Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

nehsa · 2006-09-03 23:18:20

Can anyone recommend an easy way to backup my Arch install? I have tried using Arch as my desktop several times over the past couple of years and it always goes like this:

1) Install and configure Arch
2) Do something silly and break it.
3) Reinstall Arch

I would like to save everything needed to completely restore my system on a regular basis to a network share to prevent having to reconfigure it all the time.

Thanks!

T-Dawg · 2006-09-04 00:14:55

There are several backup utilities out there, bakula comes to mind. I however prefer to do it manualy. I used to use tar to backup /etc and /home as daily cron job now I use dirsync which is much better and faster because it only updates files that have changed. The only downside is that it is not compressed.

T-Dawg · 2006-09-04 00:18:22

here's a copy of my backup script in /etc/cron.daily which shows how I used tar and dirsync.

#!/bin/bash
[ ! -d /mnt/hdb5/backup ] && mkdir -p /mnt/hdb5/backup
cd /mnt/hdb5/backup
pacman -Q | cut -d' ' -f1 | paste -s | sed 's|s| |g' > filelist
#tar -czvf backup.tar.gz --exclude=/home/pkgs --exclude=/home/tyler/.ccache /etc /home
backup_file="/var/log/backup.log"

dirsync /etc /mnt/hdb5/backup/etc -l $backup_file
dirsync /home/tyler /mnt/hdb5/backup/tyler -X .ccache -l $backup_file
dirsync /web /mnt/hdb5/backup/web -l $backup_file

mac57 · 2006-09-04 01:11:11

May I suggest partimage? This excellent utility will allow you to take an image of your ENTIRE Arch partition and save it off as a file. If you screw up Arch, you simply reformat your partition and restore the previous image. Not only is it good for recovering from errors, but I have used it to save off a partition, resize it, and then restore. I strongly recommend it. This is how I "snapshot" my Arch and restore as needed.

mac57 · 2006-09-04 01:13:14

By the way, I forgot to add a critical point. Of course to use partimage to save off the partition, you need to be running from somewhere else. My usual mode of doing this is to boot up a live CD with partimage and use it to do the work. My favorite for this is Knoppix, but many other live CDs may exist with partimage on them. Knoppix works for me, and if it ain't broke, I don't fix it!

syamajala · 2006-09-04 01:52:37

i've always wondered about using pacman for backups. you could write a script that makes pkgbuilds and then makes packages. then when you need to restore your system just install the packages with your backups

dk · 2006-09-04 03:01:55

http://applications.linux.com/article.p … 240&tid=13

onearm · 2006-09-04 09:59:02

http://www.nongnu.org/rdiff-backup/

Sigi · 2006-09-04 10:14:59

I personally use rsync to backup stuff over my home network.

vacant · 2006-09-04 11:17:08

nehsa wrote:

1) Install and configure Arch
2) Do something silly and break it.
3) Reinstall Arch

Given that situation, maybe you're asking the wrong question. I keep a separate Arch partition where I experiment and play. If (a) it works and (b) it gets used, then I'll install it on my real Arch partition.

Arch Linux

#1 2006-09-03 23:18:20

Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

#2 2006-09-04 00:14:55

Re: Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

#3 2006-09-04 00:18:22

Re: Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

#4 2006-09-04 01:11:11

Re: Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

#5 2006-09-04 01:13:14

Re: Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

#6 2006-09-04 01:52:37

Re: Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

#7 2006-09-04 03:01:55

Re: Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

#8 2006-09-04 09:59:02

Re: Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

#9 2006-09-04 10:14:59

Re: Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

#10 2006-09-04 11:17:08

Re: Complete backup of Arch configurations & apps

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