backing up kmail

[Donn]

> I'd like to back up my kmail files and it seems that a simple copy would
> work. I'm having trouble, though, in that the directory structure and some
> of the files are copied, but some directories end up empty.  This occurs
> whether I copy from a shell or using Konqueror, whether or not I have root
> permission, and regardless (seemingly) of the permissions assigned to the
> directories and files to be copied.
>
> Any ideas?
One: rsync.

Here's my 'megabackup' script. I make it executable (chmod) and the run it on 
a schedule (cron) every night. I'll explain after.

-----------------script follows------------------------
#First backup location - external drive
T=/media/sda1/SOMEFOLDER
#Second backup location:
T2=/media/sdb1/SOMEFOLDER
[ ! -d "$T" ] && echo "sdb1 not available" && T="BAD"
[ ! -d "$T2" ] && echo "$T2 not available" && exit 1

S=/home/YOURUSERNAME
echo "backup start :" `date` > /home/YOURUSERNAME/report

##A trailing slash on the source means dirs will
##be correct on target!

s[1]=$S/01.Info/
t[1]=01.backup_Info

s[2]=$S/.tomboy/
t[2]=tomboy

s[3]=$S/00.Admin/
t[3]=00.backup_Admin

s[4]=$S/02.Skeptic/
t[4]=02.backup_Skeptic

s[5]=$S/05.MyStuff/
t[5]=05.backup_MyStuff

s[6]=$S/JOBS/
t[6]=backup_JOBS

s[7]=$S/Projects/
t[7]=backup_Projects

s[8]=$S/scripts/
t[8]=backup_scripts

s[9]=$S/Mail/
t[9]=backup_Mail

s[10]=$S/.kde/
t[10]=backup_dotkde

s[11]=$S/.mozilla/
t[11]=backup_dotmozilla

s[12]=$S/public_html/
t[12]=backup_public_html

len=${#t[@]}
i=1
while [ "$i" -le "$len" ]
do
S=${s[$i]}
TARGET=$T/${t[$i]}
[ "$T" != "BAD" ] && rsync -vurtl --safe-links --delete "$S" "$TARGET" 
>> /home/YOURUSERNAME/rsync.out
TARGET=$T2/${t[$i]}
rsync -vurtl --safe-links --delete "$S" "$TARGET" 
>> /home/YOURUSERNAME/rsync.out
((i=i+1))
done

echo "backup end :" `date` >> /home/YOURUSERNAME/report
cat /home/YOURUSERNAME/report | mail -s "backup report" YOURUSERNAME at HOSTNAME
----------------script ends--------------------

So, it uses rsync to do the actual magic. The rest is just an easy (I think) 
way to describe what I want backed-up and to where. The last line sends me an 
email report, which you could skip.
You set T and T2 to the locations of your backup drives. If T fails, it 
continues. If T2 fails, it stops. These are just details, you can change all 
that. In the variables s[] and t[], s means source and t means target. They 
are simply arrays and you can make as many as you like.

Open a console and type "man rsync" (man chmod, man crontab) for more details. 

Well, hth
/d