BACKUPMON BACKUPMON installation instructions / tutorial

[KrautHolg]

Hi all,

I am sorry if this is an incredibly stupid question, but I seem to lack even the most basic understanding to be able to follow your installation instructions. I have formatted a USB Stick, checked the file system and created a 2GB swap file. So far so good. I can see it as /mnt/Stick1 or as /tmp/mnt/Stick1 and the check comes up clean. I can run AMTM and I can install BACKUPMON v1.8.20 – but I seem to be unable to configure it correctly. The error message I get is:

GNU nano 7.2 /jffs/addons/backupmon.d/backupmonerrors.log
1 Nov 23 2024 18:21:02 RT-AX88U_Pro-24F0 BACKUPMON[11644] - **ERROR**: Page File does not exist
2 Nov 24 2024 10:02:00 RT-AX88U_Pro-24F0 BACKUPMON[17165] - **ERROR**: Unable to mount to external network drive. Please check your configuration!

How should I proceed from here?

I managed to make screenshots of PuTTY earlier, but for some reason obscure to me I can’t even do that anymore. Is there any place where people absolutely clueless about Linux and all the commands can follow instructions step-by-step? My ultimate goal is to run MerlinAU to keep my router automatically up to date. As my whole household hangs on this router, I would dearly like to avoid any major mistakes. Otherwise I am on RT-AX88U Pro running Asuswrt-Merlin Firmware: 3004.388.8_4 and on Windows 10. What other information should I provide and more importantly, how do I provide it?

Thanks for all your valuable help!

KrautHolg

 

[Viktor Jaep]

What other information should I provide and more importantly, how do I provide it?

It would really help if you could provide some screenshots of your configuration menu. Also, how are you backing up? What is your source and target?

 

[KrautHolg]

It would really help if you could provide some screenshots of your configuration menu. Also, how are you backing up? What is your source and target?

I want to make sure that I have a backup of all the necessary files so that I can go back to old firmware and old configuration of my router in case something goes wrong when updating to a new firmware.

I came here from this page: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/m...e-firmware-auto-updater-gnuton-support.91326/

PLEASE READ ALL THE DETAILS AND BACKUP BEFORE STARTING!

## NOTE: It is highly recommended to configure backups using BACKUPMON

My plan was to have these backup files copied onto the USB stick which is plugged into the router. If I understand things correctly those files are located somewhere on the router (I have no idea where that would be). Here are the screenshots I took so far.

After this, I don't know how to continue.

Best,

KrautHolg

 

[Viktor Jaep]

I want to make sure that I have a backup of all the necessary files so that I can go back to old firmware and old configuration of my router in case something goes wrong when updating to a new firmware.

I came here from this page: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/m...e-firmware-auto-updater-gnuton-support.91326/

PLEASE READ ALL THE DETAILS AND BACKUP BEFORE STARTING!

## NOTE: It is highly recommended to configure backups using BACKUPMON

My plan was to have these backup files copied onto the USB stick which is plugged into the router. If I understand things correctly those files are located somewhere on the router (I have no idea where that would be). Here are the screenshots I took so far.

View attachment 62594

View attachment 62595

View attachment 62596

View attachment 62597

After this, I don't know how to continue.

Best,

KrautHolg

Under the configuration menu, try the "ts" option, to test your connectivity. Import your settings from your primary backup, so that it's using the same paths and credentials. Please post a screenshot of those results.

But on first glance, to me it seems like your \\192.168.100.25\Backups device is not reachable from the router, either due to networking or permission issues. What sort of device is the x.100.25 device? Are you able to see this backup folder from another device? Are you using the correct username/password to access this network share?

 

[Ripshod]

Is there even a "Backups" share on the server?

 

[KrautHolg]

Is there even a "Backups" share on the server?

No. I am completely new to this and somehow I didn't start at the beginning. I thought I can backup all the necessary files on the USB stick. But apparently the USB stick is kind of a backup of a backup? I am not trying to be lazy and I am certainly not trying to annoy anybody - I am completely lost instead. If you could point me to the very beginning of backupping here, I'd better do a lot of reading before continuing.

