[discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[Hugh McIntyre]

Hi,

This is maybe off-topic, but I’m wondering what other people do here for backup of Windows systems in an Illumos-centered backup world.

I have a mixture of OmniOS (backup server) as well as Linux, MacOS, and Windows 10+ systems needing backup.  For everything except Windows, backup works well with rsync (along with "—backup-dir=DIR" for incremental deltas).  But Windows does not work so easily, not least because of filesystem differences and lack of native rsync.

I can use rsync on Windows as well by running within WSL, but ownership/permissions are messed up and only files visible to the user running WSL can be backed up.  Meanwhile the default Windows backup service to a SMB-exported filesystem from ZFS seems to be unreliable, and also may not work well for files outside a user’s home directory.  What setup are other people using?  I have a strong preference to something that generates a visible hierarchy of files on the backup server, not a proprietary binary backup column since this makes it non-recoverable if the backup software is no longer available.  And I’d prefer to use the existing OmniOS box, but could consider other custom options if recommended.

If there are good recommended solutions, let me know.  Not using Windows is not an option, because of Photoshop Lightroom.

Thanks,

Hugh.


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Re: [discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[Stephan Althaus]

On 1/10/25 08:00, Hugh McIntyre wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> This is maybe off-topic, but I’m wondering what other people do here for backup of Windows systems in an Illumos-centered backup world.
> 
> I have a mixture of OmniOS (backup server) as well as Linux, MacOS, and Windows 10+ systems needing backup.  For everything except Windows, backup works well with rsync (along with "—backup-dir=DIR" for incremental deltas).  But Windows does not work so easily, not least because of filesystem differences and lack of native rsync.
> 
> I can use rsync on Windows as well by running within WSL, but ownership/permissions are messed up and only files visible to the user running WSL can be backed up.  Meanwhile the default Windows backup service to a SMB-exported filesystem from ZFS seems to be unreliable, and also may not work well for files outside a user’s home directory.  What setup are other people using?  I have a strong preference to something that generates a visible hierarchy of files on the backup server, not a proprietary binary backup column since this makes it non-recoverable if the backup software is no longer available.  And I’d prefer to use the existing OmniOS box, but could consider other custom options if recommended.
> 
> If there are good recommended solutions, let me know.  Not using Windows is not an option, because of Photoshop Lightroom.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Hugh.
> 

Hi Hugh!

It sounds that this is a Desktop-like usage of your Windows system, with 
maybe at least a regular shutdown.

For my purpose I use a windows vm with the virtual disk on a zfs dataset 
with snapshots, a FreeBSD-bhyve-host with GPU passthrough to the win-vm.

This way i could clone a vm-disk-snapshot and mount, read and compare 
the contents in case..


Did you try a remote rsync from an unixoide system to \\windowssystem\C$ ?

Just my 2ct

Regards,
Stephan



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Re: [discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[Toomas Soome via illumos-discuss]

> On 10. Jan 2025, at 09:22, Stephan Althaus <Stephan.Althaus@duedinghausen.eu> wrote:
> 
> On 1/10/25 08:00, Hugh McIntyre wrote:
>> Hi,
>> This is maybe off-topic, but I’m wondering what other people do here for backup of Windows systems in an Illumos-centered backup world.
>> I have a mixture of OmniOS (backup server) as well as Linux, MacOS, and Windows 10+ systems needing backup.  For everything except Windows, backup works well with rsync (along with "—backup-dir=DIR" for incremental deltas).  But Windows does not work so easily, not least because of filesystem differences and lack of native rsync.
>> I can use rsync on Windows as well by running within WSL, but ownership/permissions are messed up and only files visible to the user running WSL can be backed up.  Meanwhile the default Windows backup service to a SMB-exported filesystem from ZFS seems to be unreliable, and also may not work well for files outside a user’s home directory.  What setup are other people using?  I have a strong preference to something that generates a visible hierarchy of files on the backup server, not a proprietary binary backup column since this makes it non-recoverable if the backup software is no longer available.  And I’d prefer to use the existing OmniOS box, but could consider other custom options if recommended.
>> If there are good recommended solutions, let me know.  Not using Windows is not an option, because of Photoshop Lightroom.
>> Thanks,
>> Hugh.
> 
> Hi Hugh!
> 
> It sounds that this is a Desktop-like usage of your Windows system, with maybe at least a regular shutdown.
> 
> For my purpose I use a windows vm with the virtual disk on a zfs dataset with snapshots, a FreeBSD-bhyve-host with GPU passthrough to the win-vm.
> 
> This way i could clone a vm-disk-snapshot and mount, read and compare the contents in case..
> 
> 
> Did you try a remote rsync from an unixoide system to \\windowssystem\C$ ?
> 

For macos, I use timemachine on smb volume, so I can use native tools for recovery. I think, windows has nowadays the backup tool of their own, and it was also possible to use smb share for it. Since I managed to kill windows from my home, I can not tell about its practical value any more;)

rgds,
toomas


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Re: [discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[Jim Klimov]

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Cheers,

  There actually are a number of builds of rsync native to Windows.

