GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

[newindustar]

I hunted in kpackagekit and googled looking for a simple GUI driven system backup and restore solution that integrates properly with the KDE menus but did not have too much luck.. I installed faubackup and backuppc from kpackagekit and could find no menu items for either.

I have been known to break many a Linux installation but am hoping to keep this one as my long-term survivor so want to get it backed up asap as there is alot of work in monitor calibration, gimp and other apps configs., etc. I don't want to have to duplicate that effort over and over again.

The system aspect is actually my critical concern not my documents and files as I can always back those up in a simple fashion externally. My goal is to get my system back just like it is now and bootable with no messing around. I am trying to stick with integrated KDE solutions so the menus work and thinks don't get broken.

I don't know if there is a Lucid live cd yet, I started with Karmic. A standard live cd could possibly be part of the solution.

It could backup up to an ntfs or other hard disk volume or cd/dvd. It would include everything including all apps and mods, documents, pictures, digikam db, etc. so quite likely it would not fit even on dvd. I am thinking hard disk would be the best, external USB or internal.

I am not sure about the restore method, would I need to install a recent clean Lucid then the backup software as one would do under Vista after reinstalling a clean Vista? That was one real highlight of Vista over other Windows.

Optionally is there some minimal bootable cd with the backup software I could create, boot from that, then restore from a separate hd? I am open to suggestions but I am pretty green in Linux so looking for GUI.

Snapshot in time restorations would be nice but a full system restore is the most important.

Thanks for any ideas.
Hudson

[askrieger]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

I'm not sure that I understand exactly what you're trying to do, so this may not be what you're looking for, but ...

Almost all of the configuration information for your Kubuntu set-up (or just about any other Linux distro) is contained in your /home/<yourname> directory (affectionately known as ~/) in the form of configuration directories and files whose names start with the character '.' (which makes them "invisible" in "normal" directory listings). You can see them by clicking "show hidden files" in the settings dialog of your favorite file-manager. If you save these directories and files. You should be able to restore them when you upgrade.

Actually, some package-managers, (e.g. Apt and Synaptic), will ask you whether you want to save your settings whenever you upgrade an existing package. This can be a real drag if you do your distribution upgrade manually. You should be alert, though, to the fact that some apps will have changed the formats of their settings files in any given semi-annual upgrade. So be prepared for minor glitches.

[newindustar]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

Hmm I did not realize that regarding ~/ .. Well let's do a case scenario. I started with the Karmic live cd and I see there is not one for 10. yet. I did system update as they came out to get to 10 beta 4 from Karmic. I also did a lot of work to get argyll and dispcal gui working and installed a lot of graphic apps and tweaked those. I have my system working just fine the way I want.


Lets say somehow me current Lucid 10.4 broke badly today and I did not have the skill or time to try and fix it. The only thing I could do is reach for the Karmic live cd and do a clean system install.

Say I has all my user directories (from Lucid) backed up on another media. Are you saying if I copied those back my system would suddenly become 10.4 with 4.4.2 and all my display calibration software and system icc color profiles and custom Gimp would be back again?

[askrieger]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

IF your backup included ALL your "~/.*" files and directories, it would be pretty close*.

*Some programs may not follow the standard conventions for configuration files.

[newindustar]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

Ok, hold on a sec.

1. Let's pretend we did a brand new install of Karmic on one disk and a new install of Lucid on another and made no mods nor installed anything. My user directory would be effectively empty on both of them so the difference in Karmic and Lucid at the system level is not a function of my user directories right?

2. Following the logic in point one restoring my user directories from my current modified and customised Lucid disk into my fresh Karmic disk might get some apps and settings back but I can not imagine I would have a Lucid system like onn my original disk.

3. I could see if I restored the entire /// from my original modified Lucid disk over the top of my fresh Karmic install perhaps I would have a Lucid and my apps but why do I feel it would be broken after the attempt?

[askrieger]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

I have no idea why you think your system would be broken. I suspect that most/many(?) things would work fine. However, all packages that changed either the location or the content of their configuration files would crash. Depending on the importance of the packages that crashed your system could be either unusable or nearly perfect. I am not a (*)buntu developer and I have absolutely no idea of how many packages make "trivial" changes in their configuration files from one release to another.

Remember there are no guarantees in real life.

