Announcing PING Updates / Stable releases

[Mark Phelps]

Natan:

Tried out the new PING version and it works great! Not only is the double-listing problem fixed, the performance is amazing!

I tried three different backups and in all cases, the total time required, when compared to version 16, is about 1/3. So, this version is running approximately three times the speed of version 16. My 30minute+ backups only take 10 minutes now.

Is this the final beta of 3.0, or are you planning more releases?

[Natan]

Hi Mark,

Natan:

Tried out the new PING version and it works great! Not only is the double-listing problem fixed, the performance is amazing!

I tried three different backups and in all cases, the total time required, when compared to version 16, is about 1/3. So, this version is running approximately three times the speed of version 16. My 30minute+ backups only take 10 minutes now.

Good news!

This is merely due to the kernel options. During a while, new kernels would not have the good I/O we had always been used to before, due to large driver parts being recoded by the kernel developers (PATA vs. SATA). 10 minutes is the normal time...!

Is this the final beta of 3.0, or are you planning more releases?

Planning more testing and a little more coding, but you can use it in production, as images are always made with the same tool. The recorded images will be restorable by future 3.0x versions of PING.

Regards
Natan

[Natan]

Hi people !

OK, there's a new BETA release of PING. Among improvements, the image creation can now be 100% automated. I think most long-needed new features should be in the package, which means an official release might well happen in one or two weeks. As always, a big thanks to those will give it a try, and report things to fix or to improve.

=> Download

Changelog:

Code: Select all

* 3.00.00 2008-10-17
  - Linux kernel upgraded from 2.6.26.5 to 2.6.26.6.
  - Added drivers for Attansic 1e (ASUS Atheros NICs).
  - Samba upgraded from 3.2.3 to 3.2.4.
  - CLAM AV upgraded from 0.93.1 to 0.94.
  - Added vol_id to the OS (part of udev), so to get filesystems'
    labels, and maybe restore them one day (out of the BS-dd way).
  - Removed smbmount, smbmnt, smbumount. These antiquities were older
    than the samba package installed, and could lead shell users to
    confusion.
  - Added Reiser4Progs 1.0.6 and ReiserFSProgs 3.6.19 to the OS,
    so we can now play with Reiser filesystems.
  - Added Testdisk 6.10 to the OS. Can recover a partition table,
    the MBR, a bootsector, partitions ... great app. Includes Photorec.
  - If the user has forgotten to unzip Partimage.zip to the dir
    he wants to store images in, we'll now create the
    Create_New_Image directory, but not the other ones.
  - Detects unused segments in devices (so we could expand parts).
  - Little bug fix: a cciss directory on a bootable media would
    not be detected (thx Superdac).
  - Added the parameter Extend_Parts_Whenever_Possible.
    Sometimes, you'll restore images to a bigger drive.
    Sometimes, there will be empty space after or between parts.
    Set this parameter to Y if you want PING to extend partitions
    and contained filesystems each time it's possible. If the
    param is not set, PING will ask the user.
  - Reports the end of the /var/log/partimag-debug.log in /tmp/x.log.
  - Don't try any more to use ntfsresize if the unused space is
    ridiculously small --wouldn't do anything anyway.
  - If there's only one partition and you want a local backup,
    PING will now resize not only NTFS but also ext2-3, fat32,
    and hsf+ filesystems (using parted and resize2fs, as parted
    can't handle ext2/3 any more).
  - The antique Partimage.zip's folder Partition_and_Format_ANY_Computer
    has been removed. Instead, write a file in an image directory, and
    call it HDD_Target.txt . Copy the structure of a HDD_Look.txt file
    and adjust to what you want your HDD to look like.
  - The antique Partimage.zip's folder Backup_Local_Hard_Disk has
    been removed. Instead, create an image and ask for tar/gz instead
    of partimage or zsplit.
  - No more .part ; these files must be replaced with a HDD_Target.txt
    file. Sorry, no choice.
  - You can now choose tar+gzip/bzip2 instead of partimage or zsplit.
    I guess this should especially help people cloning linux systems.
    If used to clone a Windows system, ACLs won't be restored.
  - Finally! finally, in the menu used to choose what partitions to
    store, loop until an item is chosen (the Space Bar thing).
    Honnestly, let's call it a Bug fix.
  - If an addon-*.tar.gz file is stored in an image directory, it will
    be untarred to the root of the PING OS before any other image file
    is addressed.
  - If a ping.conf file is stored in an image directory, it will be
    parsed before all other image files are addressed (but second to a
    possible addon-*.tar.gz). The contained parameters will overwrite
    those eventually passed by /etc/ping.conf or the APPEND line of
    syslinux.
  - Add a screen warning if there's data on the disk and it's going
    to be overwritten -- except if AUTO mode is set on, or if new
    param Dont_Warn_Me is set on.
  - Linux kernel: added drivers for nVidia IDE.
  - Linux kernel: added drivers for Marvell SATA (experimental).
  - Dell fix: we now propose users to let us do the job for them.
    If they let us do, when creating an image out of a Dell box,
    we'll store only the part containing the OS and not the two
    Dell parts. We'll also fix the boot.ini for it to boot the now
    first part, and will prepare a HDD_Target.txt file so restoration
    will use all available space on the drive. Finally, at restore
    time, we'll write a standard MBR instead of Dell's, and will
    correct the boot sector in order to let it know there's no more
    Dell Utility partition. Should boot.
  - Howto: mention Unetbootin as a good tool to have a USB device
    boot PING.
  - Bug fix: the modules were stripped and wouldn't work any more.
  - Bug fix: add devices sde and sdf to the devices browsing. Thx Daniel.
  - Bug fix: PING would incorrectly handle systems with more than one HDD.
  - Added kernel/ping.conf parameters New_Image_Name and Parts_To_Backup
    so to make it possible to pass "Create_New_Image" as a value for
    parameter Image_To_Restore, and have a full image creation automated
    with no user interaction. See the sample ping.conf file and the
    Howto for details.

