BACKUPMON BACKUPMON installation instructions / tutorial

[KrautHolg]

So, okay, looks like I will have to learn to do better. What is the next step I should read about or what should I do next? Sounds like this is actually worse than not having embarked on the whole project. My goal was to *reduce* risk instead of actually increasing it.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

So, okay, looks like I will have to learn to do better. What is the next step I should read about or what should I do next?

Probably experiment with network shares would be my next step.

 

[KrautHolg]

OK, I will try my best. Do I need additional equipment for this or can I do it with what I have?

 

[Viktor Jaep]

OK, I will try my best. Do I need additional equipment for this or can I do it with what I have?

If you're willing to use your Win 10 laptop (which needs to be on during backup times), then you have everything you need. Alternatively, if you own a NAS, that could do the trick too.

 

[KrautHolg]

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.

Can I just eject the USB-Stick at via http://asusrouter.com/index.asp or will that have negative consequences for my router? I don't like the "could take down your router" at all...

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Can I just eject the USB-Stick at via http://asusrouter.com/index.asp or will that have negative consequences for my router? I don't like the "could take down your router" at all...

Kinda depends on what you're running. If you've installed entware or established a swap file, those are both on your USB drive. Depending on what scripts and the level of complexity. Typically it's advised just to keep things in place.

You might be able to use a USB extender to add more ports for another external drive, but that comes with issues as well such as power. Up for debate.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Probably experiment with network shares would be my next step.

Currently I Have two USB drives attached to my AX88Pro using a hub and backup from one USB to the other and this works fine. I would also like to have a secondary backup to my NAS and but I'm having any success getting it to work.

Network Drive Name: Backup3 LAN IP: 192.168.216.25

Folder created on Backup3 for AX88Pro backups: Backups

I can't seem to get a mount that Backupmon accepts. Tried various options

Settings for secondary backup and the results from one of many tests are shown below.

(1) : Test Target Media Type : Network
(2) : Test Target Username : V..........
(3) : Test Target Password : R...........
(4) : Test Target UNC Path : \\\\192.168.216.25\\Backups
|--- Test NFS Mount Options : N/A
(5) : Test Target Backup Mount Point : /tmp/mnt/Backup3/Backups
(6) : Test Target Dir Path : /router/Backups
(7) : Test CIFS/SMB Version : 2.1
|
(t) : Test your Network Backup Connection
(p) : Import your Primary Backup Settings
(s) : Import your Secondary Backup Settings
(e) : Exit Back to Setup + Operations Menu



Selection: t

Messages:
INFO: Backup Target (192.168.216.25) reachable via PING.
WARNING: External test drive mount point not set. Created under: /tmp/mnt/backups
mount: mounting \\\\192.168.216.25\\Backups on /tmp/mnt/backups failed
WARNING: Unable to mount to external network drive. Retrying...
mount: mounting \\\\192.168.216.25\\Backups on /tmp/mnt/backups failed
WARNING: Unable to mount to external network drive. Retrying...
mount: mounting \\\\192.168.216.25\\Backups on /tmp/mnt/backups failed
WARNING: Unable to mount to external network drive. Retrying...
ERROR: Unable to mount to external network drive [/tmp/mnt/backups]. Please check your configuration. Exiting.
Press any key to acknowledge...


I would much appreciate it if you can tell me what I'm missing and offer my any suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Currently I Have two USB drives attached to my AX88Pro using a hub and backup from one USB to the other and this works fine. I would also like to have a secondary backup to my NAS and but I'm having any success getting it to work.

Network Drive Name: Backup3 LAN IP: 192.168.216.25

Folder created on Backup3 for AX88Pro backups: Backups

I can't seem to get a mount that Backupmon accepts. Tried various options

Settings for secondary backup and the results from one of many tests are shown below.

(1) : Test Target Media Type : Network
(2) : Test Target Username : V..........
(3) : Test Target Password : R...........
(4) : Test Target UNC Path : \\\\192.168.216.25\\Backups
|--- Test NFS Mount Options : N/A
(5) : Test Target Backup Mount Point : /tmp/mnt/Backup3/Backups
(6) : Test Target Dir Path : /router/Backups
(7) : Test CIFS/SMB Version : 2.1
|
(t) : Test your Network Backup Connection
(p) : Import your Primary Backup Settings
(s) : Import your Secondary Backup Settings
(e) : Exit Back to Setup + Operations Menu



Selection: t

Messages:
INFO: Backup Target (192.168.216.25) reachable via PING.
WARNING: External test drive mount point not set. Created under: /tmp/mnt/backups
mount: mounting \\\\192.168.216.25\\Backups on /tmp/mnt/backups failed
WARNING: Unable to mount to external network drive. Retrying...
mount: mounting \\\\192.168.216.25\\Backups on /tmp/mnt/backups failed
WARNING: Unable to mount to external network drive. Retrying...
mount: mounting \\\\192.168.216.25\\Backups on /tmp/mnt/backups failed
WARNING: Unable to mount to external network drive. Retrying...
ERROR: Unable to mount to external network drive [/tmp/mnt/backups]. Please check your configuration. Exiting.
Press any key to acknowledge...


