Best Home directory Backup Tool for Linux Mint (& Ubuntu derivatives)

Can't believe I missed this, or didn't remember it-when having these issues with the LinuxMintBackupTool.  I think this explains a lot! tell me what you think.  Most of you guys have probably read this, but, it seems that this tool is mostly for when updating the OS.  Clearly, I think, it could also be used for partial backup purposes as long as one understands how it is supposed to be used: 

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/2

If I understand right, I could reformat root / partition from LiveDVD, and restore root /, by copying or backing up root / from my LiveDVD.  Then once that is done, add my Software Backup files (files added after original install) from the LMBTool?

Wow, did that make any sense, maybe only to those that have been following my problem.  This does not account for Updates, I suppose this can be done after this restoration, as Nick has shown to do after all installs.  Sorry guys, wish I could be more clear, I might just re-install at some point but it don't hurt to go over my options until then.

Edited by pcpunk, 24 September 2014 - 05:20 PM.

I ditched the Linux Mint backup tool for the one that Nick presented in the first part of the Topic. Am not knocking the built in tool, it's just not for everyone. 

Aptik - A Tool to Backup/Restore Your Favourite PPAs and ...

The built in tool probably works better for those who gets all of their software through the official repositories. I did actually use it a couple of times 2-3 years back, as a fallback option, but normally when I move to a new release, I keep my /home partition intact, selecting it as /home, but not formatting it. That way, all of my downloads & most of my software is in place. It even worked for a MInt 13 to 17 install, this type of install is often called a "Clean Upgrade". The main partition does get clean installed & requires updating, but the /home is intact. 

Sometimes though, this doesn't work out. I suspect that by the next LTS, the one that was Mint 13 (that actually was originally a Mint 11-12 install), there's going to be incompatibilities & the new install won't run as good as it should, or may not at all. At a minimum, there will be a performance hit. In fact, 17.0.1 is soon going to be shipped, but through the Update process. Users can still download an ISO is desired, or even not apply the update. LInux MInt 17 will still be supported until April 2019, with no punches pulled like MS recently did with Windows 8.1 customers. They were given 4 weeks notice to upgrade to Update 1 or no more updates. 

Which is something I've never known a Linux based OS to do. And just another reason why I'm more in favor of the Linux OS's. 

 

 

 I might just re-install at some point but it don't hurt to go over my options until then.

All the more reason why you need to shrink that XP install to as little as possible (30-35GiB) & install yourself a second Linux OS as a testbed. You don't have to create a /home partition, and can use the same Swap you're using. That way, if you mess up, it's not your main install. That's how I have it. My main install isn't used to try out new things, rather it's another, where I have less to lose. 

It's still good to keep your testbed backed up, though. 

Cat

Yes, I comprehend the addage, "First, do no harm."  I can see this Bleeping Computer sub-forum is geared differently than other Linux fora.  It is commendable that a flip side to the likes of a hardcore Slacker forum exists.  It is also good to know one's own personal boundaries and limits.  

That I would NOT make a good elementary school teacher I am sure-- Old School experiences have colored me.  I work best with those who have some prior knowledge of the subject at hand and display a willingness to learn.  I like to tell them what I KNOW works.  You, as advisors and members, are saying this is not necessarily the best course of action.  Changing my methodology will take some getting used to, should it prove unacceptable.     

So, as cat1029 and others call for patience and tolerance of n00bs, I ask that such be returned to me should I slip and fall  into old response habits during the transition being called for at this forum.  I ceased thinking like a Windows user long ago and I can anticipate the need to occassionally walk away from a post poorly-worded or obviously unthinking. If do so, please don't take offense!  I am simply deferring to those with more of the called-for personality traits than I may possess at the time!  I am not perfect, nor do I claim to be an expert.  However, I DO wish to help as I am able.

As suggested, I have studied the thread, [Community Standards] Properly Giving & Receiving GNU/Linux Support.  I see it is a two-way street not sufficiently addressed, IMHO.  If I may add (in the near future) either to the sub-section Be Verbose or a new addendum regarding the proper way of asking a question in a Linux forum, I would be more than glad to contribute.  BTW, heyyou325 displays a good attitude and is to be applauded for his humility (of which I may be lacking, at times, but am not an elitist).  Thank you for the invitation!
 

 

Be Verbose or a new addendum regarding the proper way of asking a question in a Linux forum,

Remember that quite often people who ask questions here do not use english as their first language, or do not know how to express themselves for any number of reasons.