 

[KrautHolg]

Under the configuration menu, try the "ts" option, to test your connectivity. Import your settings from your primary backup, so that it's using the same paths and credentials. Please post a screenshot of those results.

But on first glance, to me it seems like your \\192.168.100.25\Backups device is not reachable from the router, either due to networking or permission issues. What sort of device is the x.100.25 device? Are you able to see this backup folder from another device? Are you using the correct username/password to access this network share?

I have no idea how the \\192.168.100.25\ ended up there. Right now, I only have the router (192.168.100.1), the USB stick which is plugged into the router and my Windows 10 PC (192.168.100.250).

 

[Viktor Jaep]

I have no idea how the \\192.168.100.25\ ended up there. Right now, I only have the router (192.168.100.1), the USB stick which is plugged into the router and my Windows 10 PC (192.168.100.250).

OK... so you want to backup your router to the same connected USB device, correct? Looks like that network path \\192.168.100.25 does not exist. In a perfect world, you would want to back your router up to your Win 10 PC on a shared network drive. But not a problem -- we will start with the basics here.

In this case, you want to set option #2 (Backup Target Media Type) to USB. Pick your USB device name (probably will auto-pick it for you). Make sure your #6 mount point and #7 backup target path are named something acceptable. That should do the trick.

 

[KrautHolg]

Thank you very much for your patience. Not like a grumpy cat at all. Apparently, what I did is not appropriate. I called the USB-stick simply "Stick1" and the config screen now looks like this:

When I try to do a manual backup, I get the following error message at 18:24:14:

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Thank you very much for your patience. Not like a grumpy cat at all. Apparently, what I did is not appropriate. I called the USB-stick simply "Stick1" and the config screen now looks like this:

View attachment 62599

When I try to do a manual backup, I get the following error message at 18:24:14:

View attachment 62600

Please give the "ts" a shot from the configuration menu, import your primary settings, and share your results.

 

[KrautHolg]

Is this correct? (password & username are correct, but cut out of this image)

 

[Viktor Jaep]

View attachment 62609

View attachment 62610

Is this correct? (password & username are correct, but cut out of this image)

That's correct... hit "t" and share your results please?

 

[KrautHolg]

What now?

 

[Ripshod]

@KrautHolg what format is the usb drive?

 

[KrautHolg]

I formatted it first on Windows 10 to NTFS and then I formatted it again in the router to EXT4.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

View attachment 62618

What now?

#5 is back to /tmp/mnt/backups. Why didn't you set it to /tmp/mnt/Stick1 ?

 

[KrautHolg]

#5 is back to /tmp/mnt/backups. Why didn't you set it to /tmp/mnt/Stick1 ?

I thought that I did. This comes up when I hit 5 and there is no option to change things.

Now it seems to work, though I get a message of HIGH RISK, which is something I'd rather avoid....

 

[Viktor Jaep]

View attachment 62623

I thought that I did. This comes up when I hit 5 and there is no option to change things.

View attachment 62625

Right. There's only 1 item, so that's what you pick. Looks like things work when you pick the correct /tmp/mnt/Stick1 mount point. Now duplicate this in the actual config, and SAVE your settings. Then give it another whirl!

 

[KrautHolg]

Right. There's only 1 item, so that's what you pick. Looks like things work when you pick the correct /tmp/mnt/Stick1 mount point. Now duplicate this in the actual config, and SAVE your settings. Then give it another whirl!

I did and I got a message in green. Unfortunately I was not quick enough for a screenshot, but I didn't much care for the HIGH RISK message.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

I did and I got a message in green. Unfortunately I was not quick enough for a screenshot, but I didn't much care for the HIGH RISK message.

Glad it's working. Yeah, just a visual que to let you know that one bad flashdrive could take down your router and all your backups all at once. It's a high risk scenario from which there is no recovery.