Backup ISO creation

[Member persistenceofvision]

My question has to do with ISO snapshot. This might be a no brainer question but I just needed reassurance, I was wondering if the ISO snapshot includes all apps installed at the time of the backup? For instance I installed Kodi and I wanted to know if it will restore Kodi as well as everything else?

Thank you!

[Member Xecure]

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persistenceofvision wrote:

I was wondering if the ISO snapshot includes all apps installed at the time of the backup?

Yes. It will make a bootable ISO of your current installed system. It will give you the option of including your user information, so the image will be almost identical to the running system (except removing some specific machine configurations, so you can boot the ISO form any/all other computer).
It is even able to snapshot a Live system with any modifications (even if they are not saved in persistence).

The best procedure for you is to try it and see the result. Create a snapshot (with xz compression, so it results in a smaller ISO file) and then run it on a V or create a Live-USB with the snapshot ISO. Test it out and verify it yourself.

Don’t trust me, trust the results.

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Member olsztyn]

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Xecure wrote:

Yes. It will make a bootable ISO of your current installed system. It will give you the option of including your user information, so the image will be almost identical to the running system (except removing some specific machine configurations, so you can boot the ISO form any/all other computer).
It is even able to snapshot a Live system with any modifications

To add to this excellent overview:
ISO-Snapshot is brilliant in it’s function and unique in Linux world. To my knowledge it is specific to antiX (and to some degree to MX) and not available to any other Linux distro. Nothing else comes close to it in functionality and it is puzzling that other distros can get by without it. Apparently users of other distros are not serious enough about their distros to appreciate such capability of precise backup image of their system.
Their ultimate objective (late in the game as it is) should be a project to retrofit ISO-Snapshot into their distros to add such important function. However nothing like this is being done that I heard of.
This fact alone gives antiX (perhaps to some degree MX too) a significant advantage not yet widely appreciated.
Just my two cents in addition to Xecure’s overview…

Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_Parameters

[Member persistenceofvision]

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Thank you to all for your responses. I was able to successfully create the bootable ISO snapshot. The only issue was after creating it i decided to create or attempt to create a dual boot laptop with Windows 10 and antiX. I installed Windows 10 but made sure to leave some room for antiX. After wiping the hard drive and installing windows, I then booted the snapshot off my usb flash drive and using the cli-installer attempted to install the snapshot and also partition the space i left when i installed windows 10.

i have no experience doing a dual boot creation or even trying to restore the snapshot so it was a tremendous disaster, just as i expected it would. the laptop ended up just booting into windows not giving me a choice of operating systems. When i install antiX I let the auto installer create the necessary partitions because when i try to do it manually I create the primary and the swap but seem to forget to do something right. I do make the primary bootable. I also try to create a separate partition for home too.

I decided to forget the dual boot and just go with antiX but you never know when you need a windows pc or laptop so i kind of wish i knew what i was doing and that it had worked. I don’t even know what mistake i made so it wasn’t even a learning experience. I’m just going to steer clear of creating dual boots.

i reinstalled antiX alone and now i’m trying to figure out how to restore the snapshot which did save kodi. i didn’t open it yet to see if my settings are all saved but the program is there. if you happen to know how to restore a snapshot I’m all ears! thank you!

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by persistenceofvision.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by persistenceofvision.

[Member Xecure]

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persistenceofvision wrote:

I then booted the snapshot off my usb flash drive and using the cli-installer attempted to install the snapshot and also partition the space i left when i installed windows 10.

Could you not boot into the graphical environment on the snapshot and use the GUI installer? Is the Windows laptop a very new device compared to the original system you created the snapshot on?

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Anonymous]

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the laptop ended up just booting into windows not giving me a choice of operating systems.
[..]
I don’t even know what mistake i made so it wasn’t even a learning experience.

video: “UEFI Boot Issues, and some settings to check!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLFUZ6LtqiE

video: “Installing MX, including partitioning for a dual-boot install”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA0QGL2d2Zk
Although the video is titled “MX installation…”, its content is probably also applicable to antiX.
Discusses installation of MX to a machine on which WinOS is already present.

[Member persistenceofvision]

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this laptop is the same exact one except when i created the snapshot i didn’t have windows installed, only antiX. now i reinstalled antiX and also have the snapshot on my flash drive. i will boot into antiX off the hard drive but i cant seem to find the gui installer. where would i find it?

[Forum Admin anticapitalista]

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type sudo minstall in a terminal

Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.

antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.

[Member persistenceofvision]

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On a hunch I checked synaptic and the gui installer wasn’t installed so i’m installing it now.

[Member Xecure]

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persistenceofvision wrote:

i will boot into antiX off the hard drive but i cant seem to find the gui installer. where would i find it?

Three ways:
1. Terminal:
sudo minstall

2. Control Centre (Disks > Install antiX Linux)

3. Searching App select for “minstall”

If you cannot find it on any of the methods, connect to the internet and install it from the live snapshot:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install antix-installer

You can get Dual boot following any of the recommendations skidoo listed. If on a UEFI system, install windows first and the antiX, and make sure to install grub to ESP (the EFI partition).
If you install antiX first, after installing Windows you will need to use the snapshot to “Boot repair” (Control Centre > Maintenance), reinstalling grub to EFI and repairing grub. this hould make antiX boot first before windows.

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Member persistenceofvision]

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Thanks to everyone for the valuable info! I still couldn’t find the gui installer. i tried minstall but i’m lost with that. It wants me to choose partitions and i don’t know what to choose. I’m lost. minstall wanted to reformat the partitions and i don’t want to go through that again. I guess what i need is someone to talk me through it step by step by step and then i’ll learn it.

this really seems more complicated than it has to be. call me crazy but shouldn’t there just be a listing under applications “restore snapshot” or something to that effect? i’ve looked and looked and looked through all the applications and see nothing that even looks remotely like it would restore a snapshot.

so backing up went great but what good is a back up if you can restore it? i have a back up i can’t restore. i’m giving up for now but thank you to everyone.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by persistenceofvision.

[Forum Admin anticapitalista]

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snapshot is NOT a backup app

Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.

antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.

[Member persistenceofvision]

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if it isn’t a back up app, what is it for? what is the point to using it? if it is to use on another machine then in a sense it is a back up app. because one could easily do a fresh install of antiX on another machine but most want the settings and changes they’ve made which means its technically a backup. so do i just run antiX now forever off the live usb i created? i just want to put the snapshot back on the hard drive. if that’s not possible then why create a snapshot?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by persistenceofvision.

[Forum Admin anticapitalista]

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https://download.tuxfamily.org/antix/docs-antiX-19/FAQ/snapshot.html

there is no ‘restore’ option with iso-snapshot unlike ‘proper’ backup software included on antiX such as luckybackup.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by anticapitalista.

Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.

antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.

[Moderator christophe]

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i just want to put the snapshot back on the hard drive. if that’s not possible then why create a snapshot?

I like iso-snapshot to keep for when I:

1. want to “clone” my “really cool setup” onto another computer.
2. want to restore my “really cool setup” onto the same computer I took the snapshot from – because I mucked it up somehow. NOTE: I “restore” it by installing it — whether via minstall or a “frugal” install.
3. want to take my “really cool setup” on a live-usb and use it on a borrowed computer.

confirmed antiX frugaler, since 2019

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