System Backup (Solved)

[Member partsman]

Hello all 🙂
OK another question !
I am a long time puppy fan so I like to run my system in ram from a usb with full persistence “root and home” “with semi-automatic save”
As I am sure it is documented somewhere “and I missed it” lol !
How can I backup my system ? “Just in case I wreck it !” lol !
One of the best things about running in ram is I can tear the system apart and see what makes it tic and I decide if I want to save
or not ! awesome ! Love it ! 🙂
Thanks again to all that reply 😉

• This topic was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by partsman.

Anyone can build a fast processor. The trick is to build a fast system. (Seymour Cray)

[Forum Admin rokytnji]

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Somebody may give a better answer. Using the red Link in my sig I get

link

Excuse me cuz we are busy cooking

https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/recipe-thread/

Sometimes I drive a crooked road to get my mind straight.
Not all who Wander are Lost.
I'm not outa place. I'm from outer space.

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[Forum Admin BitJam]

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1) Everything for you live system is in the directory /live/boot-dev/antiX/. You can do a perfect backup (as root) with:

cp -a /live/boot-dev/antiX /live/boot-dev/backup-01

Currently, normal users can’t read the /live directory but that may change in the next iteration. You can add entries to your bootloaders to boot from that backup. Here is an example for syslinux.cfg:

LABEL backup-01
    MENU LABEL antiX-17_x64_backup-01
    KERNEL /antiX/backup-01/vmlinuz
    APPEND bdir=backup-01 quiet splash=v disable=lx
    INITRD /antiX/backup-01/initrd.gz

The non-obvious part is the “bdir=backup-01” cheat. We call that the “boot directory” and it is at the core of the design of our live system.

2) Doing a live-remaster (which requires more cpu than the simple copy because we rebuild the linuxfs file) is another way to back up. When you do repeated remasters we offer to archive the older linuxfs files for you. The “rolllback” cheat will get back to the previous system after a remaster but we don’t have an automatic way of going back more than one. If you choose to archive your linuxfs files, it is pretty easy to retrieve them via the command line. Often, the combination of root persistence and live-remaster (with the “rollback” cheat) will suffice.

3) You can use the snapshot program to create an iso file backup but it is just as expensive cpu-wise as a remaster.

4) The live-usb-maker program will “clone” your live system to a new live-usb. The clone won’t include your rootfs or homefs files but it will include your bootloader customizations. This is much faster than snapshot or remaster because it doesn’t rebuild the linuxfs (squashfs) file.

I hope you get a chance to explore several of these options.

PS: code tags didn’t work.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by BitJam.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by rokytnji.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by rokytnji.

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[Forum Admin anticapitalista]

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Test code tag

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

antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.

[Forum Admin BitJam]

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Code tags are still not working in that post. I will send you a screen shot and the bbcode. Perhaps the problem is multiple code blocks or something like that.

Context is worth 80 IQ points -- Alan Kay

[Forum Admin rokytnji]

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Hit code tag twice BitJam. Like so

I never know what I am doing. I just poke and hope

To fix your post with my admin edit. Highlighting and selecting code button is a wash out. It don’t work.
To fix it. I had to highlight. Select cut. Backspace out previous code block button presses.

Hit the code button after that.
Paste you text.
Hit the coe button again.
Then submit.

Convoluted I know. But I specialize in convoluted.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by rokytnji.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by rokytnji.

Sometimes I drive a crooked road to get my mind straight.
Not all who Wander are Lost.
I'm not outa place. I'm from outer space.

Linux Registered User # 475019
How to Search for AntiX solutions to your problems

[Member partsman]

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Hi all 🙂
@ rokytnji Thanks for the links 🙂 Really enjoy your recipe thread ! 🙂

@ BitJam Thanks ! You have gave me exactly what I was looking for !
Lots of info in there thanks !

Thanks to all Very good thing you got going here !
Its much appreciated ! 🙂

I am going to mark the thread as solved !
But anyone else has another method please do feel free to share ! 😉

Anyone can build a fast processor. The trick is to build a fast system. (Seymour Cray)

[Forum Admin BitJam]

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Thanks Roky! But … I was having problems when I used code tags around the cp command as well as the syslinux.cfg entry. Also, I just type in the [ code ] … [ /code ] tags (and all other tags) directly. Having to interrupt my typing and my thinking to horse around with the mouse is XXXXXXX … not to my liking.

@partsman, I’m glad you found something that works for you. I look forward to hearing about your experiences.

Context is worth 80 IQ points -- Alan Kay

[Anonymous]

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? Is this a double post
? I had posted, then proofread (cannot preview) and edited… and don’t find the edited post displayed here.

To avoid user confusion/surprise, the manpage and other documentation should probably mention
(bolded here for emphasis)

The live-usb-maker program will “clone” your live system to a new live-usb.
This is much faster than snapshot or remaster because it doesn’t rebuild the linuxfs (squashfs) file.
The clone will include your bootloader customizations.
Because cloning DOES NOT replicate the content of your current rootfs or homefs (this behavior is a feature, not a bug),
typically you should perform live-remaster then reboot immediately prior to running live-usb-maker

[Member partsman]

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Hello all 🙂

@ BitJam I successfully backed-up my system here is how I did it : “witch is basically what you said in option 1 But am sure could be made simpler” :

1: Booted live dvd “original disk I burned” used the Create-Live-USB “live-usb-maker-gui”
and made another live usb

2: Booted my main system usb “the one I wanted to back-up” used option toram and no-persist logged in as root and copied the directory /live/boot-dev/antiX/
to my hard drive “storage partition”

3: Booted my newly made fresh usb “the one I wanted to make as a back-up” used option toram and no-persist deleted that usb’s directory /live/boot-dev/antiX/
and copied the one from my hard drive “storage partition” into its place.

4: Rebooted and made sure by boot options was as I like “same as original usb” saved those settings and booted.

Worked like a charm ! 😉 Awesome !

Thank You So Much ! 😉 PS will have to give the other options a go soon !

Anyone can build a fast processor. The trick is to build a fast system. (Seymour Cray)

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