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The Safe Way to Change your WordPress Database Table Prefix

Damien — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:00:08 +0000

Unless you have make an attempt to change the table prefix before installing your WordPress blog, chances are that your WP database is still using the default ‘wp_’ as the table prefix. With this default prefix, hackers can easily perform a SQL injection attacks on your database and wreak havoc to your site. The best way to prevent this from happening is to change the table prefix to another term that is difficult for hackers to guess.

If you are new to blogging and are looking to install your first WordPress blog, then it is easy. Simply change the $table_prefix entry in wp-config.php file, upload the file to the server, then proceed on with the famous 5-mins installation.

For those who have already been blogging for sometime, follow the method below to change your table prefix.

Preparation

Download the following two plugins, install and activate them in your WordPress blog.

WP-DBManager (plugin download page)

Wordpress Table Rename (modified version, original download page)

Note: I have make a slight modification to the WordPress Table Rename plugin to include changes in the later version of WordPress, but credit must be given to SEO Egghead for creating such an useful plugin.

Get started

Before you do anything to your database, first perform a db backup.

On the left pane, go to Database –> Backup DB. Do a backup of your database.

Next, go to Settings –> Table Rename

Enter a new term for the table prefix.

Click the Create New Tables button to generate new tables with the new prefix. If you have a big database, this process will take a long time.

When it is done, you will see the success message.

If you have a big database, the page might issue a timeout and show a blank page.

Verify your new database tables

Now go to Database->database. You should see the new tables in place.

Migrating your blog

While the plugin provides a way to change the table_prefix value in wp-config.php file, it won’t work in most cases unless you have set the wp-config.php file readable/writable (which I strongly advised against). The best way is to change the value manually.

With your favorite FTP program, download your wp-config.php from the root server.

Open it up with any text editor and scroll down to the section where you see

$table_prefix = 'wp_'

Change it to

$table_prefix = 'YourNewPrefix_'

Save it and re-upload this file back to the server.

Almost there

You have just completed the migration from the old table prefix to new table prefix, there are still several things that you need to do

1. Browse through your site and make sure all the pages, images and content are loading correctly. If you see errors, or that the site is not loading, change the $table_prefix back to ‘wp_‘ and re-upload back to the server.

2. Browse through the settings for each individual plugin and make sure that all the configurations are intact. Some of the plugins use the table prefix for their storage and these values were not changed by the plugin. For such plugins, you will see the settings fall back to their default values. What you have to do is to reconfigure it and re-save it. It will now store in the database with the new table prefix.

3. (Optional) Go to the Database –> Empty/Drop Tables, check the Drop button for all the table with the old prefix. Click the Empty/Drop button to remove them from your database.

Important: Do this only if you are sure that the new tables (with the new prefix) are working correctly.

Note that this is purely optional. Leaving your old table in the database will not hurt your blog and it can serve as a backup and allow you to switch back to them quickly in the event your blog got hacked into. However, if you have a big database, the extra tables could add plenty of overhead to your server. So, make your own judgement.

Last part

Once you are happy with everything, backup the new database. If you have previously schedule a daily backup, you have to reschedule it again to include the new tables.

You can also deactivate and uninstall the WordPress Table Rename plugin. There is no use for it now.

That’s it. You have successfully changed your WordPress database table prefix.

Image credit: naokomc

The Safe Way to Change your WordPress Database Table Prefix originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How to Backup And Install Your Linux Applications With AptOnCD

Damien — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:59:04 +0000

Everytime after you have reformatted the hard disk and reinstalled the Linux distro of your choice, the one troublesome thing that you need to do is to re-download all your applications and restore all the settings. This is made worst when your wireless connection just don’t work with the newly installed distro. How are you going to download all your applications when you can’t even connect to the Internet?

APTonCD aims to solve this problem by backing up all your packages into a Cd/DVD. You can then install your applications right from the CD/DVD. If you want to save up on CD, you can even store the data as an iso file and restore your system right from the ISO file.

Here’s how it is done:

Install APTonCD

sudo apt-get install aptoncd

you can also install it via the Synaptic Package Manager.

Go to System->Adminstration->APTonCD

Backing up package

Click the Create button.

