Do you need to backup Socket files?

[Michelle Gordon]

I have a backup failing because it is looking for a socket file in /var/spool/sockets/pwgr that doesn't exist!!

Can I get away without backing up this directory? and then still preform a full file system recovery when necessary?

[freddri]

You do not need this directory backed up. If you do not want to specifically void the dir, trn off the pwgrd daemon or do the backup during a generally quiet time. You error is most likely due to performing a backup when there is heavy system activity.

[freddri]

You do not need to back up those sockets. They are created and destroyed by system activity. Do the backup during a quiet time or turn off the pwgrd daemon to get around those messages.

[freddri]

To avoid these error turn off the pwgrd daemon before the backup or do the backup during very low system activity. System activity is causing sockets to be created and destroyed and that is confusing your backup utility.

[Jason Luginbuhl · Accepted solution]

This socket files refer to current server or client relationships that will certainly change over time. The pwgrd daemon creates and cleans up these files as necessary. As such there is certainly no need to back these files up as these sockets will certainly be in a different configuration when you ever look to restore the backup. So basically these errors pertaining to your backup can be ignored with a clear conscience.