Timeshift -- how to delete folder?



Hey Rocky, long time no see - hope the grandkids are good and that New Mexico weather is kind. :)

Another of our staff swung through and just clipped off your repeat of my Post, as it added nothing, I suppose.

I have some serious updating to do on the Timeshift Thread, but ask away, there, if you need anything.

Cheers

Chris
 
Sounds great Chris. Of course as I age I amenjoying the Grandkids even more. I am just working with a very old laptop that is running Linux Mint Cinnamon 19.1 and I figuring out the timeshift configuration.

As I work with this machine more I will definately be coming back to this thread for some information and advice.

It sure is good to hear from you again Chris. It is summer here, but how is your Winter.

Rocky
 
TimeShift claims that you can even roll back to a different, previously installed distro.
I tried to roll back from Manjaro to Ubuntu. It failed due to lack of disk space. But Ubuntu had plenty of space. I guess it failed to delete Manjaro properly?
 
I just want to say that having been a very amateur Linux user since 2012 and enjoying the experience, I have had a lot of trouble grappling with timeshift since it was installed by default on my linux mint system. It seemed that the more I tried to control it the bigger it grew. Today after only noticing that I had timeshift a few months ago it finally completely clogged up my system and no solution was suggested, for example a suggestion from within the program to delete some files would be helpful for someone like myself. Within the programme I tried to delete some snapshots as described by others, but it saeems only the link was deleted. In exasperation I finally uninstalled it through the software centre, and of course that made no difference at all either. None of my usual clean up procedures helped.
Very fortunately thanks to Shmu's post I used this:
sudo rm -r /timeshift.
A big thank you
I have no idea what it does, and have always had trouble with the concept of having to do things as "root", but I was by now beyond caring as long as it worked.
As I said, up till now I have found Linux interesting but for the first time today I was beginning to think that maybe Linux is only for people to learn at college. But I have finally nuked timeshift and would be very apprehensive about installing it again.
In Windows, I never got the hang of System Restore, which never did what I was expecting it to do.
I most definitely did try to delete folders within the program without success. Is there no simple way to do that? Something is definitley wrong with the way this program is designed, a program that can clog up your system so easily should have an easy way out. Screenshot attached to give an idea of the size of my system, which is a self build based on Ryzen and only 8 months old
Scrr
Screenshot from 2020-07-15 14-22-18.png
 
In a nutshell....Timeshift will only run and save snapshots if YOU access the settings and make the various adjustments to tell it to do so.
It is not like Windows in any way....in that it just "self installs" , and then proceeds to choose a drive to back up to as well as establishing daily,weekly, monthly etc etc snapshots to make and save.
That is only possible after user input

To delete Timeshift snapsots, simply open Timeshift, single click on a snapshot (to select it) and then click on delete. Thats it. (it may take some time depending on the size of the snapshot)

Clonezilla differs radically from Timeshift.
If you want to create complete system images of *everything* for deep storage or creating a second copy of a disc, use Clonezilla. If you want something to create quick system backups to guard against potential breakage when running update manager, as well as stuff ups on your part, or unseen app dramas..... use Timeshift.

read more HERE
 
G'day @benawhile :)

In #10 on page 1 of this Thread, I said

you can ask any and all questions on Timeshift at my Tutorial here

https://www.linux.org/threads/timeshift-similar-solutions-safeguard-recover-your-linux.15241/

I have been using it since version 1.4 (that is not a typo), around 5 years coming up.

... that's 6 years coming up.

Timeshift is authored by Tony George from India, and this page is worth reading, entirely (apart from the commit table at top of page)

https://github.com/teejee2008/timeshift

Down the page a bit, Tony says

Remember to delete all snapshots before un-installing. Otherwise the snapshots continue to occupy space on your system. To delete all snapshots, run the application, select all snapshots from the list (CTRL+A) and click the Delete button on the toolbar. This will delete all snapshots and remove the /timeshift folder in the root directory.