APTonCD will then scan your system for all the package that you have downloaded/installed previously.

When it is done scanning, you can then select the package that you want to backup. Click Burn to start the backup process.

Enter the destination to store the image. Depending on the size of the file, you might need to choose DVD instead of CD.

When it is done, it will prompt you to burn into a CD/DVD. Click Cancel if you only want to store it as an ISO file.

This is all you need to do for the backing up process.

Restoring the package

To restore the package (assuming you have created the CD media), simply pop in the CD/DVD. Your computer will scan the disc and prompt up a window asking if you want to restore the package. Click Yes. Once that’s done, you will be able to install applications from the Synaptic Package Manager (or apt-get) without Internet connection.

How to Backup And Install Your Linux Applications With AptOnCD originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Change Your Time Machine Backup Interval

Miles — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:52:58 +0000

Time Machine is Apple’s all-in-one backup solution that takes a snapshot of your hard drive and incrementally backs up any files that have changed since the previous backup. The default configuration is pretty sparse; there’s an On/Off slider, Disk Selection, and an Options area where you can exclude folders from the backup.

You might think hourly backups are a bit excessive. Apple does not give you a convenient way to change the default backup schedule. Luckily this is easy. Here are two ways you can change the hourly backup schedule to one of your choosing.

Modifying the system files

If you just want to change the default interval and not schedule anything fancy, follow this method.

Warning: this tutorial involves modifying System files. As always, be sure to make copies of the original files before changing anything.

1. Navigate to

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons

You’ll see a list of .plist files. Scroll until you see com.apple.backupd-auto.plist

2. Make a copy of this file somewhere else on your hard drive.

3. Verify that you (as an administrator of your machine) can Read and Write to this file. Highlight com.apple.backupd-auto.plist and “Get Info” (Command + I). If you don’t see “admin – Read & Write” or “[your username] Read & Write” you’ll need to add yourself to the list.

4. Open this file with a text editor. Property List Editor doesn’t let me save any changes for some reason.

5. In a text editor, find the lines

StartInterval
3600

Change 3600 to the amount of time you want between backups in seconds.

6. Save and you’re finished.

Time Machine Editor

Another way to manage your Time Machine backups is the very handy TimeMachineEditor utility. In addition to changing the default backup interval, it allows you to dictate your hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly backup schedules with a very high level of detail.

Assign the rules you want and then click “Apply.”

TimeMachineEditor is free.

Do you have any other methods you use to increase Time Machine’s functionality? Leave them in the comments!

How To Change Your Time Machine Backup Interval originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Automate Your System Backup With Back In Time

Damien — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:37:02 +0000

Back in Time is a backup software for Linux system inspired from the Timevault and Flyback. Both Timevault and Flyback are two great software that allow you to back up your system and enable you to roll back and restore your system to the original state before you made any devastating changes. What Back in Time does is to integrate the best features from the two software and put them all into one place.

Back in Time has the exact functionality of Timevault and Flyback. If you have used any of the two software, you won’t be remote to Back In time.

Installation

To get Back In Time to run in your system, you can either it using:

the deb package or
add the repository to your sources.list.

Installing via the repository

In your terminal,

gksu gedit /etc/sources.list

Add the following line to the end of the file. Save and close.

deb http://backintime.le-web.org/repository stable main

and then add the GPG key information:

wget http://backintime.le-web.org/repository/le-web.key
sudo apt-key add le-web.key

To install the the application for Gnome:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install backintime-common backintime-gnome

If you are using KDE 4.1 and above, use this command instead:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install backintime-common backintime-kde4

Usage

The first time you start the application, it will prompt you to configure your backup setting. There are mainly 4 main tabs (and 2 miscellaneous): General, Include, Exclude, Autoremove.

The General tab is where you select the folder to backup your files and schedule the interval for it to run the backup. It is advisable to pick a folder/drive/partition other than the one that you are going to back up.

The Include is where you define which folder/files are to be backed up. You will need root access to include system folders and files.

As opposite to the Include, the Exclude option is where you define which folders/files are not to be included in the backup.

