sdb"¶

Labels: enhancement, support / question, fixed / solved / done

u4ea75 opened issue at 2025-03-19 11:48:¶

Requesting support or just a question¶

Cannot exclude disk from backup

Platform¶

Linux x64

Output¶

Relax-and-Recover 2.7 / Git
Running rear mkbackup (PID 54431 date 2025-03-19 12:21:43)
Command line options: /home/connadmin/rear/usr/sbin/rear -v -d mkbackup
Using log file: /home/connadmin/rear/var/log/rear/rear-itflowsrv.log
Using build area: /var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU
Setting TMPDIR to ReaR's '/var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU/tmp' (was unset when ReaR was launched)
Running 'init' stage ======================
Running workflow mkbackup on the normal/original system
Running 'prep' stage ======================
Using backup archive '/var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU/outputfs/rear/itflowsrv/20250319.1221/backup.tar.gz'
No 'console=...' setting for recovery system kernel (none in /proc/cmdline)
Found EFI system partition /dev/sda1 on /boot/efi type vfat
Using UEFI Boot Loader for Linux (USING_UEFI_BOOTLOADER=1)
Secure Boot is disabled, not using Secure Boot shim:
SecureBoot disabled
Platform is in Setup Mode
Using autodetected kernel '/boot/vmlinuz-6.8.0-55-generic' as kernel in the recovery system
Cannot write protect USB disk of '/dev/disk/by-label/REAR-000' via ID (no ID found)
File system label of '/dev/disk/by-label/REAR-000' added to WRITE_PROTECTED_FS_LABEL_PATTERNS
Modified ReaR recovery system area after 'prep' stage (/var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU/rootfs contains regular files)
Running 'layout/save' stage ======================
Creating disk layout
Overwriting existing disk layout file /home/connadmin/rear/var/lib/rear/layout/disklayout.conf
ERROR: Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on /dev/sdb (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')
Some latest log messages since the last called script 200_partition_layout.sh:
  2025-03-19 12:21:45.225827786 Saving disks and their partitions
  Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
  Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
You may use debugscript mode '-D' for full debug messages with 'set -x' output
Aborting due to an error, check /home/connadmin/rear/var/log/rear/rear-itflowsrv.log for details
Exiting rear mkbackup (PID 54431) and its descendant processes ...
Running exit tasks
To remove the build area you may use (with caution): rm -Rf --one-file-system /var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU

Additional information¶

ReaR version ("/usr/sbin/rear -V"):

Relax-and-Recover 2.7 / Git

Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS

ReaR configuration files

AUTOEXCLUDE_MULTIPATH=y
AUTOEXCLUDE_DISKS=y
EXCLUDE_RECREATE+=( "fs:/dev/sdb")

Hardware vendor/product (PC or PowerNV BareMetal or ARM) or VM (KVM guest or PowerVM LPAR):
Dell PowerEdge R220
System architecture (x86 compatible or PPC64/PPC64LE or what exact ARM device):
x86_64
Firmware (BIOS or UEFI or Open Firmware) and bootloader (GRUB or ELILO or Petitboot):
Should be a BIOS boot with grub
Storage (local disk or SSD) and/or SAN (FC or iSCSI or FCoE) and/or multipath (DM or NVMe):
two hdd on raid 1
Storage layout ("lsblk -ipo NAME,KNAME,PKNAME,TRAN,TYPE,FSTYPE,LABEL,SIZE,MOUNTPOINT"):

