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Saving logfile to source/target drive?

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 4:25 am
by B00ze
Good day.

Today I discovered there is a LogFile=/path/logfile.txt option in Image. Unfortunately, it insists on using an absolute path. Right now I just let it create the logfile in the program's folder, but since I always do offline backups, booting off USB/CD, I loose the log file on reboot. And I usually use IFL and I tried once to mount a drive from within IFL so I could copy the log over and I just ended-up corrupting the filesystem. Also, since I backup to USB drives, the drive "letter" is not always the same so I can't specify the path in advance...

Can an option be added so that we can tell Image to write the logfile at the same place it writes the backup (on backups) or at the same place it reads the backup from (on restores) ? This would obviously only work when backup'ing to/from "fixed" media (just ignore the option when using CDRoms).

PS: Just downloaded v3.07, can't wait to try Metadata restores! You guys rock!

Re: Saving logfile to source/target drive?

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 5:21 am
by Brian K
B00ze,

You can have IFL write a logfile to any partition/folder of your choice. Can you create backup/restore scripts within IFL?

Re: Saving logfile to source/target drive?

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 1:13 am
by B00ze
Problem is that the disk changes each time I run Image, there's no way for me to hard-code where the log should go...

I believe that scripting something that would pull the image location and add a logfile= parameter might be a bit of a pain for me to discover/code. I'd have to customize the IFL image, pull out my dusty Korn/C Shell Scripting books, etc - and then of course I'd loose the ability to pick different options via the GUI.

What I want is some checkbox next to where we specify the logfile that says "save/read logfile along with the image."

Thanks for replying. Ever since I complained of a bug that was erasing my disks in BIBM, I have been ignored by the official support staff. The software rocks, but the "lets ignore him" attitude is pretty lame. I was, rightly I think, pretty mad that BIBM was erasing my partition tables each time I booted.

Best Regards,

Re: Saving logfile to source/target drive?

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:51 am
by Brian K
B00ze,

Would it be acceptable to write the logfile to a folder on an internal HD? The same folder each time? I could help you do that with a sample script. But tell me if it's of no interest.

Re: Saving logfile to source/target drive?

Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:46 am
by B00ze
Sure, but which partition do we pick? Cannot be the first visible one, because that could be the "System" partition (on the laptops) or it could be the partition I'm about to restore onto (on the desktop). Tell me what you have in mind, let's see if I can use it, I'm interested. Thanks!

Re: Saving logfile to source/target drive?

Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 2:53 am
by Brian K
For this test do a backup of your smallest partition. If you have one. It's just a test so you don't want to waste time on a large partition.

Make a new UFD using these choices...

Traditional- You have control over options. (Custom)
Boot Option - Mounting... Leave Boot Drive Mounted as /tbu/boot
Boot Option - Scripting... Select at Boot-Show Menu of Scripts Available

Boot the new IFL UFD
Run through a Backup of your chosen small partition and stop on the Options screen
Click Show Command
Save to File
you now have a Save As window...
click OK
select boot (folder) and press Enter
select scripts (folder) and press Enter
you should see scriptslist.txt in the folder
In the Name field give the script a name. For example, backupWin10.tbs (remember the .tbs extension)
OK
Exit
Reboot into IFL again
You should see the IFL Script Menu with backupWin10.tbs
click Cancel
click mnt icon
write down the details of the partition where you would like to save the log file. It can be your external HD if you like. For example /dev/sdc1:(465G_ntfs)
close Mount Drive or Partition
Reboot into Windows
double click the scripts folder on your IFL UFD
you should see backupWin10.tbs and scriptslist.txt, right click the .tbs file, Open with, Notepad
copy/paste the contents of backupWin10.tbs into your next post
let me know what you have instead of /dev/sdc1:(465G_ntfs)
what is the full Windows path to the folder you intend to write the IFL log file?

Re: Saving logfile to source/target drive?

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:02 am
by Brian K
B00ze,

Have we lost you? The IFL.LOG can be written to the USB flash drive if you desire. IFL.LOG will update each time you use the flash drive, similar to the IFW.LOG.

Re: Saving logfile to source/target drive?

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 1:44 am
by tas3086
Can be done easily with a tbs script. Use gethdinfo function to scan through all the drives and directories. You could look for a specific hard drive and partition (I look for a specific partition name to write to), or scan each partition for a key reference file like put.log.here! after the image process completes, copy the log file to the log partition or key reference location. Yes, requires some programming skill, but the tbs script is pretty flexible and easy to learn and test. Some good examples are in the scripting pdf's.

Terabyte could make the process a lot simpler if they would create the capability to write the log to a /d:bd@p ,/d:#ntsig, or /d:{GUID} log location.

Re: Saving logfile to source/target drive?

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 5:56 am
by Brian K
As per my previous instructions, Click Show Command, Save to File. Add this to the line...

--logfile:/tbu/boot/IFL.LOG

click OK
select boot (folder) and press Enter
select scripts (folder) and press Enter
you should see scriptslist.txt in the folder
In the Name field give the script a name. For example, backupWin10.tbs (remember the .tbs extension)
OK
Exit
Reboot into IFL again and run script from menu

IFL.LOG is on the UFD (this keeps updating like the Windows one)