I think you will do just fine here. Once again Welcome.

Now get in the forum and answer all the hard questions.

Edited by NickAu1, 25 September 2014 - 01:41 AM.

Meanwhile, back to backup solutions ... nope, too tired. Nitey-nite

Wizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

" . . . All the more reason why you need to shrink that XP install to as little as possible (30-35GiB) & install yourself a second Linux OS as a testbed. You don't have to create a /home partition, and can use the same Swap you're using. That way, if you mess up, it's not your main install. That's how I have it. My main install isn't used to try out new things, rather it's another, where I have less to lose. . . . "

This is the first thing I thought of, as well, when reviewing your partitioning,  pcpunk -- use windows to shrink it.

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Back on topic (as wizardfromoz suggests - lol)-- the backup utility I prefer is Clonezilla. 

The newest clonezilla-live-2.2.4-12-i486 version is a good one with which to start, IMHO.  I like to use the interactive repair fs and check restorability options (not literal), myself, but the choice is the users, as always.  The former finds and repairs file system errors and corrects them (including fragmentation, I believe) and the latter insures the clone will be functional upon restoring the partiton or disk.

FYI: see Distrowatch

 

Edited by lophophora1, 25 September 2014 - 09:56 AM.

cat's quote:  "All the more reason why you need to shrink that XP install to as little as possible (30-35GiB) & install yourself a second Linux OS as a testbed. You don't have to create a /home partition, and can use the same Swap you're using. That way, if you mess up, it's not your main install. That's how I have it. My main install isn't used to try out new things, rather it's another, where I have less to lose. "

I would love to do this, although as we spoke about it I would like to get rid of some stuff first to make it easier/better.

I am curious/trying to understand: When one installs a straight forward install with the installer tool, there is a "/ home" file that is included that goes into the Main/ "root /" partition right?

If so, then when one installs, but has a "/ home" partition-then what happens to the default or original "/ home" files.  Hope I explained that well enough.

P.S. can you believe that I am running on 1Mbps of wirless right now and still surfing the web, albiet not very well LOL, see ya. 

pcpunk, yes if you create a Linux install w/o a /home partition (some experts suggests this type of install), a /home file will still be created, and you can still perform Data backups. Everything that would be in that /home partition will be in that /home file or folder. 

I took notice on some of the optimization sites that the author felt that separate main & /home partitions were unnecessary. It was spoke of under the setting up of TRIM for SSD's, when it came to the point of adding the /home partition. Note that this may not reflect the views of all, or even many in the Linux field, as having a /home partition is recommended by the distro sites, some goes as far as, depending on usage schemes or machine needs, to also have /boot & /temp partitions. So it all depends. 

GPT based partitioning for Linux, like Windows, will require a few partitions. On the other end of the spectrum, a casual user with only a 20 to 40GiB HDD (especially 20GiB), can easily get by with a the Main & Swap partitions. In fact, that was the way I ran Linux MInt for the first year, as I was dual booting with XP Pro on a 40GiB HDD. XP got 28GiB, I went with 1GiB Swap & the rest (less than 10GiB) was the Main partition. Back then, most all Linux OS's would fit on a CD & things weren't up to speed as today. 

For instance, the default Firefox browser was always 2-3 versions behind what was offered for Windows, so was Opera, at the time I'm not sure if the Chrome browser existed, though they had other products, such as their huge search engine. And they also offered a Desktop in those days, though I don't know if it was offered to Linux users. We went through some times. I'd not want to think of 5 years prior to that, at some point, Linux didn't have a GUI as Windows did. 

But you know what? There was a day when Bill Gates & Co. would have relished what Linux usershare is today. 30 years ago, they were fighting for survival. 

As we're speaking, some of their huge usershare is eroding away. 

Anyway, as far as Home directory backup goes, one can backup the one without a /home partition in the same manner as w/out it. Really, I believe the author of those articles has a point. Many Linux home users keeps a backup in place during the install, because they never format their /home partition. So, assuming the HDD doesn't fail (they all eventually do), and the user is paying attention to detail during the install, no personal data is lost when jumping from one, two or three versions from the last. I just went on one computer from Mint 13 to 17 with no troubles, with the same unformatted /home partition. But I know I'm pushing my luck there, a full format will be needed come the next LTS. Some things are just going to be too far behind to be compatible. 

