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NAME

       bup-damage - randomly destroy blocks of a file

SYNOPSIS

       bup  damage  [-n  count] [-s maxsize] [—percent pct] [-S seed] [—equal]
       <filenames...>

DESCRIPTION

       Use bup damage to deliberately destroy blocks in a .pack or  .idx  file
       (from  .bup/objects/pack)  to test the recovery features of bup-fsck(1)
       or other programs.

       THIS PROGRAM IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND WILL DESTROY YOUR DATA

       bup damage is primarily useful for automated or manual  tests  of  data
       recovery tools, to reassure yourself that the tools actually work.

OPTIONS

       -n,num=numblocks
              the  number  of  separate blocks to damage in each file (default
              10).  Note that it’s possible for more than one damaged  segment
              to fall in the same bup-fsck(1) recovery block, so you might not
              damage as many recovery blocks as you  expect.   If  this  is  a
              problem, use --equal.

       -s,size=maxblocksize
              the  maximum  size,  in  bytes, of each damaged block (default 1
              unless --percent is specified).  Note that because  of  the  way
              bup-fsck(1) works, a multi-byte block could fall on the boundary
              between two recovery blocks,  and  thus  damaging  two  separate
              recovery  blocks.   In  small  files,  it’s  also possible for a
              damaged block to be larger than  a  recovery  block.   If  these
              issues  might  be  a  problem, you should use the default damage
              size of one byte.

       —percent=maxblockpercent
              the maximum size, in percent  of  the  original  file,  of  each
              damaged  block.   If  both  --size  and --percent are given, the
              maximum block size is the minimum of the two restrictions.   You
              can use this to ensure that a given block will never damage more
              than one or two git-fsck(1) recovery blocks.

       -S,seed=randomseed
              seed the random number generator with the given value.   If  you
              use  this  option,  your  tests  will  be  repeatable, since the
              damaged block offsets, sizes, and  contents  will  be  the  same
              every  time.  By default, the random numbers are different every
              time (so you can run tests in a loop and  repeatedly  test  with
              different damage each time).

       —equal instead of choosing random offsets for each damaged block, space
              the blocks equally throughout the file, starting  at  offset  0.
              If  you  also  choose  a  correct  maximum  block size, this can
              guarantee that any given damage block never  damages  more  than
              one git-fsck(1) recovery block.  (This is also guaranteed if you
              use -s 1.)

EXAMPLE

             # make a backup in case things go horribly wrong
             cp -a ~/.bup/objects/pack ~/bup-packs.bak

             # generate recovery blocks for all packs
             bup fsck -g

             # deliberately damage the packs
             bup damage -n 10 -s 1 -S 0 ~/.bup/objects/pack/*.{pack,idx}

             # recover from the damage
             bup fsck -r

SEE ALSO

       bup-fsck(1), par2(1)

BUP

       Part of the bup(1) suite.

AUTHORS

       Avery Pennarun <apenwarr@gmail.com>.