242 replies to this topic

[cele]

I'm planing to install XP SP2 on my EeePC but I would like to backup my Linux OS just in case. Anyone done that?

Tnx,
cele

[Paul In SF]

Didn't your machine come with a restore DVD? You can use that to restore the Eee to factory condition if it turns out that you don't want to stick with the Windows.

[cele]

It does. And there are also drivers for XP. :)

[NZLamb]

If you just want a factory restore, the DVD is great. If you have completely tweaked the original Xandros install and want to keep that handy, you can back this up as well using a Linux live CD and a USB hard disk.

[MrEase]

If I would boot with ubuntu from SD-Card, which program should I use? Or do you prefer "cp" or "rsync"? I want to be sure, that the permissions are backuped too.
thanx for the help

[albkwan]

"cp -ax" will preserve all file permissions. I've done this quite a few times moving my USER partition to my SDHC.

[MrEase]

To be sure: if I want to backup a wohle partition /disk I would prefer "dd", but this has the disadvantage, that the size of the backup would be the same as the partition itself. Furthermore i cannot make a backup of a 2 gb partition to a 3 gb (e.g. copy xandros to a SD-Card). For this steps I woud prefer "cp" with -ax.
Did I get it right?
Thanx for your patience...

Edited by MrEase, 02 February 2008 - 07:05 AM.

[tarekahf]

Please guys I need help too in this area.

Objective:
=======
If my Eee crashed for one reason or another, I need to be able to recover up to the last working image without the need to re-install all the updates I did such as Skype and VLC for example. In addition, I want to keep the changes I made to files like startsimple.sh and my files in the home folder.

Under Windows, it seems it is a lot more easier. I can easily use the supplied Backup program, and request to backup the entire OS and I can save the result on a CD or External Hard-Disk, and that is all what I need to do.

My Requirements:
============
1. Backup the Entire OS and Data of my Eee PC,

2. Backup the changed files since the last backup,

3. Be able to recover the entire OS and Data,

4. Recover selected files.

Notes:
=====
I was reading other posts, and based on my understanding, I will mention what I plan to do.

I have purchased a 2 GB USB Flash to install on it a mini Linux OS like Puppy Linux or something like that. I also purchased 120GB External UDB Hard Disk for the Backup, and for my huge files (videos and photos). I was told that this is a must, because:

1. In order to backup the entire OS, I must boot from a different drive like USB or SD.

2. If the Eee cannot boot from the default Disk, then I can boot from the USB.

3. Once I boot from the USB, I can perform full Backup/Restore for the OS and Data.

4. In this case, there is no need to purchase USB DVD Reader/Write in this case to use the supplied DVD with the Eee. And, it is easier to move around with the USB.

5. I need the External Hard Disk because the USB 2GB Flash is not enough for the backup.

My Plan:
======
1. Create the Bootable Image of the mini OS on the USB.

2. Boot the Eee form USB and perform Full Backup on the External Hard Disk (must use DD ?).

3. Perform backup of changed filed sine last time on the External Hard Disk,

4. Every time there is a major change on the Eee, do the complete backup again using DD.

Help:
====
I have not made anything yet.

Please tell me if this is the correct and practical approach for backup on the Eee.

If you could give me details, I appreciate it.

Tarek.

[gfoot]

MrEase: You can restore a small partition dump to a larger partition, if the filesystem is ext2/3, and then run "resize2fs" to expand the filesystem to fill the partition. Alternatively, use gparted, which can do it for some other filesystem types as well.

tarekahf: I wanted something similar, and I currently use a 2GB USB stick with my own backup program on it. It's a bootable stick with options to backup and restore full disk images or individual partition images, along with a few rescue utilities in case the backup program itself doesn't work. (A full disk image of the SSD takes up nearly 2GB, compressed, and takes about 20 minutes to make.)

You can get my backup program here: http://www.glost.ecl.../eee/eeebackup/

Edited by gfoot, 07 February 2008 - 12:52 AM.