NAME                                  KNAME     PKNAME    TRAN   TYPE FSTYPE      LABEL      SIZE MOUNTPOIN
/dev/sda                              /dev/sda            sata   disk                      465.8G
|-/dev/sda1                           /dev/sda1 /dev/sda         part vfat                     1G /boot/efi
|-/dev/sda2                           /dev/sda2 /dev/sda         part ext4                     2G /boot
`-/dev/sda3                           /dev/sda3 /dev/sda         part LVM2_member          462.7G
  `-/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv /dev/dm-0 /dev/sda3        lvm  ext4                   100G /
/dev/sdb                              /dev/sdb            sata   disk                      465.8G
`-/dev/sdb1                           /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdb         part                      465.8G
/dev/sdc                              /dev/sdc            usb    disk                       28.9G
|-/dev/sdc1                           /dev/sdc1 /dev/sdc         part                          8M
|-/dev/sdc2                           /dev/sdc2 /dev/sdc         part vfat        REAR-EFI     1G
`-/dev/sdc3                           /dev/sdc3 /dev/sdc         part ext3        REAR-000  27.9G
/dev/sr0                              /dev/sr0            sata   rom                        1024M

I'm unable to do backup, this is the output:

Relax-and-Recover 2.7 / Git
Running rear mkbackup (PID 54431 date 2025-03-19 12:21:43)
Command line options: /home/connadmin/rear/usr/sbin/rear -v -d mkbackup
Using log file: /home/connadmin/rear/var/log/rear/rear-itflowsrv.log
Using build area: /var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU
Setting TMPDIR to ReaR's '/var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU/tmp' (was unset when ReaR was launched)
Running 'init' stage ======================
Running workflow mkbackup on the normal/original system
Running 'prep' stage ======================
Using backup archive '/var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU/outputfs/rear/itflowsrv/20250319.1221/backup.tar.gz'
No 'console=...' setting for recovery system kernel (none in /proc/cmdline)
Found EFI system partition /dev/sda1 on /boot/efi type vfat
Using UEFI Boot Loader for Linux (USING_UEFI_BOOTLOADER=1)
Secure Boot is disabled, not using Secure Boot shim:
SecureBoot disabled
Platform is in Setup Mode
Using autodetected kernel '/boot/vmlinuz-6.8.0-55-generic' as kernel in the recovery system
Cannot write protect USB disk of '/dev/disk/by-label/REAR-000' via ID (no ID found)
File system label of '/dev/disk/by-label/REAR-000' added to WRITE_PROTECTED_FS_LABEL_PATTERNS
Modified ReaR recovery system area after 'prep' stage (/var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU/rootfs contains regular files)
Running 'layout/save' stage ======================
Creating disk layout
Overwriting existing disk layout file /home/connadmin/rear/var/lib/rear/layout/disklayout.conf
ERROR: Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on /dev/sdb (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')
Some latest log messages since the last called script 200_partition_layout.sh:
  2025-03-19 12:21:45.225827786 Saving disks and their partitions
  Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
  Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
You may use debugscript mode '-D' for full debug messages with 'set -x' output
Aborting due to an error, check /home/connadmin/rear/var/log/rear/rear-itflowsrv.log for details
Exiting rear mkbackup (PID 54431) and its descendant processes ...
Running exit tasks
To remove the build area you may use (with caution): rm -Rf --one-file-system /var/tmp/rear.Px7CbCMVxXNYgrU

jsmeix commented at 2025-03-19 13:21:¶

I think I vaguely remember that we recently had
such kind of issue here at ReaR upstream

ERROR: Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on ... (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')

...
googling for ERROR: Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on
found it:
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/2995
which is also on Ubuntu 24.04.X LTS
that one is on Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS and was
reproduced with Ubuntu-Server 20.04.2 LTS, cf.
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/2995#issuecomment-1598782245

u4ea75 commented at 2025-03-19 13:33:¶

I read that posts before write my one but cannot understand what to do sorry, could u help?

gdha commented at 2025-03-20 08:56:¶

@jsmeix could PR https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3403 be of any help here?

jsmeix commented at 2025-03-20 09:02:¶

@gdha
I don't know.
I did not find time to investigate the details of those issues.

jsmeix commented at 2025-03-20 09:11:¶

@u4ea75

FYI some generic boilerplate info:

In general I recommend to try out our latest GitHub master code
because the GitHub master code is the only place where we fix things
and if there are issues it helps when you use exactly the code
where we could fix things.

