Performing Backups in Linux

By mike | Mar 30, 2009

Linux may well be one of the most stable and reliable operating systems out there, but you should still plan for failure. Linux still depends on PC hardware and a steady power supply to be able to function properly. If you are administering Linux servers then this would be a no brainer, but even desktop users should bear it in mind. After messing up my first couple of installs it was something I quickly learned once I was up and running again. There’s nothing more frustrating than spending a couple of hours getting things just the way you like them to lose it all when you mess up!
There are three viable backup types for the home user.
The Full Backup. This does exactly what it says. It takes a full backup of everything, ready to restore if the worst happens. Although the most thorough, it also needs the most storage space.
Incremental Backup. This only backs up files that have been changed since the last time. This still needs a lot of storage space but once the initial copy is complete, subsequent copies are much quicker to manage.
Disk Mirroring. This makes an actual copy of the disk and puts it onto another physical drive. This is a bit extreme for a home user unless you are running a webserver or something and don’t want the downtime.
What you back up to dictates what you back up. Ideally you would back up everything, but not everyone has DVD burners, RAID arrays or spare hard disks lying around. As a rule of thumb, back up everything that a full reinstall of Debian wouldn’t replace.
If you don’t want or don’t have the resources to do a full backup, then I would suggest at the very least backing up /home and /etc. Your /home directory is where the user account data is stored.  Very handy to have a copy of this if you need to reinstall. The /etc directory is where the software configuration files are stored. Having a copy of this will save you hours if the worst happens. You should also consider backing up your /var directory as it contains the data for most of your data driven programs, like any databases you may have.
The easiest method of backup for the Debian newbie is KBackup. It has a nice graphical interface and walks you along the process. It also has a schedule setting so you can leave it to do its thing when you’re not around. You can install it from Synaptic and it is a doddle to set up. Just open the program and follow the onscreen instructions. You make a few choices and everything is taken care of for you.

Tar can also be used to back up your system if you choose to. You may know Tar already from having installed packages onto your system. Backing everything up in Tar is very simple.
tar cvf /dev/device   Where /device is your backup medium of choice.
To restore your home folder for instance use:
tar xvf  /dev/device /home   Again, where /device is your medium of choice.

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