[albkwan]

Quote

To be sure: if I want to backup a wohle partition /disk I would prefer "dd", but this has the disadvantage, that the size of the backup would be the same as the partition itself.

First of all, you can compress your backup image. Just like the Asus DVD image is less than 1 GB for the original size of 2.5G for sda1. See this wiki: Backup and Restore.

Furthermore, you can further reduce the size of the image by writing zero to empty space in your hard disk before you compress it. Do something like this:

sudo bash
mkdir /mnt/sda2
mount -t ext3 /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/sda2/bigfile  # this will take a while
sync
rm /mnt/sda2/bigfile
sync 
umount /mnt/sda2
dd if=/dev/sda2 | gzip -c9 > /PATH/TO/BACKUP.gz

[tarekahf]

Quote

....
tarekahf: I wanted something similar, and I currently use a 2GB USB stick with my own backup program on it. It's a bootable stick with options to backup and restore full disk images or individual partition images, along with a few rescue utilities in case the backup program itself doesn't work. (A full disk image of the SSD takes up nearly 2GB, compressed, and takes about 20 minutes to make.)

You can get my backup program here: http://www.glost.ecl...ckup-0.3.tar.gz

Wow ...

It seems after all that I am not the only person on this earth who have this kind of thinking !!!

I downloaded the ZIP file and now reading the instructions. I have the following comments,

I hope you understand my worries, since you mentioned there that this program is not yet fully tested and some bugs or errors may prevent correct/full backup. Actually, I am from IT background (Windows !) and completely new to Linux, and you know what I mean. I need a spare Eee PC to test it before I go live on my Eee, as I really cannot afford messing up my Eee at this point in time. I have made a lot of updates and configuration changes, and it will be very bad to start from zero, if something goes wrong.

I truly appreciate you help in the following;

I am looking for a simple manual procedure to create a bootable image on my 2GB USB Stick, and perform full backup on my 120GB External Hard Disk.

In the mean time, is it possible to do full system backup on the 120FB HD without booting from USB or SD ? This step will give me some relief !! What is the minimum step I can do now so that at least I can be on the safe side ?

To create the bootable image on USB, I was following the WiKi :

http://wiki.eeeuser....stallpuppylinux

..to install Puppy Linux on USB Flash, but the link to the download page does not work, I am getting URL Not found error !! Any idea if this link requires update ?

Also, I checked this WiKi here:

http://wiki.eeeuser....drosbootfromusb

But I realized that the 2GB USB Stick I have is not enough (need at least 4GB). So, I decided to go for Puppy Linux. But, the download link does not work !!

So, I found there another link to install Breeezy for the Eee:

http://minipc.org/sa...20the%20eee.htm

Do you think that going with Breeezy will do for my requirements ?

The method you follow to create a bootable image, what does it do exactly ? It is not clear to me Which Linux it uses: Eee or Puppy or Breeezy or ..... ?

Thank you again for your help.

Tarek.

[danMdan]

Quote

If you have completely tweaked the original Xandros install and want to keep that handy, you can back this up as well using a Linux live CD and a USB hard disk.

Does this mean any Linux live CD, and not just "Puppy" Linux ? And if so how do you use the live CD to run the backup methods outlined in the wiki ?

DM

Edited by danMdan, 03 February 2008 - 01:58 AM.

[tarekahf]

Quote

...First of all, you can compress your backup image. Just like the Asus DVD image is less than 1 GB for the original size of 2.5G for sda1. See this wiki: Backup and Restore.

Furthermore, you can further reduce the size of the image by writing zero to empty space in your hard disk before you compress it. Do something like this:

sudo bash
mkdir /mnt/sda2
mount -t ext3 /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/sda2/bigfile  # this will take a while
sync
rm /mnt/sda2/bigfile
sync 
umount /mnt/sda2
dd if=/dev/sda2 | gzip -c9 > /PATH/TO/BACKUP.gz

Could you please kindly explain the above code for me ?

Questions:

- I understand that /dev/sda is the internal Eee Hard Disk. So what is /dev/sda1, .dev/sda2, ...etc ? I mean, why you did not use /dev/sda3 ?

