So I’ve resisted the idea of Linux image backups for a while. After all, one can just backup all the files, right? True, even with Linuxs fast file access this might take a bit longer than doing an image backup if one has a a lot of files and one wants to back them all up…
Image backups also make backups and restores a lot easier. One doesn’t have to think about what to backup, instead it’s just the whole thing. When restoring, it’s just one step: Copy back the volume.
Advantages:
- Everything is backed up
- Content does not affect backup or restore performance (e.g. many small files don’t slow down backups and restores)
- 1:1 backups and restores of volumes
Disadvantages:
- Can’t select subset to backup (e.g. exclude temporary file data)
- Can’t migrate to different file system on restore
- File level deduplication doesn’t work
- E.g. defragmentation causes changes to backup
The following are step-by-step instructions on how to backup a Linux VPS.
Backup VPS (Step-by-step)
Assumption: VPS is running Debian 10/buster. 2.5.x server + client is used.
1. Add new client on server web interface:
2. Add active/Internet client
3. Copy & paste Linux client installation command and follow setup:
4. Reboot client/VPS (if not using dattobd)
5. Create image backup (“C” gets automatically translated to the Linux root volume)
Restore VPS (Step-by-step)
1. Browse to image backup in “Backups” tab on web interface
2. Click on restore Linux image
3. Copy & paste into new Debian 10/buster instance and follow instructions:
Thanks for your great work!
Have you considered integrating UrBackup with the " Linux bare metal disaster recovery solution" Relax-and-Recover? I assume you have stumbled upon the project. This is their homepage, and
here they describe how to integrate ReaR with backup solutions.
If this is not interesting for you, are you planning on supporting btrfs image backups?
Thanks!