CrashPlan on Netgear ReadyNAS RN312 - hello!

Edit: Installing according to the instructions below works, but it does place CrashPlan’s log and cache files on the very size constrained root partition of the ReadyNas. Especially the cache files will quickly fill that partition of you have lots of files.
It is however easy to move those cache and log files to a better location, so once done with the instructions below, check out this post for details on how to move cache and log.

I’ve been using CrashPlan for a couple of years now, it’s a great service. In particular I like the peer-to-peer backup feature, where I can configure my parents’ (or friends) computer to back up to my small headless server during the night, making sure they don’t loose their pictures due to some unfortunate keyboard sequence.. The paid-for service is very reasonably priced too, giving me unlimited backup space for $4.79/month, given a 2-year signup period. Nice.

The downside is that you must keep your computer on at all times. Sure, that might be fine, but given that I try to reduce the carbon (and energy, in general) footprint around here, I’d rather put my computers in sleep or hibernation when not used. The one exception I am willing to make is a good NAS, and possibly also a jump host that will give me ssh access to my home network. Maybe the two combined in a single server – or the jump host in a very small and low power server. Anyway, after years of trying out different setups, mainly focused around a) my iMac with an external USB drive, and b) headless servers (I have all of the Bubba servers, http://www.excitostore.com/sv/frontpage, awesome servers, but even the B3 is today slightly underpowered. Tough challenge keeping up with all the new hardware architectures coming to market. So when the Atom powered dual core Netgear RN 312 was announced it seemed like a nice platform. The java powered CrashPlan application should not be a problem (others have successfully installed it on other x86 powered Netgear NAS:es), it supposedly also nicely handles lots of UPS:es, including (I hope!!) the slightly uncommon Bluewalker UPS that I use. Anyway, getting CrashPlan up and running on the ReadyNAS was top prio. Turned out that some changes were needed, compared to the walk-throughs for earlier ReadyNAS versions. First, the usual disclaimer: One or more of the suggestions in this blog post and related posts on this blog may very well void the warranty of your NAS devices. So. Enough. Given the risk of myself having to re-do this at a later date, or for the benefit of others having the desire for the same setup, here we go:

1. www.shasam.net has been invaluably helpful, providing general ideas on how to approach CrashPlan on ReadyNAS:es. Still, as the instructions there doesn’t work for the RN312 series, I feel it might be useful with some additional comments.
2. On the RN312 (using the standard web UI), create a share named “Crashplan”. It will be stored under /data/Crashplan Enable ssh root access (once again, using the standard UI).
3. ssh into the NAS, using something like ssh root@192.168.1.x, adjust the IP address as needed. Use the pwd of the admin user, that you set when configuring the NAS.
4. create a working directory, I use /root/dl (as in “download”):
   
   
   cd
   mkdir dl
   cd dl
   
5. Install Java:
   
   apt-get install openjdk-6-jre-headless
   
6. Get CrashPlan (adjust as needed to get latest version):
   
   wget http://download.crashplan.com/installs/linux/install/CrashPlan/CrashPlan_3.5.3_Linux.tgz tar -xvzf CrashPlan_3.5.3_Linux.tgz
   
7. You need to install some packages to get things working:
   
   apt-get install dialog
   dpkg-reconfigure debconf
   
8. Set the debconf level to “dialog” and “medium”. It turns out the pre-installed version of cpio doesn’t quite cut it.. Replace it:
   
   apt-get remove busybox-cpio
   apt-get install cpio
   
9. With Java installed and some environment changes in place, time to install CrashPlan:
   
   cd /CrashPlan-install
   ./install.sh
   
10. Just press enter to use the default settings, except for where to store the CrashPlan data. Full conversation follows (with EULA slightly shortened). Also, line breaks were lost in copy-paste process, so what’s shown on screen probably differs a bit from the below:
    
    Welcome to the CrashPlan Installer.
    Press enter to continue with installation.
    Validating environment… detected root permissions 49581 blocks
    You must review and agree to the EULA before installation. Press enter to read the EULA.

<EULA>
Do you accept and agree to be bound by the EULA? (yes/no) yes
What directory do you wish to install CrashPlan to? [/usr/local/crashplan]
What directory do you wish to link the CrashPlan executable to? [/usr/local/bin]
What directory do you wish to store backups in? [/usr/local/var/crashplan] /data/Crashplan
What directory contains your SYSV init scripts? [/etc/init.d]
What directory contains your runlevel init links? [/etc/rc5.d]

Your selections:
CrashPlan will install to: /usr/local/crashplan
And put links to binaries in: /usr/local/bin
And store datas in: /data/Crashplan
Your init.d dir is: /etc/init.d
Your current runlevel directory is: /etc/rc5.d
Is this correct? (y/n) [y]

Unpacking /
./CrashPlan_3.5.3.cpi … 49581 blocks
/usr/local/crashplan/bin/CrashPlanEngine: line 113: warning: setlocale: LC_CTYPE: cannot change locale (UTF-8.UTF-8): No such file or directory
Starting CrashPlan Engine …
Using standard startup OK
CrashPlan has been installed and the Service has been started automatically.

Press Enter to complete installation.

Important directories:
Installation: /usr/local/crashplan
Logs: /usr/local/crashplan/log
Default archive location: /data/Crashplan

Start Scripts:
sudo /usr/local/crashplan/bin/CrashPlanEngine start|stop
/usr/local/crashplan/bin/CrashPlanDesktop

You can run the CrashPlan Desktop UI locally as your own user or connect a remote Desktop UI to this Service via port-forwarding and manage it remotely. Instructions for remote management are in the readme files placed in your installation directory: /usr/local/crashplan/doc
To start the Desktop UI: /usr/local/bin/CrashPlanDesktop

Installation is complete. Thank you for installing CrashPlan for Linux.

root@RN312:~/dl/CrashPlan-install#

Reset debconf to non-interactive (using “noninteractive” and “medium” as settings):

dpkg-reconfigure debconf

With this, it should be a smooth ride following the previously mentioned blog post to set up CrashPlan. Worked for me, a few hours later the RN312 has now backed up a few GB and progressing nicely. The full backup will take weeks or more, but that’s fine – the summer is long and I have other backups in place meanwhile.