See the "QUICK START GUIDE" and "INSTALLATION" parts on
https://github.com/rear/rear

Additionally / alternatively see the section
"Testing current ReaR upstream GitHub master code" in
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Disaster_Recovery
how you can try out our current ReaR GitHub master code
without conflicts with your already installed ReaR version.

In general we at ReaR upstream do not support older ReaR versions.
We at ReaR upstream do not plain reject issues with older ReaR versions
(e.g. we may answer easy to solve questions also for older ReaR versions)
but we do not spend much time on issues with older ReaR versions because
we do not (and cannot) fix issues in released ReaR versions.
Issues in released ReaR versions are not fixed by us (by ReaR upstream).
Issues in released ReaR versions that got fixed in current ReaR upstream
GitHub master code might be fixed (if the fix can be backported with
reasonable effort) by the Linux distributor wherefrom you got ReaR.

In particular regarding Ubuntu / Debian:

I am neither a Ubuntu user nor a Debian user.
Currently we at ReaR upstream do not have
an active maintainer for Ubuntu / Debian.
So ReaR support for Ubuntu / Debian
can be only as good as voluntary contributors
who use those Linux distributions contribute
which is much appreciated!

In particular regarding Ubuntu:
It seems Canonical is not sufficiently interested in ReaR
in contrast to Red Hat and SUSE who pay developers
(like me from SUSE and e.g. @pcahyna and @lzaoral from Red Hat)
to contribute to upstream ReaR because Red Hat and SUSE
support ReaR in their enterprise Linux distributions.

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-14 13:18:¶

Thank u so much for answer and sorry for be late,
I will valuate to change OS and update my software, best regards

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-14 15:50:¶

I managed to use latest GitHub master code:

git clone https://github.com/rear/rear.git rear2
cd rear2
mv rear rear2.github.master
cd rear2.github.master/
/rear2.github.master/usr/sbin$ rear -d mkbackup

Still getting same error:

Overwriting existing disk layout file /var/lib/rear/layout/disklayout.conf
ERROR: Unsupported partition table 'unknown' (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')
Some latest log messages since the last called script 200_partition_layout.sh:
2025-04-14 15:51:48.439793241 Saving disks and their partitions
Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
You may use debugscript mode '-D' for full debug messages with 'set -x' output
Error exit of rear mkbackup (PID 3159) and its descendant processes

I suppose that the Unknow partition table is the second disk of raid 1 configuration, there’s not a way to exclude that disk from backup process?
Best regards

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-15 06:56:¶

ERROR: Unsupported partition table 'unknown' (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')

is not from our current ReaR upstream GitHub master code.
In our current ReaR upstream GitHub master code the message is

Unsupported partition table '$disk_label' on $device (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')

https://github.com/rear/rear/blob/master/usr/share/rear/layout/save/GNU/Linux/200_partition_layout.sh#L125

Above in
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/3433#issuecomment-2736620479
I referenced a possibly related issue where according to
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/2995#issuecomment-1570082935
I think it is currently not possible to exclude that disk.
A possible root cause was found in
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/2995#issuecomment-1598782245
You may verify if the possible root cause there
is also the root cause on your specific Ubuntu system.

I am not a Ubuntu user so I cannot actually help with issues
that happen specifically on Ubuntu.

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-15 07:38:¶

ok first of all I would like to use your ReaR upstream GitHub master code cause right now I haven't backup working, is there anywhere a guide to remove old version and use yours?
Thank u so much for your help, very appreciate

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-15 08:02:¶

@u4ea75
you do not need to remove an installed ReaR version.
You only need to follow exactly what I described in
"Testing current ReaR upstream GitHub master code" in
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Disaster_Recovery
in particular

Note the relative paths "etc/rear/" and "usr/sbin/".

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-15 16:06:¶

sorry to bother u I didn't understand very well
the meanings for "note the relative paths.."