The Autoremove allows you to decide how you want to deal with older backup files. You can choose to remove backups that are older than a period of time, or when the free space is less than a certain size.

When you are done with the settings, you will arrive at the main window. To start the back up, simply click the BackUp Now button.

Depending on the number of files/folders that you have specified for the backup, the backup time process can last from several minutes to hours. As soon as the backup is completed, the snapshot entry will appear on the left pane of the window.

To take a peek into the snapshot folder, simply highlight the respective snapshot entry on the left pane and the folders/files that it have backed up will show up on the right pane of the window. At any point of time, you can right-click on the backed up files and select Restore to restore your backup.

Conclusion

If you are already using Timevault or Flyback, there are no distinct differences in Back In Time that is worth your switch. However, if you are sourcing for a backup software with extra features, then Back in Time could just be the one for you.

Thanks to Vadim for notifying us about Back in Time. He is also the developer of the popular screen capture software: Shutter (previously known as GScrot).

Automate Your System Backup With Back In Time originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Syncplicity – More Than Just A File Storage Solution

Damien — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:00:00 +0000

While there are many sites that provide online storage solution, most of them are limited to basic upload/downloading and sharing features. If you are looking for a comprehensive online backup and file-sharing system that allows you to sync across multiple computers, then Syncplicity could be the one you are looking for.

Syncplicity is an online storage service that aims to make backup, sync and sharing a breeze for its users. By installing the desktop client on your computer, you will be able to easily specified the folders to backup and get it sync quickly and automatically to the server and any other computers that have Syncplicity installed.

Revision control

Other than Dropbox, Syncplicity is the only online storage provider that does a revision control on all your files and data. This means that all the changes (to the files) are recorded and you can easily revert back to the previous version without any fuss. In the event that you’ve accidentally deleted the files, you can retrieve it from the Syncplicity’s Recylce Bin (unless you removed it permanently from the Recylce Bin).

File sharing

With the desktop client, you can easily share your folder(s) and its content with your friends. When you create a share folder, an email will be sent to your friends who you want to share the files with. Upon receiving that email, your friends will be able to view the files in their browsers, or if they are also Syncplicity users, the files will get sync to their computers.

Third parties integration

One thing that I like about Syncplicity is its tight integration with third-party apps like Facebook, Google Docs, Picnik, Scribd and Zoho.

Facebook

When you add a folder of photos to Syncplicity, it automatically creates an album on your Facebook account and uploads all the photos in the folder to the album. You don’t have to spend your time to upload the photo again. You just need to sync it and let Syncplicity do the job in the background.

Google Docs

By creating a sync between Syncplicity and Google Docs, you can now edit your document offline and have it synchronized back to the Google server without you knowing it. Similarly, if you edit the document online, it will sync back to your computer automatically.

Picnik

Syncplicity allows you to edit your photos with Picnik, even if you don’t have a Picnik account. Simply right-click on the image and select Edit in Picnik. The Picnik’s editor window will automatically load in your browser. Once you have completed your editing, the edited image will be automatically sync back to your server and desktop.

Conclusion

Overall, there are several great features in Syncplicity that distinguish itself from the rest of its competitor. The tight integration with the third-party apps have been an useful feature that have saved plenty of my time and effort.

If there is anything to complain, that must be the lack of support for Linux. It is currently available for Windows and they have also released a beta version for Mac. There is no news about any support for Linux for the time being.

A basic Syncplicity account is free and comes with a 2GB storage space. For heavy users, you can sign up for the premium account at $10 ($9.99 to be exact) per month for 50GB of space.

For those who wish to have a larger storage space, but are not willing to pay the monthly fee, you can get more space by inviting your friends to join Syncplicity. Any friends that sign up via your invitation will increase your storage space by 1GB (per signup), up to a maximum of 3GB.

If you have tried Syncplicity, I would love to hear your feedbacks in the comments.

Syncplicity – More Than Just A File Storage Solution originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Backup Internet Explorer Settings with BackRex

Norm — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:01:02 +0000

The browser today means a lot more than it did ten years ago, heck it means a lot more than it did even two years ago. In today’s world the browser represents not only a way to view the musings of the Internet, but it’s also the thin face to many server-based applications. The browser is becoming more and more of a dependency every day.

