Ghosting the system drive

raginaot · 2010-11-25 20:59:27

I'm just wondering what I can use to make an image backup of my Arch installation

I've used acronis true image and norton ghost on windows but I don't think they support ext file systems.

jocheem67 · 2010-11-25 21:36:46

partimage, clonezilla

( You could scroogle a littlebit )

llawwehttam · 2010-11-25 22:48:05

I have used clonezilla in the past so can recommend it from experience.

It takes a bit of getting used to and the Debian based version seems to work better then the FreeBSD based version. - Just my experience.

siriusb · 2010-11-26 11:03:37

Do you really need an image backup? Fsarchiver is a good tool for backuping your system, but alternatively you can use rsync as well. With rsync you can easily update your backup or restore your system. And it's fast.

shulamy · 2010-11-26 16:20:23

i use G4U for windows and for linux.

ezik

Misfit138 · 2010-11-26 16:37:18

I have used

# cp -a

with 100% stability and satisfaction.
dd is another nifty option. A google search for dd ghost or backup will give you some interesting options, but cp should be way faster.

raginaot · 2010-11-26 16:39:54

thanks guys

siriusb wrote:

Do you really need an image backup? Fsarchiver is a good tool for backuping your system, but alternatively you can use rsync as well. With rsync you can easily update your backup or restore your system. And it's fast.

this might be better, if I can take single files out of the backup without restoring the whole system.

damn I just wish I had taken a backup before I fucked everything up trying to install the catalyst driver

siriusb · 2010-11-27 10:56:44

Unfortunately, fsarchiver doesn't support backup browsing. I suggest you go for rsync, so you can restore individual files later easily. And you can create snapshots of the destination directory with an archiver, this way you can have a kind of image of your backup as well.

.:B:. · 2010-11-27 11:39:39

Dd's pretty handy (but prone to typos), and if you compress the output you'll get a backup the size of the actual used space on your partition. It won't be fast though; if you need speed a simple copy like Misfit138 suggested is just as good, even better.

Edit: bah, he said all that already .

raginaot · 2010-11-28 02:29:36

Misfit138 wrote:

I have used
# cp -a
with 100% stability and satisfaction.
dd is another nifty option. A google search for dd ghost or backup will give you some interesting options, but cp should be way faster.

will that back up the bootloader and everything needed to boot the system so I could just boot from a live cd, format the system part and load the backup on there and be up and running again?
I ask because I come from windows where this would never work without changing a lot of permissions.
also can I do this even when the os I'm copying is active?

Last edited by raginaot (2010-11-28 02:31:59)

ANOKNUSA · 2010-11-28 16:55:14

I use Clonezilla to back up my root partition twice a week. I takes about 9 minutes to take a snapshot, and less than that to restore it should the need arise. It also backs up and restores GRUB.

ozar · 2010-11-28 17:22:28

FSArchiver working well here... just two minutes and thirty seconds to archive my complete system and under thirty seconds to restore. Of course the archive is only 614 MB to begin with.

Last edited by ozar (2010-11-28 17:23:30)

Misfit138 · 2010-11-29 02:58:18

raginaot wrote:

will that back up the bootloader and everything needed to boot the system so I could just boot from a live cd, format the system part and load the backup on there and be up and running again?
I ask because I come from windows where this would never work without changing a lot of permissions.
also can I do this even when the os I'm copying is active?

If the bootloader is on the MBR, then, no.
However, installing GRUB to the MBR of a drive is a cakewalk.
As for doing this while the OS is active, you'll have to explain that a little further.

ANOKNUSA · 2010-11-30 05:53:29

raginaot wrote:

also can I do this even when the os I'm copying is active?

I believe the op wants to know if the command can be run while the partition in question is mounted, or when the user is logged in.

Last edited by ANOKNUSA (2010-11-30 05:53:50)

mhertz · 2010-11-30 11:40:29

Yes, you can copy or tar compress when mounted and also when in use; that's one of the nice things about GNU/Linux vs windows.

To backup/restore the bootloader in the mbr, then just backup/restore those sectors additionally with dd; make a script with the commands...

Backup mbr and partition table: sudo dd if=/dev/sdx of=/path/to/image count=1 bs=512

Restore: sudo dd if=/path/to/image of=/dev/sdx

Last edited by mhertz (2010-11-30 11:49:48)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-11-25 20:59:27

Ghosting the system drive

#2 2010-11-25 21:36:46

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#3 2010-11-25 22:48:05

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#4 2010-11-26 11:03:37

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#5 2010-11-26 16:20:23

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#6 2010-11-26 16:37:18

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#7 2010-11-26 16:39:54

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#8 2010-11-27 10:56:44

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#9 2010-11-27 11:39:39

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#10 2010-11-28 02:29:36

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#11 2010-11-28 16:55:14

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#12 2010-11-28 17:22:28

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#13 2010-11-29 02:58:18

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#14 2010-11-30 05:53:29

Re: Ghosting the system drive

#15 2010-11-30 11:40:29

Re: Ghosting the system drive

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