I would much appreciate it if you can tell me what I'm missing and offer my any suggestions.

Thanks.

You sure your NAS can handle SMB 2.1? I would probably try to manually use the mount statement to see what exactly is failing. Could be permissions? Are you able to connect to that share a different way? I posted a sample mount statement a while back that you could probably find here in the backupmon threads or I can post something later this evening for you to try, ok?

 

[CaptainSTX]

You sure your NAS can handle SMB 2.1? I would probably try to manually use the mount statement to see what exactly is failing. Could be permissions? Are you able to connect to that share a different way? I posted a sample mount statement a while back that you could probably find here in the backupmon threads or I can post something later this evening for you to try, ok?

Thanks for the reply. Went into NAS software and checked the SMB setting. Seems to just support SMB 2.0 so I adjusted setting in backupmon to be 2.0 also but still can't get the drive to mount. I looked for a sample mount statement in this thread but haven't found it yet but I will keep looking.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Thanks for the reply. Went into NAS software and checked the SMB setting. Seems to just support SMB 2.0 so I adjusted setting in backupmon to be 2.0 also but still can't get the drive to mount. I looked for a sample mount statement in this thread but haven't found it yet but I will keep looking.

Give this a shot... and let us know what you see!

First run:

modprobe md4

Then, try the mount:

mount -t cifs \\\\192.168.11.13\\home /tmp/mnt/backups -o "vers=2.0,username=myname,password=mypass"

 

[KrautHolg]

Kinda depends on what you're running. If you've installed entware or established a swap file, those are both on your USB drive. Depending on what scripts and the level of complexity. Typically it's advised just to keep things in place.

You might be able to use a USB extender to add more ports for another external drive, but that comes with issues as well such as power. Up for debate.

So, I guess my next stepp would be to uninstall entware and everything else I have installed and then somehow remove the swap file without getting into trouble in oder to try something else later. NAS is way too expensive for me and using a USB-hub is probably asking for trouble for a beginner like me. I'll probably try using the Win 10 PC as you suggested. Is there something important I should keep in mind when rolling back to the pre-USB-stick days?

Edit: Done! And now to the Win 10 PC....

 

[Viktor Jaep]

So, I guess my next stepp would be to uninstall entware and everything else I have installed and then somehow remove the swap file without getting into trouble in oder to try something else later. NAS is way too expensive for me and using a USB-hub is probably asking for trouble for a beginner like me. I'll probably try using the Win 10 PC as you suggested. Is there something important I should keep in mind when rolling back to the pre-USB-stick days?

Edit: Done! And now to the Win 10 PC....

Honestly, I would have recommended just leaving everything in place. Should you ever want to start adding other scripts in the future like Skynet, or any of the other dozens of great apps out there, you will definitely be needing your USB drive, swapfile and entware.

 

[KrautHolg]

Honestly, I would have recommended just leaving everything in place. Should you ever want to start adding other scripts in the future like Skynet, or any of the other dozens of great apps out there, you will definitely be needing your USB drive, swapfile and entware.

OK. I figure I can always go back to where I was since you graciously showed me the way. Wish I had your patience….

Let me explain my reasoning and then I can find out why I am wrong. Whilst most of my flashing and so on went along as planned, I sometimes made serious mistakes, which resulted in bricked devices. For example, a Kindle eReader, an Android smartphone or a tablet. Hard brick, soft brick, several times unrecoverable. And when you wrote „one bad flashdrive could take down your router“ I get worried that something like that might happen to my router, which is brand-new and expensive and not a toy like an old Kindle or Android device which I happen to have lying around. So if you meant that I might have to reconfigure the router from scratch, that is not a problem for me. If you mean that I might damage the router and need to buy a new one, then I am seriously not interested in experimenting further.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

O

OK. I figure I can always go back to where I was since you graciously showed me the way. Wish I had your patience….

Let me explain my reasoning and then I can find out why I am wrong. Whilst most of my flashing and so on went along as planned, I sometimes made serious mistakes, which resulted in bricked devices. For example, a Kindle eReader, an Android smartphone or a tablet. Hard brick, soft brick, several times unrecoverable. And when you wrote „one bad flashdrive could take down your router“ I get worried that something like that might happen to my router, which is brand-new and expensive and not a toy like an old Kindle or Android device which I happen to have lying around. So if you meant that I might have to reconfigure the router from scratch, that is not a problem for me. If you mean that I might damage the router and need to buy a new one, then I am seriously not interested in experimenting further.

Ok... I see. What I meant with "take down your router". If you are running a bunch of scripts that are assisting your router in various ways, having a USB key go bad will break these scripts. Your router will typically continue to function. For me, it would suck, because it would break my VPN, web filtering, ad blocking and DNS lookup configurations badly. But my router would continue to run for the most part. Not damage it. This is why you would invest in a quality SSD instead of a USD flashdrive/key, because they will last much longer than a regular flashdrive, and can take some read/write abuse.