I guess that’s why this little application called BackRex Internet Explorer Backup intrigued me so much. Over the years I have been through many OS rebuilds and changes, each time having to make adjustments to my browser settings to get them just the way I like them. That includes the manual backup and restore of cookies, favorites, connections settings, and add-ons. BackRex’s Internet Explorer Backup simplifies that task by automating the process from start to finish. Here’s a little walkthrough of it’s basic features.

Backing Up Your Settings

To start with, IE Backup is a very easy installation. Simply download the installer from the BackRex site, and install using the default options. At the end of the installation, “Run BackRex Internet Explorer Backup” will be checked. Click Finish to launch the program.

You’ll be presented with a new wizard to help you complete your task. This tool gives you the option to backup, restore, rollback, or create a scheduled backup for your Internet Explorer settings. The first screen warns you to close any other programs. I would strongly encourage you to heed that warning.

After clicking Next, you’ll be given the option to select your task. We’ll look at each of them as we go along. Start by selecting Backup and clicking Next.

You might note that IE Backup numbers the steps as you walk through the process – this can be quite helpful. In step 2, IE Backup will notify you of any software it has detected that should be closed before continuing. I can’t stress enough – shut the programs down. You’ll ensure a quality backup and no loss of data.

Step 3 gives you the ability to change some of the options. I chose the default folder to use, but you can set it to whatever works best for you. I also checked the checkbox next to “Remember this backup folder”. That way I don’t have to keep setting it each time I run the application. You can also set a password here, I chose to leave it blank. If security is important to you – password protect the backup. It will help keep your personal information just a little bit more safe.

Click Next. Step 4 is pretty basic. It shows you what the application is going to backup for you. It’s just a list though, so feel free to click Next to get the process moving.

Step 5 is where the magic happens. This screen shows you each item that the application is backing up, allowing you to monitor the progress. It will look something like this:

It’s that easy! When this step is finished, you’ll be presented with the following summary window.

Now all you have left to do is click Finish and enjoy your piece of mind. I would suggest storing your backup, or a copy of it, on disk or offsite. That will protect you in the event that you have a drive failure.

Scheduled Backup

Backing up your settings is a great idea, but it’s not a one time deal. IE Backup from BackRex gives you the opportunity to schedule your backups at regular intervals, so that you can simply set it and forget it. Be warned though, if you are running it on a system that is domain connected, you will be required to provide a domain username and password. If your security policies require you to change your password every xx days, I would encourage you to set yourself a reminder to complete the task manually. Scheduling with an account that requires password changes may lock out your account when you change it, but fail to update the task.

Setting up the scheduled backup is just as easy as doing the backup itself. A wizard walks you through the process and makes it very simple to complete. Starting from the main IE Backup screen, simply select Scheduled Backup and click Next. Step 2 allows you to configure various settings such as storage location, compression, and password protection. For this walkthrough, I used mainly the default settings.

It is important to note that the option to Close running applications automatically should be considered with care. Enabling this setting allows IE Backup to close any open programs that it needs to, in order to ensure quality. That could mean some time or data loss if you’re like me and leave multiple browser tabs and windows open for research purposes.

Step 3 is once again a nice listing of all the items that the application plans to backup for you. Step 4, the final step, is where you set your schedule.

Pick something them makes sense to you. In my case, I chose a daily backup because I am a habitual user who adds favorites and changes settings on a daily basis. The average user might find weekly or monthly to be sufficient.

After clicking Next on the final step of the scheduled backup, you may be prompted for a user account and password like the one shown below. You may want to refer to my warnings a few paragraphs up, in regards to using domain accounts.

Restore Settings from Backup

The restore process is just as easy as the backup process, in fact it might even be easier. Starting from the same startup screen, select Restore and click Next. Step 2 is where you provide the location of your previously saved backup to be recovered from. The program then skips to Step 4 and provides the familiar listing of the items it plans to recover. Clicking Next at this point will begin the recovery process. That’s all there is to it.

I hope you find this tool as handy as I have!