I've followed instrucion on es.opensuse.org linked page
but still get same error:

Relax-and-Recover 2.9 / 2025-01-31
Running rear mkbackup (PID 53399 date 2025-04-15 17:57:50)
Command line options: usr/sbin/rear -D mkbackup
Using log file: /home/connadmin/rear.github.master/var/log/rear/rear-itflowsrv.log
Using build area: /var/tmp/rear.tiWuq1R6fkIiAKS
Setting TMPDIR to ReaR's '/var/tmp/rear.tiWuq1R6fkIiAKS/tmp' (was unset when ReaR was launched)
Sourced files must be owned by one of the TRUSTED_OWNERS: root connadmin
Sourced files must be below one of the TRUSTED_PATHS: /home/connadmin/rear.github.master/ /usr/ /etc/ /lib/
Running 'init' stage ======================
Running workflow mkbackup on the normal/original system
Running 'prep' stage ======================
Using backup archive '/var/tmp/rear.tiWuq1R6fkIiAKS/outputfs/rear/itflowsrv/20250415.1757/backup.tar.gz'
No 'console=...' setting for recovery system kernel (none in /proc/cmdline)
Found EFI system partition /dev/sda1 on /boot/efi type vfat
Using UEFI Boot Loader for Linux (USING_UEFI_BOOTLOADER=1)
Secure Boot is disabled, not using Secure Boot shim:
SecureBoot disabled
Platform is in Setup Mode
Using autodetected kernel '/boot/vmlinuz-6.8.0-57-generic' as kernel in the recovery system
Cannot write protect USB disk of '/dev/disk/by-label/REAR-000' via ID (no ID found)
File system label of '/dev/disk/by-label/REAR-000' added to WRITE_PROTECTED_FS_LABEL_PATTERNS
Modified ReaR recovery system area after 'prep' stage (/var/tmp/rear.tiWuq1R6fkIiAKS/rootfs contains regular files)
Running 'layout/save' stage ======================
Creating disk layout
ERROR: Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on /dev/sdb (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')
Some latest log messages since the last called script 200_partition_layout.sh:
  2025-04-15 17:57:53.379741572 Entering debugscript mode via 'set -x'.
  2025-04-15 17:57:53.385298864 Trusted sourcing '/home/connadmin/rear.github.master/usr/share/rear/layout/save/GNU/Linux/200_partition_layout.sh'
  2025-04-15 17:57:53.398407753 Saving disks and their partitions
  Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
  Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
Aborting due to an error, check /home/connadmin/rear.github.master/var/log/rear/rear-itflowsrv.log for details
Exiting rear mkbackup (PID 53399) and its descendant processes ...
Running exit tasks
To remove the build area you may use (with caution): rm -Rf --one-file-system /var/tmp/rear.tiWuq1R6fkIiAKS
Terminated

If I'm missing something where I must start to read instructions for configuration?

This is my local.conf that worked in the past
before restoring on a raid 1 server

OUTPUT=USB
BACKUP=NETFS
#La riga sotto fa il backup su disco usb chiamato REAR-000
BACKUP_URL=usb:///dev/disk/by-label/REAR-000
BACKUP_PROG_EXCLUDE=("${BACKUP_PROG_EXCLUDE[@]}" '/media' '/var/tmp' '/var/crash' '/dev/sdb')
#BACKUP_URL="nfs://10.10.10.238/volume1/NetBackup/"

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-17 06:50:¶

@u4ea75

Note the relative paths "etc/rear/" and "usr/sbin/".

in "Testing current ReaR upstream GitHub master code" in
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Disaster_Recovery
means that what you did

/rear2.github.master/usr/sbin$ rear -d mkbackup

according to your
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/3433#issuecomment-2802158821
is likely not what you should have done which is ensuring
that you call 'rear' within your '/rear2.github.master'.

Whether or not

cd /rear2.github.master/usr/sbin
rear -d mkbackup

actually calls '/rear2.github.master/usr/sbin/rear'
or another 'rear' depends on whether or not your current
working directory '.' is in your PATH environment variable
and if it is in your PATH environment variable then it also
depends on whether or not your current working directory
is in PATH before the usual system '*bin' directories.

