This article will guide you through the installation of the R1Soft backup manager on a Debian/Ubuntu server. There are two methods of installing the backup manager. 

1. Using APT-GET
2. Using DPKG

Using APT-GET

Step 1: Configure the APT repository

APT  is used to handle the retrieval, configuration, installation, and removal of software on Debian GNU/Linux distributions. We need to configure an APT repository to manage installations and upgrades to Server Backup Manager. Use the following command to modify your  /etc/apt/sources.list to include the R1Soft repository.

echo "deb http://repo.r1soft.com/apt stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
wget http://repo.r1soft.com/r1soft.asc

We now need to download the R1Soft apt gpg key using this command.

apt-key add r1soft.asc

When the APT repository is configured, we now run apt-get update to download the information about the packages in the new repository using the following command

apt-get update

Step 2: Install the package

Use the following command to install the Server Backup Manager.

apt-get install serverbackup-enterprise 

Once the installation is complete, we can proceed to configuring and starting the server. But first, let us look at another method of installation.

Using DPKG

Step 1: Download the Server Backup Manager

You need to have registered as an R1Soft customer to access the Server Backup Manager downloads. Go to this link to log in to the R1Soft customer portal. Navigate to the downloads page and go to the "Backup Manager" product group. Click on the Linux 64-bit (x86_64/AMD64) link for 64-bit binary hardware/OS and download the R1Soft-ServerBackup-Manager-SE-linux64.zip file.

Step 2: Install the unzip utility

Run the following command to install the unzip utility that allows you to extract the contents of the downloaded zip file.

apt-get install unzip 

You can skip this step if the unzip utility has been installed already.

Step 3: Extract the zip file

Use the following command to create a temporary directory to extract the contents of the downloaded zip file.

mkdir serverbackup 

Use the following command to move the downloaded zip file to that directory. Linux filenames are case-sensitive so we have to be sure to type the name correctly (in our case, "ServerBackup-Enterprise-linux32.zip").

mv ServerBackup-Enterprise-linux32.zip serverbackup 

use the following command to navigate into that directory.

cd serverbackup 

Use the following command to use the unzip utility to extract the contents of the archive.

unzip ServerBackup-Enterprise-linux32.zip 

Step 4: Install the packages using dpkg

The archive you have extracted contains two folders: one with .deb packages (in our case, "enterprise-manager-deb") and one with .rpm packages ("enterprise-manager-rpm"). If you are installing on Debian or Ubuntu, choose the .deb package. Each folder contains a set of Server Backup Manager components: serverbackup-enterprise, serverbackup-setup, serverbackup-agent, and serverbackup-async-agent-2-6. Navigate to the folder with the packages i.e. enterprise-manager-deb and run the following command.

 dpkg -i *.deb 

This will install all the components in one step. Note that you need root privileges to install packages. 

Now that we have looked at the two methods of installing the Server Backup Manager, let us look at getting started with the backup manager.

Configuring and starting the Server Backup Manager Web-based user interface

Step 1: Define a Username and Password

A username and a password are required before you can start using the Server Backup Manager. Use the following command to define a username and a corresponding password. 

 serverbackup-setup --user DESIRED_USERNAME --pass DESIRED_PASSWORD 

You will see the following output prompting you to restart the Server Backup Manager.

Server username and password set
The Server Backup Manager must be restarted for these changes to take effect
Use '/etc/init.d/cdp-server restart' to restart. 

Use the following command to restart the Server Backup Manager.

/etc/init.d/cdp-server restart

Step 2: Configure ports

By default, the embedded web server in Server Backup Manager required for the Web-based Interface will listen on TCP ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS). These ports are frequently used by your Linux server (e.g., by Apache). If you are already using ports 80 and 443, you will need to define different ports. Ports 8080 (HTTP) and 8443 (HTTPS) are recommended alternatives to the standard ports 80 and 443. However, you can choose any other valid and unused TCP port.

Use the following command to set the desired ports.

serverbackup-setup --http-port 8080 --https-port 8443 

Step 3: Start the web interface

Use the following the Server Backup Manager web interface.

 /etc/init.d/cdp-server restart 

You can now access the Server Backup Manager Web interface using a web browser. To access it from the machine where the Server Backup Manager is installed, type "localhost" into the web browser's address bar. Otherwise, to access it over LAN, enter the IP address of the machine where it is installed.