[Solved] Newbie needs backup help

tok · 2016-08-10 21:17:35

Hello all,

I'm new here (and very very new to linux/bunsenlabs). I'll add a sort-of introduction at the end, but now to my question:

I want to backup my system, ideally to a bootable disk. I have an external HDD and created two partitions (because I want one for "don't need it every day"-files). I want to use one of them (ext4 file format) as a backup. The partition is bigger than my built-in HDD.

Now to my problem:

I tried to use clonezilla, but it only recognizes my external HDD(->sdb).

I tried rsync, but I have to admit that this goes well over my head. I am very new to this game, so the instructions given don't help me enough. Can anyone help me out here? Basically, what I want to do is copy my system HDD (sda) to sdb1.

Now a little in-depth introduction:

I've never really been into computers much. I'm kind of a nerd, but more in an "analog" way. For example, I tought myself how to forge knives and how to properly heat-treat them, reading way too much about steel, how it works, stuff like that. I knew a lot about trees and plants (still remember some of it) and when I was still painting, I made my own oil-colors. It took me some time to realize, that this is essentially "nerdism", not really different from other fields of interest, such as computers, programming and such. Thanks to a friend, I got hold of a very small amount of bitcoin, which got me interested in its technology, leading me down that rabbit-hole. Now I spend way too much time reading and thinking about blockchain technology and have utopic ideas I can only dream of (since I neither have the skills nor the funds to let them become reality).
Somewhere in between, it was my birthday, so as a present to myself I bought a nice thinkpad x201 and since a friend recommended it to me, put bunsenlabs on it (LOVE IT, btw! I have some experience with Ubuntu and Linux mint, but both were too… Let's call it "vanilla" for my taste).

Well, that's enough for now, I guess.

Thanks for reading and regards.

Last edited by tok (2016-08-11 19:22:19)

Horizon_Brave · 2016-08-10 21:33:54

How is the drive conneted? USB? When you run the command:

mount | grep sda

does it see the sda partition?
If not, what file system is the sda partition formated as? You say sdb is ext4, is sda not the same?

tok · 2016-08-10 21:48:38

Hi, thanks for your answer

Using your command, it sees the sda partition:

/dev/sda1 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered)

the sdb is USB connected.

both are formated as ext4.

EDIT: I just realized that I can't copy anything on the external hard drive or create a new folder there, at least not by using GUI. I need to be root to do so, which was not my intention. Maybe it is not connected to the problem above, but it still bothers me. Any idea how to change this?

Last edited by tok (2016-08-10 22:23:43)

Horizon_Brave · 2016-08-11 03:59:08

So you can see the sda and sdb partitions and even access them in Thunar... but it's when you use another application like rsync, you can't see sda? Are you running these programs as sudo?

Also, what's the output of

fdisk -l ?

Last edited by Horizon_Brave (2016-08-11 04:00:27)

Sector11 · 2016-08-11 04:11:16

Do you have "thunar-volman" installed?

Description: Thunar extension for volumes management
The Thunar Volume Manager is an extension for the Thunar file manager, which enables automatic management of removable drives and media.

Also look at installing: usbmount and possibly "disk-manager" - makes things easy for new people. Needs your password to run it.

I regularly backup my "home" partition and my data partition with rsync. I don't worry about the root partition as I'd just reinstall Linux and copy my /home back over and re-use my data partitions during the install process.

I have / and /home on two separate partitions and my data partition on another.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-08-11 07:45:00

tok wrote:

Hello all

Hello.

I want to backup my system, ideally to a bootable disk.

I would recommend Refracta snapshot to create an ISO image of your system:
http://www.ibiblio.org/refracta/docs/re … apshot.txt

The program should work fine with BunsenLabs.

I have an external HDD and created two partitions (because I want one for "don't need it every day"-files). I want to use one of them (ext4 file format) as a backup. The partition is bigger than my built-in HDD.

If you want to backup the files rather than the entire system then `rsync` is the tool to use:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fu … with_rsync

You need to mount the backup partition in your filesystem (probably /mnt but could be anywhere) and use that path for the $target.

Watch out for those trailing slashes though:
http://qdosmsq.dunbar-it.co.uk/blog/201 … -to-slash/

KrunchTime · 2016-08-11 08:07:01

@tok: There are different types of nerds/gifts/talents. Just because you're nerdy/gifted/talented in the areas you've mentioned doesn't necessarily mean you'll do fine messing around with computers and/or software/OSes.

You might want to read up a bit more on Clonezilla. Although I haven't tried what you're trying to do, I would think it should be able to backup to a particular partition on an external HDD. Maybe you need to mount the particular partition to which you're trying to backup.

