Backup – How to Clone an Ubuntu Machine

backup

I have an install of Ubuntu Maverick on slicehost, that I'd like to replicate on a different machine (a kvm VM install).

Is there a simple way of mirroring all it? I mainly care about installed programs, installations, mysql + postgres config/data.

okay.. so I guess I mainly care about everything. maybe except for network config, which I can fix easily enough.

Best Answer

Remastersys is a free and open source program for Debian, Ubuntu-based, or derivative software systems that can:

Create a customized Live CD/DVD (a remaster) of Debian and its derivatives.
Back up an entire system, including user data, to an installable Live CD/DVD.

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Clone system and auto replicate the changes

I would use rsync with SSH keys over the network and set it to run frequently with cron. This way, only the changes need to be transmitted.

Format taken from how do I do mass installs?

#!/bin/bash
rsync -avx --exclude=/proc --exclude=/dev --exclude=/tmp --exclude=/sys --delete-after root@${host}:/ /

On the machine that will serve as a backup, make a file named /etc/cron.daily/backup-pull then make it executable sudo chmod +x /etc/cron.daily/backup-pull. Replace ${host} with the IP of the original system.

You'll have daily syncs of the original server to this one. You could also do cron.hourly instead of cron.daily if you're really paranoid.

Clonezilla Disk to Disk Clone from Ubuntu to Windows

Installed Ubuntu systems are portable

I have some installed systems in external drives (USB and eSATA), and they are portable between computers. So it should work to do what you want. You can even move your current drive to the new computer (connect it internally or via an external box) and test how it works before you start cloning.

If you have installed proprietary drivers (typically for graphics and wifi), it is a good idea to uninstall them and use the built-in linux drivers, when you clone and start using the system in the new computer. Later on you may or may not install suitable proprietary drivers depending on the hardware.

Cloning works

if the target drive is at least as big as the source disk (not one single byte smaller, it is not enough, that the nominal sizes are the same), and
if the physical sector size in the target drive is the same as in the source drive. (I am not talking about the intermediate drive, where you store the Clonezilla image.)

You can check the physical sector sizes with
```
sudo parted -ls
```
The classic physical sector size is 512 bytes, and some new drives have 4096 byte size.

Even if it might work if you clone anyway, there will be performance issues, so you should really avoid it.