How To Backup Your Ubuntu System With Remastersys
After countless hours of configuring, tweaking, installing new applications onto your Ubuntu system, the last thing that you want to do is to reformat and start everything all over again. Remastersys is here to save you all this trouble. Remastersys is a simple and easy to use application that allows you to easily clone and backup your Ubuntu system so that you can quickly restore your computer to its previous state in the event that it crashes.
There are two thing that Remastersys can do:
- To do a full system backup, including all installed applications, their settings and your personal data, to a live CD or DVD. You can use this live CD or DVD to restore your system or to install it in another computer. You can also bring it around and use it everywhere as a Live CD.
- To create a custom distributable copy of your current Ubuntu system and share it with your friends.
Remastersys comes with a GUI to guide you through the process. There is little or no configuration to do. In as little as one step, you will be backing up your Ubuntu (or creating custom distributable iso) in no time. Remastersys works only in Ubuntu and its derivative such as Linux Mint.
Installing Remastersys
In your terminal,
gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
Add the following line to the end of the file. Save and exit
deb http://www.remastersys.klikit-linux.com/repository remastersys/
Update the repositories and install Remastersys
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install remastersys
Once the installation has finished, go to System -> Administration -> Remastersys Backup
If you have any other windows or applications running, close them all. Click OK to continue.
Select the action that you want to do. If you want to create a backup of your system, including all the personal data, highlight Backup and click OK. If you want to create a distributable copy of your current system, select Dist and click OK.
Remastersys will proceed to do the task that you have specified. This will take a long time, depending on the number of applications and files in your system.
You will receive a prompt when the backup process is done. The backup cd filesystem and iso can be found at /home/remastersys/remastersys folder.
If you have Virtualbox or VMware installed, you can test the iso file by loading it in a virtual machine.
Conclusion
Remastersys is a powerful, yet simple to use application. There is no technical knowledge involved. You simply load it up, select the option and off it goes. It is ideal for backing up your system so that you can restore it in the event your system crashes. I like the feature where it allows you to create a custom distribution of Ubuntu. Over the time, I have received many queries from friends on how to install the various applications. With Remastersys, I can now create my own distro with all the applications pre-installed and distribute them to my friends.
For alternative way to create your custom distro, check out Reconstructor.
Tags: backup, Linux, remastersys, Software, Ubuntu
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[Click to close]18 Responses
You Saved MY LIFE! THANK YOUU
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Damien Reply:
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:57 am
I am glad that this is of great use to you.
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I have built several Ubuntu machines for sale and for friends. I usually am using the exact same hardware and tweak all machines with the same codecs and libraries. This is a HUGE help in doing all that a lot faster! THANK YOU for writing this up so I could find and use Remastersys!
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Thank you so much for show us the easy way to save our file! I am so grateful for your help!
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This sounds great! I am a 14 Feb 09 linux newbie (addicted to MS since ‘87) and really paranoid about my data. (I loaded VirtualBox as my lifeline in case I fall off the wagon.) Under Ubuntu 2.10 (intrepid?) I’d like to back up everything but my DVD(s) will only hold 4GB each and I was wondering if I need to exclude/isolate some files I know of or is there some kind of compression involved? Thanks in advance!
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Damien Reply:
February 28th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Miki, welcome to the Linux family. I am sure you won’t regret your choice.
For your info, the current version of Ubuntu is 8.10, not 2.10. I guess you are probably referring to the Virtualbox version.
If you are backing up the whole system, including all your files, there is no way that you can fit it into a 4GB DVD. It is preferable to backup your user data in an external hard disk and use the Remastersys to create a backup of your system. This will save you the effort of reinstalling all the applications and settings next time.
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I plan on doing a complete system backup to an external hard drive via a usb port using remastersys. Once this is complete, will it be an exact duplicate of my internal hard drive in which I will be able to work off of the external drive if the internal drive crashed?
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Damien Reply:
March 5th, 2009 at 3:53 am
Yes. It will be.
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thank u very much
but i have a problem . if i start my iso in virtualbox
then select any option to start the system (live , install , …)
it give me this error :
” could not find kernel image: /casper/vmlinuz ”
and i have a screen shot
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/4125/screenshot5.png
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Thanks man. Works great :)
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Hi, I have Ubuntu Hardy installed on one partition, and /home on a separate partition. How do I backup the entire system, including /home?
Do I have to backup /home separately, using some other tool?
Thanks!
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Damien Reply:
May 16th, 2009 at 5:59 am
Not a problem, you can still follow the above instruction to backup your computer. Remastersys will backup the root folder as well as the /home folder, regardless which partition they are in.
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fibrebundle Reply:
May 16th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Thanks! Just a few more questions, I’m a newbie!
(1) If I choose the ‘backup(backup full system including user data)’
option, will the image created by Remastersys include the entire /home (including, say, saved files, mp3s, videos, etc.), or special folders in /home?
(2) Next, if I wish to install a copy of my current system onto a new hard drive, how do I use the DVD on which I have saved the image?
Will it create new partitions, etc, all by itself, just as an Ubuntu CD does? Will the installation environment be the same, or do I need a live CD as well?
(3) Finally, after installing Ubuntu, I have had to ‘fix’ configuration files to make printer, wifi, etc, work (the ’standard’ fixes). Will these automatically be there?
Thanks again.
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Damien Reply:
May 20th, 2009 at 6:16 am
1) It will include the /home/username folder
2 & 3) The backup DVD itself is already a liveCD. You can use it to install onto a new hard drive. All the configuration files will still be intact.
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fibrebundle Reply:
May 20th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Thanks!
Damien:
I am a Ubuntu user since 5.10 version, but when comes the “upgrade” my body begin to shake, because is a very painful action. This stop me to continue to upgrade since 8.04. This introduction is for asking you,I can make bakup of only the applications, not for the system, because I find that the easy way to upgrade is make o new partition install the new version and then the tons of time and GB of applications , so I can use remastersys to back up JUST THE APPLICATIONS, not the OS that I try to upgrade?
Thanks for your time…
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Damien Reply:
June 8th, 2009 at 6:44 am
Remastersys does not allow you to backup the applications only. In fact, other than the settings of the applications (which are mostly located in the Home folder), you don’t really have to back up the applications as they are readily available in the repository.
To upgrade your system, it would be sufficient to back up your Home folder and restore them on the new system.
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fibrebundle Reply:
June 8th, 2009 at 6:54 am
Hi,
My home folder has tons of stuff, mp3s, videos, etc. When the backup is performed, is all this backed up as well? Or, are just some special folders within my home folder backed up?
Further, if I create the resulting image on an external hard disc
(such as a Seagate disk), how do I use it for fresh installation on
my computer hard drive? With a CD or a DVD image, I can set the bios to load from a CD.
Thanks.
Reply