Dump

Auto back up images from a raspberry pi to a removable storage device automatically from an SD card.

Requirements

1. Raspberry Pi 4 B+
2. Adafruit 16x2 with buttons --> information
3. SD Card Reader --> found with lsusb -v
4. Removeable Hard Drive --> found with lsusb -v
5. The /dev/disk/by-id of Card Reader for FStab if it doesn't have a UUID
6. Python 3

Get Started

1. Install the required python libraries pip3 install -r requirements.txt
2. Modify the settings in the linux/settings.ini file. --> more information below
3. Execute the installation script with sudo: sudo sh install.sh lcd or sudo sh install.sh auto. Use the auto installation if you aren't using an LCD screen to actively manage. Use lcd if you are using the 16x2 lcd screen.

How to Use Dump with the LCD

In order to properly use Dump as it was intended, use the LCD screen. While not required, it allows you to actively manage and control your backups. It's safer.

1. Connect your USB Devices into the two USB 3.0 ports for optimal performance. Make sure your USB devices operate at USB 3.0. This can be verified by using the lsusb -v command and observed by the bcdUSB descriptor.
2. Press the select button to start the backup. The backup source and the backup destination are determined in the settings.ini file.
3. Once everything is confirmed and mounted, select the right button to perform and rsync differential backup based on timestamps.
4. When the backup is completed and the dialog box that says it's safe to remove the drives appears, remove the drives. If you wish to run the backup again, simply hit the select button once you are returned back to the main screen 5 seconds after the It's safe to remove drives dialog box appears.
5. If you wish to restart the Raspberry Pi, simply hit the up button. This will restart the raspberry pi. A 3 second timer will appear notifying you a restart is pending.
6. If you wish to shutdown the Raspberry Pi, simply hit the down button. This will shutoff the raspberry pi. It's now safe to unplug the power supply from the Raspberry Pi.
7. For testing purposes, if the drives are already mounted and the mount directories exist, you can simply hit the right button to perform a differential backup.

Understanding the Settings.ini File

The settings file is comprised of a single [settings] field. Under this field there contains several variables that control how the devices are to be mounted and how to locate the devices.

Settings	Information
dumper_loc	This for the sh isntall.sh auto setting. The location of dumper_no_lcd.py
backup_device_name	Generic name of the backup device. Can be found using lsusb. Can either add the full name or a portion of the known name. Example, Sandisk
input_device_name	Generic name of the source device. Can be found using lsusb. Can either add the full name or a portion of the known name. Example, Lexar
dev_backup_loc	The /dev/ point for the backup device. Can be found using lsblk and some digging. Example, /dev/disk/by-uuid/BA5C-B93C
dev_input_loc	The /dev/ point for the source device. Can be found using lsblk and some digging. Example, /dev/disk/by-id/usb-Lexar_LRWM04U_201804030001-0\:0-part1
mnt_backup_loc	The mount location of where the backup device from /dev/ will be mounted to. Default is /mnt/. A folder will be created called /mnt/backup to mound the backup device to.
mnt_input_loc	The mount location of where the source device from /dev/ will be mounted to. Default is /mnt/. A folder will be created called /mnt/source to mound the backup device to.

Troubleshooting

1. If you aren't pulling the git repo into /home/pi/ then you need to open the dumper_lcd.py and/or dumper_no_lcd.py and change the source location for the settings.ini file.

Contributors

Chris Herzog

Joe Freimuth