Manually run an Anacron Job

Question

I have performed a minimal installation of UBUNTU. I trying to configure my system to take automatic backups using rsnapshot. I have successfully configured my rsnapshot.conf file and by running rsnapshot weekly command in terminal I am getting the desired results.

Here is my rsnapshot.conf file :

#################################################
# rsnapshot.conf - rsnapshot configuration file #
#################################################
#                                               #
# PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING RULE:        #
#                                               #
# This file requires tabs between elements      #
#                                               #
#################################################

#######################
# CONFIG FILE VERSION #
#######################

config_version  1.2

###########################
# SNAPSHOT ROOT DIRECTORY #
###########################

# All snapshots will be stored under this root directory.
#
snapshot_root   /media/siddharth/Backup/Backup

# If no_create_root is enabled, rsnapshot will not automatically create the
# snapshot_root directory. This is particularly useful if you are backing
# up to removable media, such as a FireWire or USB drive.
#
# no_create_root    1

#################################
# EXTERNAL PROGRAM DEPENDENCIES #
#################################

# LINUX USERS:   Be sure to uncomment "cmd_cp". This gives you extra features.
# EVERYONE ELSE: Leave "cmd_cp" commented out for compatibility.
#
# See the README file or the man page for more details.
#
cmd_cp  /bin/cp

# uncomment this to use the rm program instead of the built-in perl routine.
#
cmd_rm  /bin/rm

# rsync must be enabled for anything to work. This is the only command that
# must be enabled.
#
cmd_rsync   /usr/bin/rsync

# Uncomment this to enable remote ssh backups over rsync.
#
#cmd_ssh    /usr/bin/ssh

# Comment this out to disable syslog support.
#
cmd_logger  /usr/bin/logger

# Uncomment this to specify the path to "du" for disk usage checks.
# If you have an older version of "du", you may also want to check the
# "du_args" parameter below.
#
cmd_du  /usr/bin/du

# Uncomment this to specify the path to rsnapshot-diff.
#
cmd_rsnapshot_diff  /usr/bin/rsnapshot-diff

# Specify the path to a script (and any optional arguments) to run right
# before rsnapshot syncs files
#
#cmd_preexec    /path/to/preexec/script

# Specify the path to a script (and any optional arguments) to run right
# after rsnapshot syncs files
#
#cmd_postexec   /path/to/postexec/script

# Paths to lvcreate, lvremove, mount and umount commands, for use with
# Linux LVMs.
#
#linux_lvm_cmd_lvcreate /sbin/lvcreate
#linux_lvm_cmd_lvremove /sbin/lvremove
#linux_lvm_cmd_mount    /bin/mount
#linux_lvm_cmd_umount   /bin/umount

#########################################
#     BACKUP LEVELS / INTERVALS         #
# Must be unique and in ascending order #
# e.g. alpha, beta, gamma, etc.         #
#########################################
retain  weekly  1           #
#retain alpha   6
#retain beta    7
#retain gamma   4
#retain delta   3

############################################
#              GLOBAL OPTIONS              #
# All are optional, with sensible defaults #
############################################

# Verbose level, 1 through 5.
# 1     Quiet           Print fatal errors only
# 2     Default         Print errors and warnings only
# 3     Verbose         Show equivalent shconfig_version    1.2ell commands being executed
# 4     Extra Verbose   Show extra verbose information
# 5     Debug mode      Everything
#
verbose 2

# Same as "verbose" above, but controls the amount of data sent to the
# logfile, if one is being used. The default is 3.
#
loglevel    3

# If you enable this, data will be written to the file you specify. The
# amount of data written is controlled by the "loglevel" parameter.
#
logfile /media/siddharth/Backup/Backup/Logs/Snapshot.log

# If enabled, rsnapshot will write a lockfile to prevent two instances
# from running simultaneously (and messing up the snapshot_root).
# If you enable this, make sure the lockfile directory is not world
# writable. Otherwise anyone can prevent the program from running.
#
lockfile    /var/run/rsnapshot.pid

# By default, rsnapshot check lockfile, check if PID is running
# and if not, consider lockfile as stale, then start
# Enabling this stop rsnapshot if PID in lockfile is not running
#
#stop_on_stale_lockfile     0

# Default rsync args. All rsync commands have at least these options set.
#
#rsync_short_args   -a
#rsync_long_args    --delete        -relative   --numeric-ids   --delete-excluded

# ssh has no args passed by default, but you can specify some here.
#
#ssh_args   -p 22

# Default arguments for the "du" program (for disk space reporting).
# The GNU version of "du" is preferred. See the man page for more details.
# If your version of "du" doesn't support the -h flag, try -k flag instead.
#
#du_args    -csh

# If this is enabled, rsync won't span filesystem partitions within a
# backup point. This essentially passes the -x option to rsync.
# The default is 0 (off).
#
#one_fs     0

# The include and exclude parameters, if enabled, simply get passed directly
# to rsync. If you have multiple include/exclude    # /etc/anacrontab: configuration file for anacron

# See anacron(8) and anacrontab(5) for details.

SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
HOME=/root
LOGNAME=root

# These replace cron's entries
1   5   cron.daily  run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily
7   10  cron.weekly run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly
@monthly    15  cron.monthly    run-parts --report /etc/cron.monthly
7   5   backup.weekly   rsnapshot weekly >> /media/siddharth/Backup/Backup/Logs/Anacron/log patterns, put each one on a
# separate line. Please look up the --include and --exclude options in the
# rsync man page for more details on how to specify file name patterns. 
# 
#include    ???
#exclude    ???
#exclude    ???

