Upgrading to LM15, need suggestions for backup/restore

[toddbailey]

Hi All,

My LM13 LST server is having problems and I think it's time to upgrade to a less buggy release. I am thinking that LM 15 Cinnamon
I was wondering if the resident backup and restore application found in administration would be a good choice to save the home folders and then restored once the install is completed. Maybe rsync instead?
I'm looking for ways to save time in rebuilding the box and need a way to return the home folders to identical states such as user email files, favorites in firefox, and other application settings. I have a number of oracle virtual machines a la vbox that I'll also need to preserve.

I'll be saving etc, and tftp and a few other "system" folders as well.

Will doing a blind restore of the users home folders break the new version ?

Any other folders I need to look at ?

[Mark Phelps]

If you just want a "brute force" backup/restore solution that will quickly put the system back to where it was previously, it's hard to beat the simplicity of Clonezilla.

But, if you want to be selective about what you backup and what you restore (in terms of folders, files, accounts, etc.), Clonezilla would not be a good solution.

[toddbailey]

I've never been able to get cloanzilla to work, even for your basic or simple use, I'm currently trying to do a full system backup across a network to a nfs mounted share and having no fun.

mint-backup crashes trying to process the home folder, rsync hangs the machine trying to backup /opt.

does anyone make a decent backup & restore application that actually works with out any of the drama and is easy to install and use (unlike amanda) ?