How To Backup Internet Explorer Settings with BackRex originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Backup Gmail In Ubuntu Intrepid

Damien — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:35:03 +0000

It is a misconception to think that all the emails in your Gmail account are safe and will be there forever. In the events that Gmail is down, or for some reasons, you were banned by Google, you won’t be able to access all your emails and all of them will be gone forever. To prevent such incident from happening, you might want to backup your mail in your Gmail account to your system. Come to think of it, you backup your system regularly because all the data and files in your computer are important to you. If your emails are important to you, shouldn’t you do a backup too?

Gmail-backup is an application that allows you to backup/restore your Gmail. It has an easy to use interface and few configurations are needed to get it to work. Other than backing up your emails, you can also use it to migrate your mails from one Gmail account to another. This tutorial will teach you how to backup your Gmail account in Ubuntu Intrepid.

Download Gmail-backup for Linux here

Extract the folder to your Home folder. You should see a folder with the name gmail-backup-0.105-linux (the folder name will change according to the version). For simplicity sake, rename the folder to gmail-backup.

Install the dependencies

sudo apt-get install python2.5 python-wxversion

In your Gmail account, go to Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP

Check the Enable IMAP and Save Changes.

Back to your terminal, run the command:

cd ~/gmail-backup && ./gmail-backup-gui.sh

Enter the login credential, backup destination and the range of date to backup. Click Backup to start the backing up process.

That’s it. All your mails in your Gmail account is now backed up in your system.

Creating an entry in the menu

It can be a troublesome task to go to the terminal and type a bunch of command just to activate the Gmail-backup application. An easier way is to create an entry in the menu.

In your terminal,

gedit ~/gmail-backup/gmail-backup-gui.sh

Change the following command

exec python2.5 -O gmail-backup-gui.pyo $@

exec python2.5 -O `dirname $0`/gmail-backup-gui.pyo $@

Save and exit.

On the top panel, right click on Applications and select Edit menus

On the left pane, Select the Internet. On the right, click New Item. Enter the following information. Remember to change the USERNAME to your own user ID.

Click Close. You can now access Gmail-backup via Applications -> Internet -> Gmail backup now.

How To Backup Gmail In Ubuntu Intrepid originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Backup Your Ubuntu System With Remastersys

Damien — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:43:10 +0000

After countless hours of configuring, tweaking, installing new applications onto your Ubuntu system, the last thing that you want to do is to reformat and start everything all over again. Remastersys is here to save you all this trouble. Remastersys is a simple and easy to use application that allows you to easily clone and backup your Ubuntu system so that you can quickly restore your computer to its previous state in the event that it crashes.

There are two thing that Remastersys can do:

To do a full system backup, including all installed applications, their settings and your personal data, to a live CD or DVD. You can use this live CD or DVD to restore your system or to install it in another computer. You can also bring it around and use it everywhere as a Live CD.
To create a custom distributable copy of your current Ubuntu system and share it with your friends.

Remastersys comes with a GUI to guide you through the process. There is little or no configuration to do. In as little as one step, you will be backing up your Ubuntu (or creating custom distributable iso) in no time. Remastersys works only in Ubuntu and its derivative such as Linux Mint.

Installing Remastersys

In your terminal,

gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following line to the end of the file. Save and exit

deb http://www.remastersys.klikit-linux.com/repository remastersys/

Update the repositories and install Remastersys

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install remastersys

Once the installation has finished, go to System -> Administration -> Remastersys Backup

If you have any other windows or applications running, close them all. Click OK to continue.

Select the action that you want to do. If you want to create a backup of your system, including all the personal data, highlight Backup and click OK. If you want to create a distributable copy of your current system, select Dist and click OK.

Remastersys will proceed to do the task that you have specified. This will take a long time, depending on the number of applications and files in your system.

You will receive a prompt when the backup process is done. The backup cd filesystem and iso can be found at /home/remastersys/remastersys folder.

If you have Virtualbox or VMware installed, you can test the iso file by loading it in a virtual machine.

Conclusion

Remastersys is a powerful, yet simple to use application. There is no technical knowledge involved. You simply load it up, select the option and off it goes. It is ideal for backing up your system so that you can restore it in the event your system crashes. I like the feature where it allows you to create a custom distribution of Ubuntu. Over the time, I have received many queries from friends on how to install the various applications. With Remastersys, I can now create my own distro with all the applications pre-installed and distribute them to my friends.

