Re: [rdiff-backup-users] Weird behavior of rdiff-backup : founding diffs while there isn't

[Robert Nichols]

On 11/16/2012 04:21 AM, address@hidden wrote:
> Consider I already have 2 backups done on a daily basis (let me call them
> A and B chronologically -- thus B is the current mirror).
>
> I run 'rdiff-backup --compare' just before backing up : it returns "no
> changes"
>
> I run the back up and here rdiff-backup finds thousand of files that have
> changed (viewed from session statistics) !!!
> This backup is called C and is the new mirror.
>
> When I look at the file statistics, a lot of files are marked as changed.
> The first weird thing here is that IncrementSize is not null while
> SourceSize and MirrorSize are identical (IncrementSize is always a small
> number -<128 -).
>
> For example : home/USER/.kde/share/config/katerc 1 67 67 66

By any chance are these all files with multiple hard links, and if so, does
this excerpt from the rdiff-backup manpage shed any light:

    --no-compare-inode
       This  option  prevents rdiff-backup from flagging a hardlinked file
       as changed when its  device  number  and/or  inode  changes.   This
       option  is  useful  in situations where the source filesystem lacks
       persistent device and/or inode  numbering.   For  example,  network
       filesystems  may  have  mount-to-mount  differences in their device
       number (but possibly stable inode numbers);  USB/1394  devices  may
       come  up at different device numbers each remount (but would gener-
       ally have same inode number); and there are filesystems which don’t
       even  have  the  same  inode  numbers from use to use.  Without the
       option rdiff-backup may generate unnecessary numbers of  tiny  diff
       files.

--
Bob Nichols     "NOSPAM" is really part of my email address.
                Do NOT delete it.