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Does linux have a system restore option like windows XP does?

I have no clue what happened by my linux server is hosed. Somany problems. I can't run any scripts, mysql is , created files have a square character apeneded after etc....

so I just want to restore to like last month or something. Is there a way to do that? I just don't have time to reinstall everything. And I won't get the time any time soon. Only time I can think of that I might have a few hours to spare is christmas. Since once I start college, that's it. And reinstalling linux is something that would take weeks, considering all the stuff I have to configure and install for the server.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:868, old post ID:8922

why in the blue hell would it take you to a week to reinstall linux? it should take you no more than a couple of hours to reinstall and reconfigure linux. even data transfer shouldn't take you that long to transfer all your data.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:868, old post ID:8928

I fixed the mysql problem, I was just reacting too quick since it was like the 3rd issue in a day. It turned out to be a bad setting in a php script.

But the problem where I can hardly execute scripts (batch file type, not php) is still present and it's a pretty serious one since I need to be able to make cron jobs.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:868, old post ID:8929

megaspaz wrote: why in the blue hell would it take you to a week to reinstall linux?  it should take you no more than a couple of hours to reinstall and reconfigure linux.  even data transfer shouldn't take you that long to transfer all your data.

I'm a n00b. it's very complicated for me. So each step requires hours of research. So installing apache might take a few hours, then php, then mysql, then once everything like that is installed, I still need to bring the config back to how it was (netbios shares etc...) so at least a day or 2 worth of configuration.

And I'd have to take giant precautions to make sure I don't delete crucial business data, so I'd have to backup a few 100 gigs of stuff to who knows where, before even starting.

Sure, for a linux expert this could take about half an hour, but for a n00b like me that knows hardly anything about linux, it's rated in days. Doing this in windows would take me maybe like 15 to 20 minutes, but then I would not get the same performance.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:868, old post ID:8931

ah red.... if you can reinstall and reconfigure windows in 15 minutes, i'm making millions as a porn star. you know you can use windows utils like norton ghost to make images of your hard drive. hell, linux has something along those lines too.

http://www.partimage.org/

you can get a nice graphical frontend for that too called qtparted.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:868, old post ID:8933

Exactly, using a drive image program you can install windows in less then 15 minutes. But even with a normal install disc it usually takes me about 15 minutes to configure it. Obviously not counting all the waiting parts, since I don't just sit there and wait, so while I'm gone it might stay on a dialog for a bit. But linux installs are worse as they ask way more questions that, if badly answered could render the install caput. Red hat's install is great, never had a problem with it. But slackware... I never figured that one out. I always think I'm doing it right, but after it never boots. Tried it countless times.

But it's not the install that takes me long, it's the configuration, like installing apache and stuff. (the default that comes with it sucks, and does not even have mod_rewrite)

If I would of thought of it before though I would of created an image of my server once it was all configured.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:868, old post ID:8936

funny for apache there's an --enable-rewrite option for configure. apache 2 comes with just about anything you'd want. there's nothing here that's magical. as a matter of fact, with apache all you need to do is when you have everything configured, just make copies of your apache conf directory which you can plug back in after installing apache. most things in *nix/linux work this way. back up configuration files and plug them back in. and if you didn't make any images of your windows drive you're still in the same boat. you won't be able to reinstall and configure windows in 15 minutes so let's not go trying to fool anybody into thinking you can install and configure linux in 15 minutes. you didn't make any backups and got burned. live and learn.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:868, old post ID:8943