What You Need To Know About Timeshift.

[bob466]

Not long ago I started putting my Timeshift snapshots on a 2TB External HDD...I take a snapshot of all files on the Drive not just system files.

Yesterday I decided to restore a snapshot...of course I did this on my spare SSD not my main SSD because I'm not that stupid and just as well.

My spare SSD has Mint Cinnamon 21.1 running...I plugged in my External HDD and selected the latest snapshot and clicked Restore...when finished it didn't Boot...don't know why.

So I did a clean install and tried again...same result it didn't Boot. I was about to say screw Timeshift when I had one last idea...what happens if I try to restore a snapshot from the External HDD using the Mint Cinnamon Live Session.

It worked perfectly...everything on the Drive was restored even my win 7 VM...so this is the only way to go and didn't take that long considering the snapshot was 158GB.

A side note...After the first two attempts failed and before I used the Live Session...I tried to put a Foxclone image on the Drive...it failed Foxclone said it must come from the Drive it was created from...not good. I then tried a RedoRescue image created from my main SSD...it worked just fine. Both SSDs are the same size (500GB) but one is Samsung and the other is Western Digital...the things you learn.

 

[Hillbilly H]

Thank you. im going to save this tip on my "O Crap!" usb drive.

 

[Condobloke]

@Hillbilly H, you mean to say I am not the only one to have 'o crap' moments ?!

 

[Hillbilly H]

lol we all have them!

 

[bob466]

Maybe someone should write a tutorial to avoid the black screen.

 

[MikeWalsh]

@bob466 :-

At a guess, I would assume that these backup drive cloning apps - including TimeShift - make a note of the UUID when you backup a drive. This is a unique code assigned to a drive/partition whenever it's formatted.

I'm thinking that when you go to restore a backup image, the app checks the UUID to see if it matches the drive you cloned originally. They're very clever applications, but also quite fussy with it.

In our case, as I've stated before, the 'save' is the only part of Puppy that you need to backup, since this is where all your apps/customizations live. The system files, being loaded into the virtual file-system in RAM from 'read-only', compressed squash file-system files, never ever change. And Puppy couldn't care less where the save is, so long as it can access it & read from/write to it.

Of course, anybody with a lick of sense will keep personal data on a separate drive, maybe linking this into the file-system to make access easier. If your system DOES go 'tits-up', at least your personal data is safe......which is the product of your own work. This is the stuff you DO need to safeguard.

Everything else is easily replaceable.....


Mike.

 

[bob466]

My mistake was to plug in the external HDD to the Desktop and select a snapshot and restore it as I've done in the past when Timeshift was running from the internal SSD but it won't Boot.

I should have used the Live Session which worked first go. As we know Timeshift backs up system files and settings only unless you change the settings which creates a much bigger snapshot...in my case 158GB.

I want to backup everything not just a few settings and files...I think a Timeshift snapshot would work on another SSD/HDD but I've never tried. As for Foxclone I should have used the Clone feature to put the image on a different Drive...it's always a good idea to have more than one backup solution.

 

[bob466]

This post is coming from my WD SSD (spare) that I've just restored a snapshot...took 10 minutes (158GB) from clicking Restore and everything has been restored...much faster than I thought.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Was that using Timeshift, Bob?

 

[bob466]

Was that using Timeshift, Bob?

Yes it was...from here using this one...

My faith has been restored in Timeshift.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Thanks Mate

...- including TimeShift - make a note of the UUID when you backup a drive. This is a unique code assigned to a drive/partition whenever it's formatted.

Just a clarification on that - Timeshift does not take a snapshot of a drive - it snapshots the root partition of a distro, as well as a separate partition or folder for Home if you set it to do so.

If you restore a snapshot to a different partition, or a partition on a different drive, Timeshift makes the necessary adjustments to /etc/fstab to reflect a new, target, partition's UUID.

Cheers

Wiz

 

[bob466]

Just to add to what wizard said...Timeshift (snapshot)...Foxclone and Redorescue (Image) create an image of used space which includes the Boot partition and the used space on the Root partition as seen here using GParted.

The above is identicle to my Main Drive...the only difference is Timeshift seems to be much quicker. The snapshot can be put on another Drive of the same size as I did.

I changed the Timeshift settings to take a snapshot of everything...

My External 2TB HDD is formatted to EXT4 otherwise Timeshift wont work whereas Foxclone and Redorescue formatting doesn't matter.

 

[MikeWalsh]

Just a clarification on that - Timeshift does not take a snapshot of a drive - it snapshots the root partition of a distro, as well as a separate partition or folder for Home if you set it to do so.

If you restore a snapshot to a different partition, or a partition on a different drive, Timeshift makes the necessary adjustments to /etc/fstab to reflect a new, target, partition's UUID.

Ah. Clarification appreciated. So; most of these snapshot/backup/restore tools are NOT, in fact like Clonezilla at all? I know the latter tends to work with drives (or is it partitions?)

TimeShift sounds as though it's not so different from what we do in Puppy ( 'snapshotting' directories & 'save'-files/folders). Just that in your case it's adjusted to work with the standard 'full' install as opposed to the unique peculiarities of the Puppy 'frugal' one...


Mike.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Maybe someone should write a tutorial to avoid the black screen.

It's very simple, turn on the monitor

 

[bob466]

It's very simple, turn on the monitor

Not very helpful for those trying to learn how to do this.

Maybe you could add your experience on how to achieve this.

 

[wizardfromoz]

are NOT, in fact like Clonezilla at all? I know the latter tends to work with drives (or is it partitions?)

Timeshift certainly not. It is more like Windows Restore but way more versatile.

 

[bob466]

If you want to put a Foxclone image on another Drive of the same size...you must use the Clone feature and choose from the dropdown menu Backup File to Drive.

 

[bob466]

When I first moved to Linux there was nothing that could back up everything on the Drive except clonezilla which was complicated far too slow and no guarantee it would work.

People back then just wanted to back up system files...why I don't know as it's like having only one shoe. One guy said it's easy to install the Distro so just put back the system files. I said what's the point of that because you have to install everything else over again.

Back then you had...back in time...Rsync etc but nothing I could use. I did try Timeshift but it only backed up system files and you had to install it...I started using macrium rescue media which did what I wanted...unfortunately it's no longer an option as it's now not free and my version won't work with UEFI.

About 3 years ago Foxclone came out...which was perfect and has never let me down...we now also have Redorescue which does much the same thing as Foxclone...I use both as you should never have only one back up solution.

Of course Timeshift is now much improved and can back up everything on the Drive to an External HDD or SSD and restore a snapshot very fast. Both Foxclone and Redorescue take longer because they use compression...whereas Timeshift does not...so there's no excuse these days not to have a back up or loose anything.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

@bob466
system backup sounds so much windoze style, only Windows users are obsessed with backups.

The best backup is manual copy to external drive, and only stuff that's yours, ex. not system files.
system can always be restored with reinstall.

IMO problem with system backup is that you can never be sure that restored system will be 100% OK, but with reinstall there is no place for doubts.

 

[bob466]

with system backup is that you can never be sure that restored system will be 100% OK, but with reinstall there is no place for doubts.

Obviously you've never tried the software I've mentioned because if you did you would know about the verify tool and what it does.

@bob466
system backup sounds so much windoze style, only Windows users are obsessed with backups.

The best backup is manual copy to external drive, and only stuff that's yours, ex. not system files.
system can always be restored with reinstall.

Sounds to me like you're still living in the past and have no idea what you're talking about.