Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!rice!sun-spots-request
From: clt@sun.com (Charlie Tierney - Sun San Francisco SE)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun
Subject: Re: Single user backups
Message-ID: <8812050459.AA25787@sfsun.sun.com>
Date: 15 Dec 88 10:24:55 GMT
Sender: usenet@rice.edu
Organization: Rice University, Houston, Texas
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Approved: Sun-Spots@rice.edu
Original-Date: Sun, 4 Dec 88 20:59:45 PST
X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 7, Issue 56, message 2 of 14
X-Issue-Reference: v7n37

Actually the subject is performing automatic dumps in single-user mode
(through the use of shell scripts).

In fact, the write a "dot" file and check for it's presence is the best
method to accomplish your goal.  The old Fortune Systems 32:16 used to
operate in this exact way for several maintenance commands.

Let's say you want to do autodumps in single user mode.  Your dump command
starts from cron and does a:

	"touch /etc/.dump"
	"shutdown -r +5 'Dump is about to begin - you better get off.'"

Eventually, after the reboot (see shutdown(8)), you will come through the
rc scripts.  The script to muck with is /etc/rc.

In /etc/rc put in some lines that do about this:

	if test -f /etc/.dump
	then
		/etc/BACKUP
		rm /etc/.dump
	fi

On the Fortune, it was a more generic capability - all unbundled software
installed a startup/shutdown/install/delete shell script into a directory:
"/m/maint/rc".  The /etc/rc script looked at /m/maint/rc and ran each
script it found there.  Very clean, also nice to be able to deinstall
something by typing:  "/m/maint/rc/boring.rc delete'

Charlie Tierney				Sun Microsystems

Writing In No Official Capacity