I can create symbolic links on the NAS after the shares are mounted under NFS (I have created a user on the mount machine with uid/gid 99) and can then see the contents of the sym linked folder. That appears to work fine. But, if I use the local web admin or the remote web tool, the sym links do not appear.
I think I read somewhere that the 212 does not support sym links but I can't see anything in the manual. Are sym links supported by the Netgear front ends - and if not will they be or am I just missing something?
ReadyNAS does not support SymLinks on the admin page and that is the reason why you are not seeing it on the admin page and when accessing it remotely.
> ReadyNAS does not support SymLinks on the admin page
This is very frustrating and here's why: when you define a backup job, you're only allowed to select one directory. I have more data to backup than will fit on one USB drive, so I have to breakup the backups into pieces. But since I can only select 1 directory per job, my choices are to overflow the external drive or create 50 backup jobs, one for each of the subdirectories.
To get around this, I've created a "backup_sources" directory with the directories "alpha", "beta", and "gamma" in it. Each of those directories contains symlinks to their portion of the backup. I label my external drives "alpha", "beta", and "gamma" to match their directories, define backup jobs for each of them and ... and .... nothing. Not a single thing gets backed up because the backup job doesn't see the symlinks.
I'm comfortable editing system settings if you've got one for me that'll enable this. Should I be using hardlinks instead? Are you going to update the interface to allow the selection of more than one source directory per backup job? (Which, let's be honest, is pretty ridiculous.) Do you really recommend I create 50 backup jobs? Or am I just not able to backup my system?
To get around this, I've created a "backup_sources" directory with the directories "alpha", "beta", and "gamma" in it. Each of those directories contains symlinks to their portion of the backup. I label my external drives "alpha", "beta", and "gamma" to match their directories, define backup jobs for each of them and ... and .... nothing. Not a single thing gets backed up because the backup job doesn't see the symlinks.
When you say "directories", do you really mean "shares" (which are btrfs subvolumes, and not normal folders)? Obviously alpha, beta, and gamma would be normal folders.
What protocol are you using to do the backups? That could make a difference. Note that if you make the source "remote" - using 127.0.0.1 as the IP address - then you can use NFS backup. Though I prefer Rsync, so I'd test with that as well.
Though if you are prepared to use some scripts, there are other things you could do.
For instance, use cp --reflink to re-create the directories in alpha, beta, and gamma (using reflinks instead of symlinks). They will also take no space (other than metadata) until the share contents change, and all of the backup protocols will see them. You could have a cron job that re-builds these reflinks daily (shortly before the backup jobs are scheduled, or at any convenient time). One benefit of using reflinks is that the backup will be atomic (nothing in the source folders can change while the backup is happening).
You can do something similar with snapshots (substituting btrfs subvolume create for the cp -- reflink) But each snapshot in alpha, beta, and gamma would cover a full share. If you want to divide a share across multiple USB drives, you'd need to use reflinks.
FWIW, one thing that would be nice to have in the backup jobs is the ability to specify a script. Acronis Trueimage lets you specify a script that runs before the backup, and another that runs after the backup. That can be very handy.
>When you say "directories", do you really mean "shares"
Nope, I really mean directories: "/data/Backup/Backup_Sources/alpha", etc. ("/data/Backup" is the share)
> What protocol are you using to do the backups?
I'm defining a Backup job from the ReadyNAS OS 6 Backup tab, as "Local" to "Local". I'm not sure that uses a protocol. SMB?
> Note that if you make the source "remote" - using 127.0.0.1 as the IP address - then
> you can use NFS backup. Though I prefer Rsync, so I'd test with that as well.
I'm ashamed to admit that I forgot about using the loopback address for a remote source. I also prefer Rsync - but it didn't traverse (or even show me) the symlinks. Nor did NFS.
> use cp --reflink to re-create the directories
> You can do something similar with snapshots
I'd rather not mess with having to fix stuff every time before I run the backup and I also have snapshots disabled (I don't want to use the space).
I AM prepared to use some scripts, though, and from the command line, I can send rsync the --copy-dirlinks option to follow the symlinks - works great! In the Admin page Backup interface, there is no option to set that (only one to preserve hard links), so manual rsync it is.
> FWIW, one thing that would be nice to have in the backup jobs is the ability to specify a script.
Very true.
Thanks again for your help. I'm not able to use the interface provided, but I am able to come to a solution.
