I created a file which I called "exclusions.list" in the root (/) directory:
/proc/*
/mnt/*
/media/*
/lost+found/*
The command line was then:
or simply:tar -cvj --exclude-from=exclusions.list -f backup.tar.bzip /
* The extension .list was only for my reference. You may make it anything or omit it altogether. You may also place the file anywhere and simply include the path, such as:tar -cvjX exclusions.list -f backup.tar.bzip /
I don't know of any.tar -cvjX /home/[username]/exclusions.list -f backup.tar.bzip /
Last edited by newb85; October 30th, 2009 at 11:15 PM. Reason: clarification
Thank you so much. I managed to back up this way. Although I went ahead with Remastersys solution as the final method for myself.
As this thread is so long, I'm sorry but I've no idea whether this question has already been asked, but ......
Is there any reason why one has to use tar via the CLI instead of running Archive Manager as root?
The benefit of using the GUI interface of Archive Manager seem rather obvious to me:
- One doesn't have the potential problem caused by spelling errors. For example, if you mistype media (as mediia, for example) in the exclude list, you'll end up creating an enormous file containing all data on all disks connected, including your Windows C:\ drive in most people's configurations.
- It is also much easier to create the backup file somewhere other than your root partition, which might be quite full.
- It is better protection from total disk failure if your backup file is on a completely different disk to the data being backed up.
Something I'm not sure about though is how one preserves permissions using Archive Manager.
Laptop1: Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pi 2515, 2Gb RAM, 160Gb HDD (2 x NTFS parts), Window$ Vista Home Premium
USB HDD (usually connected to Laptop1): 80Gb total, 2Gb Linux-swap, 20Gb Linux-root (Ubuntu 10.10), 3.6Gb Linux-home, 50Gb NTFS
Great work..>Thank you so much...
It may have been mentioned in this thread already, but dont make the mistake I made and save your backup to a fat32 filesystem (on a USB drive for instance). I had forgotten that fat32 didnt support files over 4 gig, so my backup ended up being corrupted with an 'unexpected EOF' (end of file) error.
I wasnt using the straight 'tar method', but rather the sbackup application, which failed silently, leaving me in the dark and without a backup.
Another error I made using a pretty straightforward method of simply copying my entire /home to a separate external drive using the cp command. I didnt pay much attention to what I had actually copied over, but I had failed to copy over 'hidden files' so I lost all my old config settings.
Last edited by Mustard; November 12th, 2009 at 06:58 PM.
So I have a separate partition that is /home, and I have another 13GB partition that is mounted as /backup
the purpose of the /backup is for the backup file....How can I tell tar to write the file to /backup?
if I add --exclude=/home --exclude=/backup will that make it so that I don't backup those partitions?? I don't want to backup my /home cause that is where all my movies and music is and it would just be too large...I think.
Having about 200,000 files on my ubuntu partition .How long would it take to backup ? Having a x2 2Ghz processor ?
Will this method work for software as well as documents?
I would like to re-install Ubuntu to take the option to encrypt the home partition and I'm trying to do it in the most painless way possible.
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