Backup in external hard disk

[AnupamMitra]

My OS is Ubuntu 20.04 64 bit in desktop. I would like to backup my files in SEAGATE BACKUP PLUS SLIM external hard disk. The file system in the external hard disk is "exfat". Whether it require formatting, if so in which file format? Need help.

[ajgreeny]

I recommend that you format the disk, actually the partition on the disk, as ext3 or ext4.

A Linux filesystem is needed in order to retain all the permissions that the files and folders in your home currently have; exfat will not understand Linux permissions so could cause problems when you restore, if you ever need to.

[tea for one]

I recommend that you format the disk, actually the partition on the disk, as ext3 or ext4.

A Linux filesystem is needed in order to retain all the permissions that the files and folders in your home currently have; exact will not understand Linux permissions so could cause problems when you restore, if you ever need to.

A little typo here - exfat

Also, assuming your external drive is reasonably large, you may want to create separate partitions for different purposes.

For example:-

A partition for each user
A partition solely for Music or Videos
A partition for Study or Work data

[AnupamMitra]

A little typo here - exfat

Also, assuming your external drive is reasonably large, you may want to create separate partitions for different purposes.

For example:-

A partition for each user
A partition solely for Music or Videos
A partition for Study or Work data

Thanks. Yes, the size is 2 TB.

[AnupamMitra]

I recommend that you format the disk, actually the partition on the disk, as ext3 or ext4.

A Linux filesystem is needed in order to retain all the permissions that the files and folders in your home currently have; exact will not understand Linux permissions so could cause problems when you restore, if you ever need to.

As per your suggestion I started formatting the external hard disk to ext3 through GParted. But it is taking much time, three hours back I started it and it is still continuing. Is it normal and okay?

[TheFu]

As per your suggestion I started formatting the external hard disk to ext3 through GParted. But it is taking much time, three hours back I started it and it is still continuing. Is it normal and okay?

ext3 is older than ext4, but ext4 has been well proven the 15 yrs. Linux doesn't have just 1 file system, there are 20 currently used today. Each is good for specific needs. ext4 is a good, general purpose, journalled, file system. There are others like xfs, btrfs, zfs and f2fs which each have good uses. For flash storage, f2fs s designed to be fast, but minimize writes. f2fs rivals ext4 in performance. Xfs s good for fast access of huge flles and handles PB or data, but it cannot be shrunk like ext4 can.

There are other storage management layers possible too. These are advanced, but can provide some useful capabilities. If ext4 is used on LVM, formatting should be less than 5 seconds.

I suspect the slowness s a mix of the interface used and ext3. I'd use ext4 as my default choice. An unpowered, external, 2.5 inch, usb-connected hdd will always be slow.

[AnupamMitra]

ext3 is older than ext4, but ext4 has been well proven the 15 yrs. Linux doesn't have just 1 file system, there are 20 currently used today. Each is good for specific needs. ext4 is a good, general purpose, journalled, file system. There are others like xfs, btrfs, zfs and f2fs which each have good uses. For flash storage, f2fs s designed to be fast, but minimize writes. f2fs rivals ext4 in performance. Xfs s good for fast access of huge flles and handles PB or data, but it cannot be shrunk like ext4 can.

There are other storage management layers possible too. These are advanced, but can provide some useful capabilities. If ext4 is used on LVM, formatting should be less than 5 seconds.

I suspect the slowness s a mix of the interface used and ext3. I'd use ext4 as my default choice. An unpowered, external, 2.5 inch, usb-connected hdd will always be slow.

Thanks a lot. After spending more than four hours I cancelled it as the formatting couldn't be finished and switched over to ext4 and it took less than 5 minutes. Will you please guide me step by step as to how I backup my files from desktop to external hard disk?

[TheFu]

Someone else will need to do step-by-step. I assume some background already, which may not be sufficient for your skill level.

A simple backup script: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread....2#post13973172

There are threads in these forums and information at help.ubuntu.com and in http://linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php for any needed background skills.
Just copying files is NOT a sufficient backup.

[AnupamMitra]

Someone else will need to do step-by-step. I assume some background already, which may not be sufficient for your skill level.

A simple backup script: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread....2#post13973172

There are threads in these forums and information at help.ubuntu.com and in http://linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php for any needed background skills.
Just copying files is NOT a sufficient backup.

I read the backup script in the given link. I tried to do according to my ability but couldn't succeed. The outcome is given below. Frankly speaking I'm a layman and trying to learn at the old age of 70.

anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ /bin/bash
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ Simple /home/ backup script
Simple: command not found
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ sudo/Simple /home/ backup script
bash: sudo/Simple: No such file or directory
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ sudo/Simple/home/back script
bash: sudo/Simple/home/back: No such file or directory
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ sudo/home/backup script
bash: sudo/home/backup: No such file or directory
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ "/home"
bash: /home: Is a directory
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ SOURCE="/home"
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ TARGET=/mnt/Backups/$HOSTNAME
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ HOWMANY="365D"
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ mounted to /mnt/Backups/
mounted: command not found
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$ /bin/mkdir  -p "$TARGET"
/bin/mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/mnt/Backups’: Permission denied
anupam@anupam-ubuntu:~$

[The Cog]

You have not copied that script correctly.
The first line begins with "#!/bin", not "/bin".
Similarly, the next few lines should all start with "#" which you have missed.