For alternative way to create your custom distro, check out Reconstructor.

How To Backup Your Ubuntu System With Remastersys originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Backup Your Windows Data the Simple Way – with Cobian Backup

Norm — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:13:43 +0000

Cobian Backup is a real treat for anyone looking for an easy-to-use backup solution for their Windows desktop. The latest release, Cobian Backup 9 (Amanita), provides support for Windows NT, 2000, 2003, XP and Vista. This multi-threaded application can be used to schedule and backup your files and folders from your local system to a local or network connected storage location of your choosing. Bi-directional FTP support is also available.

You can run Cobian Backup as either an application or a Windows service. In this tutorial we will examine installing the program as a service, which will be fitting for most common installations.

Installing Cobian Backup

Installation couldn’t be any easier. The default settings are preset to allow for optimal installation on most systems. Start by downloading the installation package, then begin the install process by clicking Run. The first screen that pops up is a language selector. I chose English, however you might prefer one of the many other available languages such as Czech, Danish, Espanol, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Russian, Taiwanese and many more!

When you get to the screen to select the installation type, make sure that you chose a type that auto-starts. As you can see, I selected the default which is “as a service“. With this setting I can basically forget about the whole backup process because it will run in the background without requiring user intervention.

When you get to the welcome screen, click Done and then open up the application interface to configure your first backup job. You should also see a new icon in your system tray that looks like a little red mushroom.

Scheduling a Backup Task

On the Task menu at the top of the window, select New Task. Next, give your task a name. I called this one “My Documents”, since my goal is to backup my user documents. I left all the other settings on the General tab at their defaults.

Now you are ready to add some files to be backed up. Click on the Files tab on the left-hand side, then click the Add button in the Source section. A small dropdown menu will appear. I chose directory, again because I plan to back up my entire documents directory.

You’re presented with a standard windows directory selection dialog box. Browse to the directory you want to backup, then click Ok. Next click the Add button in the Destination section to choose a place to store your backups. I chose C:\backups\, however you can put them anywhere that makes sense to you.

A good rule of thumb is to store your backups on a different drive than the files you are backing up. This way if the hard drive fails, you have a much greater chance of recovery. If you do backup to the same drive, you might consider burning the backups to disk periodically.

In most cases you’ll want this to be a recurring task that runs on a scheduled basis. Click on the Schedule tab and select the frequency that you would like your files backed up. This part is a personal choice, so choose what makes the most sense for you. I chose weekly because I don’t make changes to my documents very often and this will use less disk space than a daily backup.

The last change that we will make to the new task is on the Archive tab. Here you can choose whether or not to compress your backup and/or add encryption to secure it. Turning on either of these options will slow down the backup process a little bit. I opted for Zip compression and no encryption. Click the OK button when you are finished.

That’s it! Now all you have to do is sit back and wait for the time to pass until your scheduled task starts. You can also sleep a little better knowing that your data is safe and sound.

Backup Your Windows Data the Simple Way – with Cobian Backup originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Dropbox: Backs Up and Syncs Files From Your Desktop

Damien — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:30:00 +0000

Previously available only in Windows and Mac, Dropbox has recently launched a new version for Linux.

In case you are wondering, Dropbox is an online storage site that allows you to back up and sync your files right from your desktop. It comes with a desktop application that you can install in your OS and backing up files is just a simple drag and drop to the Dropbox folder in your hard drive. Any files added/removed from the folder will be automatically sync with the online server as long as you are connected to the Internet.

Other than a handy desktop application, Dropbox also has the ability to perform revision control on all the files inside the folder. In the event that you deleted any files accidentally, you can load up the revision history and restore back the files.

When you sign up with Dropbox, you get a free basic account that comes with a 2GB storage space. 50 GB storage is also available with a premium account that costs $9.99/month, or $99.99/year.

Installing Dropbox in Ubuntu

The Dropbox team has make it very simple to install Dropbox in Ubuntu.