Now there have been some cases where people have made some bad choices configuring their router to the point where it's almost non-functional, and in those cases, restoring from backupmon has saved the day. So if you are a tinkerer, you definitely want to take regular backups.

 

[KrautHolg]

O

Ok... I see. What I meant with "take down your router". If you are running a bunch of scripts that are assisting your router in various ways, having a USB key go bad will break these scripts. Your router will typically continue to function. For me, it would suck, because it would break my VPN, web filtering, ad blocking and DNS lookup configurations badly. But my router would continue to run for the most part. Not damage it. This is why you would invest in a quality SSD instead of a USD flashdrive/key, because they will last much longer than a regular flashdrive, and can take some read/write abuse.

Now there have been some cases where people have made some bad choices configuring their router to the point where it's almost non-functional, and in those cases, restoring from backupmon has saved the day. So if you are a tinkerer, you definitely want to take regular backups.

I see! That it is not as risky as I had thought. For me the main reason for buying this new router was that my old ASUS RT-AC52U B1 could not handle the new OpenVPN protocols when PureVPN upgraded to them. The RT-AX88U Pro can and since I changed to Asuswrt-Merlin I am very happy with it. Since my Win 10 PC has a big SSD on it, I could learn to backup to that I hope.

 

[Kingp1n]

I see! That it is not as risky as I had thought. For me the main reason for buying this new router was that my old ASUS RT-AC52U B1 could not handle the new OpenVPN protocols when PureVPN upgraded to them. The RT-AX88U Pro can and since I changed to Asuswrt-Merlin I am very happy with it. Since my Win 10 PC has a big SSD on it, I could learn to backup to that I hope.

PM you with instructions that I got from @Viktor Jaep to setup the shared folder on your PC. Hope that helps!

 

[visortgw]

PM you with instructions that I got from @Viktor Jaep to setup the shared folder on your PC. Hope that helps!

Or, just share it here — it would be great info for all!

 

[Kingp1n]

@Viktor Jaep

Let me know if the instructions require any updates:

See if these instructions help... this is on a local Windows 11 laptop.

1.) In the search bar, type "sharing", and run the "manage advanced sharing settings"
2.) Expand private networks, ensure that network discovery and file & printer sharing are both "on".
3.) Using file explorer, create a top-level folder somewhere on your drive... call it "backups"
4.) Right-click on "backups", and click on properties -> sharing
5.) Click on the "share" button, hit the drop-down, and select "everyone" -> add -> permission level "read/write" -> and hit the "share" button.
6.) Go back to your properties page, click on "advanced sharing" and just double check under "permissions" that you see "everyone", and they have "read/write/full control" permissions.
7.) At this point, you have a basic share that gives anyone access to this folder on your local network. You can get more granular by creating a local user/pwd, and assigning this user account to this folder... but let's just keep it easy for now.

You can now test access to your folder... copy this script into a test.sh file in your /jffs/scripts... make sure you change the IP to your laptop's IP address... and make sure the share is called "backups" or whatever you called it.

#!/bin/sh

USERNAME="admin"
PASSWORD="admin"
UNC="\\\\192.168.86.51\\backups"
EXTDRIVE="/tmp/mnt/backuptest"

if ! [ -d $EXTDRIVE ]; then
    mkdir -p $EXTDRIVE
    chmod 777 $EXTDRIVE
    sleep 3
fi

# Check the build to see if modprobe needs to be called
if [ $(find /lib -name md4.ko | wc -l) -gt 0 ]; then
  modprobe md4 > /dev/null    # Required now by some 388.x firmware for mounting remote drives
fi

mount -t cifs $UNC $EXTDRIVE -o "vers=2.1,username=${USERNAME},password=${PASSWORD}"

After running this with "sh test.sh", you should be able to drop to an SSH prompt... and type:

cd /tmp/mnt/backuptst

If it allows you, then you are now browsing the local folder on your laptop from your router. You can create a test file... like:

cp /jffs/scripts/backupmon.sh /tmp/mnt/backuptst/testfile.sh

Create password?

Do you recommend I should create an admin/password setup?
It's something to experiment with if you're comfortable with creating user accounts in Windows. But if you don't believe you have any danger with someone on your Wifi network messing with your /backups folder, then I wouldn't worry about it.

I also have these added to my pfexclusions.txt file:

myswap.swp
entware/var/log/*
skynet/skynet.log
router/*

 

[KrautHolg]

1.) In the search bar, type "sharing", and run the "manage advanced sharing settings"

In my German version of Win 10 I can't find anything similar to "manage advanced sharing settings". But I will probably figure that one out tomorrow.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Give this a shot... and let us know what you see!

First run:

modprobe md4

Then, try the mount:

mount -t cifs \\\\192.168.11.13\\home /tmp/mnt/backups -o "vers=2.0,username=myname,password=mypass"

Thanks but still no joy.

Running first command returns: Module md4 not found modules.dep

Second command after making necessary changes returns

mounting \\192.168.216.25\ on tmp/mnt/backup2 failed

I created and changed destination folder to Backup2 to be sure the folder's properties on the NAS were not causing the issue.