Regards
Natan

[briangraham]

This keeps getting better and better!!!

Tested latest on dell 755
~duplicate partitions in partitions to backup list
looks like this:
### CHOOSE THIS if you want a RESTORATION ####
sda1 (hpfs/ntfs) (dell, documents and settings, ect...)
sdb1 (fat16) (syslinux, base, bootdos, ect...)
sda1 (hpfs/ntfs) (dell, documents and settings, ect...)
sdb1 (fat16) (syslinux, base, bootdos, ect...)

sdb1 was my USB drive... i choose restoration thinking it would only touch sda1, well and it wiped sdb1 as well... ;-( my fault

If I had placed a mark next to sda1 instead of ### CHOOSE THIS... and then chosen the image i wanted restored.. would that have kept my thumb drive safe?

[PCTechICS]

The new ping version is great!!! Although when trying to completly automate the creation of an image it still asks me where to store the image...

DEFAULT rescue
PROMPT 0

LABEL rescue
KERNEL kernel
APPEND vga=normal devfs=nomount pxe ramdisk_size=33000 load_ramdisk=1 init=/linuxrc prompt_ramdisk=0 initrd=customer.gz root=/dev/ram0 rw noapic nolapic lba combined_mode=libata ide0=noprobe nomce pci=nommconf pci=nomsi irqpoll Server=/dev/sda4 Directory=/ Image_To_Restore=Create_New_Image New_Image_Name=image_sda2 Parts_To_Backup=sda2 Repart=N After_Completion=Shell Replace_BIOS=N Zsplit_Preferred=N Tarball_Preferred=N Minimize_Before_Storing=N AUTO=Y Compression_Type=gzip Dont_Warn_Me=N Store_MD5=Y

I must be missing something somewhere...

UPDATE:

I copied Create_New_Image folder into the sda4 / dir. It seems that ping was looking for this to be there. But when this folder is present ping just goes straigt to shell... does not backup partition... just right to the shell... I feel im getting closer.....

[nirvdrum2]

Hi,

I grabbed the latest beta (2008-10-17) in order to recognize a hard drive that the latest release did not. Everything detected fine and I was able to backup to a USB drive. So far, so good. However, when I went to restore from that image, I noticed that the "#### RESTORE ####" option was not listed. Is there a new way for doing a restore with 3.00?

On a side note, I ran into some interesting issues while creating an account for this forum. Where should I report those?

