6

I've set up a new Linux workstation and would like to create a backup image in order to save time in case something breaks. This is the situation:

  • Workstation: 512 GB SSD, 12 GB used, ext4 file system, may contain bad blocks
  • Backup drive: 64 GB USB flash drive

The backup image should be bootable for added flexibility and, importantly, all programs, configurations, network settings (proxies, VPNs) etc. have to be preserved.

As I understand, a sparse, file-based image is necessary, since the backup drive (and possibly also the replacement drive) is smaller than the source drive.

What backup/cloning tool understands file systems and creates sparse, bootable images?

AFAIK, dd just copies bit by bit and ddrescue can only sparsify blocks of zeros into metadata, but not unused space filled with random data. Some disk cleanup tools offer to fill unused space with zeros, but this usually takes many hours and I'm not sure if this is good practice for collapsing data (especially on an SSD).

I need a reliable, free, and easy solution as I don't have much expertise on file systems, partition structures, boot sectors etc.

david
  • 347

1 Answers1

1

The Linux Live Kit is a probable solution for you.

It is described as:

a set of shell scripts which allows you to create your own Live Linux from an already installed Linux distribution. The Live system you create will be bootable from CD-ROM or USB Flash Drive.

It requires that that the aufs and squashfs kernel modules are supported by your kernel. In some distributions both are included automatically. You may need to install the aufs-dkms package on some Linux distributions.

You would also do best to slim down your Linux installation by as much as possible when the target disk is much smaller than the source.

Sparse files shouldn't be a problem, as they should keep their physical sparse size when copied.

More information is to be found on the Linux Live Kit website.

harrymc
  • 498,455