TinyMUX 2.0:  BACKUPS
Last Update:  April 2000

The importance of good backups:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Experienced MUX users will tell you that having a good, recent backup of 
your database, configuration files, text files, mail db and comsys db 
is the best defense against data loss.  In a perfect world, we wouldn't 
have to deal with random accidents or malicious attacks that wipe out 
data, but it there are an unfortunate number of cases where these events 
occur and entire games have disappeared forever because of it.   

Making a backup:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In pre 2.0 versions of TinyMUX, the way to make backups was to use 
db_unload to create a flatfile of the database.  Making a backup by this 
method is detailed in several places, including NOTES under the heading 
'Changes to dbconvert'.

The other method, which has been provided with TinyMUX 2.0, is the use 
of the included Backup script, which is located in the mux2.0/game 
directory.  This runs the db_unload script for you, collects copies of 
text files, configuration files, mail and comsystem databases, and then 
then creates a dated tar.gz file.

Storing your backups:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Depending on how much disk space your provider allows you, we recommend 
that you keep a number of the most recent backups on the machine for ready 
access.  Having to wait while someone ftps the files back to the machine 
is a tedious process for the person who feels any pressure to restore the 
game.  Be kind to your site admin--give them something to work with.  

No matter how reliable or redundantly backups are performed on the machine 
that your game runs on, it is critical that you also store copies of your 
most recent backups at an offsite location.  Again, we cannot stress this 
enough.

When you ftp any file that ends in .gz, you must make sure that the file 
is moved in 'binary' or 'raw data' mode.  Desktop clients vary drastically, 
but many will move them in binary format automatically.  Where you keep 
them on your own computer is up to you, but it is always a good idea to put 
them where you can readily access them and move them back to the game 
machine is best.