How to Set Up a Backup Account?

[NASbox]

I want to set up an account that can be used to backup the system,
and I understand that from a security point of view it's a bad idea to
use root.

How can I set up an account that can read all files for backup, but
doesn't have write access?

I don't think I can use groups because if a user has file permissions
of 700, it doesn't matter what group the backup user belongs to, it
will still not be able to read the files.

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

 

[cyberjock]

Uhh.. what? What are you trying to backup? The zfs/ufs partition or the FreeNAS installation.

If its the ZFS/UFS partition you have to use a user account that has permission for the data(or root if you want to do the whole drive with multiple users...etc).

There is no need to backup the FreeNAS installation, only the config file. (That's in the manual)

 

[XeR]

I want to set up an account that can be used to backup the system,
and I understand that from a security point of view it's a bad idea to
use root.

How can I set up an account that can read all files for backup, but
doesn't have write access?

I don't think I can use groups because if a user has file permissions
of 700, it doesn't matter what group the backup user belongs to, it
will still not be able to read the files.

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

I'm not able to help you because i'm a newbie, but may i ask why you don't use Rsync instead?

 

[cyberjock]

XeR is correct. Rsync is great for backing up files. ZFS Replication is even better in my opinion. But each have pluses and minuses.

I think the OP is thinking he needs to backup his FreeNAS installation so that if his boot disk fails he can restore from backup easily. That's just not the case with FreeNAS.