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Forum Discussion
BorgBackup on ReadyNas 516
I have been researching for quite a while to find a way to create an offsite backup solution for my ReadyNas 516 that will: -Maintain version history -Send only block-level incremental changes (...
Thanks for the reply. I think you are suggesting that I can incremental rsync the data to a remote machine over a ZeroTier network VPN type solution
I don't think this will meet the needs list which is to encrypt the data on-site and then transfer the encrypted data to the remote machines. I am not just looking for an encrypted transport. The reason I need an encrypted data solution is that the remote machines cannot be completely trusted. Hence the desired to use BorgBackup, which encrypts the data on-site, on-the-fly and then sends over an SSH tunnel which is also encrypted. Getting all of this to work would be doable for me if I knew that Borg could be installed and would work on the 516. It seems to have a fast enough processor.
However it seems you might be saying I can install an application with apt-get on the 516 via SSH. If this is the case, any reason that an application like Borg couldn't be installed and used like this, and any concerns in even trying to do so? Don't want to ruin the 516, or void the warranty if I can help it...
Thanks
I don't think this will meet the needs list which is to encrypt the data on-site and then transfer the encrypted data to the remote machines. I am not just looking for an encrypted transport. The reason I need an encrypted data solution is that the remote machines cannot be completely trusted. Hence the desired to use BorgBackup, which encrypts the data on-site, on-the-fly and then sends over an SSH tunnel which is also encrypted. Getting all of this to work would be doable for me if I knew that Borg could be installed and would work on the 516. It seems to have a fast enough processor.
However it seems you might be saying I can install an application with apt-get on the 516 via SSH. If this is the case, any reason that an application like Borg couldn't be installed and used like this, and any concerns in even trying to do so? Don't want to ruin the 516, or void the warranty if I can help it...
Thanks
Yes borg will work on your readynas. I have been running it on mine. I believe you need python installed to use it, but there might be a binary form of it out there that will work. You will need SSH access to your readynas. Install python and pip then check out this page
https://borgbackup.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installation.html#pip-installation
I used the git method to install it...but don't bother with the virtualenv stuff, which basically comes down to
git clone https://github.com/borgbackup/borg.git pip install sphinx # optional, to build the docs cd borg pip install -r requirements.d/development.txt pip install -r requirements.d/fuse.txt # optional, for FUSE support pip install -e .
You can also just install python and pip and then run this:
sudo pip install borgbackup
or this if you want to be able to mount the backup archives:
sudo pip install borgbackup[fuse]
The above may not be the very latest version of borg, use the git method to get the latest version and also to get the docs.
Yes, if you want the result on the host to remain encrypted and the standard NAS encryption won't do the job (and it sounds like it won't), then ZeroTier will not meet your needs alone. But you may still want to consider it as your transport system.
Via SSH, apt-get works fine on the ReadyNAS. Be sure to do an apt-get update before doing anything else. One problem, however, can be that it will typically install things in the (rather limited in size) OS partition while apps specifically for the ReadyNAS will install them to data/apps in the main partition. Likewise, logs and such will also probably go to the OS partition. This can lead to filling the OS partition, which can cause a variety of problems.
You should not need "sudo" since you will already be logged on as root.
You may also want to look into increasing the memory on the NAS to improve encryption speed.
Thanks for the info on the install locations and the OS partition. Is there any way to change the install location so it goes into data/apps like a standard ReadyNas program? What if I were to install a binary version for example, and/or use the Virtualenv that is associated with the pip install described in the link from Dewdman42 in the reply above? The Virtualenv seems to isolate the application in terms of python settings, but I don't understand if it creates a complete container for the app to run within which I would think is desirable.
On the topic of binary versions, BorgBackup appears to provide one for Linux, but not specifically for Debian. However there is a BorgBackup package specifically for Debian. Does the lack of a specific Debian binary mean that the Linux version binary would not work on Debian? I know that Linux if derived from Debian.
Sorry for all the newby linux questions, but it is quite foreign to me today...
ok so actually I have updated borg in the past few days to my readynas. Go get the binary version from here:
https://github.com/borgbackup/borg/releases
Just put that anywhere in your path and run it. It has python and everything compiled into the binary. It just works.
***Edit, Dewdman42 this reply crossed yours, still interested in your use experience..and glad to see the Linux binary works out of the box!***
Thanks for the info. Glad to see that you have been able to get it installed. How is it working for you on the NAS and what NAS version do you have? Any issues on setting up the offsite ssh part through the NAS, I'm assuming you did all your BorgBackup config via the ssh terminal window, correct?
Any issues arise from the install itself given the comment in the reply from Sandshark regarding apt-get installs being located in the same limited partition as the OS, and the potential to crowd that partition?
Thanks for the advice!
There are a bunch of different ways to install borg and for python gurus you can get lost in python land. The readynas only supports python 3.4 and borg requires 3.5 so in order to run it that way you have to do a lot of tricky stuff to handle the fact that you can't use the standard jessie install of python3. Gives me a headache thinking about it. The binary version just works, its all compiled into the binary.
Yes I use SSH all the time, this is not supported by Netgear, FYI.
borg only has two potential ways it can create big files that might fill a partition. It makes log files and it makes repostitories, both of which you specify on the cmd line when you invoke borg. So just make sure you are saving your borg repo somewhere under /data. You could also put them under /apps if you like, which happens to be a hard link to /data/.apps anyway.
Otherwise borg is not big, no worries about it being on the boot partition.
I'm using Ultra 2 Plus with OS6.8.0.
Great info again on the setup. I'm definitely not experienced enough with python to mess around with the config, so glad to hear the Linux binary works.
I believe that I need the repository to be mountable in order to see the recovered files in the repository and to do a simple recovery, is this correct? If so, do I need to do the [fuse] command at the time of the install. I see that BorgBackup has a built-in mount command that uses fuse to work with files in the repository. Is fuse baked into Linux now, or does it need to be installed separately, and if it needs to be installed does the binary already contain it?
Any issues noticed on a ReadyNas when using the ssh tunnels that are part of BorgBackup to send to offsite locations? I'm fairly familiar with ssh tunneling, and keys etc. in general, just wondering if the NAS causes any issues that aren't normal encountered with ssh tunneling.
I appreciate your responses, I will be much further ahead because of them!
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