Re: [rdiff-backup-users] backup Windows to Linux file permissions

[Leland Best]

Hi All,

Since we're sort-of on this subject I'd like to ask a question/bring up
an issue I ran into a couple years ago which, obviously, has never been
resolved.

On Fri, 2015-08-21 at 14:30 -0400, Patrik Dufresne wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> 
> I've setup rdiff-backup to backup a windows computer. The backup
> always complete successfully, but the files created on the Linux
> servers are set to 0777. Security wise, it's very bad since everyone
> able to connect to the Linux server can see by files. I'm looking for
> a simpleway to make rdiff-backup create the files with a different
> permissions (e.g.: 0700 or 0770)
[...]

On a related note, have you ever restored one of these backups?  If so,
has it correctly restored the Windows permissions/ACLs?  I only ask
because when I've backed up and restored from/to Windows Vista and
Windows 7, the restored Windows permissions are wrong.  Digging into
'rdiff-backup's metadata files seemed to show the permissions were
stored correctly on the Linux box.  At least, they exactly matched the
output of some-windows-command-line-program whose name I have now
forgotten.  But on restore the results on the Windows box were very
strange.  IIRC, extra groups were given access, permissions that were
originally "inherited" were now not inherited, etc..  I've had this
problem with both Cygwin and native versions of 'rdiff-backup', with
both the 'stable' 1.2.8, and the 'unstable' 1.3.3 versions of
'rdiff-backup', and when backing up to both Linux and Windows machines.

The only way I've found of reliably backing up and restoring a Windows
box using 'rdiff-backup' is: Mirror the entire partition using e.g.
'ntfsclone', then use 'rdiff-backup' to back up the mirror file.  I've
restored Windows boxes from "bare metal" using such backups and they
work perfectly.  But wow is it unwieldy!

Anyway, apologies if this is too off topic but it does seem somewhat
related in that, for me anyway, 'rdiff-backup' and Windows do _not_ play
nicely together regarding permissions.

Cheers
Leland
-- 
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Leland C. Best      | Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is
address@hidden | something you dreamt up after being drunk all night.
                    | -- Isaac Asimov
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