Network backups and local store

[ewilen]

Assuming someone is having their computer automatically backed up on schedule by something like Retrospect, Apple's Time Machine, Karen's Replicator, etc...

• What, exactly, needs to be backed up in order to protect the ZD local folders?
• Is there any problem with doing backups while the Zimbra Desktop service is running?
• What would be the best way to restore the local folders from backup, if the original ZD installation is lost through theft of a laptop, hard drive corruption, etc.?

Thanks in advance.

(Oh, and obviously this applies equally to local scheduled backups to a USB drive or whatever, but the scenario on my mind is mainly network backups using Retrospect.)

[ewilen]

Over in another thread, I read,

Originally Posted by jmhe

There are 3 user data directories you need to backup: derby, index and store. Make sure you first stop ZD service (cd <install dir>; ./zdesktop stop) before copying those directories.

After a fresh installation, you have to stop ZD service again before you can replace those folders you have saved.

So, based on this, it sounds like the answers to my questions are:

• backup derby, index, and store
• you can't backup local folders while ZD is running. This is a problem.
• restore by stopping ZD service and copying derby, index, and store

So what can we do to protect users' local data?

[jmhe]

Originally Posted by ewilen

[*]you can't backup local folders while ZD is running. This is a problem.

This will be addressed once we switched to SQLite from Derby, in ZD 1.1. After that, backup apps like Time Machine should work.

So what can we do to protect users' local data?

For now, users have to do app level backups - manually exporting the mailboxes, especially for POP accounts and local folders.

[ewilen]

I see. Well, it's good to know you guys have your eye on the ball. Is there a place for ZDC in pm.zimbra.com (or equivalent) to track development?

As long as 1.1 won't take too long, I can probably tell people to just not use local folders, so the built-in backup of NE will protect their data. ZD will still have a place as a caching mail/calendar client (mainly for laptop users).

Given the limitation, it'd be nice if local folders could be turned off entirely, so I just created a bugzilla entry: Bug 36671 - allow "local folders" feature to be turned off

(Not sure if it should be considered an RFE--IMO, storing data in a way that it can't be backed up "normally" for a typical end-user is a bug.)

[ewilen]

So, ZDC 2 beta 2 has been released. It uses sqlite instead of derby, but in Zimbra Desktop 2 FAQ - Zimbra :: Wiki I read

If you choose to do file based backup, you must first shutdown the Zimbra Desktop data engine before running any types of backup.

Is this information up to date? Is there still a plan to do local storage in a way that's friendly to live backups?

EDIT: Added an RFE Bug 47552 - Allow live backup of local folders