Backup your system

How To Backup Your Ubuntu System With Remastersys

Backup Your System

Backup your files

Duplicity Backup Howto

Duplicity is able to meet these specific backup requirements:

1. the ability to be installed quickly and easily via Synaptic;
2. the ability to send backups over the Internet for off-site backup storage (via FTP, for example);
3. the ability to keep and to restore different file revisions over a period of time;
4. the ability to keep the information that has been backed up secure by using encryption;
5. the ability to minimize space with compression;
6. the ability to minimize bandwidth with compression and other algorithms;
7. the ability to run unattended at a regular interval.

To use off-site backup via FTP you need to prepare the other server:

1. Install FTP daemo - sudo apt-get install vsftpd.
2. Configure the daemon - sudo nano /etc/vsftp.conf
3. Add user without a valid shell - select /bin/false shell.
4. Open 21 port if you have a router.

For more information - FTP Server.

If your backup has broken due to any reason - server has stopped, connection has stopped, Duplicity will checkpoint your last backup and continue it from the last volume. This feature is available from DUplicity version 0.6. Ubuntu 9.10 and less uses the 0.5 version. To install latest version of Duplicity follow this steps:

1. For Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) and later add Duplicity Team PPA - open a terminal and enter:
   

   sudo add-apt-repository ppa:duplicity-team/ppa

2. On older (pre 9.10) Ubuntu systems:
   1. Open Source list file:
      

      sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

   2. Add the Duplicity source, for Ubuntu 9.04 it would be:
      

      deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/duplicity-team/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
      deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/duplicity-team/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

   3. Add the signing key:
      

      sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 7A86F4A2

3. Update your source list:
   

   sudo update

4. Now you can install the latest version of Duplicity:
   

   sudo apt-get install duplicity

For more information read Duplicity team - Adding this PPA to your system

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Remastersys

Remastersys is a tool that can be used to do 2 things with an existing Debian,  Ubuntu or derivative installation.

1. It can make a full system backup including personal data to a live cd or dvd that you can use anywhere and install.
2. It can make a distributable copy you can share with friends.  This will not have any of your personal user data in it.

To install Remastersys, the Remastersys repository needs to be added to your /etc/apt/sources.list. Open the source.list:

gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list 

and paste the following:

# Remastersys

deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository ubuntu/

Then simply either reload in Synaptic or you can "sudo apt-get update" and install remastersys.

For more information - Remastersys for Debian and Ubuntu.

Before backup - Remove old kernels

Source - Remove Ubuntu Kernels You Don't Need

Every time Ubuntu installs a new Linux kernel, the old one is left behind. This means that if you are regularly updating an Ubuntu system the Grub boot menu becomes longer and longer with kernels you don’t need anymore.

The old kernels are deliberately left installed and on the menu so you can boot a previous kernel if you have trouble with a new one. But if the new one works, you can safely uninstall the old kernel, which will also result in the Grub menu being cleaned up.

First you need to find out what your current kernel is. Open a terminal and run the following command:

uname -r

It will print the version of the Linux kernel you are running, this is the one you want to keep. It should look something like this:

2.6.20-16-generic

Open the Synaptic package manager from the System->Administration menu.

Click the Search button on the tool bar and search for linux-image-2.

The results should show every available and installed kernel. A green box on the left indicates that the package is installed. The only linux-image you want installed is the latest one. Find the package corresponding to the kernel to you running currently (this is the kernel you found in the terminal window). Make sure you keep that one. Now you can uninstall the old kernels from the list by clicking their boxes and selecting Mark for Removal.

Caution! Be careful of what you remove. Ensure that you don’t remove your current kernel, or anything that is not a linux-image. It is possible to break Ubuntu if you remove the wrong kernel.

Click the apply button on the tool bar to complete the changes.

Your computer and Grub menu should now be free of old kernels.