Recommended way to backup computer before upgrade

asked 2013-07-02 13:33:06 -0600

gusennan
75 ●4 ●5 ●9

updated 2013-07-03 05:27:56 -0600

FranciscoD_
10447 ●60 ●128 ●194 https://ankursinha.in

Now that Fedora 19 is out, I'm planning on updating my Fedora 18 OS to Fedora 19. Before I do this though, I would like to take a complete backup of my current install to ensure that I can "rollback" pretty painlessly if there are problems on my system after the upgrade. Off the top of my head, I can think of two ways to do this -- cloning the entire hard drive or cloning the just the partitions Linux has access to (EFI, BOOT, HOME, ROOT).

Please let us know what methods have worked well for you in the past.

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answered 2013-07-02 21:31:50 -0600

skytux

5792 ●23 ●71 ●122 http://gracca.github.io/

I use an external HD to make an image of the HD of my notebook using rsync:

$ rsync -avh --delete --stats --exclude=*.vdi --exclude=*.iso --exclude=coredump --exclude=$(HOME)/.local/share/Trash SRC DST

Of course, you can choose your own excludes, I'm only showing you how I use rsync. SRC is the source of your backup (in my case, it is my home directory) and DST is the destination (in my case, it is the mount point of my external HD).

HTH & good luck!

Germán.

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I do the same, and usually dump something like rpm -qa | tee installed_packages.list into my home directory as well. etckeeper is a nice addition, but probably overkill for use at home.

randomuser ( 2013-07-02 22:02:08 -0600 )edit

@randomuser: nice coincidence, I also make a list of installed packages :)

skytux ( 2013-07-02 22:49:20 -0600 )edit

Thanks for the new idea. Would you generally do this for each of the partitions that linux touches or just your home partition?

gusennan ( 2013-07-03 07:45:44 -0600 )edit

@gusennan: only the home in my case. Good luck!

skytux ( 2013-07-03 12:48:52 -0600 )edit

I also exclude ~/.thumbnails and ~/.cache, and my dropbox folder.

florian ( 2016-02-08 12:08:45 -0600 )edit

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answered 2013-07-02 19:46:58 -0600

sideburns
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Generally, I use Back In Time to back up /home to a flash drive that I've reformatted to ext4. The program uses symlinks to represent files that haven't changed since the last backup if it can, saving considerable space. Currently, I have 18.8GB used and 10.2GB free on a 16GB drive.

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How do you restore a back up made with BackInTime, let's say from your /home?

florian ( 2016-02-08 14:02:18 -0600 )edit

I haven't had to do a full restore, but I have restored a directory. (I took one that I didn't need any longer, removed it and restored it.) It worked fine. If you need to know how to restore all of /home, I'd suggest that you check with their website and ask the authors.

sideburns ( 2016-02-08 14:06:24 -0600 )edit

No, it's not urgent to know since I am not using BackInTime but I thought of using it in the future (I like the idea of snapshots and saving space through symlink). I justed wanted to check if it's easy and clear to restoring a backup, if needed. Thanks!

florian ( 2016-02-08 14:15:25 -0600 )edit

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answered 2015-01-21 15:44:09 -0600

http80
1 ●1 ●2

what about all the configurations? can this done with rcync?

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rsync -avh /etc /mnt/yourdestination/etc-backup

hannsandersson ( 2015-09-22 10:47:02 -0600 )edit

Most configuration is stored in hidden .files and .folders in your /home.

florian ( 2016-02-08 11:38:15 -0600 )edit

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