2y ago

Recommendations for a Linux system backup tool

I am currently using EndeavourOS for my laptop. Is there a backup solution that is easy to use, and can be run from the EndeavourOS install media without internet? (RSync is included, but no other backup tools are included, to my knowledge.) I don't want to use another ISO due to space constraints on my USB.

31 comments

Borg backup. You should be able to install it on your Live session, then restore to the target mount point.
- And use Vorta if you want a gui for Borg backup.
  
  Pika Backup is another user-friendly Borgbackup GUI.
  https://apps.gnome.org/en-GB/app/org.gnome.World.PikaBackup/
  
  Vorta looks very powerful. I know all that functionality is in Borg, but it's tricky to do it right. I'll give Vorta a try on my next install.
- BorgBackup is the answer. Stopped creating stupid shell scripts with rsync and whatever and thinking I was so clever.
- Are you serious? It actually does that? So you have a usb stick with the live environment, then you boot into that environment, then from there you install borg, plug in the other stick that has the back then just restore onto the internal drive and restart? Is that correct?
  
  As long as you don't reboot, your live sessions act like a fully installed OS. At least with any of the LiveUSB sessions I've ever used over the last decade.
  You can install, mount a backup image, then push it on to a mountpoint for your actual install to be restored.
  
  Technically you are able to to do with any live environment and backup data, so the answer would be "yes".

Timeshift. Easy to set up. Easy to use, only takes a couple of minutes to 're-set' your system back, if you break it. If you want just to backup files, documents etc then Cron. I use both. They are standard Linux programs and easy to use

Restic is my favorite, but you really would need to be familiar with the terminal, cron tasks, etc. to consider it a viable option.

Have you looked to see if rdiff-backup is included? It works off of rsync but provides incremental backups and restores. On my servers I set up a script that excludes system folders like /dev, network mounts, and the log files, but it grabs pretty much everything else. Once the script works just set up a cron job and forget about it.

I wrote a Bash script that uses rsync to copy data elsewhere.
It gets launched by a systemd timer, but cron would also work. At first it creates a btrfs snapshot of source, for consistency's sake.
Then it copies stuff. It's incremental, ie. unchanged files get hardlinked, not copied (-link-dest against the latest symlink) into date-specific directories that present the full view of the filesystem.
Finally, it cleans up the source snapshot and rewrites the latest symlink to point to the freshly made copy, if successful.
I could share my script, if there's interest, tho it might look a bit messy. Oh, and these rdiff-whatchamacallits probably do the same thing in a more professional manner. I wrote mine to learn rsync.
- Sounds like a well thought out solution, but we need proper programs which can handle backups, like some mentioned in this thread.
  
  Oh, I totally agree my solution is not "proper" - it's a homebrewn solution, full of duct tape and shoestrings. That said, it does everything I need to do. Which features of "proper programs" would you be missing? Perhaps I could add them for my own use.

Timeshift for system files, Backintime for user data.
- I tried Backintime and Timeshift recently.
  In Backintime I added the dirs I wanted to backup and where to make the backups, pressed "run" and it said there's nothing to do. Uninstalled. Later on I found out it had added stuff to my crontab even though I never asked it for a recurring schedule.
  Timeshift started by asking for the root password right off the bat. Uninstalled. Like, I know it will want root access eventually but at least buy me dinner first. How do I know what a program I've never used before wants to do to my system?
- Neither of those are backup tools. They're snapshotting tools.
  
  Snapshots are incremental backups.
  https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Synchronization_and_backup_programs#Incremental_backups

Not a recommendation per se, but you can use any backup software as long as you can edit your live iso. For example puting the restic binary into /opt

Idk about Endeavour but I use Duplicity and don't currently regret it.

I use backintime and have for a number of years. It is incremental with unchanged files being hard-linked and makes it easy to restore files if needed.