Backup ISO creation

[Member rayluo]

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anticapitalista wrote:

snapshot is NOT a backup app

anticapitalista wrote:

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.

I want to add on top of @anticapitalista ‘s definitely correct answer. To me, snapshot is MORE THAN a backup and restore solution. 🙂 Traditional backup&restore systems tend to have some restriction on the restore operation, such as: in order to restore, you are typically required to have the backup&restore software running somehow, this might be tricky if your current computer system is already malfunctioning; also, some restore software can only restore the backup to the same hard disk partition, or at least with larger size; etc etc.. AntiX’s snapshot does not need any of that. A snapshot ISO is a fully functional, self-contain, standalone installation “CD”, which you can use to install on any computer, and your favorite application bundle will be installed. Isn’t that convenient? Now I can easily switch among all my computers, and all of them would have exact same setup. Feels so good. 🙂

[Member persistenceofvision]

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Sorry if was out of line to anyone. I’m in isolation currently at my apartment due to testing positive for coronavirus and i guess i’m going a little stir crazy. I was getting frustrated. I had a hard time tracking down Kodi Leia 18.9 for antiX and couldn’t remember how I found it.when i would install from terminal it would in stall 17.6 Krypton. I have a backup (an actual backup of my kodi setup on a different flash drive) and needed to have the exact version. I just didn’t want to go through the headache of tracking down kodi 18.9 which is why i wanted a back up of everything.

I like antiX since it is perfect for my Lenovo Thinkpad SL410, it’s light and i just need it for kodi. I’ve used many distros of linux through the years. everything from Absolute to Zorin OS. I also have used Damn Small Linux (excuse my language). DSL is cool but a little too stripped down for my taste. AntiX is great too but maybe I’m not a good match for it. There is a distro for everyone and I just have to keep looking. I just need something lightweight for kodi and i have tried libreELEC (although I prefered OpenELEC but its not supported anymore). LibreELEC couldn’t find my external large screen tv connected by HDMI from the Lenovo Thinkpad. So that was a no go. Zorin OS is good but it was a little sluggish with Kodi on the thinkpad SL410. I like the windows look to Zorin OS and i recommend it to people who have an older pc that are used to windows. I even tried ReactOS but couldn’t get it to install. I also use Elive which runs on my Azulle stick PC. I still would recommend AntiX but I’m trying out Linux Lite right now and already got Kodi 18.9 and restored my Kodi backup with all my settings (and Add-ons, shhh don’t tell anyone). I’m just stuck inside all day and need entertainment. I have a vast collection of movies and tv shows (terabytes).

Anyway, i might come back again to antiX since it ran fast and is very efficient. Thanks for all the help to everyone! I hope to be able to get out of isolation very soon so i can get some fresh air and just get a change of scenery.

[Anonymous]

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snapshot is NOT a backup app
.
.
.
.

in order to restore, you are typically required to…

but
if you have a snapshot iso at hand, you can
(if necessary, attach the removable device on which the iso file resides, and)
click, or double-click the iso file in spaceFM.
A mountpoint is automatically created, iso is mounted, and in your spaceFM tab you’re now browsing the toplevel directory within the iso. You can freely select and copy (or drag) any files you wish to “restore” onto the running system.

a similar trick:
during a dynamic root persistence session
(and/or from an installed system, peeking an antiX liveboot device)
we can retrieve — from rootfs (and/or or linuxfs) file — copies of recently deleted files.

man dfh
man show-isomount
man clean-isomount
man isomount
man isoumount
man sqmount
man squmount
 
/usr/local/bin/clean-isomount
/usr/local/bin/dfh
/usr/local/bin/dfh-watch
/usr/local/bin/isoumount
/usr/local/bin/show-isomount
/usr/local/bin/sqmount
/usr/local/bin/squmount
/usr/local/bin/usbmount
/usr/local/bin/usbumount

edited to clarify:
useful for selective recovery of known deleted files
(not for a bulk restore of the entire running system)

[Member rayluo]

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Anonymous wrote:

snapshot is NOT a backup app
.
.
.
.

in order to restore, you are typically required to…

but
if you have a snapshot iso at hand, you can
(if necessary, attach the removable device on which the iso file resides, and)
click, or double-click the iso file in spaceFM.
…

Thanks for sharing/reminding such trick! That could come in handy when in need, although that would also require some knowledge on which files should be copied to where. Personally, I won’t bother. My snapshot was built to NOT contain personal files, so I’d just use snapshot ISO to spawn more LiveUSB or Frugal installs. And then, my real backup/restore becomes as easy as just copying files from/to the Live-usb-storage folder. Any computer newbie can do that, without any 3rd-party software. 🙂

[Member ModdIt]

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Hi pov :-).
Snapshot is as others have said far more useful than any backup tool, to get the maximum benefit it has a learning curve.
May I suggest before you rush in to an install again that you take a look at how partitioning in linux looks and works,
how the working setup on your device looks. I tend to use gparted for that, show and print or carefully write down out what
I have before me, especially if dual boot is envisaged. Again a learning curve, you will have to work with primary and secondary
partitions, see the latter as a container to get around some ancient system restrictions and you will be fine.
For linux I always make a separate home, which I do not share with windoze. I had issues with that. Separate home can be a big help
if you have to reinstall or do a major upgrade, or one badly fails, unusual but can happen.

I extend on the info christophe gave, if you do not use Nvidia which is far from universal your snapshot can run live on
many(most) other computers, transfer the customized creation you have made to other devices, either as an installation
or by cloning the usb for another place or user. Moving to a very modern computer, do a live kernel update on a separate cloned stick
or go back afterwords using the rollback function.

Make any experiments live, if they work you can do them on your install a huge advantage, no risk playing and learning.
Go slow, explore, antiX is sometimes a bit quirky to master, it changes in some ways over time but sticks to debian base and a set of
solid principals. Brilliant distro, in many ways the best of the best.

[Anonymous]

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> Make any experiments live, if they work you can do them on your install

a clarification, for benefit of future readers:

Any experimental tweaks successfuly performed on a live system
will carryover to the installed system, if/when you choose to perform a to-disk install.
(unnecessary to redo them, again, on the installed system)

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