Backing up Linux

The Mad Rapper · 29 Nov 2002 at 10:26

What is the best way to make a complete backup of linux, so that I can save the entire setup once it's installed the way I like it?

TIA

Richard Slater · 29 Nov 2002 at 10:59

If you have another disk to put it on (which I would this is the best way to do it), you could use dd.

Code:

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb bs=1024k

That will make a bit for bit backup of your disk.

Here is more information

Mpemba Effect · 29 Nov 2002 at 11:00

I simply tar the whole lot. You'll create a seperate tar.gz for each partition (except of swap). So on my Gentoo box I backup my /boot and my / partitions like so

Code:

cd /
tar lpcfvz root.tar.gz .

That will backup your root partition and

Code:

mount /boot
cd /boot
tar lpcfvz boot.tar.gz .

and that will backup you boot partition. Although recovering the boot I rarely do. Most of the time if you mess up your system you'll just reformat your / partition and untar the root.tar.gz back into it. This is most useful for Gentoo users where a reinstallation takes a good 4-5 hours on a fast machine and fast connection and perhaps 24hrs+ on a slug machines

The Mad Rapper · 29 Nov 2002 at 11:18

Thanks to both

Why does it take so long for Gentoo to be installed? Suse 8.1 takes me a few hours at the most, and that's including loading additional software and tweaking it a bit too...I guess Gentoo must be far more basic in what it does for you?

Ben · 29 Nov 2002 at 11:40

Originally posted by The Mad Rapper
Thanks to both

Why does it take so long for Gentoo to be installed? Suse 8.1 takes me a few hours at the most, and that's including loading additional software and tweaking it a bit too...I guess Gentoo must be far more basic in what it does for you?

In simple terms, with gentoo, you take longer to set it up with it being configured for your machine. And the result should be a much faster system, than a distro that is configured for any machine, where you'd most likely take a performance hit during usage.

Mpemba Effect · 29 Nov 2002 at 12:48

Exactly! Every app in Gentoo is downloaded and compiled with optimised flags that you specify at the beginning of the install. Distos like SuSE, Redhat etc are binary distros, they have already been compiled for you, but have been compiled to a genetic i386 (if your lucky i686) cpu rather than being optimised for say a pentium4 an athlonxp, tbird etc as well as other tweaks.