[newindustar]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

I think I had not phrased my initial request as well as I could have. What I am looking for is information on backing up my entire partition including boot loader. If I broke my system I could boot from a live cd and restore my entire system into a partition and have it boot identically to how it was before it broke.

Backing up data or configuration only was not my purpose but my entire system that would be bootable after restoration. I don't have a Lucid Live cd only a Karmic.

If this clarifies things how would I go about it?
Thanks

[askrieger]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

If I wanted to backup my entire system, I would do exactly that. I would copy EVERYTHING from '/' on down to an external hard drive. In my case, this would require approximately 18 GiB, because I already keep a lot of "just-in-case stuff" that I don't really use (or need) on external storage. There are many inexpensive storage media that can easily handle this amount of material. However, I really wouldn't bother doing so. What I plan to do next week, (when I upgrade to Lucid), is to copy my /home/* directory tree to my external drive. If my upgrade fails (that happens, perhaps every two years, or so), I will reinstall Karmic from a CD and reload my /home/* tree from my external drive. I will be back in business in hours. (I know that many people have much larger data collections than I have, but the principal is the same and storage is cheap.)

You can find out how much storage you need, by starting a konsole (or yakuake) and entering the command:

df -h

This will tell you how much space you are using in each of the partitions on your hard drive. A few mouse clicks at your favorite internet electronics shop (or a jaunt to your neighborhood mall), will get you all the storage you require for less than it costs to go to a sporting event.

Please let me know if I have misunderstood what you are trying to do.

[sithlord48]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

you might want to look in to remastersys. it will allow you to create a backup install disk of your system or create custom live (and installable) buntu disks all based on your current set up .

[Snowhog]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

The problem with Remastersys, run from the GUI, is that if your combined system (root file system and user home), when compressed as an .iso file, is larger than a standard CD, it won't create the .iso file. It tells you that the resulting .iso is to large, and to basically clean up/remove files/data in order to get the .iso to a size that will fit on a CD. I tried this evening.

[sithlord48]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

does anyone know a way around that i just for the first time ran in to that last night.

[growlebear]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

A quick scan of the website reveals:

"a backup to livecd/dvd utility"

...so if the data won't fit on a CD, use a DVD?

DISCLAIMER: I have not tried the program yet, nor done anything more than read a bit of the website. But it certainly won't do my Lucid system if the CD capacity is the limit. (junk stuff collector )

[vinnywright]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

I hunted in kpackagekit and googled looking for a simple GUI driven system backup and restore solution that integrates properly with the KDE menus but did not have too much luck.. I installed faubackup and backuppc from kpackagekit and could find no menu items for either.
Hudson

both of the backup programs you have installed look good I think I would try to get them working and check them out!!

some times the menu dosent get upgraded after a install untill a reboot (and if thay arnt GUI tools thay wont get added)
backuppc looks to be a CLI tool with a http interface for using thrue a web browser.

faubackup looks like a CLI tool as well.

to check if thay installed try the man page's .......open a terminal and type " man program name " exampel........

man backuppc

I never liked Kpackagekit's seartch resalts .......so do your self a faver and install synaptic then just type " back " in the seartch box and a handfull of backup programs will apear.... + you can get screen shots of the program if avalable (backuppc was)

VINNY

[newindustar]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

I have not vanished just having trouble getting time to work with this.
I tried using Keep witn / but ran into problems, forgot what they were at the moment.

I burned Clonezilla's Karmic based live cd which has all their clone software on it. I ran into a problem possibly by trying to fit a larger partition into a smaller one. I don't know if Clonezilla allows that. I am sure Clonezilla is a great way to go but I have not been smart enough to make it work. The bootable cd is a great advantage. If any of you are more knowledgeable than me please download and burn their live cd, I am sure you can make it work, I think it taked care of the Grub issues also

Next I tried using K partition manager to pre-configure the partitions on my target disk to match those on my source disk, Karmic/Lucid with the taget partition being smaller. After that I did KDESUDO dolphin and attempting to copy and paste the entire contents into the target partition I created. I made it bootable using the check box in K partition manager. I am having grub issues now. I don't know how to see into the MBR where I think grub lives and try to make it work.

[askrieger]

Re: GUI system backup and restore for Lucid and 4.4.2

Have you read qqmike's EXTENSIVE tutorial about Grub?