For example how it looks on my openSUSE Leap 15.6 system
where I have ReaR 2.7 installed in the system from RPM package
and I have current GitHub master code as described in
"Testing current ReaR upstream GitHub master code" in
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Disaster_Recovery

# echo $PATH
/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/sbin:/root/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin

# type -a rear
rear is /usr/sbin/rear

# PATH+=':.'

# echo $PATH
/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/sbin:/root/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:.

# cd rear.github.master/usr/sbin

# type -a rear
rear is /usr/sbin/rear
rear is ./rear

# rear -V
Relax-and-Recover 2.7 / 2022-07-13

# ./rear -V
Relax-and-Recover 2.9 / 2025-01-31

By the way:
If at all have '.' at the end of PATH.
Never have '.' at (or near) the beginning of PATH.
Having '.' at the beginning of PATH is a security risk because
then executable files with same name as standard commands
in whatever current working directory will get executed
instead of the actual standard commands in system directories
so be excited about the thrill which file gets executed
when you call this or that command depending on in which
working directory you currently are ;-)

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-17 07:34:¶

@u4ea75

your
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/3433#issuecomment-2806646300

ERROR: Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on /dev/sdb (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')
Some latest log messages since the last called script 200_partition_layout.sh:
  2025-04-15 17:57:53.379741572 Entering debugscript mode via 'set -x'.
  2025-04-15 17:57:53.385298864 Trusted sourcing '/home/connadmin/rear.github.master/usr/share/rear/layout/save/GNU/Linux/200_partition_layout.sh'
  2025-04-15 17:57:53.398407753 Saving disks and their partitions
  Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
  Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!

proves that your issue also happens with current GitHub master code.

In your initial
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/3433#issue-2931493278
there is

Storage ...:
two hdd on raid 1

and 'lsblk' (excerpts)

NAME        KNAME     PKNAME   TRAN TYPE ...   SIZE MOUNTPOINT
/dev/sda    /dev/sda           sata disk     465.8G
|-/dev/sda1 ...                                  1G /boot/efi
|-/dev/sda2 ...                                  2G /boot
`-/dev/sda3 ...                              462.7G
...
/dev/sdb    /dev/sdb           sata disk     465.8G
`-/dev/sdb1 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdb      part     465.8G

As far as 'lsblk' tells this is not a RAID1
of /dev/sda and /dev/sdb because /dev/sdb
is shown in 'lsblk' as completely unused.
Currently your system seems to be only on /dev/sda.

Perhaps you use some special kind of RAID1?
At least you do not use traditional Linux kernel RAID1.

For example how a traditional Linux kernel RAID1
of two disks /dev/sda and /dev/sdb could look like
see the 'lsblk' output for a "SLES15 SP4 with RAID1 ..." system on
https://github.com/rear/rear/wiki/Test-Matrix-ReaR-2.7#sles15-sp4-with-raid1-migrated-to-replacement-systems-with-smaller-and-bigger-disk-size

# lsblk -ipo NAME,TYPE,FSTYPE,SIZEAlternativey setup your system anew from scratch
to

NAME             TYPE  FSTYPE             SIZE
/dev/sda         disk  linux_raid_member    9G
`-/dev/md127     raid1                      9G
  |-/dev/md127p1 part                     102M
  |-/dev/md127p2 part  swap                 1G
  `-/dev/md127p3 part  btrfs              7.5G
/dev/sdb         disk  linux_raid_member   10G
`-/dev/md127     raid1                      9G
  |-/dev/md127p1 part                     102M
  |-/dev/md127p2 part  swap                 1G
  `-/dev/md127p3 part  btrfs              7.5G

The two disks /dev/sda (9G) and /dev/sdb (10G)
are combined into a Linux kernel RAID1 /dev/md127 (9G)
and on that RAID1 "disk" /dev/md127 the partitions
/dev/md127p1 and /dev/md127p1 and /dev/md127p1 exist
which are listed by 'lsblk' indetical below
both RAID1 member disks /dev/sda and /dev/sdb.

