Re: Using md5sums for file diffs in incremental backups

From: Steven J. Hathaway (shathawa_at_e-z.net)
Date: 05/01/04 

Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 23:26:05 -0700

"Jeffrey J. Kosowsky" wrote:

> I am trying to write some scripts to do incremental backups.
>
> I need a good way of identifying files that have changed (either in
> content or permissions or ownership) since the last backup.
>
> I would like to create a file database using something like md5sums
> plus the permission and ownership bits so that I can quickly tell
> whether files have changes. Then I would like to compare the current
> filesystem against this database to determine which files have changed
> and require backup. After each incremental backup, I would then update
> the database.
>
> I am sure I could set up a kluge manually but I was wondering whether
> there are any pre-existing programs that do this more simply and
> efficiently.
>
> (I know I could use something like find with ctime, but that doesn't
> give me as much flexibility as the above method.)
>
> Thanks,
> Jeff

The packaging tools developed by AT&T in UNIX SVR4 have a database
with timestamps, ownership, permissions, and the above checksums.
The packaging tools also have programs that will validate the actual
files against the installed package integrity rules. Solaris uses these.

Maybe Red Hat Package Manager has something equivalent for Linux.

You might also check out the Debian Package Manager.

Otherwise, like me, write your own system integrity checking database
and comparison scripts.

- Steven J. Hathaway

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