Good backup/sync solution with a GUI?

[thejoycey]

Can anyone recommend a good backup solution (probably more a sync solution to be fair) with a GUI? Whilst I'm getting to grips with Terminal, I'm just looking for something with a GUI for now when it comes to backups to minimise the risk of me doing damage in Terminal with my data until I'm a bit more confident.

What I'm trying to accomplish

I have the following drives I'd like to backup/sync:

LinuxOS (LM 20.2) - I'd like to be able to be able to backup various folders and files of my choosing from this
Internal SSD 1 - I'd like to be able to backup the entire drive
Internal SSD 2 - I'd like to be able to backup the entire drive
Internal SSD 3 - I'd like to be able to backup the entire drive
Internal SSD 4 - I'd like to be able to backup the entire drive

I'm looking for a solution that allows me to setup multiple backup tasks to accomplish the above, but want them to be mirror backups - I don't want them to be compressed or changed in a certain way that only allows them to be restored using the same software they were backup up with. I'll be backing them up to a network drive that needs them to remain the same. Eg. if I backup a file thats music.mp3 it remains music.mp3 on the network drive. They need to be accessible as raw files by other systems also connected to the network drive.

If a file gets changed on the client, deleted on the client, whatever on the client, then the same action can be taken on the network drive. Ideally something that can handle this as files are changed/deleted, rather than having to manually run a backup/sync. I don't really need to worry about file versioning because the network drive is running on Xpenology which keeps copies of files using a Recycle Bin so accidental deletes aren't a worry.

I've looked at Grsync, Timeshift, Deja-Dup, Duplicati. I've even looked at CloudStation, but the software isn't seeing my mounted drives on Linux (not seeing mnt or media folders). I'm struggling to find a way to do the above with all those. So if anyone has come across any other software that might be able to do this or knows if it can be acheived with the software I've already looked at it would be greatly appreciated. If Terminal is the only hope, that's fine, I'll accept that and get on with it, but maybe there is something I've not tried?

Thank you!

[AndyMH]

Backintime or luckybackup.

[Larry78723]

You might want to think about how you're mounting internal SSD 1-4. They can be mounted anywhere, it doesn't have to be in /media or /mnt. You could mount them in /home/username/ssdx (where x is the ssd drive number). Given your desires, I would suggest you take a look at FreeFileSync.

[thejoycey]

Thank you! Have not looked at those two yet. I shall now...

[thejoycey]

You might want to think about how you're mounting internal SSD 1-4. They can be mounted anywhere, it doesn't have to be in /media or /mnt. You could mount them in /home/username/ssdx (where x is the ssd drive number). Given your desires, I would suggest you take a look at FreeFileSync.

Thank you. I was thinking about where I mount the drives. I read something about not mounting them in certain places as it can cause problems so haven't looked much further into that idea. If it was up to me I'd create a new folder /drives and then mount them /drives/ssd1 etc. Would that be a safe practice?

Thank you for your suggestion, i'll check that one out.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I use FreeFileSync (FFS) to manually backup entire, individual drives in my computer just like you want to do (I'm assuming you will be backing up to external backup drives; I also do not recommend automatic backups). It also can be used to backup individual folders, either one folder at a time or as a group (I used to do that in the past while still on Win 7).

When set to one way Mirror mode (not the same as RAID1), FFS will compare the source (in this case, a drive or folder in your computer) with the destination (in your case, an entire external backup drive or a folder on an external backup drive). Any files on the source that is not on the destination will be copied to the destination and any files on the destination but not on the source will be deleted from the destination (files on the source are never touched). You can review what is going to take place before it actually does if you wish. The result is essentially a clone of the source on the destination. Since only new, changed, or deleted files are involved during an update, updates can be very fast.

An added feature of FFS is called Versioning. When enabled (which I highly recommend), files deleted by FFS to a user designated versioning folder. This gives you a chance to rescue any files that may have been accidentally deleted or lost on the source due to data corruption.

Did I mention that FFS is free? It also has an online manual, tutorials, and a user forum on its website: freefilesync.org

[thejoycey]

Brilliant. Thank you everyone, some great suggestions here. FFS looks like it will do what I need it to, especially in one way Mirror mode. I'm currently syncing 228GB from one entire drive on the system to a designated folder on the Xpenology NAS and it's doing exactly as I'd hoped. I was going to let it try and sync with the folder already on the NAS as that has most of the data in already from a previous backup, but then I realised the previous backup was done with Windows File History which puts messy folders all over the place and extra Recycle Bins, so feels safer to start a new backup from fresh in an entirely new folder on the NAS and I'll know where I'm at from now on.

Only been using Linux for a week and already it's answering all my questions. Thank you all!

[mikeflan]

I use FFS. I have never used RealTimeSync, by the same people who do FFS, but you might want to look into it if you want immediate mirror action.

[SimonPeter]

LinuxOS (LM 20.2) - I'd like to be able to be able to backup various folders and files of my choosing from this
Internal SSD 1 - I'd like to be able to backup the entire drive
Internal SSD 2 - I'd like to be able to backup the entire drive
Internal SSD 3 - I'd like to be able to backup the entire drive
Internal SSD 4 - I'd like to be able to backup the entire drive

I'm looking for a solution that allows me to setup multiple backup tasks to accomplish the above, but want them to be mirror backups - I don't want them to be compressed or changed in a certain way that only allows them to be restored using the same software they were backup up with. I'll be backing them up to a network drive that needs them to remain the same. Eg. if I backup a file thats music.mp3 it remains music.mp3 on the network drive. They need to be accessible as raw files by other systems also connected to the network drive.

LinuxOS (LM 20.2) -- just copy-paste the files -- your file manager is a good GUI.
(use rsync or its GUI frontends for incremental / differential backup)

Internal SSDs 1-4 -- Use GNOME disks -> 3 dots menu -> Create disk image / Restore disk image.
Or, use dd in a terminal (be VERY CAREFUL not to damage important data)
sudo dd if=/path/to/source/file/or/device of=/path/to/destination/file/or/device bs=4M status=progress && sync

[Moonstone Man]

I was thinking about where I mount the drives. I read something about not mounting them in certain places as it can cause problems ...

You can pretty much mount any partition to any directory in Linux. There are guidelines but no standards. In fact, even the guidelines are vaguer than a homeopathic soup made from the boiled down skeleton of a dead for years sparrow on the subject. The guidelines tell you that /media should be used for transient media such as removable drives that are needed temporarily. The guidelines also state that /mnt should be used for manually mounted partitions. However they are completely silent on what to do if more than one manually mounted partition is required, or where to put mount points for always mounted partitions or shares.

Your idea of creating /drives is as good as any other idea. I use /partimag with a bind mount on my server to facilitate simple Clonezilla imaging across the network, therefore and since I do it, only with a different name, using /drives is a very good idea

PS: We don't mount drives, we mount partitions.

[Petermint]

Do your drives/partitions have a specific use? You can mount them with more useful names. On one machine, my Pictures directory is huge so it is on a separate magnetic disk with one big partition mounted as Pictures.

I edited /etc/fastab as part of the mount as the extra disk is in the machine. There are other options for disks that plug in occasionally. The end result of that type of naming is not having to remember where my pictures are, on disk 2 or disk3 or wherever.