Download Dropbox for Ubuntu package http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/5143/nautilus-dropbox-packages/0.4.1/nautilus-dropbox_0.4.1-1_i386_ubuntu_8.04.deb. (If you are using Fedora or other Linux distro, you can find the source file here)

Double click on the downloaded deb file to start installing the Dropbox application.

Once the installation are done, log out of your desktop and log back in again. You will now see a Dropbox icon on your system tray at the top panel. In the background, Dropbox will now download the remaining files and complete the installation process.

When it is done, a window will appear to guide you through the setting up process.

If you are new to Dropbox, choose “I’m new to Dropbox”

Enter your login credential

Follow the tour to learn how to use Dropbox. It’s really simple.

End of the tour. It’s time to start using your Dropbox!

You can find the Dropbox folder in your Home, under Nautilus. A file/folder with a blue icon means that synchronization is in progress while a green tick icon means that synchronization is completed.

Note: The installation of Dropbox on Windows and Mac is exactly the same as installation in Ubuntu, except that the installer file is different.

Dropbox: Backs Up and Syncs Files From Your Desktop originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Backing Up Data In Ubuntu Using sBackup

Damien — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 09:45:08 +0000

Be it Windows, Mac or Linux, it is always a wise choice to backup your data. You never know when your hardware is going to fail and when that happens, you know that all your data is safe and there is a backup copy for you to fall back on.

In Ubuntu, it is surprisingly easy to backup your data. Gone are the days that require you to remember all the text line commands to type in the command prompt. With sBackup, you can easily backup your data with few clicks of your mouse. let me show you how.

First, install sbackup

sudo apt-get install sbackup

Once done, go to System -> Administration -> Simple Backup Config. Enter your login password and you will be able to see the Window shown in the screen below.

Under the General tab, there are three ways you can choose to backup your data:

Use recommended backup setting
Use custom backup setting
Manual backups only

If you are plain lazy and just to click, save and let it run by itself, you should choose the “recommended backup setting”. This will do a full backup every week and daily incremental backups to any changes made to the files. One point to note, this setting does not backup multimedia files and all file sizes that are more than 100MB.

For anyone who wants more control over which files to backup, the custom backup setting should be used. This setting allows you to define what should be included, excluded, the backup destination, when to backup and what to do with old backups.

Manual backup setting is for those who want to perform the backup manually.

Configuring backup setting

If you are choosing the custom backup or manual backup setting, here are your configuration choices:

The Include tab shows a list of directory that you want to backup. The two main directories you want to include are the /home and /etc. The /home contains all your personal data while the /etc contains all the application you have installed.

On the Exclude tab, you can do just the opposite, excluding the files that you don’t want to backup. You have more choices here. On the left, there are four tabs – paths, file types, regex and max size. You can exclude all files from a path, all files of a certain files type, all files that match a certain expression or any files that are bigger than a certain size (the file size to be fixed by you). Some of the directories that you might want to exclude are /proc, /var/cache, /tmp, /dev, /var/tmp, /lost+found, /mnt, /media, /sys.

Next, we proceed on to the Destination tab. This is where you choose the location to backup your data to. The default backup directory is /var/backup. However, you can change it to other directory of your preference. You can also choose to backup to a remote directory via SSH or FTP.

The next option available to you is the Time setting. You set the time where the backup is executed. It can be hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly or if you prefer, set the precise day of the month, day of the week and even the hour and minute to backup your data. The last option in this setting is to set the minimum number of days before a full backup is required.

The last tab is the Purging. Select how you want to handle your old and incomplete backups. You can either choose to erase all backups older than your preset number of days, or use a logarithmic setting where one backup from the previous day, week, month and year are kept and the rest removed.

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Once you are done and satisfied with the configuration, press “Backup Now!” to start the backup. Depending on the setting you made, the process can take from few minutes to few hours.

Restoring the backups

It is very easy to restore the backup. Got to System -> Administration -> Simple Backup Restore. Enter your password and the window (shown in the screen below) will pop up.

Choose the backup directory where you backup your file and select the files or folders that you want to restore. To restore to the same location, press Restore. To restore to other location, press Restore As.

That’s it!

Backing Up Data In Ubuntu Using sBackup originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)