  One is cwRsync I used long ago, not sure they still exist.

  Another option is MSYS2 ecosystem (there `pacman -S rsync openssh` to
install them, `pacman -Syyu` to update the SW generally). You would need to
use their terminal shortcut, Run as Admin if needed (actually this applies
to all ways of backup).

  I thought I had one in GitBash but apparently not; maybe it came with
(Strawberry?) Perl (and its gcc chain), and is usable via PATH from GitBash
terminals, cmd, FAR... This or cwRsync is likely easiest to integrate with
Task Scheduler.

Hope this helps,
Jim Klimov


On Fri, Jan 10, 2025, 08:01 Hugh McIntyre <lists@mcintyreweb.com> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> This is maybe off-topic, but I’m wondering what other people do here for
> backup of Windows systems in an Illumos-centered backup world.
> 
> I have a mixture of OmniOS (backup server) as well as Linux, MacOS, and
> Windows 10+ systems needing backup.  For everything except Windows, backup
> works well with rsync (along with "—backup-dir=DIR" for incremental
> deltas).  But Windows does not work so easily, not least because of
> filesystem differences and lack of native rsync.
> 
> I can use rsync on Windows as well by running within WSL, but
> ownership/permissions are messed up and only files visible to the user
> running WSL can be backed up.  Meanwhile the default Windows backup service
> to a SMB-exported filesystem from ZFS seems to be unreliable, and also may
> not work well for files outside a user’s home directory.  What setup are
> other people using?  I have a strong preference to something that generates
> a visible hierarchy of files on the backup server, not a proprietary binary
> backup column since this makes it non-recoverable if the backup software is
> no longer available.  And I’d prefer to use the existing OmniOS box, but
> could consider other custom options if recommended.
> 
> If there are good recommended solutions, let me know.  Not using Windows
> is not an option, because of Photoshop Lightroom.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Hugh.
> 

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Re: [discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[Jim Klimov]

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One more point - note that you can "Run as Admin" from command line as
well, with aptly named `runas` command (I often see it wrapped as `start
runas ...` though).

Depending on your UAC settings, you may have to click the pop-up to allow
the privilege elevation, so wrapping as a Windows service or a Task
Scheduler operation with saved credentials may be easier.

Jim

On Fri, Jan 10, 2025, 09:20 Jim Klimov <jimklimov+illumos@gmail.com> wrote:

> Cheers,
>
>   There actually are a number of builds of rsync native to Windows.
>
>   One is cwRsync I used long ago, not sure they still exist.
>
>   Another option is MSYS2 ecosystem (there `pacman -S rsync openssh` to
> install them, `pacman -Syyu` to update the SW generally). You would need to
> use their terminal shortcut, Run as Admin if needed (actually this applies
> to all ways of backup).
>
>   I thought I had one in GitBash but apparently not; maybe it came with
> (Strawberry?) Perl (and its gcc chain), and is usable via PATH from GitBash
> terminals, cmd, FAR... This or cwRsync is likely easiest to integrate with
> Task Scheduler.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Jim Klimov
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 10, 2025, 08:01 Hugh McIntyre <lists@mcintyreweb.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> This is maybe off-topic, but I’m wondering what other people do here for
>> backup of Windows systems in an Illumos-centered backup world.
>>
>> I have a mixture of OmniOS (backup server) as well as Linux, MacOS, and
>> Windows 10+ systems needing backup.  For everything except Windows, backup
>> works well with rsync (along with "—backup-dir=DIR" for incremental
>> deltas).  But Windows does not work so easily, not least because of
>> filesystem differences and lack of native rsync.
>>
>> I can use rsync on Windows as well by running within WSL, but
>> ownership/permissions are messed up and only files visible to the user
>> running WSL can be backed up.  Meanwhile the default Windows backup service
>> to a SMB-exported filesystem from ZFS seems to be unreliable, and also may
>> not work well for files outside a user’s home directory.  What setup are
>> other people using?  I have a strong preference to something that generates
>> a visible hierarchy of files on the backup server, not a proprietary binary
>> backup column since this makes it non-recoverable if the backup software is
>> no longer available.  And I’d prefer to use the existing OmniOS box, but
>> could consider other custom options if recommended.
>>
>> If there are good recommended solutions, let me know.  Not using Windows
>> is not an option, because of Photoshop Lightroom.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Hugh.
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------
>> illumos: illumos-discuss
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>>

