Arch Linux

Shoji

Member

Registered: 2016-01-17

Posts: 5

Bare metal backup of a LUKS encrypted drive

I'm a relatively new Linux user who decided to jump straight into the deep end of the pool and install Arch. I've been a Mac user and software developer since the mid 90s so I feel reasonably confident that I'll get up up to speed quickly. So far so good, but I do have a question about backups:

On a Mac, I typically do bootable full drive backups using SuperDuper. This creates a cloned USB drive that can be used to boot the computer in the event of an internal drive failure, or if I need to boot a different computer using my backup drive. This approach also lets me run multiple computers (desktop, laptop) that are 100% identical. Since SuperDuper just backs up/restores changed files, I can keep two computers perfectly in sync with very little effort.

What I'm wondering is whether there is a similar solution for Linux? I'm running a dual boot system with Windows 10 and Arch, so ideally I'd like to find a backup solution that allows me to clone the entire drive and retain all the partitions. I tried Clonezilla, but it doesn't seem to even recognize a LUKS encrypted drive. I looked at dd, but from what I gather, you can't restore if the drive sizes are mismatched.

Is there a good solution? Thanks in advance.

EDIT: After some searching I found an application called Redo that seems to do what I'm describing. Anyone tried this?

Last edited by Shoji (2016-01-19 17:58:51)

alphaniner

Member

From: Ancapistan

Registered: 2010-07-12

Posts: 2,810

Re: Bare metal backup of a LUKS encrypted drive

It seems to me that an encrypted device would have to be backed up "raw", unless you wanted the backup to be unencrypted or re-encrypted.

---

But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.
-Lysander Spooner

nstgc

Member

Registered: 2014-03-17

Posts: 393

Re: Bare metal backup of a LUKS encrypted drive

I've considered making a bootable "clone" of my system and sticking it on a USB. I've never implimented it, but I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult. I would rsync my OS bits (located in a btrfs subvolume) to a USB that would be just large enough. After that, all I should need to do is change the /etc/fstab and grub menu. I've never done this, but I don't imagine it would be too difficult. Automating it, on the other hand, may be a bit tricky.