BackupPC - ArchWiki

# BackupPC

BackupPC is a high-performance, enterprise-grade system for backing up Unix, Linux, WinXX, and MacOSX PCs, desktops and laptops to a server's disk. BackupPC is highly configurable and easy to install and maintain.

Given the ever decreasing cost of disks and raid systems, it is now practical and cost effective to backup a large number of machines onto a server's local disk or network storage. For some sites this might be the complete backup solution. For other sites additional permanent archives could be created by periodically backing up the server to tape.

## Installation

Install backuppc from the official repositories. Install rsync and perl-file-rsyncp if you want to use rsync as a transport.

Start backuppc systemd daemon and, if you wish to have running at boot time enable it.

## Apache configuration

BackupPC has a web interface that allows you to easily control it. You can access it using Apache and mod_perl or a C wrapper but other webservers like lighttpd works too. Install apache from the official repositories.

### Edit Apache configuration

BackupPC's web UI needs to run as the user backuppc, but Apache normally runs under the user http. There are several ways to fix this. The two demonstrated here are common for single-purpose servers (Apache is only used to serve the BackupPC UI) or for multi-purpose servers (Apache may also server other websites under the regular http user).

Setting up Apache for single-purpose use is a bit easier but not as flexible.

#### General settings

Edit `/etc/backuppc/config.pl`. Set administrator name:

    $Conf{CgiAdminUsers} = 'admin';

Next, we need to add a users file and set the admin password:

    # htpasswd -c /etc/backuppc/backuppc.users admin

The BackupPC-Webfrontend is initially configured so that you can only access it from the localhost. If you want to access it from all machines in your network, you have to edit `/etc/httpd/conf/extra/backuppc.conf`. Edit the line:

    allow from 127.0.0.1

to:

    allow from 127.0.0.1 192.168.0

where you have to replace 192.168.0 to your corresponding IP-Adresses you want to gain access from. After one of the configuration steps below has also been performed, [re]start the Apache service.

#### Single-purpose Apache settings

Install mod_perlAUR from the official repositories.

Edit the Apache configuration file to load mod_perl, tell Apache to run as user backuppc and to include `/etc/httpd/conf/extra/backuppc.conf`:

    /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

     LoadModule perl_module modules/mod_perl.so
     User backuppc
     Group backuppc
     Include conf/extra/backuppc.conf

#### Multi-purpose Apache settings

Instead of globally changing the Apache user and group like in the example above, we will instead make Apache run just the BackupPC CGI script as the backuppc user and leave the default user alone. This method uses mod_cgi to call a wrapper written in C instead of using the extra mod_perl dependency. You still need to have perl itself installed so the wrapper can run the BackupPC scripts.

Make sure Apache can run CGI programs (the line loading mod_cgi is not commented) and that it reads the BackupPC configuration by including it in `/etc/httpd/conf/extra/backuppc.conf`:

    /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

     LoadModule cgi_module modules/mod_cgi.so
     ...
     Include conf/extra/backuppc.conf

##### The webserver user and the suid problem

The current setup of BackupPC, the webserver needs to run as backuppc user and this can be a problem on many setups where the webserver is used for other sites. In the past one could suid a Perl script, but it was blocked globally due security problems several years ago. To workaround that, perl-suid was used, but again blocked due the same problem more recently, scripts cannot be run securely with suid bit. Still there is another way, this time using a simple binary program that is suid as a launcher, that will run the backuppc Perl scripts already with the correct user. This isolates the Perl script from the environment and it is considered safe.

You need to replace the original backuppc CGI with the below C code compiled program and move the backuppc CGI to another place.

Move the real CGI `/usr/share/backuppc/cgi-bin/BackupPC_Admin` to the lib directory `/usr/share/backuppc/lib/real-BackupPC_Admin.cgi`.

Save the C code below to a file named wrapper.c (please update the CGI path if needed) and compile it with:

    $ gcc -o BackupPC_Admin wrapper.c

The wrapper C code:

    #include <unistd.h>
    #define REAL_PATH "/usr/share/backuppc/lib/real-BackupPC_Admin.cgi"
    int main(ac, av)
    char **av;
    {
       execv(REAL_PATH, av);
       return 0;
    }

Place the new binary `BackupPC_Admin` in the cgi-bin directory and chown the binary CGI to `backuppc:http` and set the suid bit:

    # chown backuppc:http /usr/share/backuppc/cgi-bin/BackupPC_Admin
    # chmod 4750 /usr/share/backuppc/cgi-bin/BackupPC_Admin

Do not forget to clear the suid bit on the original Perl script if it was set (or the CGI page will not load):

    # chmod 0750 /usr/share/backuppc/lib/real-BackupPC_Admin.cgi

Keep your web server with its usual user and backup should now be able to run correctly.

## Alternative lighttpd configuration

    /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf

     server.port             = 81
     server.username         = "backuppc"
     server.groupname        = "backuppc"
     server.document-root    = "/srv/http"
     server.errorlog         = "/var/log/lighttpd/error.log"
     dir-listing.activate    = "enable"
     index-file.names        = ( "index.html", "index.php", "index.cgi" )
     mimetype.assign         = ( ".html" => "text/html", ".txt" => "text/plain", ".jpg" => "image/jpeg", ".png" => "image/png", "" => "application/octet-stream" )

     server.modules = ("mod_alias", "mod_cgi", "mod_auth", "mod_access" )

     alias.url               = ( "/BackupPC_Admin" => "/usr/share/backuppc/cgi-bin/BackupPC_Admin" )
     alias.url               += ( "/backuppc" => "/usr/share/backuppc/html" )

     cgi.assign              += ( ".cgi" => "/usr/bin/perl" )
     cgi.assign              += ( "BackupPC_Admin" => "/usr/bin/perl" )

     auth.backend = "plain"
     auth.backend.plain.userfile = "/etc/lighttpd/passwd"
     auth.require = ( "/BackupPC_Admin" => ( "method" => "basic", "realm" => "BackupPC", "require" => "user=admin" ) )

    /etc/lighttpd/passwd

     admin:yourpassword

And create log file:

    # touch /var/log/lighttpd/error.log
    # chown backuppc:backuppc /var/log/lighttpd/error.log

## Accessing the admin page

Browse to http://localhost/BackupPC_Admin respectively http://your_backuppc_server_ip/BackupPC_Admin.

## Website view problem

Due an Apache directive, the web interface may not shown properly. If that is your case, just modify the line in your `/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf` that avoids .htaccess and .htpasswd from viewed for clients or change directory name /usr/share/backuppc/html for /usr/share/backuppc/files and update `/etc/httpd/conf/extra/backuppc.conf` with the new path, as it follows:

    /etc/httpd/conf/extra/backuppc.conf

    Alias           /BackupPC/images        /usr/share/BackupPC/files/

## See also

- BackupPC Home page
- BackupPC documentation

Category:

- System recovery