1. Kevin Brouelette OCLUG 5-6-2006
Hard Drive Imaging
Kevin Brouelette
OCLUG

2. Overview OMG!!! My hard drive just failed!!!
Techniques and Open Source Software
Things to consider

3. The Present Situation
PC's that are 'unique' are 'commonly' not imaged. Example: PC uses legacy driver, O/S etc to support legacy hardware.
Down time to rebuild from scratch can be expensive.
Where did I put that legacy media -or- floppy is bad!
The CEO's PC failed and he/she wants it recovered NOW! Can you handle 'NOW' or will you be updating your resume' sooner than you think.
Hard drives are arguably the most common component failure on a PC.
Got Adware or Spyware?? No problem, restore it.
Need to do major upgrade and need a safety net?

4. Considerations and Planning
Original drive File System type.
Image Size.
Time to zero and create the image.
What type of network storage do I need? FTP, NFS, SMB, CIFS etc.

5. Don't Worry, be happy.
There are many ways to image and recover. Here are some options....

6. GNU dd dd is a GNU tool. You have it.
Creates a file or can write to tape.
Any file system type as it doesn't copy files.
System should be offline. Use rescue media.
Use dd to zero and image.
dd if=/dev/zero of=/ZeroBits && rm /ZeroBits
dd if=/dev/hda of=~/my_pc.img
Freeware for MS GPL

7. g4u Ghost 4 U BSD License www.feyrer.de/g4u/
Uses NetBSD bootable CDROM or two Floppies.
Image whole disk or partitions. Supports GZIP.
Supports any FS type. Only image to FTP or file.
Zero your free space before imaging [ see 'dd'].
Can save/restore image using only FTP server.
Limited by drivers included in g4u. [nic drivers, no raid etc]
Time consuming to zero and image.
Be sure your FTP server supports >2gig files if needed.

8. Mondo Rescue www.mondorescue.org GPL License
Image to CDR, NFS, ISO etc.
Supports LVM 1 and 2.
Runs on a live system .
Can create bootable restore media set [boot CD1 and restore. Insert CD 2 when prompted]
Supports repartitioning, change FS type.
Included in Mandriva and Debian.
Linux only? MS Partitions must be mounted and in fstab. No standalone MS imaging.
Lots of waiting to change CDR's to be written.
Creates rescue media based on your drivers.

9. Partimage www.partimage.org GPL License
Can image x386 and PPC Linux disks.
Can backup to any network mount point/type.
Check website for supported FS types All common Linux file systems but NTFS experimental.
Can be run as a client / server daemon. [Linux]
No need to zero first. Skips free blocks.
Must partition drive prior to restore and restore each partition separately.
Must fix MBR yourself.
Also see

10. MkCDRec http://mkcdrec.ota.be GPL License
Image to bootable CD, file, NFS or remote tape
Use like Mondo [runs on live system, MS must be mounted etc]
Supports 'one touch' restore from bootable tape drive.
Supports software raid and LVM. [Again, it's your drivers]
Supports encrypting backup images.

11. Time to destroy and recover
Let's demo g4u