- You created a mount point at /mnt/sda2, correct ?

- ...mounted /dev/sda2 onto /mnt/sda2 .... fine ...

- Used "dd" to copy Zeros to a new file named "bigfile" .. not clear to me why ?

- Then did a "sync", so what does this do ?

- deleted "bigfile" and sync ... why ?

- unmounted /dev/sda2 and created a compressed file of it to a backup file, where "/PATH/TO" is the absolute location of the backup file "BACKUP.gz" which could be the External USB Hard Disk, correct ?

- Do these steps give you a complete backup of the entire OS, or only part of the system ?

Thank you for clarifying the above points ...

Tarek.

Edited by tarekahf, 03 February 2008 - 05:25 AM.

[albkwan]

Quote

- I understand that /dev/sda is the internal Eee Hard Disk. So what is /dev/sda1, .dev/sda2, ...etc ?

Read here for a description of devices in Linux.

Quote

why you did not use /dev/sda3 ?

sda3 is for BIOS update only. There is nothing to backup from there.

Quote

- You created a mount point at /mnt/sda2, correct ?
- ...mounted /dev/sda2 onto /mnt/sda2 .... fine ...
- Used "dd" to copy Zeros to a new file named "bigfile" .. not clear to me why ?
- Then did a "sync", so what does this do ?
- deleted "bigfile" and sync ... why ?

sudo bash # change user to root
mkdir /mnt/sda2 #create a mounting point for to mount sda2
mount -t ext3 /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/sda2/bigfile  #write zero to all empty space
sync #sync as Linux somethings keep things in buffer
rm /mnt/sda2/bigfile #remove "bigfile" created out of the zeroed empty space
sync 
umount /mnt/sda2 #good practice to umount drive before you dd
dd if=/dev/sda2 | gzip -c9 > /PATH/TO/BACKUP.gz

Quote

unmounted /dev/sda2 and created a compressed file of it to a backup file, where "/PATH/TO" is the absolute location of the backup file "BACKUP.gz" which could be the External USB Hard Disk, correct ?

Correct.

Quote

- Do these steps give you a complete backup of the entire OS, or only part of the system ?

This command will backup the whole SSD (/dev/sda):

dd if=/dev/sda | gzip -c9 > /PATH/TO/BACKUP.gz

If you replace sda with sda2 in the above command, you only backup sda2, the USER partition. This is what I do because sda1 is always mounted read only, all your custom changes go to sda2. And after all, the DVD restore image is just sda1 + MBR, so there is really no need to backup sda1.

[tarekahf]

Dear albkwan ,

Thanks a lot ! This has clarified many concepts for me.

You said I can use this command to backup the entire OS and User Data:

dd if=/dev/sda | gzip -c9 > /PATH/TO/BACKUP.gz

In order to execute this command, do I have first to boot from USB using say Puppy Linux ?

Do I have to unmount /dev/sda first ?

Will this backup cover the Updates I made to Skype and the new VLC I installed and all other config files I changed ?

To do full restore, I think I have to boot from a USB Stick, and do the reverse dd, meaning:

gzip -c9 < /PATH/TO/BACKUP.gz | dd of=/dev/sda

Is the above command correct, or it is @@##$$ total mess ?

I really appreciate your patience ...

Tarek.

[danMdan]

Whatever you do, do it *very* carefully. The first time I tried to do a full back-up after using the Eee for 2 weeks, the backup data went (because of a command line mistake) on to the internal SSD, filled it up completely, and resulted in the Eee being unable to boot normally. I had to restore to the as-new state using the CD provided, and consequently lost my first two weeks of work !

Now above is why it seems to me to be possibly dangerous to fill the Eee SSD with zeros, because if wiping out the zeros file goes wrong, then you end up with a totally full SSD, making the system unbootable next time you turn the Eee on - don't you ?

So, assuming that you should do the back-up (as the wiki says) when running from a live-CD or bootable USB drive, how, when that is running, do you use it to connect with the Eee content and output the backup to a big SD card in either the card reader or another USB slot ?

