Planning Which File Systems to Back Up

root (/) - partition 0 [Indicates file systems created by default when installing Solaris software.]

The root (/) file system contains the kernel and may contain the /var directory in which frequently modified files such as mail and accounting are kept.

At regular intervals. 

/usr - partition 6², /opt

Installing new software and adding new commands typically affects the /usr and /opt file systems. /opt is either part of root (/) or is its own file system.

Occasionally. 

/export/home

The /export/home file system contains directories and subdirectories of all users on the standalone system.

More often than root (/) or /usr, perhaps as often as once a day, depending on your site needs.

/export , /var, or other file systems

During installation of Solaris software, you may have created these file systems.  

As your site requires. 

root (/) - partition 0 [Indicates the file systems created by default when installing Solaris software.]

/export - partition 3²

/usr - partition 6²

These file systems contain the kernel, major commands, and executables. 

Once a day to once a month depending on your site's needs.  

root (/) - if you frequently add and remove clients and hardware on the network, you have to change important files in root (/), including the kernel configuration file. In this case, you should do a full back up on the root (/) file system between once a week and once a month. If your site keeps users' mail in the /var/mail directory on a mail server (which client systems then mount), you may want to back up root (/) daily (or /var, if it is a separate file system).

/export - the root (/) directory of diskless clients is kept in the /export file system. Because the information it contains is similar to the server's root directory in slice 0, it does not change frequently. You need to back up only occasionally, unless your site delivers mail to client systems; then you should back up /export more frequently.

/usr and /opt - contents are fairly static and only need to be backed up once a week to once a month.

/export/home - partition 7²

The /export/home file system contains the home directories and subdirectories of all the users on the system; its files are volatile.

Once a day to once a week.