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Posts: 46 | Thanked: 36 times | Joined on Sep 2008
#1
I, like most people, probably only have a few megabytes of information that I actually care about. I usually back this up by sending an email to myself with a zip file. I'm wondering if there is a way to automate this process, in case the tablet gets stolen or something, like a small command line utility, since we are always too lazy when we have to do it manually, but always regret it afterwards, especially with something so small. It doesn't even have to be an email ... something like rapidshare or anything would work just as well, even if the storage was only for a short time.

I'm not so worried about the scheduling as the fact that it would be a one button process I guess.

Thanks
Leon
 
Posts: 113 | Thanked: 13 times | Joined on Nov 2008 @ Darmstadt, Germany
#2
What is your main concern, the tool itself of the online storage? For the tool you could have a look at rsync (Grsync is a UI for it) and i'm sure you can automate it either by calling it from a cron job or by starting it when your device connects to wifi. But i havent tried automating it yet
 
Posts: 46 | Thanked: 36 times | Joined on Sep 2008
#3
man, sometimes I feel like I have a unique way of using the tablet, which obviously shouldn't be the case, since a lot of features I would consider fairly cool or useful haven't been documented, you know what I'm saying? But here is one solution I found after searching online for a bit: a command line script to email a zip file to yourself via mutt and gmail. This solution would be ideal in the case of wanting to back up a few megs of important work documents in case the tablet gets stolen or dies, or you accidentally do a "rm *" (guilty), which I would consider sufficient... I never feel safe backing up to a memory card on the same device, and I can always reinstall the software.

0. Get a gmail account!

1. Install Mutt via http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ad.php?t=23544. More explicitly:
- Open the Application manager, and enable Red Pill Mode (search these forums)
- Make sure you have the Maemo extras repository enabled. (Tools > Application Catalogue) If not, click on add, and type in "http://repository.maemo.org/extras"
- Install libncursesw5 via the application manager
- Go to http://www.courville.org/mediawiki/index.php/N810, and download the "mutt armel deb package" and the "cyrus sasl deb package"
- Install these 2 deb files, by running "dpkg -i cyrus.deb" and then "dpkg -i mutt.deb"

2. Configure Mutt for gmail via http://shreevatsa.wordpress.com/2007...e-minimal-way/ More explicitly:
- create the ~/.muttrc file, with the following contents:
set imap_user = "username@gmail.com"
set imap_pass = "password"
set smtp_url = "smtp://username@smtp.gmail.com:587/"
set smtp_pass = "password"
set from = "username@gmail.com"
set realname = "Your Real Name"
set folder = "imaps://imap.gmail.com:993"
set spoolfile = "+INBOX"
set postponed="+[Gmail]/Drafts"
set message_cachedir=~/.mutt/cache/bodies
set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
set move = no

3. Now, the following command should email a zip file to yourself (The < dev null is there to suppress the prompts):
mutt -s "Subject" -a somebackupfile.zip name@gmail.com < /dev/null

4. Scheduling? Haven't bothered with this yet... having a script to backup everything is good enough for now. The entire script would be:
zip -u somebackupzip.zip /home/user/someimportantwork/*
mutt -s "Backup" -a somebackupzip.zip myname@gmail.com < /dev/null

Last edited by q335r49; 2008-12-20 at 16:52.
 

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Posts: 3,397 | Thanked: 1,212 times | Joined on Jul 2008 @ Netherlands
#4
Crontab + Rsync might be the piece of the puzzle you're missing.
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Goosfraba! All text written by allnameswereout is public domain unless stated otherwise. Thank you for sharing your output!
 
Posts: 146 | Thanked: 15 times | Joined on Oct 2008
#5
Originally Posted by q335r49 View Post
man, sometimes I feel like I have a unique way of using the tablet, which obviously shouldn't be the case, since a lot of features I would consider fairly cool or useful haven't been documented, you know what I'm saying? But here is one solution I found after searching online for a bit: a command line script to email a zip file to yourself via mutt and gmail. This solution would be ideal in the case of wanting to back up a few megs of important work documents in case the tablet gets stolen or dies, or you accidentally do a "rm *" (guilty), which I would consider sufficient... I never feel safe backing up to a memory card on the same device, and I can always reinstall the software.

0. Get a gmail account!

1. Install Mutt via http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ad.php?t=23544. More explicitly:
- Open the Application manager, and enable Red Pill Mode (search these forums)
- Make sure you have the Maemo extras repository enabled. (Tools > Application Catalogue) If not, click on add, and type in "http://repository.maemo.org/extras"
- Install libncursesw5 via the application manager
- Go to http://www.courville.org/mediawiki/index.php/N810, and download the "mutt armel deb package" and the "cyrus sasl deb package"
- Install these 2 deb files, by running "dpkg -i cyrus.deb" and then "dpkg -i mutt.deb"

2. Configure Mutt for gmail via http://shreevatsa.wordpress.com/2007...e-minimal-way/ More explicitly:
- create the ~/.muttrc file, with the following contents:
set imap_user = "username@gmail.com"
set imap_pass = "password"
set smtp_url = "smtp://username@smtp.gmail.com:587/"
set smtp_pass = "password"
set from = "username@gmail.com"
set realname = "Your Real Name"
set folder = "imaps://imap.gmail.com:993"
set spoolfile = "+INBOX"
set postponed="+[Gmail]/Drafts"
set message_cachedir=~/.mutt/cache/bodies
set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
set move = no

3. Now, the following command should email a zip file to yourself (The < dev null is there to suppress the prompts):
mutt -s "Subject" -a somebackupfile.zip name@gmail.com < /dev/null

4. Scheduling? Haven't bothered with this yet... having a script to backup everything is good enough for now. The entire script would be:
zip -u somebackupzip.zip /home/user/someimportantwork/*
mutt -s "Backup" -a somebackupzip.zip myname@gmail.com < /dev/null
Although I have Extras repository enabled, I am unable to find libncursesw5 to install, either with the App.Manager or apt-get.

Any suggestion would be appreciated.
Thanks!!
L.
 
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