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Re: [discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[gea]

I use robocopy to sync Windows data folders with an SMB shared folder.
Unlike rsync, robocopy can preserve ntfs ACL and is included in Windows.

For disaster backup (Windows systemdisk) I use Aomei to create bootable
images on SMB.
Disaster restore can be done with the help of an Aomei USB bootstick to
restore image from SMB.

Gea


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Re: [discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[Courtney via illumos-discuss]

I just did this about a month ago for a friend.

I set up an SMB share for the user in my zone on their own unique 
dataset, and in
Windows mapped it as a network drive so it got a drive letter. I used 
Window's
built-in backup utility to do backups to that SMB share. Backup and 
restore worked great.
I did it to move them to a fresh install of Windows 10. Window's builtin 
tool I think is good
enough if you don't have any advanced backup needs.

Courtney


On 1/9/25 11:00 PM, Hugh McIntyre wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> This is maybe off-topic, but I’m wondering what other people do here for backup of Windows systems in an Illumos-centered backup world.
> 
> I have a mixture of OmniOS (backup server) as well as Linux, MacOS, and Windows 10+ systems needing backup.  For everything except Windows, backup works well with rsync (along with "—backup-dir=DIR" for incremental deltas).  But Windows does not work so easily, not least because of filesystem differences and lack of native rsync.
> 
> I can use rsync on Windows as well by running within WSL, but ownership/permissions are messed up and only files visible to the user running WSL can be backed up.  Meanwhile the default Windows backup service to a SMB-exported filesystem from ZFS seems to be unreliable, and also may not work well for files outside a user’s home directory.  What setup are other people using?  I have a strong preference to something that generates a visible hierarchy of files on the backup server, not a proprietary binary backup column since this makes it non-recoverable if the backup software is no longer available.  And I’d prefer to use the existing OmniOS box, but could consider other custom options if recommended.
> 
> If there are good recommended solutions, let me know.  Not using Windows is not an option, because of Photoshop Lightroom.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Hugh.
> 

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Re: [discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[lists]

Thanks for the replies.

For robocopy, how do you handle authentication to SMB?  Via domain (?) or saved credentials in files?  And do you have this scripted by Windows equivalent of cron (Task Scheduler)?  Or only running the backup manually?

Hugh.

On Fri, Jan 10, 2025, at 7:30 AM, gea@napp-it.org wrote:
> I use robocopy to sync Windows data folders with an SMB shared folder.
> Unlike rsync, robocopy can preserve ntfs ACL and is included in Windows.
>
> For disaster backup (Windows systemdisk) I use Aomei to create bootable
> images on SMB.
> Disaster restore can be done with the help of an Aomei USB bootstick to
> restore image from SMB.
>
> Gea
>
>
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Re: [discuss] Best practices for home user backup of Windows 10/11 to OmniOS / Illumos ?

[gea]

You create a .bat file with the needed robocopy sync command.
To connect/disconnect a share, you can use a prior "net use" command to
connect a share.

You can authenticate against a local OmniOS user ex root or AD user if
OmniOS is AD member
ex admin@domain, see for example
https://www.lifewire.com/net-use-command-2618096

You can start the batch file either manually on demand or as a planned task.

Gea

> Thanks for the replies.
>
> For robocopy, how do you handle authentication to SMB?  Via domain (?) or saved credentials in files?  And do you have this scripted by Windows equivalent of cron (Task Scheduler)?  Or only running the backup manually?
>
> Hugh.
>
> On Fri, Jan 10, 2025, at 7:30 AM, gea@napp-it.org wrote:
>> I use robocopy to sync Windows data folders with an SMB shared folder.
>> Unlike rsync, robocopy can preserve ntfs ACL and is included in Windows.
>>
>> For disaster backup (Windows systemdisk) I use Aomei to create bootable
>> images on SMB.
>> Disaster restore can be done with the help of an Aomei USB bootstick to
>> restore image from SMB.
>>
>> Gea
>>
>>
>>


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