Timeshift bundle

General Discussion
1

Are there any plans to add a Timeshift bundle to Clear Linux? Its a good tool for creating snapshot-backups of a system.

2

for others reference: GitHub - teejee2008/timeshift: System restore tool for Linux. Creates filesystem snapshots using rsync+hardlinks, or BTRFS snapshots. Supports scheduled snapshots, multiple backup levels, and exclude filters. Snapshots can be restored while system is running or from Live CD/USB.

It looks like an interesting tool. Some of this is built-in to CL by means of the swupd diagnose and swupd repair commands. See examples 3 here https://docs.01.org/clearlinux/latest/guides/clear/swupd.html?highlight=swupd%20repair#examples and https://docs.01.org/clearlinux/latest/guides/maintenance/fix-broken-install.html

3

The swupd commands I mentioned make the system files the disposable and reproducible.

I’d also note that the stateless philosophy of CL helps focus on backing up the unique data by maintaining a separation under places like /etc/, /home, and /var.

4

Alright, say my server crashes, hdd fails and I want to “recover” the server to the same state as before the crash, with a new hdd. Should I just keep a list of all bundles installed, and have a backup of /etc, /home and /var? And recover by just installing Clear Linux with all listed bundles and copy over the user-owned folders?

5

That’s pretty close to a full actual backup, so, yes, I’d do and encourage you to do exactly that.

6

Would there be any option for automating this process, either a seperate backup program or a way to get swupd to create a tar of all files that are not a part of installed bundles, so that a system can be restored quickly and easily?