Thanks,
Kevin

[s69]

First screen after Net/Local disk selection says 'Choose the partitions to backup.'

This is VERY confusing if you want to do a restore!!!

The interface could be made a lot easier to understand if you could ask at the beginning ' Do you want to perform a backup or restore'. You could then use the correct questions without having to confuse the user.

Or you could change the wording slightly:
e.g. 'Select the target partitions (the partitions you want to restore to or backup from).'

The next screen could say 'Select the backup image location.'
and add *** PLEASE USE SPACEBAR to select one item ***
Also - the menu lists ( ) null (null) (Label: null) twice at this point ???? ( I selected two partitions in the previous screen). Is this a bug?

As the most common procedure is to either select a backup folder or create a new backup, could you re-order the Create_New_Image entry so it will be first. Also, could you only list folders that have a backup in them?

When doing a restore, I get a LAST WARNING screen- this says that partitions sda2, sda1 and sdb1 are on my local hard disk!!! This is incorrect as sdb1 is my USB memory stick - it is not my local hard drive!

The 'more' used for listing the warning text is confusing to the user, if I press Enter it only lists a few lines more.... if I press spacebar then it goes down a page, can 'more' be avoided and have proper prompt at the end?

When asking to type YES, it does not do the restore!! What do I need to type here. I have selected a previous backup image and types YES and yes but neither works???

Thanks
Steve

[mrralan]

Steve. I believe the menu system is going to be updated. I posted a suggested layout in the Contributions Thread here...

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5866&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=45#p16297

[Mark Phelps]

Natan:

I too tried the latest beta and can confirm that the *** Restore *** option does not appear at the top of the screen listing the partitions available for backup.

Is this a mistake? Or is there a new way to get to the restore option?

[jhurd8025]

wow very nice update... Will try this out!

Still got ntfsclone on the roadmap ?

Yes, definitely, as I've discovered that ntfscloned files can be mounted on a linux system (-t ntfs -o loop). Thus, browsed. I'm going to make some tests so to see if it's fast enough. Sounds good.

Natan

Awesome! Yes I've played with ntfsclone quite a bit and I feel its faster actualy. And one of the features I like with ntfsclone is you can pipe in an image via wget.

Aside from that, one feature request.
PING fails if there is addon nic cards present. Not sure exactly why. But on our servers if an addon nic is present it fails to get an ip through dhcp. So we have to remove the addon's

[Natan]

Hi people,
OK I've seen the problem with the RESTORE option. I guess this is an opportunity to improve the GUI

Thanks for the feedback and testing !
Natan

[Natan]

I've made some testing these days around ntfsclone, but have constated that in several cases, it would hang for no reason. Furthermore, its speed cannot be compared to partimage's. Its only advantage is really the possibility to mount the files it dumps, but so far, my opinion would be to wait until the ntfsprogs folks improve it. Sorry !

[Curtis8]

What about the other PartImage project that was brought up before? It is still being maintained and has some good merits. PartImage-ng has some new features -> " 'ignore-bad-sectors' allows to skip bad sectors when creating an image"

[Natan]

What about the other PartImage project that was brought up before? It is still being maintained and has some good merits. PartImage-ng has some new features -> " 'ignore-bad-sectors' allows to skip bad sectors when creating an image"

Hi Curtis !
It will ignore bad sectors... if they have been previously marked. It's unknown what would happen if bad sectors were not marked. The problem with partimage-ng is that it has not been developed any more since Feb 08; even worse, their forum is dead. I wouldn't say the partimage project is very active either (and its compilation is a nightmare), but at least, it's fast and handles more file systems.

Fortunately enough, neither Microsoft nor the unix/Apple guys can take the liberty to update their filesystems too often

Regards
Natan

[jhurd8025]

I've made some testing these days around ntfsclone, but have constated that in several cases, it would hang for no reason. Furthermore, its speed cannot be compared to partimage's. Its only advantage is really the possibility to mount the files it dumps, but so far, my opinion would be to wait until the ntfsprogs folks improve it. Sorry !

I think this might be isolated to the kernel your using... I had zero hangs or crashes with ntfsclone. The only reason why I push it is due to the fact that its updated more regularly and still has a team working on it.