Last edited by KrunchTime (2016-08-11 08:10:43)

tok · 2016-08-11 11:10:57

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

(snip)
I have an external HDD and created two partitions (because I want one for "don't need it every day"-files). I want to use one of them (ext4 file format) as a backup. The partition is bigger than my built-in HDD.
If you want to backup the files rather than the entire system then `rsync` is the tool to use:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fu … with_rsync
(snip)

Alright, that one works

Thanks all for your input. I see, I have a lot to learn.

@tok: There are different types of nerds/gifts/talents. Just because you're nerdy/gifted/talented in the areas you've mentioned doesn't necessarily mean you'll do fine messing around with computers and/or software/OSes.

While you are probably right, I didn't expect that I need to be gifted/talented to create a backup

What I still don't understand is how to mount an external HDD in a way that I can just drag&drop files there without me being root.

Last edited by tok (2016-08-11 11:11:19)

Horizon_Brave · 2016-08-11 11:45:05

tok wrote:

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
(snip)
I have an external HDD and created two partitions (because I want one for "don't need it every day"-files). I want to use one of them (ext4 file format) as a backup. The partition is bigger than my built-in HDD.
If you want to backup the files rather than the entire system then `rsync` is the tool to use:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fu … with_rsync
(snip)
Alright, that one works
Thanks all for your input. I see, I have a lot to learn.
@tok: There are different types of nerds/gifts/talents. Just because you're nerdy/gifted/talented in the areas you've mentioned doesn't necessarily mean you'll do fine messing around with computers and/or software/OSes.
While you are probably right, I didn't expect that I need to be gifted/talented to create a backup
What I still don't understand is how to mount an external HDD in a way that I can just drag&drop files there without me being root.

IIRC, you need to add it to your mount list permanently, by using the fstab command. Edit the /etc/fstab file with sudo, and add in the line you need that specifies the mount point you want. so if you want /dev/sda1 to be mounted at /mnt/backup1 then add that line to the /etc/fstab file. There's a parameter for filesystem type I believe to...look up the syntax, I don't have time to get a link for you at the moment.

Hope that helps!

tok · 2016-08-11 18:42:02

Wow, this thing is more complicated than I thought… Booted up the whole thing without external HDD, told me "start Job is running" (or something along those lines). My best bet is, that it's because I copied the swap file as well. Needed to plug in the HDD to get it running.
I did a rather cruel thing and removed the Information about the HDD from the fstab file. Booted ok afterwards. Let's hope it stays that way (and that I didn't remove critical parts of the system…).

@Horizon_Brave: Thanks, maybe that would have been a solution. But, to be honest, I don't understand the concept of different mounting points yet. Coming from Mac OS X, I have no clue how this works exactly and why it makes sense. Isn't there a simple "plug and play" way to do so?

So much to learn… It's fun, though Good thing I have a backup

Last edited by tok (2016-08-11 18:47:29)

damo · 2016-08-11 18:47:07

^ Example fstab line to mount another partition at boot:

# /dev/sdb1 on /mnt/homedata
UUID=1de8c469-7383-40c6-8aa9-ec352f5829eb /mnt/homedata ext4    defaults        0       0

The "job is running" message is most likely due to the swap UUID, which will have been changed during installation. Get the actual value with

sudo blkid

and make sure any fstab files match.

tok · 2016-08-11 18:58:56

damo wrote:

^ Example fstab line to mount another partition at boot:
# /dev/sdb1 on /mnt/homedata
UUID=1de8c469-7383-40c6-8aa9-ec352f5829eb /mnt/homedata ext4    defaults        0       0
The "job is running" message is most likely due to the swap UUID, which will have been changed during installation. Get the actual value with
sudo blkid
and make sure any fstab files match.

Yup, did that. They were the same.
As I said, after removing the entries referring to the external HDD from the fstab file, it booted up just fine.

For the other problem: I opened the partition as root and changed the permission settings. So for now, I declare this thread as solved (can I change the thread title myself?)

Thanks to everyone.

#1 2016-08-10 21:17:35

[Solved] Newbie needs backup help

#2 2016-08-10 21:33:54

Re: [Solved] Newbie needs backup help

#3 2016-08-10 21:48:38

Re: [Solved] Newbie needs backup help

#4 2016-08-11 03:59:08

Re: [Solved] Newbie needs backup help

#5 2016-08-11 04:11:16

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#6 2016-08-11 07:45:00

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#7 2016-08-11 08:07:01

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#8 2016-08-11 11:10:57

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#9 2016-08-11 11:45:05

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#10 2016-08-11 18:42:02

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#11 2016-08-11 18:47:07

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#12 2016-08-11 18:58:56

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#13 2016-08-11 19:00:26

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