dkop 028

dkop project is a Linux utility program for copying disk files to recordable DVD media. With dkop, you can copy your files to DVD for safekeeping or archival storage, and verify that the copy is good (no read errors). dkop is a free program licensed under the GNU General Public License.
Three kinds of backup are available: full, incremental, and accumulate. A full backup copies all specified files and leaves no other files on the DVD. An incremental backup copies only those files needed to make a prior dkop DVD match the disk files exactly: only new or changed files are copied. This is normally much faster than a full backup (assuming that most files have not changed). An Incremental backup also removes DVD files that are no longer present on the disk. Thus, after an incremental backup, the DVD will exactly match the disk. An accumulate backup will copy new or changed files to the DVD, but will not remove unmatched DVD files.
You select files to be copied using a GUI. You can navigate through the file system and select files or directories to include or exclude at any level in the directory hierarchy. These choices can be saved in a backup job file to automate recurring backups. If files are added or deleted within an included or excluded directory, you need normally take no further action: the next backup will include these changes automatically. You need to revise the backup job file only if you include or exclude new files or directories, or make new exceptions within existing directories (e.g. exclude a file or directory within an included directory).
DVD media can be verified three ways: full, incremental, and thorough. A full verify reads the entire DVD and reports any files having read errors. An incremental verify reads only those files that have been newly recorded by an immediately preceeding backup job. This is usually much faster while still offering a high level of security. A thorough verify reads every file on the DVD and makes a bytewise comparison with the corresponding disk file. This is not really necessary, but is provided as a user assurance measure.
You can list all files on a dkop DVD media, or search for specific files using wildcards. You can compare the DVD with the corresponding backup job file, listing all differences: files that have been created, deleted, or modified since the DVD copy was made.
For disaster recovery or file transfer, dkop has a file restore capability. You can select and restore DVD files to their original directories or somewhere else.
Incremental backups update the same media as full backups. This makes both backup and recovery simple: you do not need to track matching sets of full and incremental backup media, and you do not need to restore files from multiple media in correct sequence.
Command line parameters may be used instead of the GUI interface, for use in shell scripts.
Incremental backup and verify may require less than one minute if only a few megabytes of updates need to be added to the DVD media. For larger jobs, the DVD speed determines the time required. Typical values are 200-400 megabytes per minute.
The download tar file contains the source code, a binary executable that may work as-is, and a complete user guide with some technical information about how dkop works. If the binary does not work, you will need to compile from the source code. This process is simple and is illustrated below.
Enhancements:
- allow retry of a failed DVD within a multiple-DVD backup job
- correct progress tracking for multiple-DVD backup job
- accept job file on command line, per Linux convention