Questions tagged [backup]
Backup is the activity of copying files or databases so that they will be preserved in case of equipment failure or other catastrophe. This tag covers restoring from backup as well.
334
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What's a good back-up strategy for 1 desktop PC?
No, this is not a comparison of back-up tools, nor is it a solicitation on What to backup or Why and only a little bit about Where to backup and When to do it.
This is basically a strategy question: ...
343
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38
answers
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Comparison of backup tools
This question exists because it has historical significance, but it is not considered a good, on-topic question for this site, so please do not use it as evidence that you can ask similar questions ...
336
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15
answers
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How to backup settings and list of installed packages
If I want to make a backup of everything I have done since the fresh install of Ubuntu, what are the possible options? What all should I backup? I want to get all the settings that I changed, all the ...
224
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12
answers
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How to make a disk image and restore from it later?
I'm a new Linux user. I've reinstalled my Wubi from scratch at least ten times the last few weeks because while getting the system up and running (drivers, resolution, etc.) I've broken something (X, ...
18
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2
answers
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Backup/clone live to a new partition which can be booted
Ubuntu 18.04 came out April 26, 2018 and I want to try it to upgrade my programs and convert my data but don't want to commit if there are bugs.
I've shrunk Windows from 410 GB to 385 GB, rebooted ...
175
votes
21
answers
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How to back up my entire system?
If I want to make a backup of my entire OS (including but not just my home directory), how do I go about this?
Is it as simple as backing up everything in / and then when if I suffer a crash, just ...
114
votes
8
answers
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Moving entire Linux installation to another drive
I have Ubuntu 14.04 with a lot of packages and work-related stuff that I am very happy with it. It is installed on my main SSD drive which is a 120GB one (I had chosen "/" when I installed ...
64
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5
answers
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How do I move (copy) my entire Ubuntu system to a different hard disk?
The HDD I have my Ubuntu installed is about to fail. I would rather not lose 3 years worth of data, customisation and apps. I am looking for a way to move the complete system (SWAP included, because I'...
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4
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Backup your home directory with rsync and skip useless folders
You can easyly backup your home folder on an external harddrive with
rsync -a --exclude=.cache --progress /home/$USER/ /media/linuxbackup/home/$USER/
I excluded the .cache folder cause I think I will ...
7
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1
answer
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Backup Linux configuration, scripts and documents to Gmail
On gmail.com, I see this:
0.38 GB (2%) of 15 GB used
I have 20 GB of my 30 GB partition filled with Ubuntu stuff, but probably only 1 GB of important documents, so why not use this free cloud ...
173
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10
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Mount single partition from image of entire disk (device)
I made an image of my entire disk with
dd if=/dev/sda of=/media/external_media/sda.img
Now the problem is I'd like to mount an ext4 filesystem that was on that disk but
mount -t ext4 -o loop /media/...
37
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4
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How to list user installed applications (not packages)?
Not packages and not all applications. Just the applications user installed by himself from whatever source (Software Center, manually added PPA, etc.).
If the above is not possible - a list of all ...
77
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5
answers
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Where are GNOME keyboard shortcuts stored?
I usually load a new version for every release to keep my OS fresh while preserving the last version on another partition as backup. I also employ a lot of custom key mappings.
I've figured out how to ...
21
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5
answers
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How do I open Deja Dup as root?
I wanted to backup /var/cache/apt/archives using 'Deja Dup' but it keeps saying >>
Could not backup the following files. Please make sure you are able to open them.
/var/cache/apt/archives/lock
...
4
votes
1
answer
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First full backup on USB: Permission denied
I am new to Ubuntu 13.04. I am trying to do a full backup to my USB and I have used GParted to create a partition on my USB and formatted it as ext4. It still has permission denied errors. I get ...
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4
answers
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What files and directories can be excluded from a backup of the home directory?
Duplicity does already a great job of making efficient backups, but I want still to minimize the amount of files being back-upped.
What files or directories can be excluded in a home directory? ...
