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Thread: Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
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    Xubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr

    Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

    I run Ubuntu 12.04.1. I have had problems with installing updates. In fact I am just completing a new clean install, because I installed updates a week ago and it caused system problems. I have a large number of additional items installed (including user accounts and special profiles for Thunderbird and Firefox) and it has taken me a considerable amount of time te get everything reinstalled.

    Now I want to create a backup of my OS so that I can just reinstall what I have running now in case I have more problems with updates. I hope to be able create a "Live CD" with all my stuff (including profiles, scheduled tasks, and user accounts) on it, from which I can boot and do an install on a new partition on my hard disk. By searching the web I found "remastersys" recommended for older systems, but the web site cautioned that it sometimes didn't work correctly for Ubuntu 12.04 and newer.

    Has anybody been able to use remastersys to backup and restore a 12.04 system? If so, what was the procedure with which you were successful? Did you do a restore to ascertain that part really worked? Did it restore user accounts, special profiles and configurations? Are there any other programs that are better than remastersys? Please note that all my data files are on a separate partition that I backup separately using Luckybackup.

    I also found Quickstart http://www.fsarchiver.org/QuickStart that will bit for bit copy file systems. Has anybody used this as an OS backup.

    Thanks
    Last edited by Ralph L; March 16th, 2013 at 01:18 AM.

  2. #2
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    Feb 2008
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    Land of fire and drought
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    Xubuntu

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    261
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    Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

    Re: Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

    +1 for CloneZilla - used it a few times as a backup or when I gave a friend a bigger HDD and wanted to transfer everything. Works great.

    remastersys is decent too for backing up your entire rig, though it's more for a fresh-install with all of your apps and settings kind of thing. I haven't even tried to use it in a long time though.
    When your entire life is measured in one moment, you change the concept of time.

  4. #4
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    Jul 2012
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    Re: Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

    Make it +2 for cloneZilla

  5. #5
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    2,732

    Re: Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

    +3 for cloneZilla and my backup USB drive. I now can do crazy testing as I know I can always restore to what I was in 30 min.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    Denver, CO
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    7,958
    Distro
    Ubuntu Mate 16.04 Xenial Xerus

    Re: Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

    Thanks for Clonezilla recommendation.

    Is this just for Linux installs, or would it back up Windows installations also well (Similar to Norton Ghost or other such disc ghosting software)?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    2,732

    Re: Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

    Quote Originally Posted by kevdog View Post
    Thanks for Clonezilla recommendation.

    Is this just for Linux installs, or would it back up Windows installations also well (Similar to Norton Ghost or other such disc ghosting software)?
    I backup my full HD all at the same time which also includes Windows.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
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    4

    Re: Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

    Being a newbie to the world of Linux, Clonezilla was suggested to me back in August of 2012 to use to clone Windows machines for lab distribution for public school systems.

    Clonezilla is now my best friend, if only I had more time to experiment with all the extra bells and whistles. This software can be loaded to a CD (when Optiplex 240s with flashed BIOS wont read pen/flash drives; or more recent models that can read the bootable flash drive) and allow you to make a complete duplicate of your system at a time when it was still working.

    +4 for Clonezilla. ( Use local device and make sure to select the HDD you want to put the image on for the source (first choice) vs the working HDD you are cloning; recently used a Windows disc to format extra HDD's not used to be removed from computer and formatted my HDD with images on it. Luckily the images were still fresh and only took a little extra time to go grab from each of the labs.)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
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    830
    Distro
    Xubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr

    Re: Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

    Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it. I looked at the clonezilla web site, but I still have a few questions.

    1. Does clonezilla really backup and restore a partition bit for bit? Will my user accounts be restored just as they were on the original source? Will all my soft links from the restored image still correctly point to files on other partitions. For example, my "Documents" folder in /home/ralph in my OS partition is just a soft link to a Documents folder on another partition (my data partition). My Firefox "profiles.ini" file also points to a folder on my data partition that contains the actual Firefox profile. Will all this be restored exactly as it was when the clone was done?

    2. It appears to me that clonezilla will clone a partition only to another partition, not to a folder/file on another hard drive. Is this true? I don't have enough space on my hard drive to store a clone of my OS partition on my main hard drive, so I would like to put it on my USB backup drive. However, I have all my backups of my data partition on that drive and DON'T want to destroy them. To use my USB backup drive as a clone destination, would I have to create a new partition on that drive and get that mounted, or could I simply create a new folder on my backup drive and use that a clone destination?

    3. If I somehow manage to get a clone of my OS partition on my backup drive, could I boot from the USB backup drive and then recreate my OS partition in another partition on my hard drive? I would like to do this for testing the restore capability to see that it really works, without overwriting my current OS partition.

    Thanks in advance for any input.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Scotland
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    52
    Distro
    Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

    Re: Want to create a Ubuntu OS backup

    This could be very useful.

    But cant find Clonezilla in Software centre.

    Jocklad

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