DM

Edited by danMdan, 03 February 2008 - 10:40 AM.

[gfoot]

You can backup without a bootable USB stick by using the XANDROSBOOTDEBUG option, but you ought to think about your restore options. If you get your machine in an unbootable state, such that XANDROSBOOTDEBUG doesn't work either, then you are going to need a bootable USB stick one way or another. So in my opinion you might as well make one straight away, and use it to take backups too.

[tarekahf]

Quote

Whatever you do, do it *very* carefully. The first time I tried to do a full back-up after using the Eee for 2 weeks, the backup data went (because of a command line mistake) on to the internal SSD, filled it up completely, and resulted in the Eee being unable to boot normally. I had to restore to the as-new state using the CD provided, and consequently lost my first two weeks of work !

Now above is why it seems to me to be possibly dangerous to fill the Eee SSD with zeros, because if wiping out the zeros file goes wrong, then you end up with a totally full SSD, making the system unbootable next time you turn the Eee on - don't you ?

I agree with you 100% ... filling empty space with zeros, though looks like a smart trick to save on external storage, but not a natural way of doing things, at least from my perspective.

Quote

So, assuming that you should do the back-up (as the wiki says) when running from a live-CD or bootable USB drive, how, when that is running, do you use it to connect with the Eee content and output the backup to a big SD card in either the card reader or another USB slot ?

DM

I am not sure I follow you here ...
The thing that really puzzels me is that whether I should (or must) boot from USB or SD in order to make full backup, and if YES, why ?

It appears to me that when you boot from USB, then the internal /dev/sda partitions are not yet mounted, and hence they are free and you can safely do the backup using "dd", as nothing will be locked by any app or OS process.

I hope that some one could do me a favour and clarify this part to me.

[tarekahf]

Quote

You can backup without a bootable USB stick by using the XANDROSBOOTDEBUG option, but you ought to think about your restore options. If you get your machine in an unbootable state, such that XANDROSBOOTDEBUG doesn't work either, then you are going to need a bootable USB stick one way or another. So in my opinion you might as well make one straight away, and use it to take backups too.

Are you talking about the Rescue Boot procedure that was mentioned in the WiKi ?

Ok, I did follow that part and it is working fine with me. I can do a rescue boot using F9 and I managed to mount/unmount devices while in that mode.

So, you are saying that I cannot do a full backup using "dd" unless I am in XANDROSBOOTDEBUG mode or I boot from USB for example?

I am just trying to make sure I understand what I am doing.

So, I need the USB Bootable Disk only for the in case the Eee is crashed and cannot boot normally.

Also, keep in mind that if I could do a full backup (using "dd" or any other tool) without the need to boot into XANDROSBOOTDEBUG or from a USB, then it will be much more easier and practical to take full backups when needed.

Also, some one could write a simple script that will manage to take different backup cycles (with date/time stamp for example) to a Network Share (or USB Hard Disk) at certain times or events. If you always have to boot using a different method in order to make backup, then there is no chance you could automate this process.


I am really surprised that I am nearly the only user on this forum who is concerned about this limitation of Linux which is "You must boot from a different partition in order to take a backup of another partition" for the purpose of disaster recovery.

Tarek.

[danMdan]

Quote

The thing that really puzzles me is that whether I should (or must) boot from USB or SD in order to make full backup, and if YES, why ?

Because the wiki apprently says we should not, or is it must not ? -- attempt to output a backup from the running sytem.

So as I understand it we should boot from a USB stick or external "live" CD in a USB drive. My question was - once the USB stick or live CD has started some version of Linux, (any version ?), how then do you use *its* console to get into the Eee system and make it produce a backup out to a second USB stick or to an SD card in the Eee's card reader ?

(On my Mac system I use cloning software to clone the entire internal HDD content to an external HDD, which I then keep outside my house in a secure location. Surely doing the same thing in Linux is possible ?)

Dan

Edited by danMdan, 03 February 2008 - 12:29 PM.