Furthermore the error messages

Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on /dev/sdb (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')
...
Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!

tell that your /dev/sdb is wrong set up.

If you like to keep your system as it currently is
and use ReaR on it so you could recreate it
in case of a disaster as it currently is,
then you would need my recent
https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455
(it is not yet merged into GitHub master code)
so that you could exclude the unused /dev/sdb
(provided it is really unused in your specific case)
from the very beginning in ReaR to circumvent
issues with that problematic disk.

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-17 08:19:¶

@u4ea75

how to use GitHub master code with my recent
https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455

If you already have a 'rear.github.master' directory
move it away via something like

mv rear.github.master rear.github.master.old

before you do the following:

git clone https://github.com/rear/rear.git

mv rear rear.github.master

cd rear.github.master

git checkout -b jsmeix-disk-EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS remotes/origin/jsmeix-disk-EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS

vi etc/rear/local.conf

usr/sbin/rear -D mkbackup

i.e. 'git clone' the current GitHub master code and then
'git checkout' my current jsmeix-disk-EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS
branch in the current GitHub master code

In that branch you have in usr/share/rear/conf/default.conf
a description how to exclude a problematic diks
from the very beginning via EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS

# Because EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS excludes any component from the recovery
# it can be used in exceptional cases to exclude unwanted whole disks from the very beginning,
# for example to circumvent issues with unneeded problematic disks which cause issues in ReaR
# as in https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/2995 where parted could not recognize a partition table.
# To exclude a disk with mounted filesystems their mountpoints must be also specified
# for example via EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS+=( /dev/sdX fs:/mountpoint1 fs:/mountpoint2 )

Because your /dev/sdb does not have mounted filesystems
in your case a simple

EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS+=( /dev/sdb )

should help to exclude your /dev/sdb from the very beginning.

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-18 07:40:¶

U R the best! It worked! I will try a restore on different hardware asap, to test, thank so much!

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-23 07:35:¶

@u4ea75

I need you to test again if my
https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455
actually works in your case
because I found a regression
https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455#issuecomment-2812436548
so I had to completely change the implementation, see
https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455#issuecomment-2821188937
and see
https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455#issuecomment-2821485204
why I cannot test your case on my own.

To test my current
https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455
do the same as I wrote above in
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/3433#issuecomment-2812148919

git clone https://github.com/rear/rear.git

mv rear rear.github.master

cd rear.github.master

git checkout -b jsmeix-disk-EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS remotes/origin/jsmeix-disk-EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS

vi etc/rear/local.conf

usr/sbin/rear -D mkbackup

When you run "usr/sbin/rear -D mkbackup"
you should see the same message as in your initial comment
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/3433#issue-2931493278

Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on /dev/sdb (must be one of 'msdos' 'gpt' 'gpt_sync_mbr' 'dasd')

but now this is only a debug message to have you informed
and "rear mkbackup" will no longer error out
when you have EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS+=( /dev/sdb ) specified
instead "rear mkbackup" should finish successfully.

During "rear -D mkbackup" you should additionally see
debug messages like

Excluding component /dev/sdb in EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS
Marking component '/dev/sdb' as done in ...disktodo.conf
Automatically excluding disk /dev/sdb (not used by any mounted filesystem)
Component '/dev/sdb' is marked as 'done /dev/sdb' in ...disktodo.conf
Disabling excluded components in ...disklayout.conf
Disabling component 'disk /dev/sdb' in ...disklayout.conf

which show how '/dev/sdb' gets
marked as 'done' in var/lib/rear/layout/disktodo.conf
and commented out in var/lib/rear/layout/disklayout.conf
cf. how it looked for me during my my test in
https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455#issuecomment-2821459892

See also my description how that is meant to work
in usr/share/rear/conf/default.conf

