec website, this problem was verified. They sais they are working on it. Using "kpackage", I checked which files were missing fromt the newly installed Linux system. After an hour or so, I discovered the following RPMs would have to be installed from my eDesktop cds:
  • ncurses
  • perl
  • sh-utils
  • tcl
  • tclx
  • unzip
  • util-linux
  • xanim
  • xmms
• I took these RPMs and copied them to my CDs (there's room) so as to make the reinstall a little faster. Installing these RPMs takes about 2 minutes. Once this is done, your system runs perfectly. I recently re-installed Linux and backed up using Ghost. This time after reinstalling the Ghost files, everything was installed properly. I do not have a clue as to why.
• For the people who have large amounts of data Ghost allows spanning and gives you the option of "no compression", "normal compression" and "super compression". As I only have 700Mb od data (after deleting useless stuff), I use normal compression ending up with 500Mb to copy to CD.
• One more problem. Once or twice, after reinstalling my Ghost files, Linux booted to runlevel 3 instead of 5. To correct this, I just typed 'XF86Setup', and WITHOUT changing anything, just clicked on "use existing file" and rebooted. This worked perfectly.
• Restoring my backups takes about 17 minutes using a CD, and about 29 minutes using a Windows folder
3. Personal observations
• This program is a God-send for me, as I am always experimenting and fouling up Linux. I am hoping Symantec someday allows these boot-disks to be created in Linux, thereby bypassing Windows. here's hoping. The cost of Ghost is a very expensive $71.95(downloading from their site). Any reverse engineers around? I am very satisfied with the program, and, especially for newbies, it is a great timesaver. Good Luck.

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