backing up /sys

[Rick Stevens]

Bob McClure Jr wrote:
> I'm in the process of checking out a CD/DVD-based backup package.
> 
> http://www.bluehaze.com.au/unix/cdbkup.html
> 
> In my first test, I noticed in the error log a bunch of carps about
> file sizes changing in /sys.  I know that /proc is a pseudo filesystem
> comprising nothing but hooks into the kernel, and I know that I don't
> want to back that up.  /sys looks like the same sort of thing, full of
> directories that take up 0 bytes, down to files that ls reports as
> 4096 bytes.
> 
> Is it safe to assume I don't want to backup /sys?

Yes.  That's the infamous "sysfs" stuff.  You want to back up the
directory name, but not its contents.  Also beware of some "dev" stuff
(from "devfs" and "udev").
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-      Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.       -
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