Ubuntu
backintime package

How to back-up everything to restore my system in a new computer

Asked by Fede

I just started using back in time with an external hard drive. As I would like to back-up my full system (including installed applications and configurations) I chose to configure BiT root accordingly through "Modify for full system backup". However, I am prompted that this back-up will only work on the current machine and partition configuration.

If I wanted to make a full backup that would be usable both with the current machine and a different one, which folders should I save?
I would go for the full root folder (" / ") excluding "media" (otherwise it seems to me that BiT copies also the files in the target external hard drive). Is that correct?

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ISIDOROS (imoulas) said : 		#1

Use clonezilla to create a full image of your disk to another disk. The destination disk would be usable as well.

If you want a live backup you can use rsync to synchronize everything from the source disk (eg sda) to destination disk (sdb). Also you can rsync to another machine via network.

Isidoros

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Germar (germar) said : 		#2

"Modify for full system backup" is still 'Work in progress' for an upcoming 'Full system restore' feature. You can ignore the warning and backup your full root folder "/". BIT will automatically exclude the snapshots itself so it won't copy them even if you wouldn't exclude "/media".

But you need to keep in mind that BIT will only backup on file-level. In case of a disaster you need to recreate partitions, restore all files from a Live system and recreate the boot sector by hand (this will be done by 'Full system restore' feature some day). Also it takes a lot of time to backup a full system.

IMHO it is a lot easier to just backup /home, /etc, /usr/local (place all self compiled code in there) and maybe /var and also backup the package selection (take a look at https://github.com/bit-team/backintime/wiki/FAQ#how-to-backup-debian-ubuntu-package-selection). In case of disaster you just need to install a basic system with BackInTime, restore your files and restore the package selection which will reinstall all programs.

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