setting up backup location for timeshift... <SOLVED>

[vliscony]

I happen to run with a 500 gb SSD and two 1 TB hard disks, which I have not configured (yet) but when trying to configure timeshift, I tried to put my backup on one of the hard drives, and noticed that 'selected device does not have a linux partition, and I don't really know how to go about fixing that.

eventually I am also intending to locate a media library on one of those hard drives.

[Sir Charles]

selected device does not have a linux partition

You would need to create a linux partition, preferably formatted as EXT4, on the hard drive you are going to use as backup location for Timeshift. For that purpose "gparted" is a handy tool. Hook up your drive first. Next go to application menu and type "gparted". Launch the tool. Make a and format a partitoin.

For a How-To:
https://www.ghacks.net/2017/08/28/gpart ... beginners/

[gm10]

Timeshift needs a partition formatted with a filesystem able to hold linux metadata. You can use lsblk -f to see what your partitions are currently formatted as.

If you've got an empty partition on a harddrive without any data in it (that you still need) then you can just reformat it as ext4 to make it available to Timeshift. You can use the Disks tool from the menu for that.

Another alternative is to create a new partition on one of the harddrives. To make room for that you'd need to shrink one of the existing partitions, space allowing. This is easy with GParted, which you will probably have to install first.

[HaveaMint]

When you get that drive formatted to ext4 and set it up as destination for timeshift be sure to exclude that drive in the filters in timeshift.

filters.jpg

[vliscony]

thanks, this was great.

Sofar I did all the steps. Was not sure about the exclusions in timeshift. I used the drive designations for the two 2TB HDDs and that seems to work... sdb1 and sdc1

now all I need to do is delete the timeshift backup from the SSD to free up that space...

[Sir Charles]

Was not sure about the exclusions in timeshift.

Any partitions mounted at /media/* and /mnt/* are by default excluded from the snapshots made by Timeshift. So if you choose one of these locations as mount point for the partition to be used for the storage of the snapshots, you won't have to bother to exclude them explicitly.