What is your preferred backup program?

[Armstrong]

I just acquired a new portable hard drive to replace an older one. In the past, I have used, or attempted to use, MintBackUp, Lucky Backup, Deja Dup, & Rsync. I have also read some good things about Areca, but I can't seem to find it in the repository. FWIW, my last few backups were done with Deja Dup. I had trouble configuring Rsync. On one of my Mint updates, I used Rsync and I apparently created some redundancies. That said, in Linux Format, Gadmin-rsync was very favorably reviewed, but those doing the reviews are probably more skilled than I. Recently, I have been using Deja Dup. (I seem to recall there being issues with MintBackup. I don't know if they have been resolved.) I would very much like to hear of other experiences. Thank you in advance.
Slainte,
Hunter

[JerryF]

I use three programs to backup.

Grsync (a GUI front end for rsync) for an overall backup of everything.
Backup Tool (does a great job of backing up personal data and settings).
Aptik (a migration utility that has a One-Click Backup or sections for backing up and restoring---see pic.)

Screenshot_001.jpg

[tdockery97]

I personally prefer Clonezilla. Makes a perfect restorable backup image.

[Cosmo.]

Back in Time is my favorite for classical backups. Works here since years very reliable, is very fast, can be automated.

[MintBean]

Unison with Unison GTK. It's the dog's.

[Mik3e]

I use the bash copy command (cp -urp ... ). I have a script to copy data and 'home' hidden files to a partition on a second disk, or a USB if it's mounted. It's been working just fine for years.
Mike

[GlennJohnson]

Bash scripts for me. Several scripts backup small portions of my system on a daily basis. One script purges "old" backups.

[Pepi]

I use Acronis 11 and it has never failed me before. A bit clunky to use but it really works

[watermint]

I have yet to get Backup Tool to work properly. It always stalls out on me. Going to poke at some of these.

[lmuserx4849]

As long as there is a command line: incremental backups using rsync and cron.

Having said that, I spotted in LM 18.3 w/the desktop Cinnamon, "Timeshift". I searched the menu for backup and another gui popped up named "Backup Tool". They are both mentioned in the linux mint blog link.

We talked to Tony George, the developer behind Timeshift.

Timeshift is an excellent tool which focuses on creating and restoring system snapshots. It’s a great companion to mintBackup which focuses on personal data.

The two applications will be installed by default and complement each others in Linux Mint 18.3.

PS: If you're a linux mint user or lmde, of any level, of any desktop, highly recommend reading Clem's monthly linux mint blog.

[trapperjohn]

grsync and freefilesync

Note that freefilesync is cross-platform

[Pierre]

usually it's LuckyBackup, if the whole caboodle is being backed up.
otherwise, it's a manual copy of the relevant Data files to a usb stick.

and the latter method is super quick, since there isn't that many files.

[AndyMH]

I have two, REDO and rsync.

REDO for partition images, I think underneath it's clonezilla, but it's a complete system. Download ISO, burn to CD and off you go. In my case I've burn't it to a 1TB USB drive which makes booting a lot quicker.

rsync for daily backups (to a 256GB SD card permanently mounted in laptop), all running under the control of bash scripts. I think Timeshift now installed automatically with 18.3 uses rysync.

[Jim Hauser]

Redo uses a partclone to make the backups.

I use Redo for my striped LVM imaging and QT5-FSArchiver for my non-striped systems. I have used both in backup and recovery mode. They both work fine for me.

[oxygenfarm]

Being a simple soul, I am trying to use the (new) backup tool in Mate 18.3 but would like to be able to schedule. Did I miss something?

[sammiev]

Clonezilla for a full HDD/SSD backup or Luckybackup for Home/data backup.

[mtj]

Grsync to back-up my Home and Timeshift to back-up my system against (almost) all damages.