[SOLVED] How keep a weekly snapshot longer

[Pepper-Mint-Patty]

The timeshift snapshots are set to weekly. We have installed many sw after the snapshot was made earlier this week. That snapshot we want to keep. How make sure it will not be overwritten but 1 new snapshots still will be made and kept every week?

[cliffcoggin]

If you created the snapshot manually (On Demand) it will not be deleted. On the other hand if was automatic it will be deleted once the limit you have set in the schedule has been reached. I don't know how to change that behaviour.

[deck_luck]

If I understand you correctly, you are trying to determine the "Weekly" snapshot retention policy.

From the TimeShift main window click the Setting button at the top. In the Settings window click the Schedule tab. Each snapshot levels has a corresponding "Keep" value? The "Keep" value is like a snapshot retention policy.

[Pepper-Mint-Patty]

@cliffcoggin: yes thats what i mean.
@deck_luck: as i understand it you can make X snapshots a week. After that week they will be deleted, andnew will be made. Anyhow it's not what i want.

I think i have a workaround: make ondemand of the system now, call it 26 sept. Restore snapshot made earlier this week. Make ondemand of that system, name it 21 sept. Restore the 26 sept snapshot. Delete the first weekly snapshot...
Good grieve! Is there no simpler method?

[cliffcoggin]

Good grieve! Is there no simpler method?

Not in retrospect that I am aware of. My practice before any major software change is to take a manual snapshot, in addition to those in the schedule, precisely because I know it will not be automatically deleted.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Good grieve! Is there no simpler method?

Not in retrospect that I am aware of. My practice before any major software change is to take a manual snapshot, in addition to those in the schedule, precisely because I know it will not be automatically deleted.

I also manually make a snapshot before any major software change, especially kernels. The difference between us is I don't schedule any snapshots at all, including weekly; I also do those manually. I prefer to pick a time when my System is essentially idling to avoid any possible conflict.

I do my weekly snapshots first thing Monday morning when I first fire up the computer and wait until it's finished before doing anything else (it doesn't take long). I also plug in an external backup drive and make snapshot to go there. It takes less than a handful of minutes to do. When I make a snapshot between weeklies, I don't bother to also make one on the external drive.

I don't keep anymore snapshots than what will fit in the default Timeshift window. When the Window starts getting full, I'll delete one to three older snapshots (except the oldest one; I "let it mellow" for a few months before I delete it) and make a pit stop, fix breakfast, etc. while Timeshift is doing its thing. I also delete the between weekly snapshots once the next weekly is made (I can always go back to the previous weekly if necessary).

This system requires effort on my part to keep up with it. Since I have a lousy memory (actually, it's good; it's just short), I have a recurring entry on my desktop calendar to keep me in line.

[cliffcoggin]

Well being essentially lazy, I prefer the computer to take care of itself as much as possible, with the minimum of intervention by me. The great majority of that intervention concerns backups of one sort or another, but I like the scheduled snapshots for those occasions when I forget to intervene, and having plenty of room for snapshots I don't care if they accumulate for several months. Two or three times year I will remember to delete excess kernels and redundant snapshots.

[deck_luck]

...
@deck_luck: as i understand it you can make X snapshots a week. After that week they will be deleted, andnew will be made. Anyhow it's not what i want.

I think i have a workaround: make ondemand of the system now, call it 26 sept. Restore snapshot made earlier this week. Make ondemand of that system, name it 21 sept. Restore the 26 sept snapshot. Delete the first weekly snapshot...
Good grieve! Is there no simpler method?

Yes, as cliffcoggin stated the manual on demand snapshot will not be deleted until you purge them. If you are making a lot of software changes you need to make sure your TimeShift destination has the appropriate amount of free space to contain the many weekly snapshots.

I was not sure if you were doing manuals or schedules hence, the Schedule "Keeps" setting was previously mentioned.

[mikeflan]

Good grieve! Is there no simpler method?

Yes, there is. Put a comment on the snapshot and it sticks around:

[Pepper-Mint-Patty]

Well that works remarkable simple! Thanks mikeflan.

[MAlfare]

The timeshift snapshots are set to weekly. We have installed many sw after the snapshot was made earlier this week. That snapshot we want to keep. How make sure it will not be overwritten but 1 new snapshots still will be made and kept every week?

You made them automatically, they will be deleted automatically.
Any automatic, which cannot be deactvated is a bad thing, starting from the shutter speed of my camera to........
I make my snapshots manually, and I remove them manually, so I cannot test this:

You have the following directories:
/timeshift/snapshots (with your snapshots)
and
/timeshift/snapshots-boot
/timeshift/snapshots-daily
/timeshift/snapshots-hourly
/timeshift/snapshots-monthly
/timeshift/snapshots-ondemand
/timeshift/snapshots-weekly
containg soft links to your snapshots.

What I would try, is to move the link to your snapshot from /timeshift/snapshots-weekly to /timeshift/snapshots-ondemand
And edit the tag in its info.json to "tags" : "ondemand",

For science one must make sacrifices (but not every).

[cliffcoggin]

Good grieve! Is there no simpler method?

Yes, there is. Put a commend on the snapshot and it sticks around:

That surprises me. Have you actually tested it Mike?

[mikeflan]

Have you actually tested it Mike?

Maybe not real rigorously, but in all the time I've been using it the commented snapshots stick around until I delete them.

[AZgl1800]

Good grieve! Is there no simpler method?

Not in retrospect that I am aware of. My practice before any major software change is to take a manual snapshot, in addition to those in the schedule, precisely because I know it will not be automatically deleted.

I am a "me too" person.

IF, I am about to install software that I am not positive that I will keep it, or even like it, I make an On Demand Timeshift backup, then I label it Before Bad Software

if all goes well, it can stay there forever unless I delete it.
if not, then I do a Restore from that point, and life goes on.

other than that I keep a fairly short list

[Pepper-Mint-Patty]

Thanks MAlfare, i like the idea!
Just copied the snap. In due time will restore it. Will see if both still work.

[cliffcoggin]

Have you actually tested it Mike?

Maybe not real rigorously, but in all the time I've been using it the commented snapshots stick around until I delete them.

That's good to read. I'll test it myself.

[MAlfare]

Thanks MAlfare, i like the idea!
Just copied the snap. In due time will restore it. Will see if both still work.

I am in doubt if it was good idea to copy a snapshot.
How did you copy?
I am afraid, you could loose owner, group, rights, and files /directories because of missing rights....
rsync should be able to preserve those things.
My idea was totally different: let the snapshot in peace and move the link to it from weekly- to manually-directory

[Pepper-Mint-Patty]

My idea was totally different: let the snapshot in peace and move the link to it from weekly- to manually-directory

...move the link to your snapshot from /timeshift/snapshots-weekly to /timeshift/snapshots-ondemand
And edit the tag in its info.json to "tags" : "ondemand",

Right, got it

[cliffcoggin]

Good grieve! Is there no simpler method?

Yes, there is. Put a comment on the snapshot and it sticks around:
ts.png

I can confirm, after a few weeks on test, that simply adding a comment to a scheduled weekly snapshot prevents it from being automatically deleted.