Question about fully backing up a Joomla appliance with TKLBAM

Hi all.

First of all, I would like to congratulate the team for the great TKLBAM tool, it really really makes things easier (or even possible) for us newbies.

I have a question, though, because I’m unable to fully backup/migrate a Joomla appliance using out-of-the-box TKLBAM. This is what I think it’s happening (correct me if I’m wrong, not a lot of experience with Joomla here):

Joomla installation goes into /usr/share/joomla15/, so this directory is excluded from the backup profile (it’s not listed in dirindex, nor in dirindex.conf). I suppose that the reason for this exclusion is that this directory is maintained by the package management system.
When you install, for example, a template, the template must go into /usr/share/joomla15/templates/ (as explained in the official Joomla documentation and this post).
So when you backup the appliance your custom templates don’t get included.

I’ve tried adding an override to include /usr/share/joomla15/ in the backup and doing so results in the full site migrated, but I don’t know if this breaks package management, as warned in the documentation.

So my question is, which is the best way to make the wonderful TKLBAM fully backup a Joomla appliance? Do I have to carefully include every directory for everything I’ve installed (modules, templates, plugins, etc.)? Is it OK to include the full /usr/share/joomla15/? Would doing something like this be OK? Or am I getting all this wrong (wouldn’t surprise me ;·)?

Thank you very much in advance.

enter 2.0

Replies (5)

Will do so

Reply 1 2010-11-27

Thanks for the quick response.

Glad to know you're considering a fix for this. Will follow your advice in the meantime.

enter 2.0

Add a specific override

Reply 2 2010-11-26

Thanks for thoroughly researching the issue before asking. The Joomla package was created before TKLBAM existed so we may need to update it so that templates are stored in /var/lib/joomla15 instead of /usr/share/joomla15. I propose in the meantime you use an override in this case to add your template to the backup, but do it in the most specific way possible. Instead of adding /usr/share/joomla15, which will backup all the Joomla package files, try adding /usr/share/joomla15/templates/YOURTEMPLATE.

Note that TKLBAM supports overrides for good reason. Though it's true that it is generally a bad idea to mess around files/directories that "belong" to package management, sometimes you don't have a good alternative. It's not the end of the world though. Your system won't explode. Worst case scenario you'll have a little extra work to do when you restore a backup or after you upgrade the Joomla package.

I get your point but there is a reason

Reply 3 2010-11-26

I started writing but then I found a previous post from Liraz that explains it better. Have a read here. Incidentally the thread relates to TKLBAM too so is quite relevant.

New 11.1 Joomla images do exactly what you suggest

Reply 4 2011-01-24

Joomla is now installed from source to /var/www, instead of via a custom package.

To answer your question, even though it isn't entirely relevant anymore, packages, even custom packages, should avoid installing files to user-maintained directories such as /var/www. At least according to the Debian Policy Manual.

Why not /var/www/joomla15 ?

Reply 5 2010-11-26

I also use the old Joomla package. I never has made sense that it starts out in /usr/share/joomla15...

My new Magento install is aiming at /var/www/magento/

It would make sense, to me, to use /var/www/ for WWW work unless, somehow, it is important to have a special redirect is being used for a Package like Joomla. It seems easier to me to have the full WWW work be in one folder.

Thinking about the Joomla migration to the lucid foundation. Wondering if a production server should be migrated soon or wait for full release. Will there be "upgrade" paths for Old Joomla intalls?

Too many questions for a holiday weekend.

best,