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I'm running a IRC/web server on ubuntu 9.04 on slightly old hardware, and well, i'm not sure if anything will break. While i periodically shutdown the box and back it up with clonezilla, i'm looking for a way to backup a running system.

I've tried mondo (which didn't work for me, and there's no updated docs on the ubuntu wiki), so i'm wondering what other options i have?

Ideally i'd want something fire and forget- and obviously command line or curses based, and will backup a running server without the need for shutdown, to either an NFS,Samba share or USB, though i wouldn't mind needing a dedicated box to backup to since i could run that on a VM. Bare metal restore would be a bonus.

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  • Why was this closed? It seems to follow the linked suggestion, almost to a T: "How TO ASK questions that may require a software solution: "I have <problem-x> that I don't know how to solve. I've already tried X, Y, Z, but those programs don't work because this or that. How do I do this?" It's not the words "Best way" is it, that's implied in every question to find the best answer, replacing them with "how to" doesn't change anything... The answers here are a little lacking, but still sounds like a good question
    – Xen2050
    Sep 15, 2017 at 5:27
  • IIRC, the selected answer broke at some point, and I've never quite gotten it to work quite right after that. And least on reading it, it felt like a classic software recommendation
    – Journeyman Geek
    Sep 15, 2017 at 6:15
  • The answers do reinforce it... as a whole with the Q&As together I can see it, I think it's still a good Q though. Looks like a slightly controversial topic maybe too broadly used sometimes, almost any problem involving computer software often boils down to using some software product/service to answer. But just a list of software that does X really belongs on softwarerecs too. I think that off-topic reason should be narrowed IMO
    – Xen2050
    Sep 15, 2017 at 9:26
  • About how to backup a running linux, creating a (live) iso from a running system is possible so there must be a way to do it that's probably more than just "copy files" or "use this product" (a long string of terminal commands probably)
    – Xen2050
    Sep 15, 2017 at 9:30
  • Do I read this all correctly? Did the OP close their own Q's as off topic? If so that is awesome! I appreciate genuine people trying to do their best in all roles.
    – Damon
    Dec 1, 2017 at 17:12

4 Answers 4

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I recommend using rsync.

My backup solution copies the data to a mounted samba share. I use an incremental backup so most of the time the backups are very short.

Set up a cron job to kick-off your script to run at an interval of your choosing.

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  • rsync is the ultimate way, any linux has it preinstalled I think !!! but if you use a graphical desktop maybe backintime (not sure if it has cli options) should be the best for you ...
    – zillion
    Sep 9, 2009 at 5:55
  • well its a cli system. I'd prefer a menu based system though, least at my current skills with linux.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Sep 12, 2009 at 1:53
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There is also rsnapshot, giving you periodical snapshots.

rsnapshot is a filesystem snapshot utility for making backups of local and remote systems.

Using rsync and hard links, it is possible to keep multiple, full backups instantly available. The disk space required is just a little more than the space of one full backup, plus incrementals.

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Mondo seems to do exactly what i want - fairly simple, bootable bare metal backups. I'm completely fine with periodically doing a full system backup, since its not a very heavily used system, and i got a 1 tb box elsewhere... so... i guess that takes my vote.

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  • Note that the original question says, "a way to backup a running system", while the Mondo documentation recommends, "Shut down all possible applications (this minimizes any compare differences following the backup). Especially shutdown properly any running database on your system, as the recovery may lead to corrupted data. Or if applicable, boot to single user mode."
    – Rob Fisher
    Apr 15, 2014 at 13:05
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I use duplicity with ftplicity as a frontend, and I'm very happy with it.

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