He also says

Disk Space

Timeshift requires a lot of disk space to keep snapshot data. The device selected as snapshot device must have sufficient free space to store the snapshots that will be created.

If the backup device is running out of space, try the following steps:
  • Reduce the number of backup levels - Uncheck the backup levels and keep only one selected
  • Reduce the number of snapshots that are kept - In the Schedule tab set the number of snapshots to 5 or less.
  • You can also disable scheduled snapshots completely and create snapshots manually when required

He also recommends saving the snapshots on external storage rather than in your Home folder or partition. That then eliminates the possibility of running out of space on your installed Distro.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
TO Condobloke and Wizard
Thanks for the links, which I will use if I install timeshift again later, but I am certain it did install and activate itself, maybe it came with the original installation, maybe with an update, I have used this Linux Mint system since November and simply installed all offered updates since.
So by default it doesn't do what is recommended here.
I have to say as well that I remember exactly what I did and couldn't do yesterday and on a previous session.
I remember looking in and deleting every snapshot folder except the most recent and seeing that they were all empty, and noticing it made no difference to the disk space.
 
I remember looking in and deleting every snapshot folder except the most recent and seeing that they were all empty, and noticing it made no difference to the disk space.

G'day :)

That is because you deleted the wrong folders. Let me show you, from one of my Linuxes, Linux Mint 19.3 'Tricia' with the Cinnamon desktop. (click the picture)

6cJ5mxL.png


SCREENSHOT 1 - TIMESHIFT CONFUSION

The File Manager shot on the left shows the folder (sub)structure you deleted from. Note the curly arrows and the path, in my case, saying

/media/root/Timeshift-HDD/timeshift/snapshots-ondemand

(yours will be different, relative to your environment)

Then the one of the right appears to show most of the same folders, but no curly arrows, and my path shows as

/media/root/Timeshift-HDD/timeshift/snapshots

Note the difference in path.

In the first instance yours would have ended in something like "snapshots-daily" or "snapshots-weekly" &c. I only take snapshots on demand.

The curly arrows indicate links only (like a Windows shortcut) to the folders containing the real volume of files.

Note in the two window panes I have a folder named the same showing in each.

If I delete the one with the curly arrow on left, or indeed all the curly arrowed ones, it makes no discernible difference to the volume of space consumed by it on my drive. I am only deleting a link (shortcut) a few kB in size.

BUT (Wizard's but is always close behind him), if I delete the one on the right, I will regain 7.7 GiB in space.

In the end, it is better to delete the snapshots from within Timeshift itself, as Brian has said, and as Tony George says, by highlighting the one or ones that you wish to delete, and then pressing the delete button at top.

You should do this before uninstalling Timeshift too. However if you have uninstalled or purged Timeshift first, then you will still need to manually delete the snapshots as I have described above.

HTH (hope this helps), and any more questions, ask me over at my thread.

Friday here in Oz, so

Avagudweegend

Wizard
 
Edit: didn't realise the age of the thread.

Doesn't matter, if you wish to contribute, it is still live and current, just a different Member :)

And the OP is still with us and has just posted a new Thread in this subforum.

I don't know whether he decided for or against using Timeshift again, what say you, @Shmu26 ?

Avagudweegend

Wiz
 
Just a thought or two. And sp331yi brought up a good point a few posts up, which triggered the thoughts.

There are uses cases for what may be called a rollback and for what may be called a backup. They are not the same. A tool like Timeshift can be configured to do either, or both, but please don't ever confuse them.

A rollback is a snapshot of something relatively small or modular, such as a driver or an update of some piece of software or a part of an operating system. The snapshot provides the opportunity to immediately recover some previous position of stability when an update results in something that is not so stable. An example might be a sound driver update that results in some anomaly in the way the sound is controlled or played. Having a rollback position of the old driver version to correct the unstable version, means you can bring the older, stable driver back and replace the bad update. A rollback snapshot is usually (but doesn't have to be) on the same drive as the place where the driver is installed. The risk is low, because generally the rollback will be done fairly quickly.

