# rdiff-backup FAQ

## Table of contents

1. When I try to run rdiff-backup it says "ImportError: No module named __future__" or "SyntaxError: invalid syntax". What's happening?
2. What do the different verbosity levels mean?
3. Does rdiff-backup run under Windows?

## FAQ

1. When I try to run rdiff-backup it says "ImportError: No module named __future__" or "SyntaxError: invalid syntax". What's happening?

   rdiff-backup versions 0.2.x require Python version 2.1 or later, and versions 0.3.x require Python version 2.2 or later. If you don't know what version of python you are running, type in "python -V" from the shell. I'm sorry if this is inconvenient, but rdiff-backup uses generators, iterators, nested scoping, and static/class methods extensively, and these were only added in version 2.2.

   If you have two versions of python installed, and running "python" defaults to an early version, you'll probably have to change the first line of the rdiff-backup script. For instance, you could set it to:

       #/usr/bin/env python2.2

2. What do the different verbosity levels mean?

   There is no formal specification, but here is a rough description (settings are always cumulative, so 5 displays everything 4 does):

   0 | No information given
   1 | Fatal Errors displayed
   2 | Warnings
   3 | Important messages, and maybe later some global statistics (default)
   4 | Some global settings, miscellaneous messages
   5 | Mentions which files were changed
   6 | More information on each file processed
   7 | More information on various things
   8 | All logging is dated
   9 | Details on which objects are moving across the connection

3. Does rdiff-backup run under Windows?

   Yes, apparently it is possible. First, follow Jason Piterak's instructions:

       Subject: Cygwin rdiff-backup
       From: Jason  Piterak <Jason_Piterak@c-i-s.com>
       Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 16:54:24 -0500 (13:54 PST)
       To: rdiff-backup@keywest.Stanford.EDU

       Hello all,
         On a lark, I thought I would attempt to get rdiff-backup to work under
       Windows98 under Cygwin. We have a number of NT/Win2K servers in the field
       that I'd love to be backing up via rdiff-backup, and this was the start of
       getting that working.

       SUMMARY:
         o You can get all the pieces for rdiff-backup working under Cygwin.
         o The backup process works up to the point of writing any files with
       timestamps.
             ... This is because the ':' character is reserved for Alternate Data
       Stream (ADS) file designations under NTFS.

       HOW TO GET IT WORKING (to a point, anyway):
         o Install Cygwin
         o Download the Python 2.2 update through the Cygwin installer and install.
         o Download the librsync libraries from the usual place, but before
       compiling...
         o Cygwin does not use/provide glibc. Because of this, you have to repoint
       some header files in the Makefile:

          -- Make sure that you have /usr/include/inttypes.h
             redirected to /usr/include/sys/types.h. Do this by:

             create a file /usr/include/inttypes.h with the contents:
             #include <sys/types.h>
         o Put rdiff-backup in your PATH, as you normally would.

   Then, whenever you use rdiff-backup (or at least if you are backing up to or restoring from a Windows system), use the --windows-time-format switch, which will tell rdiff-backup not to put a colon (":") in a filename (this option was added after Jason posted his message).

Ben Escoto
Last modified: Sat Mar 16 13:22:34 PST 2002