# Because EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS excludes any component from the recovery
# it can be used in exceptional cases to exclude unwanted whole disks.
# For example EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS+=( /dev/sdX ) excludes the disk /dev/sdX
# and via the dependency tracker usually also partitions and filesystems on it
# provided the diks behaves normally (i.e. the disk and things on it can be recognized properly).
# To exclude an unneeded problematic disk when the disk or things on it cannot be recognized properly
# EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS+=( /dev/sdX ) may work to exclude the disk with its partitions and filesystems.
# To exclude a problematic disk with higher level storage objects on it
# its matching components may have to be specified separately for example like
# EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS+=( /dev/sdX fs:/mountpoint pv:/dev/sdXN ) or similar as needed.
# Verify that all what belongs to /dev/sdX is marked as 'done' in /var/lib/rear/layout/disktodo.conf
# and that all what belongs to /dev/sdX is commented out in /var/lib/rear/layout/disklayout.conf
# to ensure there is no recovery information left as 'todo' or not commented out
# for a disk which should be excluded from the recovery.

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-23 11:39:¶

According to my test in
https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455#issuecomment-2823978059
everything "just works" for me:

With plain EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS+=( /dev/sdX )
a problematic disk which is not properly recognized by 'parted'
gets excluded plus automatically the partitions on it
and even also automatically its mounted filesystems.

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-24 08:37:¶

I've backupped my server with https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455 one week ago and then restored without problems on different hardware, next week I will make again a test according to your request, right?

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-24 09:03:¶

@u4ea75
I would much appreciate it when you test it next week
on your hardware because it makes a big difference
when something was not only tested on my test VM
but when it actually works "out there in the wild"
for a ReaR user with real hardware.

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-25 11:36:¶

With https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455 merged
it should now work in current ReaR GitHub master code
to avoid this issue here with something like

EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS+=( /dev/sdX )

in etc/rear/local.conf - see the enhanced EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS
description in usr/share/rear/conf/default.conf

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-25 11:47:¶

@u4ea75
because https://github.com/rear/rear/pull/3455
is now merged into current ReaR GitHub master code
my jsmeix-disk-EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS branch does no longer exist
so when you test it next week on your hardware
you need to use the current ReaR GitHub master code
as described in
"Testing current ReaR upstream GitHub master code" in
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Disaster_Recovery

git clone https://github.com/rear/rear.git

mv rear rear.github.master

cd rear.github.master

vi etc/rear/local.conf

usr/sbin/rear -D mkbackup

(i.e. without 'git checkout ... jsmeix-disk-EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS')

u4ea75 commented at 2025-05-06 12:21:¶

I Johannes, sorry but I have been out of office for a while, I will make a test asap, sorry

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Oggetto: Re: [rear/rear] Cannot do backup: "Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on /dev/sdb" (Issue #3433)

Reopened #3433https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/3433.

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github-actions commented at 2025-07-06 03:14:¶

Stale issue message

[Export of Github issue for rear/rear.]

#3433 Issue closed: Cannot do backup: "Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on /dev/sdb"¶

u4ea75 opened issue at 2025-03-19 11:48:¶

Requesting support or just a question¶

Platform¶

Output¶

Additional information¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-03-19 13:21:¶

u4ea75 commented at 2025-03-19 13:33:¶

gdha commented at 2025-03-20 08:56:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-03-20 09:02:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-03-20 09:11:¶

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-14 13:18:¶

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-14 15:50:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-15 06:56:¶

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-15 07:38:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-15 08:02:¶

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-15 16:06:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-17 06:50:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-17 07:34:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-17 08:19:¶

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-18 07:40:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-23 07:35:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-23 11:39:¶

u4ea75 commented at 2025-04-24 08:37:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-24 09:03:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-25 11:36:¶

jsmeix commented at 2025-04-25 11:47:¶

u4ea75 commented at 2025-05-06 12:21:¶

github-actions commented at 2025-07-06 03:14:¶

#3433 Issue `closed`: Cannot do backup: "Unsupported partition table 'unknown' on /dev/sdb"¶