IFL logfile

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userX
Posts: 119
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:51 am

IFL logfile

Post by userX »

in the secton "Understanding Backup Options" of the IFL manual, it states that i can log the results to file:

"Log Results to File – Select this option to make Image for Linux log the details of the backup operation. Image for Linux saves the log as IFL.LOG in the IMAGE.EXE program directory. To be able to save IFL.LOG, Image for Linux must be running from a writable medium. You can use the --logfile or LogFile options to specify an alternate location for IFL.LOG."

i am using the IFL environment when i boot it from a flash drive, which i made with your makedisk utility. I looked on this flash drive for a "image.exe program directory" but could not find it. where then is it supposed to be going to by default? i see a file with that name in the IFD directory on my harddrive, the one getting backed up, but nowhere else. Even so, it does not seem as though the system's harddrive would be written to while it getting backed up. Would it? how can i specify during this process that i want the IFL.log to go to the flash drive itself?
TeraByte Support(TP)
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:22 pm

Re: IFL logfile

Post by TeraByte Support(TP) »

Looks like the text in the manual is referring to IFD by mistake. It should read something like this:
"Image for Linux saves the log as ifl.log in the imagel program directory"

On the IFL boot disk, imagel is in the /tbu directory, and that's where ifl.log will appear. Since IFL is running from RAM on the boot disk, you will lose that file once you reboot, although you could mount a partition and save it if needed. Note that /tbu is the current directory when you exit to command prompt from the boot disk menu.

To change the default behavior you can use either the --logfile option (from command line), or the LogFile parameter in the [OPTIONS] section of ifl.ini. The ifl.ini file is also in the /tbu directory. The manual covers these options.
userX
Posts: 119
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:51 am

Re: IFL logfile

Post by userX »

you know, i read the IFL manual section "Image for Linux INI File" in the chapter on Advanced Configuarion Options, and i searched around the manual for references to "logfile", but it is just not clear yet about where to find or to put the 'ifl.ini' file. i understand that you said it is in the /tbu directory, but i also understood you to say above that this directory is only in ram temporarily. so, am i understanding that i would have to make the entry in 'ifl.ini' each time i want to affect the location of the log file? I am not sure that is what you meant.

on the other hand, i did find the instruction about making an entry on the command line, namely, "--logfile:x:/path/logfile.txt". do i need to specify the filename if i want the default name but on a different path? My intention was to have it write the default log file name but onto the flash drive itself, from where the IFL has booted. I was assuming also that i could use the --md option together with the logfile parameter?

will it overwrite the previous logfile each time, as i would hope, unless i renamed it ahead of time?

when i drop to the command line to specify certain parameters, like the one for logfile, do i need to start the command options with something like 'ifl.exe' or some such thing?

lastly, if i want to use the command line options, together with the gui interface options, should i first drop to the command line and issue those parameters and then specify the gui options, or does it matter which is done first? thank you.
TeraByte Support(TP)
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:22 pm

Re: IFL logfile

Post by TeraByte Support(TP) »

This is a little long (and maybe confusing) since you asked a lot of
questions. Please follow up if I missed some details you need.


On 09/20/2011 02:46 AM, userX wrote:
> you know, i read the IFL manual section "Image for Linux INI
> File" in the chapter on Advanced Configuarion Options, and i
> searched around the manual for references to "logfile",
> but it is just not clear yet about where to find or to put the
> 'ifl.ini' file. i understand that you said it is in the /tbu
> directory, but i also understood you to say above that this directory
> is only in ram temporarily. so, am i understanding that i would have
> to make the entry in 'ifl.ini' each time i want to affect the
> location of the log file? I am not sure that is what you meant.

Yes, any changes you make to /tbu/ifl.ini on the running boot disk will
be lost when you reboot, because it's running in RAM. By default, the
file /tbu/ifl.ini contains just the product key.

You can create a custom version of the UFD boot disk from Linux by using
the makeHDD script that comes with IFL (it's in the ifl_en.zip file that
you can download from the Product Page). A custom version can contain a
custom copy of ifl.ini that specifies the LogFile parameter you want.
See this online tutorial for more info on creating custom versions:

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/howto/ifl_boot_media_linux.htm

See Section 2 / Step 1 / item 2 for the ifl.ini file info.

The LogFile paramter is specified in the [OPTIONS] section, which you'll
need to create, and would look like this:

[OPTIONS]
LogFile=/pathtofile/filename.log


> on the other hand, i did find the instruction about making an entry
> on the command line, namely,
> "--logfile:x:/path/logfile.txt". do i need to specify the
> filename if i want the default name but on a different path?

Yes, you would have to specify the filename, even if it's named ifl.log
at a non-default location.

> My intention was to have it write the default log file name but onto
> the flash drive itself, from where the IFL has booted. I was
> assuming also that i could use the --md option together with the
> logfile parameter?

No, the --md doesn't apply to the log file path. The path would have to
already exist.

If you want the log file to stored on the UFD itself, that will require
mounting the UFD before doing the backup. That's because the boot disk
is running from RAM, and once booted, the UFD is just another drive, and
the file system on it (usually FAT/FAT32) would have to be mounted to
save files to it - just like any other drive on the system.

If you create a custom version as described above, you can also include
a shell script on it that will mount the UFD, and then run the IFL
command. If you include the script, that same script can also contain
the IFL command line to do the backup, which can include the --logfile
parameter to specify the log file path/filename - instead of doing it
with ifl.ini.

See Section 2 / Step 1 / item 4 for info on adding the script in the
tutorial referenced above.

>
> will it overwrite the previous logfile each time, as i would hope,
> unless i renamed it ahead of time?

No, it appends to the end of the file. If you want a new file each time,
you would have to delete the existing one before the backup (or use a
different file name).

>
> when i drop to the command line to specify certain parameters, like
> the one for logfile, do i need to start the command options with
> something like 'ifl.exe' or some such thing?

>
> lastly, if i want to use the command line options, together with the
> gui interface options, should i first drop to the command line and
> issue those parameters and then specify the gui options, or does it
> matter which is done first? thank you.

IFL has a feature where you can save the command line to a file, and can
edit the command line before saving it if you want to add parameters
such as --logfile. Once saved, you can execute that file from the
command prompt.

To do that....once you choose the source (the drive/partition to image)
and the target (the location to save it to), you come to the options
screen where you can choose to Validate etc. At the bottom of that
screen, choose F8 to save the command line to a file. When you choose
F8, an Edit window will open where you can edit the command line before
saving it. So you could add something like this to the end:

--logfile:"/path/log_file_name.log"

....and then choose OK to save the file. Then quit IFL (F12), exit to
command prompt, and execute the file you just saved. If you named the
file "backup_winxp", then you would type './backup_winxp' to run the script.


--
Tom Pfeifer
TeraByte Support
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