How to Install BackupPC on Arch Linux

BackupPC is a free and open-source backup solution that can be used to backup data from computers on a network. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps of installing BackupPC on Arch Linux.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure that your Arch Linux system is up to date by running the following command:

pacman -Syu

Installation

To install BackupPC on Arch Linux, follow the steps below:

  1. Install the required packages:
sudo pacman -S apache perl-cgi perl-lwp-protocol-https perl-lwp-useragent-determined tar sudo rsync perl-digest-md5 net-tools
  1. Clone the BackupPC repository to your local machine:
git clone https://github.com/backuppc/backuppc.git
  1. Change to the directory where the repository was cloned:
cd backuppc
  1. Run the installation script:
./configure.pl --batch \
--config-dir=/etc/backuppc \
--cgi-dir=/usr/share/webapps/backuppc/cgi-bin \
--data-dir=/var/lib/backuppc \
--log-dir=/var/log/backuppc \
--hostname=archlinux.local

Here, we have specified the following options:

  • --batch: This option will automatically assume yes for all prompts.
  • --config-dir: This is the directory where BackupPC configuration files will be stored.
  • --cgi-dir: This is the directory where the BackupPC CGI scripts will be installed.
  • --data-dir: This is the directory where the backup data will be stored.
  • --log-dir: This is the directory where the log files will be stored.
  • --hostname: This option specifies the hostname of your Arch Linux machine.
  1. Run the following command to build and install BackupPC:
make && sudo make install
  1. In order for BackupPC to work properly, you need to configure Apache. Open the Apache configuration file with the following command:
sudo nano /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Add the following lines at the end of the file:

ScriptAlias /backuppc/cgi-bin /usr/share/webapps/backuppc/cgi-bin
Alias /backuppc/images /usr/share/webapps/backuppc/images

Save and close the file.

  1. Restart Apache:
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Configuration

After installing BackupPC, you need to perform some configuration steps to make it work properly.

  1. Open the BackupPC configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/backuppc/config.pl
  1. Modify the following options as required:
$Conf{ServerName} = 'archlinux.local';
$Conf{CgiDir} = '/usr/share/webapps/backuppc/cgi-bin';
$Conf{TopDir} = '/var/lib/backuppc';
$Conf{WakeupSchedule} = [          # hourly wakeup for pool, a
  [0 .. 23],                       # wakes up for pool and increm
  [1];
];

Here, we have specified the following options:

  • ServerName: This option specifies the hostname of your BackupPC server.
  • CgiDir: This option specifies the directory where the BackupPC CGI scripts have been installed.
  • TopDir: This option specifies the directory where the backup data will be stored.
  • WakeupSchedule: This option specifies how often BackupPC will check for new backups.

  1. Save and close the file.

  2. Run the following command to create the backuppc user and group:

sudo useradd -r -d /var/lib/backuppc -m -s /usr/bin/nologin backuppc
  1. Change the ownership of the backup directory:
sudo chown -R backuppc:backuppc /var/lib/backuppc

Testing

To test whether BackupPC is working properly, follow the steps below:

  1. Open a web browser and enter the following URL:
http://archlinux.local/backuppc

  1. Enter the BackupPC administrator username and password that you specified during installation.

  2. Once you have logged in, you should be able to see the BackupPC web interface.

  3. To add a new host to backup, click on the "Add a new host" link in the left-hand panel and follow the on-screen instructions.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to install and configure BackupPC on Arch Linux. You can now use BackupPC to backup data from computers on your network.