30
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2
answers
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Setting up LVM Snapshot as a backup/restore point in ubuntu
Setting up LVM Snapshot as a backup/restore point in ubuntu.
Why?
Well, as I see it, with all the great usefulness of Linux, its biggest drawback is with its mixed up way of installing apps. All the ...
21
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1
answer
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How to backup GNOME terminal emulator settings?
I made some custom GNOME-Terminal settings and profiles, and I want to preserve those after reinstalling Ubuntu.
What do I have to save to backup my settings, and how do I reapply them afterwards?
...
30
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5
answers
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How can I backup my PPAs?
Related to this question. But my concern is that over the past year, most of my more interesting (or used) applications are from PPAs, and just backing up my sources list won't add the associated ...
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5
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How can I backup my programs/applications, so that after I reinstall a new one, I can still use the backup-ed ones?
Is there a way, that I could backup all my programs, all apps, put them in a directory or something, so that I could install them quickly next time, without having to manually going over the app ...
44
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4
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What are the alternatives to Ubuntu One? [closed]
Since canonical is shutting down Ubuntu One, what are the possible alternatives?
I currently use Ubuntu One as a backup service for my Documents folder and various other folders I deem important. Of ...
22
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8
answers
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Backup whole OS
I have to format my entire disk and reinstall Ubuntu.
I have installed a lot of software on my current system. And I will have to reinstall all those updates, drivers and applications too.
Is there ...
20
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6
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Easy backup/restore of installed system?
Is there any easy and open source backup/restore solution for installed (after clear install) Ubuntu system, like Acronis Home backup ?
48
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9
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How to automatically archive a directory?
I want to do one way synchronization.
I am having Folder A on my computer which is constantly updated with content.
Another Folder B is used for backup purpose which is on external HDD.
Now what I ...
17
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6
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How I do a system restore?
Problem I Faced
I installed something that crashed my Wifi drivers that I compiled earlier.
Un-installing the same package doesn't helped.
Finally, I re-compiled my wifi drivers and things are good.
...
6
votes
4
answers
6k
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Simple Backup Solution
I'm looking for a very basic backup script/package for a directory on my Ubuntu server. Currently I'm using a cronjob like this:
0 5 * * 1 sudo tar -Pzcf /var/backups/home.tgz /home/
But I want a ...
45
votes
9
answers
45k
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Which Folders To Include In backup?
I'm quite new to Ubuntu and want to create a backup. I'm really not sure what files and folders to include so that if I restore my system it will be as it is now. I can't seem to find good details of ...
40
votes
6
answers
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How to migrate the whole system to a new machine?
I use ubuntu to deal with daily job. Now I buy a new laptop, and I want to migrate my whole system(programs, packages, data, settings, etc) to the new machine.
I know I can copy my home folder to new ...
20
votes
1
answer
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How would I use tar for full backup and restore with system on SSD and home on HDD?
How would I use tar for full backup and restore with system on SSD and home on HDD?
The existing backup and restore answers don't seem to cover the case where root and home are on separate devices
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4
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Is there such a thing as a restore point in Ubuntu?
Windows has this. Basically what I want is to record the state of the system either manually or periodically and then restore to that point if required. For example, before upgrading the distribution, ...
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3
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How do I remove hidden backup files?
I have files ending in ~ in my home directory, and I want to delete them. How do I do that? How do I prevent this backup functionality?
44
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3
answers
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What is safe to exclude for a full system backup?
I'm looking for a list which paths/files are safe to exclude for a full system/home backup.
Considering that I have a list of installed packages.
/home/*/.thumbnails
/home/*/.cache
/home/*/.mozilla/...
17
votes
3
answers
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Can I restore a backup on a different computer than it was made?
I am using the default backup software for Ubuntu 14.04(deja dup). It backs up weekly to a network location.
I'm about to put a new hard drive in my laptop, and I would rather just install ubuntu and ...
16
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3
answers
20k
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Can I backup my entire Ubuntu installation to ISO DVD?
This is the third time I have installed Ubuntu on my pc along with Windows 7, but every time I install, I have to upgrade all packages. (Almost 300 - 400 Mb). Is it possible to make a bootable DVD of ...
