lxbackup(1) · carta

NAME

lxbackup - Backup and restore the files on your HP 95LX, 100LX or 200LX

SYNOPSIS

lxbackup [ dir ... ] [ -all ] [ -since mmddhhmm[yy] ] [ -newer filename ] [ -a ] [ -v ] [ -n ] [ -c ] [ -port ] [ -d devname ] [ -b baudrate ] [ -l ] [ -restore ] [ -q|h|? ] [ -exclude pat pat ... ]

DESCRIPTION

lxbackup is a program to automatically do backups and restores on the HP100LX and HP200LX palmtop computers using a serial line. In order to use lxbackup, you need to connect your palmtop with the Unix machine using a serial cable. Then, you have to launch Filer on the palmtop and adjust the communication options in the "Communications/Remote Settings..." dialog of Filer to 38400 baud, Com1 and server mode enabled. That's it.

The default is to backup any file on the HP which is newer than its most recent backup copy (if any). Optionally, you may backup all files newer than a specified date, newer than a specified file, or all files regardless of age.

OPTIONS

-q|h|?: Gets quick help.

-all: Tells lxbackup to backup all files, regardless of age.

-a: Tells lxbackup to backup all files with archive bit set, ignoring others. The archive bit is set whenever you modify a file. It can be cleared using the ATTRIB command (see ATTRIB /?).

-since mmddhhmm[yy]: Tells lxbackup to backup all files modified more recently than the specified date. (yy < 80 is assumed to be 21st century, e.g. "1231094500" would specify 9:45 am, Dec 31st, 2000

-newer filename: Tells lxbackup to backup all files modified more recently than the specified file.

-v: Tells lxbackup to output status messages as it performs backups.

-n: Tells lxbackup not to actually transfer any files, but to list the files that would be transferred otherwise.

-c

Tells lxbackup to use "-" instead of ":" when writing files to the local filesystem. Useful when writing to DOS partitions, NetWare servers, etc. Note to restore from such a backup you must also use the -c switch, like this:

	lxbackup -c -restore c:

-restore: Tells lxbackup to transfer files from the Unix system to the HP LX.

-1, -2, -3 ... -8: Sets serial line 1, 2, 3 ... 8, respectively. Default is 1. These correspond to /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyS1 and so on on some computers, /dev/ttya, /dev/ttyb and so on on others.

-d /dev/device: Sets serial line explicitly.

-b baudrate: sets the baud rate to baudrate. Default is 38400.

-exclude pattern pattern ...: Provides a list of patterns to exclude from backup (or restore). Files matching these patterns will not be transferred. Typically used to exclude .exe, .exm and .com files, which are usually large and which are probably backed up somewhere else already.

EXAMPLES

lxbackup: Backup your C: disk, baud rate defaults to 38400, port defaults to first port, directory defaults to C:, backup everything in sight.

lxbackup c: -2 -baud 19200: Backup your C: disk, use port 2, set baud rate to 19200.

lxbackup c: a: -n -exclude .exe .exm .com: Check your C: and A: disks, see which files would be backed up. Skip any files ending with .exe, .exm, or .com

lxbackup c: a: -v -exclude .exe .exm .com: Backup your C: and A: disks. Watch progress of backup. Skip any files ending with .exe, .exm, or .com

lxbackup c:/_dat c:/games c:/pgp -v -exclude .exe .com: Backup some specific directories.

Shell Script

Here is the shell script you can use on your unix box to execute your daily backups.

	#! /bin/sh
	cd $HOME/hp100/backups
	lxbackup c: a: -v -d /dev/ttyb -exclude .exm .exe .com

(This creates the subdirectories $HOME/hp100/backups/c:/ and $HOME/hp100/backups/a:/)

lxbackup -restore: Restore everything from your C: disk. Baud rate defaults to 38400, port defaults to first port.

lxbackup c:/games -2 -baud 19200: Restore one specific directory.

lxbackup c: -v -restore -newer lastbackup.list: Restore all files which have been modified on local disk more recently than the file "lastbackup.list".

NOTES

Upper case and lower case do not matter. Lxbackup will convert all filenames to upper case for the HP, and lower case for the local file systems.

Likewise, it does not matter if you use '/' or '´ as the directory seperator.

It is not required to put the drive letter in the directory name, but highly recommended. Whichever you do, be consistent, as this is the name lxbackup will use for the directory into which the files will be stored. If you use a drive letter, the backups will be done into a directory with that drive letter as a name, e.g. "c:/". (Unix allows ':' (and practically anything else) as part of a directory or file name)

Order of directories and options is unimportant, except that the -exclude option must be the last thing on the command line.

If you have problems with transfering files, you can try a lower baud rate. Set your palmtop, e.g., to 19200 baud and run the LX tools with the "-b 19200" option.

ENVIRONMENT

The device name and number as well as the baud rate can be overriden by environment variables. If these variables are set, the corresponding command line options are ignored:

LXTOOLS_LINE: specifies the device to be used, e.g. "/dev/ttya".

LXTOOLS_BAUD: specifies the baud rate to be used, e.g. "9600".

LXTOOLS_STDOUT: specifies that output should be sent to STDOUT (default is STDERR).

DIAGNOSTICS

If you see the message "Cannot open /dev/ttyS0", most probably you have no permissions to access the serial line device. It might be owned by root and has read/write access only by the owner for security reasons. If you do not intend to use this serial port for logging in into your machine, just change the permissions as root using: "chmod o+rw /dev/ttyS0".

If the serial port behaves "strangely", e.g. if the permissions suddenly are altered again or the baud rate is reset automatically, you most likely have a "getty" running on the serial port. Check the file /etc/inittab or /etc/ttytab. You have to either stop getty running on that port or choose a different port for the connection to the palmtop.

EXIT CODES

	0 Success
	1 Failure
	2 User error
	3 Internal error

BUGS

Unknown. Probably none :-)

COPYRIGHT

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to thank the contributors to the PAL (Palmtop Application Library) who provided the basic routines the LX tools use. A special thank to Harry Konstas who "hacked" the communication format the HP Filer application uses, and to Andreas Garzotto who wrote the lxtools functions.

Edward Falk, March 1997