[SOLVED] Timeshift queries

[Martin1001]

I'm using Timeshift to back up my system onto a local external drive. (Actually onto two drives, each with an identical copy.)

1) Is it sufficient to simply do a manual backup whenever I add new software, or whenever I change default Preferences within software, and at no other time?

2a) If at some time I reinstall my current version of Linux from a Linux Live USB, can I then go into Timeshift to Restore from my external drive, and get back to the exact system I had before?

2b) Or won't the reinstalled Timeshift be able to handle that?

3) Do the above answers depend upon the Settings chosen within Timeshift?

[Larry78723]

1. In addition to what you listed, you also need to make a Timeshift snapshot after each software manager update to accomplish the goal of #2a.

3. Timeshift wasn't designed to backup your /home folder so that's one setting you should check. There are complementary programs that were designed to backup /home (BackInTime, Lucky Backup, etc) that should be used daily to prevent the loss of too much personal data.

[AZgl1800]

1. In addition to what you listed, you also need to make a Timeshift snapshot after each software manager update to accomplish the goal of #2a.

3. Timeshift wasn't designed to backup your /home folder so that's one setting you should check. There are complementary programs that were designed to backup /home (BackInTime, Lucky Backup, etc) that should be used daily to prevent the loss of too much personal data.

To add just a tiny bit to Timeshift, if you want your Preferences saved, do it like this.

[Martin1001]

Thanks for the help. Let me modify the questions slightly. Will the following work?

1) I'm not very bothered about Preferences since I usually use software with default settings and can easily reset anything I did change, so let's ignore that aspect. I also have a separate setup to back up personal files.

2) Suppose I back up the system onto an external drive whenever I add new software, but not after software manager updates.

3a) If something goes wrong, I go back to my most-recent Snapshot, then run Software Manager, which will (I think) bring me back to where I was a day or so previously.

3b) If something goes disastrously wrong, I reinstall with Live CD, run Timeshift to get my latest backup from external drive, then run Software Manager to get me back to where I was a day or so ago.

Anything amiss with my thinking?

[Larry78723]

1) I'm not very bothered about Preferences since I usually use software with default settings and can easily reset anything I did change, so let's ignore that aspect. I also have a separate setup to back up personal files.

My only comment is that Timeshift should not be used with default settings. The default settings will save snapshots to your / folder, which can quickly fill up causing login problems.

[ironbark]

3b) If something goes disastrously wrong, I reinstall with Live CD, run Timeshift to get my latest backup from external drive, then run Software Manager to get me back to where I was a day or so ago.

Anything amiss with my thinking?

I did a reinstall of Mint 19.1 once upon a time and used one of my Timeshift snapshots to restore back to my familiar OS. I keep my snapshots on a separate ssd in my desktop pc, so they are kept safe. The thing to remember is that as you re-install your OS it MUST be configured exactly the same as your previous installation. The same partition sizes and labels, same pc name, same user login name, and so on, otherwise it ain't gonna work.

Sometimes a snapshot fails to restore for whatever reason. If this happens just chose a snapshot from different time and have another go. I myself have only ever experienced a failure once. My most recent snapshot must have been corrupted, but an earlier snapshot worked well.

[Martin1001]

Larry, sorry, I didn't explain myself clearly. I meant that software I've downloaded (e.g. Skanlite, Handbrake) is generally used with default settings, and if not, any changes made are easily set up again. Timeshift I would be using, under the scenario described above, by Settings > Location > external drive before Create.

ironbark, that's most helpful. I'll make a note of all those details today, and file them away (on paper!).

[ironbark]

1. In addition to what you listed, you also need to make a Timeshift snapshot after each software manager update to accomplish the goal of #2a.

3. Timeshift wasn't designed to backup your /home folder so that's one setting you should check. There are complementary programs that were designed to backup /home (BackInTime, Lucky Backup, etc) that should be used daily to prevent the loss of too much personal data.

I have my Timeshift set to do daily snapshots automatically and because I don't have a large ssd for my snapshots I have it set to keep three snapshot only. I don't run Timeshift manually at all, I just let it do it's own thing and rarely think about it.

For peace of mind I manually backup my home folder and configuration files to a separate disk. Letting Timeshift do it takes up an awful lot of extra space on my snapshot drive that I can ill afford.

[Martin1001]

Larry78723 wrote:
I have my Timeshift set to do daily snapshots automatically and because I don't have a large ssd for my snapshots I have it set to keep three snapshot only. I don't run Timeshift manually at all, I just let it do it's own thing and rarely think about it.

Yes, the trouble is that, with my laptop, I don't have a slot (do they exist on any laptops?) for an internal removable SSD. And with an external SSD plugged into the USB slot only from time to time, auto backups just aren't possible.

I'm just recovering from having previously kept snapshots on the internal drive, and losing them when I was recently forced to do a reinstall of Linux.

So, I'm about to switch to saving the Snapshots on an external drive. Can I use the drive as it comes out of the packet, or does it need reformatting first? And what is the name of the folder that the Snapshots go into? Or, how does one work out how much space they are taking up? And are there any useful commands in respect of the Snapshots that it's worth knowing?

[BTW there must be an easier way to paste in quotes from earlier postings. I've been copying and pasting, then typing in 'XXX wrote:', then putting that in bold.]

[MAlfare]

So, I'm about to switch to saving the Snapshots on an external drive. Can I use the drive as it comes out of the packet, or does it need reformatting first? And what is the name of the folder that the Snapshots go into?

Drive must have an ext4-partition, which you have to set in TimeShift settings as destination.
It creates a folder "timeshift" on it, where it saves its snapshots.

[AndyMH]

So, I'm about to switch to saving the Snapshots on an external drive. Can I use the drive as it comes out of the packet, or does it need reformatting first? And what is the name of the folder that the Snapshots go into? Or, how does one work out how much space they are taking up? And are there any useful commands in respect of the Snapshots that it's worth knowing?

Bare drives come unformatted. You need to put a partition table on the drive before you create partitions. If in doubt use a gpt partition table. Use gparted.

[ironbark]

[BTW there must be an easier way to paste in quotes from earlier postings. I've been copying and pasting, then typing in 'XXX wrote:', then putting that in bold.]

I just hit the quote symbol on the post window and cut out all but the relevant line I want to quote.

[Martin1001]

by ironbark » Thu Jan 20, 2022 1:20 pm
I just hit the quote symbol on the post window and cut out all but the relevant line I want to quote.

When I try that, the name never finishes up on the same line as the opening quote.

[AZgl1800]

by ironbark » Thu Jan 20, 2022 1:20 pm
I just hit the quote symbol on the post window and cut out all but the relevant line I want to quote.

When I try that, the name never finishes up on the same line as the opening quote.

you have to use the mouse, to go above where you want to keep the text, and the scroll up towards the top of the post, and keep the very first line, which is the person to whom you want to reply to their post.

you can only have one quote at the first line, and you need their ending quote symbol

[Martin1001]

you can only have one quote at the first line, and you need their ending quote symbol

Ah, I have it now. I was mistakenly using the Quote-symbol at the top-left of the POST A REPLY page, and hadn't noticed that there was a similar symbol at the top-right of the page I wanted to quote from. Every small step.

So, "Timeshift queries" SOLVED. Many thanks to all who contributed.