# The include_file and exclude_file parameters, if enabled, simply get
# passed directly to rsync. Please look up the --include-from and
# --exclude-from options in the rsync man page for more details.
#
# include_file  ???
# exclude_file  ???

# If your version of rsync supports --link-dest, consider enabling this.
# This is the best way to support special files (FIFOs, etc) cross-platform.
# The default is 0 (off).
#
link_dest   1

# When sync_first is enabled, it changes the default behaviour of rsnapshot.
# Normally, when rsnapshot is called with its lowest interval
# (i.e.: "rsnapshot alpha"), it will sync files AND rotate the lowest
# intervals. With sync_first enabled, "rsnapshot sync" handles the file sync,
# and all interval calls simply rotate files. See the man page for more
# details. The default is 0 (off).
#
# sync_first    1

# If enabled, rsnapshot will move the oldest directory for each interval
# to [interval_name].delete, then it will remove the lockfile and delete
# that directory just before it exits. The default is 0 (off).
#
#use_lazy_deletes   0

# Number of rsync re-tries. If you experience any network problems or
# network card issues that tend to cause ssh to fail with errors like
# "Corrupted MAC on input", for example, set this to a non-zero value
# to have the rsync operation re-tried.
#
#rsync_numtries 0

# LVM parameters. Used to backup with creating lvm snapshot before backup
# and removing it after. This should ensure consistency of data in some special
# cases
#
# LVM snapshot(s) size (lvcreate --size option).
#
#linux_lvm_snapshotsize 100M

# Name to be used when creating the LVM logical volume snapshot(s).
#
#linux_lvm_snapshotname rsnapshot

# Path to the LVM Volume Groups.
#
#linux_lvm_vgpath   /dev

# Mount point to use to temporarily mount the snapshot(s).
#
#linux_lvm_mountpath    /path/to/mount/lvm/snapshot/during/backup

###############################
### BACKUP POINTS / SCRIPTS ###
###############################

# LOCALHOST
backup  /home/  User/
backup  /etc/   Root/
backup  /usr/local/ Root/
backup  /var/cache/apt/ Root/
backup  /etc/default/plexmediaserver    Root/
backup  /etc/init/plexmediaserver.conf  Root/
backup  /var/spool/anacron  Root/
#backup /var/log/rsnapshot      localhost/
#backup /etc/passwd localhost/
#backup /home/foo/My Documents/     localhost/
#backup /foo/bar/   localhost/  one_fs=1, rsync_short_args=-urltvpog
#backup_script  /usr/local/bin/backup_pgsql.sh  localhost/postgres/
# You must set linux_lvm_* parameters below before using lvm snapshots
#backup lvm://vg0/xen-home/ lvm-vg0/xen-home/

# EXAMPLE.COM
#backup_exec    /bin/date "+ backup of example.com started at %c"
#backup [email protected]:/home/ example.com/    +rsync_long_args=--bwlimit=16,exclude=core
#backup [email protected]:/etc/  example.com/    exclude=mtab,exclude=core
#backup_exec    ssh [email protected] "mysqldump -A > /var/db/dump/mysql.sql"
#backup [email protected]:/var/db/dump/  example.com/
#backup_exec    /bin/date "+ backup of example.com ended at %c"

# CVS.SOURCEFORGE.NET
#backup_script  /usr/local/bin/backup_rsnapshot_cvsroot.sh  rsnapshot.cvs.sourceforge.net/

# RSYNC.SAMBA.ORG
#backup rsync://rsync.samba.org/rsyncftp/   rsync.samba.org/rsyncftp/

I created a weekly Anacron job in anacrontab file:

# /etc/anacrontab: configuration file for anacron

# See anacron(8) and anacrontab(5) for details.

SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
HOME=/root
LOGNAME=root

# These replace cron's entries
1   5   cron.daily  run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily
7   10  cron.weekly run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly
@monthly    15  cron.monthly    run-parts --report /etc/cron.monthly
7   5   backup.weekly   rsnapshot weekly >> /media/siddharth/Backup/Backup/Logs/Anacron/log

How do I test whether Anacron will run this Job without any error.

Most of the time I'll not be logged in. How do I test run Anacron ?

Solution

You can 'force run' an anacron job by ignoring its timestamps;

anacron -f

Other options like -n can also be used if you wish.

From man anacron:

 -f     Force execution of the jobs, ignoring the timestamps.

 -s     Serialize  execution  of jobs.  Anacron will not start a new job
              before the previous one finished.

 -n     Run  jobs  now.   Ignore  the  delay   specifications   in   the
              /etc/anacrontab file.  This options implies -s.

You can view the logs in /var/log/syslog.

The timestamp for each job is stored in /var/spool/anacron.

Comments

[Siddharth Manthan]

Thanks ! It is perfect. I am able to run the backup job as expected. I hope this answer will help other people like me who migrate from windows to ubuntu.

[Siddharth Manthan]

PS : Another question : for scheduling weekly jobs on a PC that will not be running 24x7 is cron or anacron to be used ?

[Ron]

Definitely Anacron

[badjr]

You'll need to add sudo if you're not running as root.