9
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2
answers
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MySQL Automatic backup tools
I use back-in-time for backuping up my projects. but my Database's are not included. I'd like to backup all database's scheduling by day or hours. Is there any tool to backup MySQL automatically?
8
votes
3
answers
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Extract duplicity files manually
I lost the drive, and the Ubuntu OS installed in it, from which I created a backup using Duplicity, and I don't know how to restore the archived files I still keep in another drive. They all follow ...
2
votes
2
answers
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What are "important files"?
I'm fighting the 'too small /boot partition' problem, and it looks like I'm going to have to either re-partition or install a larger drive (AND re-partition?). I keep seeing warnings that I should be ...
0
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1
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How to Verify/Restore Whole-System Backup of tar czf?
I want to test that the whole system backup corresponds to the original.
It would be great to understand some basic tests about rapid quality assurance because I do not have time to always .untar it ...
44
votes
3
answers
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How do I backup ssh keys?
I am planning to do a fresh install of ubuntu 11.10 in my system. Before that i have setuped key based ssh authentication in this machine. Is it possible to take backup of those ssh keys, so that i ...
14
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3
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Why can Déjà Dup not complete the backup of .cache/dconf and .gvfs?
I'm 24hrs into using Déjà Dup. All seems well apart from this error message:
Backup Finished
Could not back up the following files. Please make sure you are able
to open them.
/home/...
11
votes
1
answer
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Absurdly large /proc/kcore file -- what does it mean?
I had to abort a backup of my system because it stalled on the file /proc/kcore. I check its size and, well, the file is enormous. Checking Google, it seems that many other people have absurdly large ...
11
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2
answers
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Duplicity fails with bad session key error
This is the error:
Error processing remote manifest (duplicity-inc.20180712T125810Z.to.20180719T130228Z.manifest.gpg): GPG Failed, see log below:
===== Begin GnuPG log =====
gpg: WARNING: "--no-use-...
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4
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Does "Erase disk and install Ubuntu" option delete/erase everything on the Hard-drive?
I'm just confused. I was a Windows user pretty much all my life. But now I want to switch to Linux for good. I have a 1 TB hard-drive attached to my laptop. As you know, in windows, the total hard-...
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4
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Filesystem that gives an encrypted view of a directory—the inverse of EncFS
Currently I'm using EncFS to encrypt my directory "confidential" to ".encconfidential" and sync that encrypted directory using an online service (e.g. Dropbox, UbuntuOne etc). However my entire disk ...
7
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3
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How can I can clone or ghost my system drive to restore it to a bigger HD?
How can I can clone or ghost my Ubuntu System drive to restore it to a bigger HD?
Something like Norton Ghost does with NTFS or FAT on Windows.
6
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2
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Complete iPhone backup without iTunes?
Okay so I'm having major issues installing/running iTunes through Wine, but I'm in major need to create (and be able to restore from) a full, complete backup for my iPhone since I'm doing a ton of ...
5
votes
2
answers
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Remote full system backup of a running system
I have a system where I would like to create a full system backup.
The backup should include all system settings, drivers, user data, etc. on the system storage drive.
The backup should be usable to ...
4
votes
2
answers
10k
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Cloning multiple partitions in Ubuntu
I am attempting to clone multiple partitions with either Clonezilla or dd without cloning the whole drive which consists of:
A boot partition
A home partition
Seen below is the original installation ...
2
votes
1
answer
1k
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Home directory messed up
Recently, I installed Ubuntu 12.04. For some reason, i backed-up my home directory contents to another directory(say bkp dir). Precisely, I moved Documents, Pictures, Downloads, etc.. to bkp directory....
2
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1
answer
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How to raise up a Rsync environment on WSL to mirror changes from PC to VPS?
I have an Ubuntu 16.04.2 DigitalOcean VPS to which I usually SSH with Putty and make changes in there, but I recently found out I can make a duplicate of this server in my PC (Win10 home with WSL), do ...