DISKLIST(5)

📦
version 3.5.4 · 8 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 DISKLIST 💖 — or, the sacred group chat of which disks we're backing up bestie

okay so first things first, this is section 5 of the manual (file formats and conventions, we love a conventions girlie) and it's called disklist. yes, lowercase, it's giving filename energy. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

disklist — the list of partitions to back up for Amanda. that's it, that's the whole job. iconic.

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so like, the disklist file is the thing that decides which disks Amanda is gonna back up. that's literally its whole main character moment. inside it you can have either an includefile directive or a disklist entry (we call those a DLE, iykyk 💅).

  • includefile string — Default: no default. this is the name of a disklist file you wanna pull into the current file. super handy when you're sharing a disklist across several configurations (bestie behavior fr fr). relative pathnames are relative to the configuration directory. 📂

A DLE usually lives as one line per disk, like this:

hostname diskname [diskdevice] dumptype [spindle [interface] ]

⚠️ and hear me on this: all pairs [ hostname diskname ] must be unique. no duplicates, no copy-paste crimes, periodt.

lines starting with # get ignored, and blank lines get ignored too. we respect the void. 🕳️

now let's break down every field, because every field matters:

  • hostname — the name of the host being backed up. 🌐 if diskdevice is pointing at a PC share, then this is the host that Amanda will run the Samba smbclient program on in order to back up that share.
  • diskname — the name of the disk. like, a label. in most cases you just set your diskname to the diskdevice and you never even set diskdevice at all, easy peasy. but if you want multiple entries that share the same diskdevice, you must give each entry a different diskname. also important: it's the diskname you use on the commandline for any Amanda command. go peek at the example/disklist file for examples, it's right there. 👀
  • diskdevice — Default: same as diskname. the name of the disk device getting backed up. it can be a full device name, or a device name without the /dev/ prefix, e.g. sd0a, or a mount point such as /usr. 🗂️ it can also point at a PC share if the name starts with two (forward) slashes, e.g. //some-pc/home. in that case the program option in the associated dumptype must be entered as GNUTAR. it's the combo of the double-slash disk name plus program GNUTAR in the dumptype that triggers the use of Samba. two things together, bestie, it's a collab. 🤝
  • dumptype — this refers to a dumptype that's defined in the amanda.conf file. dumptypes are where you set the backup-related parameters, stuff like whether to compress the backups, whether to record backup results in /var/lib/dumpdates, the disk's relative priority, etc. all the juicy knobs. 🎛️
  • spindle — Default: -1. a number used to balance backup load on a host. Amanda will not run multiple backups at the same time on the same spindle… unless the spindle number is -1, which means there's no spindle restriction at all. free spirit spindle. 🌀
  • interface — Default: local. the name of a network interface definition in the amanda.conf file, used to balance network load. 🌈

🎀 defining a dumptype IN-LINE (yes, really) 🎀

instead of naming a dumptype, you can literally define one right there on the spot, enclosing the dumptype options within curly braces, one per line, just like a dumptype definition in amanda.conf. and since pre-existing dumptypes are valid option names, this syntax lets you customize dumptypes for particular disks. so you get the base vibe and the custom vibe. ✨

🚨 a line break must follow the left curly bracket. non-negotiable.

for instance, if a dumptype named normal is used for most disks, but you need to disable the use of the holding disk for the file system that holds it, this would work instead of defining a whole new dumptype:

hostname diskname [ diskdevice ] {
  normal
  holdingdisk never
} [ spindle [ interface ] ]

okay and the syntax rules, listen up:

  • the { must appear at the end of a line.
  • the } goes on its own line, possibly followed by the spindle and interface.
no cap, mess this up and Amanda will simply not know what you mean. the braces have RULES. 💀

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

👑 AUTHORS 👑

  • James da Silva <jds@amanda.org>
  • Stefan G. Weichinger <sgw@amanda.org>
  • Dustin J. Mitchell <dustin@zmanda.com> — Zmanda, Inc. (http://www.zmanda.com)

and that's the whole page bestie, you ate it, you devoured, nothing left but crumbs 🍓 this was Amanda 3.5.4, dated 08/26/2026, and it's a DISKLIST(5) situation. go forth and back up your disks responsibly, mwah 💅💖✨

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