--- /dev/null
+To restore a backup made via bpcdump:
+
+ - Attach the external sata drive
+ - sudo esata mount
+ - Select the backup to restore, for example ve1200-20080605
+ - Examine the contents of /media/esata/ve1200-20080605/info
+ - Ensure a partition (preferably an LVM2 LV) exists to restore into, and that
+ its size is at least as large as the size identified in the 'info' file.
+ Note the partition's device name, for example /dev/vg0/ve1200.
+ - md5sum /media/esata/ve1200-20080605/image
+ Verify the above command outputs the same signature as contained within
+ /media/esata/ve1200-20080605/image.md5sum. If they are not the same,
+ the selected image has become corrupted and another backup should be
+ selected to restore.
+ - dd_rescue -Ay 8192 /media/esata/ve1200-20080605/image /dev/vg0/ve1200
+ - Examine the output from dd_rescue; ensure there are no errors reported and
+ that it returns without error. This command will take some time.
+ - dd if=/dev/vg0/ve1200 bs=<imageblocksize> | md5sum
+ The emitted MD5 signature should match
+ /media/esata/ve1200-20080605/image.md5sum.
+ - The partition is now ready to be mounted for use by the BackupPC VE. It may
+ be necessary to create the VE's conf file in /etc/vz/conf.
+ - sudo vzctl start 1200
+ - Verify correct operation of the restored BackupPC VE.
+
+This process will be replaced by a script, bpcrestore:
+
+ - To restore an old version of VE 1200 over itself:
+ bpcrestore /media/esata/ve1200-20080605
+ (this command will create VE 1200 if it doesn't exist on the HN on which
+ bpcrestore was executed.)
+
+ - To restore an old version of VE 1200, implicitly creating a new VE 1201:
+ bpcrestore /media/esata/ve1200-20080605 1201
+
+ - Perhaps the script will instead be bpcbackup --restore, akin to vzdump's
+ operation.