Ubuntu Backup – Linux Back-up For Beginners (How To Back-up Your Ubuntu System)
Ubuntu is a Linux system that many people use to store information, but the one thing that escaped most peoples mind is the process of backing up this system if something goes wrong. Ahead we will discuss exactly what method you could use if you choose on how exactly to properly backup this system but this will clearly be up to you and in no way do you have to take what’s said here by heart. Let’s begin.
A relatively popular device in backing up this system is the rsync, it specializes in personal files and folders that have been edited and or new files that were not there before since the last time you backed up your data. The simplistic run down of utilizing the rsync goes a little something like this (Enter commands on the terminal prompt once you’ve opened the rsync):
rsync -av /path/to/source/directory /path/to/target/directory
If your username is something like maybe, Ryan, Mrwest, anything in between and you planned to backup all the files you wanted onto your external hard drive on your home directory you would enter this next set of information into the terminal:
rsync -av /home/alice /media/usbdrive
If rsync doesn’t fit your specification on how a backup device should be, you don’t need to use it, just type this in to shut it off:
man rsync
Okay, rsync was one suggestion; another thing to do is a system restore, I’ve done it on ample occasions and more times than not it’s helped me out quite a bit but unfortunately Ubuntu doesn’t seem to have a feature that matches the Windows System restore yet so if you want to take this route you’d have to restore your entire system as opposed to just one program so it’d be mighty smart if you took the time to backup your other files as well.
If you want something a little more practical and easier to do, you can try out a Remastersys custom installer CD which will let you put a ton of data on it for storage purposes, including the Ubuntu. Unfortunately the device may pick off more than it can chew as it is a large chunk of space and to only use it for one system might make its use run quite thin, so keep those facts in mind before getting one.
Than you have a program called tar that will let you put your entire system, no joke, into an individual zip file. If you have RAR or ZIP file compressed files on your computer now is the time to make use of them, put every file you want to save into this zip and make sure its already on your external drive because the odds are against you that it will fit on your normal drive especially considering it’s a recopy of everything you chose to save on your main drive.
There are quite a few choices out there to backup your Ubuntu system you just need to work on finding them, some will involve editing, others will involve a CD, some won’t involve a whole lot of effort at all but keep this in mind, they do exist. Once you’ve found the method that works for you, commence with the process.