I'll backup just the essentials on that install, my personal documents, downloads, photos & nuke the rest. As Google Chrome & Firefox sync, if used, will ensure the user loses nothing, not even their browsing history. The software, I can clean install these. 

That's another of the cool differences between a Linux & Windows install, one can be up & running full speed on a Linux OS, while the one with Windows is only partially done. With some luck, maybe past the first huge round of updates. 

The backup tool provided by Nick is super cool. 

Cat

I knew Aptik would be just what you wanted.

Yes, am going to place that on all of my Linux installs. 

Great backup tool & 20x faster than the inbuilt Mint one, even if it had worked. I don't understand why the Mint backup tool has to run a full backup of the browser cache & history, have both Firefox Sync, plus stay signed into Google, it's constantly synced.

There's no choices with the Mint backup tool either. Backup Home Directory, restore the same & I mean the whole directory. Oh, it does give the option to backup/restore software selection, that's fast. 

Cat

 

I don't understand why the Mint backup tool has to run a full backup of the browser cache & history, have both Firefox Sync,

Cat, you notice that in Aptik you can unselect that, and anything else for that matter. However I would not suggest people mess around to much with that, wouldn't want to unselect something important, would we?

Edited by NickAu1, 26 September 2014 - 12:34 AM.

Nick, I did unselect it. 

But only because of Firefox & Google Sync. Those were the only two items I deselected, because the browsers were going to sync anyway. What's the point in me waiting for a backup tool to do it? I wasn't using the computer much, so can't say 100% if these were up to date. But they are now. 

On the other side, if one doesn't have Firefox Sync & logged in (same with Google), then of course back these up, to have bookmarks, history, cache & extensions (add-ons). It's preferable to have Sync enabled, to ensure having the same bookmarks & the items previously mentioned across all installs. 

Cat

I bought an ADATA NH-03 "Noble House" 3TB external HDD prior to nuking Windows 7. Ships with FNet PCCloneEx backup software that supports Linux from Linux KERNEL 2.6.31 or later, or so it is said.

The backup worked fine but yet to see how it works with the Linux environment.

I'll keep Aptik in the forefront of options to try, should anything go awry with the PCCloneEx

Tks as usual, Nick!

Wiz

BTW - you seem to be losing weight, I can see bones showing through, lol

Cat, I wonder whether

rsync

might not be of some use here. I haven't used it yet but plan to next few days. Have you used it?

man rsync

invokes an extensive manual under Terminal. I have by no means read it thoroughly, yet, but scrolling to around the "760s" in terms of lines of text brings you to a section on backup.

Ubuntu have what appears to be the same manual, online, here. At their page, a Ctrl-f search as "backup", non-case specific, finds 39 matches, and Match 11 brings you to the same backup reference I was viewing in Terminal.

There are no doubt other references, and more sites with the manual, I am hoping for one in PDF that I can download and view at my leisure offline.

One thing I found particularly attractive on first reading, was the authors' comments as below:

What do you (and others) think?

Wiz

Wiz, I'd like to give you an answer on that, but cant. Just started using true Linux backup tools this week myself with the Aptik tool that Nick provided us. 

Though I've heard of rsync for some time. My deal is that I've been dependent on Windows tools for disk imaging, plus during new installs, only the main partition would be new, the /home partition would be selected as such, but wouldn't be formatted. This is often called a "clean upgrade". Because that's what it is. 

Provided that are no drive failures, and one keeps a Full disk image, that /home partition can be used for at least three new releases, maybe 4 in some cases. I did manage to move from Mint 13 to 17 this way on one computer, but consider myself lucky. Come the next LTS, that one will have to be clean installed. 

From what I've read recently, it looks like the next Linux MInt can be installed as an update, though optional. Read the comments & it'll be seen. 

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2688

And they won't be chasing Ubuntu for their next 2-3 releases, it'll be based on Ubuntu 14.04. 

http://linuxg.net/linux-mint-17-1-will-be-released-with-an-upgraded-update-manager-and-may-be-available-in-different-color-schemes-not-only-green/

Hopefully this will give their developers some time to fix their buggy backup tool & include native SSD alignment tweaks in their releases. One shouldn't have to take the extra steps of running GParted to accomplish this. Evidently Ubuntu isn't doing it either, if so, it would carry over to all OS's that's built on Ubuntu. 

Wiz, it would be great if someone who knows that tool would chime in. Am hopeful that someone will. 

Cat