Subject: checkpoints and backups?

From: Tim Keanini <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 22:55:02 -0700

Hi all, 
I am putting together a MOO and I was wondering what other MOO admins had
for ideas for keeping thier MOO happy and healthy.

How often does everyone back up the .db?

WHat is the method that you folks use, is it just as simple as 'cp .db
back.db' or do you folks have the stuff automated.

Is it OK to do a cp while the MOO is up?

What are some tips used to keep the MOO life going smooth and safe?

Thanks
Tim Keanini  <[email-masked]>

---

From: Pavel Curtis <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1993 15:43:04 -0700

> Date:	Fri, 3 Sep 1993 22:55:02 -0700
> From:	Tim Keanini <[email-masked]>
> 

We back up LambdaMOO itself much less frequently than I'd like, though this may
well improve soon.  Right now, we make a checkpoint once every 24 hours, at
3:00 AM each night.

> back.db' or do you folks have the stuff automated.

The system administrators around PARC do backups to tape, using the Sun `dump'
program, every night.  The LambdaMOO database is included in those backups.

> Is it OK to do a cp while the MOO is up?

Yes.  You can use `cp' on any file except the one the server is in the middle
of creating, which is always named with a funny version number on the end, like
this:

	lambda.db.new.#24#

> What are some tips used to keep the MOO life going smooth and safe?

I don't suggest restarting the MOO automatically during the operating system
reboot, since it sometimes requires human judgement to decide what version of
the database to use, especially if there's been a crash and a panic dump.

Always shutdown your server manually BEFORE shutting down the hardware or
operating system; don't rely on the SIGKILL signal sent by the operating system
to do this for you.  Most systems won't give the server enough time to complete
a checkpoint before they simply blow the process away.

	Pavel