Backup Media?

GitGud · 2017-09-14 14:27:27

I have broken my installation during updates a few times, and have had to reinstall from official images. I don't have a good solution for backup, and would rather have a way to reinstall the current operating system.

I have already used remastering tools built in to Antix Linux (also systemd-free & deb-based), but i think that operates differently. The goal is to create reinstall/repair media with only the essential files to run the system, but also custom files (e.g. my .xinitrc) and some scripts to reinstall packages. Then, I could keep some of these files in sync with my computer at periodic intervals without needing a complete system image.

Before going further, I would like to know if this is even possible. What do you think?

fsmithred · 2017-09-14 17:39:27

You could use refracta tools to create a bootable, installable live-iso of your system with your configs and software choices. If things change, you would need to create a new iso (not difficult) or an alternative would be to make a live-usb with persistence, boot it on another computer, and then rsync the changes to the usb system. The alternative is more complex, but once you have it set up, it's easy.

refractasnapshot to make a live iso of your system.
refractainstaller to install that system to hard drive if you need to restore.
refracta2usb to make a live-usb with persistence.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/refracta/files/tools/
http://www.ibiblio.org/refracta/documents.html

Important note: You may need to edit the excludes file so you don't copy all your data. There's a 4gb limit on the iso size.

fungus · 2017-09-14 23:09:53

One important difference is that with a backup if your hardware blows up and you need to restore to a very different machine, it may not work or it would take some hacking and modifying to make it work.
With refracta you get a live system that can boot pretty much anywhere (read on the differences of uefi/non-uefii images). Then you install from that live image into the new machine and you are ready to go.

I am sold. This is a gift to all of us unable to create consistently a live image of our system.

FOSSuser · 2017-09-15 11:26:42

I've used both tools & they work well under their respective systems, I don't know if they work across systems, but they are both quite easy to use.
As stated above, check out what is being excluded before running them.
If I remember right, you have a choice of creating a generic system or one with your personalised settings.

greenjeans · 2017-09-15 18:51:02

Adding another vote for Refracta-snapshot in the strongest possible terms. Don't linux without it!

fsmithred · 2017-09-15 20:38:00

FOSSuser wrote:

If I remember right, you have a choice of creating a generic system or one with your personalised settings.

I think that's in remastersys. With refractasnapshot, you have to look over the excludes and decide if you need to add or remove anything. Some of the more obvious personal stuff is already excluded, such as .gnupg, .ssh, list of recently used files, and logs. If you're making a snapshot with some desktop other than xfce, you should check your hidden files.

For example, geany keeps a list of recent files in its own config file, and that file gets cleaned when creating the snapshot. I don't know if other editors do that, so nothing happens to them. I keep the config file in geany instead of just excluding it because I use custom settings for the toolbar.

FOSSuser · 2017-09-16 08:33:05

Ha, ha, you should know.

It was a while ago that I tried it out, & the memory is a little vague.

(Sorry if I misled you, GitGud.)

Last edited by FOSSuser (2017-09-16 08:33:37)

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#1 2017-09-14 14:27:27

Backup Media?

#2 2017-09-14 17:39:27

Re: Backup Media?

#3 2017-09-14 23:09:53

Re: Backup Media?

#4 2017-09-15 11:26:42

Re: Backup Media?

#5 2017-09-15 18:51:02

Re: Backup Media?

#6 2017-09-15 20:38:00

Re: Backup Media?

#7 2017-09-16 08:33:05

Re: Backup Media?

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