A backup is a copy of something, small or large, that should be kept safe for a some period of time. Usually it's directory sized, or even partition sized. The safe keeping decision is usually based on the actual value of the information, or the difficulty of recreating the information. The information may be restored - but doesn't have to be restored - to where it originally came from or be kept for some period of time, based on a file plan or legal requirement. Because the information has value, it should be kept on a storage medium that is separate from the filesystem it came from. This is the concept of "off-site", or at least detached storage applies here. Regardless of whether the backup material is physically off-site or simply detached (i.e., removable USB drive), the risk to loss of the backup data is not tied to failure of the the source filesystem.

If a drive fails, or some other hardware (i.e., motherboard) fails, data will likely be lost. Loss of a snapshot is not a s critical as loss of valuable data, so the risk to the data will dictate a snapshot or a backup. A backup drive can also fail, so a group of backup drives and a plan for backing up data should be considered. Having two, three, or even four drives used in a rotating periodic cycle to constantly backup a source of data is ideal. The backup plan can include some combination of full and incremental backups, as the user desires. There is plenty of backup software available in Linux, and some can even be setup to automatically start backups. Regardless have a plan.
 
G'day :)

That is because you deleted the wrong folders. Let me show you, from one of my Linuxes, Linux Mint 19.3 'Tricia' with the Cinnamon desktop. (click the picture)

6cJ5mxL.png


SCREENSHOT 1 - TIMESHIFT CONFUSION

The File Manager shot on the left shows the folder (sub)structure you deleted from. Note the curly arrows and the path, in my case, saying

/media/root/Timeshift-HDD/timeshift/snapshots-ondemand

(yours will be different, relative to your environment)

Then the one of the right appears to show most of the same folders, but no curly arrows, and my path shows as

/media/root/Timeshift-HDD/timeshift/snapshots

Note the difference in path.

In the first instance yours would have ended in something like "snapshots-daily" or "snapshots-weekly" &c. I only take snapshots on demand.

The curly arrows indicate links only (like a Windows shortcut) to the folders containing the real volume of files.

Note in the two window panes I have a folder named the same showing in each.

If I delete the one with the curly arrow on left, or indeed all the curly arrowed ones, it makes no discernible difference to the volume of space consumed by it on my drive. I am only deleting a link (shortcut) a few kB in size.

BUT (Wizard's but is always close behind him), if I delete the one on the right, I will regain 7.7 GiB in space.

In the end, it is better to delete the snapshots from within Timeshift itself, as Brian has said, and as Tony George says, by highlighting the one or ones that you wish to delete, and then pressing the delete button at top.

You should do this before uninstalling Timeshift too. However if you have uninstalled or purged Timeshift first, then you will still need to manually delete the snapshots as I have described above.

HTH (hope this helps), and any more questions, ask me over at my thread.

Friday here in Oz, so

Avagudweegend

Wizard
Yes, it helps thank you
 
Doesn't matter, if you wish to contribute, it is still live and current, just a different Member :)

And the OP is still with us and has just posted a new Thread in this subforum.

I don't know whether he decided for or against using Timeshift again, what say you, @Shmu26 ?

Avagudweegend

Wiz
I still use it!!!
 
Hey guys,
Interesting posts.
I use Timeshift when I make certain changes such as updates etc. I, like Chris, only save the snapshots on demand. I don't have a need to use a regularly scheduled back up.
Also, I have external drives to save them on. That makes the most sense to me.
All my personal stuff I keep on external USB drives anyhow - pictures, articles, books, etc. Have done it for years. {Don't ask how many USB drives I have! Last count was about 45 - 50}
Advice from an Old Geezer - follow the directions exactly; and make sure you understand those directions. If you don't understand, then ask.
Old Geezer,
Tango Charlie
 
Advice from an Old Geezer - follow the directions exactly; and make sure you understand those directions. If you don't understand, then ask.
Amen to That !!!....we can only live in hope that those who "have difficulty' following instruction on this forum read your sage advice, Charlie
 

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