Create a separate partition for snapshots during Linux Mint installation ?

[Dupo]

Hi everybody,

I would like to create a separate partition on my internal disk (EmmC) that would be similar to a Windows recovery partition. That Linux partition (ext4) would only be used for snapshots. Is it a good idea ? How much space should I allocate to that partition knowing that the disk is 64GB, that it contains an uefi partition of a few megabytes, and that I plan to create a root partition of at least 32GB (/home included).

Thanks.

[Pjotr]

Good idea, yes. Give it a minimum of 10 GB, that should be enough for the (big!) primary snapshot plus a few extra. Do the partitioning beforehand, with GParted, after booting from the Mint DVD.

[JerryF]

Good idea, yes. Give it a minimum of 10 GB, that should be enough for the (big!) primary snapshot plus a few extra. Do the partitioning beforehand, with GParted, after booting from the Mint DVD.

Would Dupo really need a minimum of 10 GB for a 64 GB eMMC storage?

[Pjotr]

Good idea, yes. Give it a minimum of 10 GB, that should be enough for the (big!) primary snapshot plus a few extra. Do the partitioning beforehand, with GParted, after booting from the Mint DVD.

Would Dupo really need a minimum of 10 GB for a 64 GB eMMC storage?

From my limited experience with Timeshift, I've learned that the primary snapshot can take up to 8 GB...

[Pierre]

it would really depend on the size of the / root partition,
as one would assume that the backup partition may need to be at least as big as that / root partition,
and maybe plus a bit more, as well.

in my experience, on MX the / root files occupied around 3500MB, but on LM the / root files occupied around 4500Mb.
but, generally speaking, I've made the partition at least double that, in size, or about 7 - 10 GB ..
& it does also seem that the latest version of both system, are now even bigger than ever.

[JerryF]

Dupo, that is a great idea! I probably will do the same when I install 19 (I run 18.3).

If you can spare ~10 GB out of the 64 GB, kudos!

@Pjotr and/or Pierre: TimeShift doesn't have a compression option? I can't check because I don't have Mint on hand.

[gm10]

@Pjotr and/or Pierre: TimeShift doesn't have a compression option? I can't check because I don't have Mint on hand.

Timeshift does no compression of its own, no. You can backup to a compressed BTRFS mount though.

[HaveaMint]

I keep a weeks worth of snapshots + one OD and it totalled 80gig. Today’s was 10gig.

[JerryF]

@Pjotr and/or Pierre: TimeShift doesn't have a compression option? I can't check because I don't have Mint on hand.

Timeshift does no compression of its own, no. You can backup to a compressed BTRFS mount though.

Good to know, thanks.

[Dupo]

Hi everybody,

thanks for your answers.

I think I will only perform a primary snapshot after the installation of Linux Mint (Like the Windows recovery partition on pre-installed WIndows machine). So I could restore the system in its original state if there is a big problem. As you suggest, I will give a minimum of 10GB disk space for it.

What do you think about my idea to including /home in the root partition ? I will use an external memory card to store all my files (documents, music, videos, ...).

Thanks for your help.

Regards.

[rui no onna]

What do you think about my idea to including /home in the root partition ? I will use an external memory card to store all my files (documents, music, videos, ...).

I do it and I also include /home in my Timeshift snapshots. I don't use /home for personal data. All it contains are preferences and program data.

[Dupo]

Hi guys,

I have a question. Can I disabled the snapshot levels settings in Timeshift if I want to make a single snapshot only ?

Thanks.

[gm10]

You can change frequency of snapshots and amount to be kept in Timeshift settings > Schedule

[PhilippeH]

I am by no means an expert, but I would hesitate to backup to the same disk, even if it is on a dedicated partition. If the disk crashed, you would loose also your recovery, wouldn't you ?

[trope]

Why is it a good idea to have Timeshift in a separate partition?

And why create the partitions using Gparted in advance, is it not possible during the manual install option of the GUI of Mint 19?

[kyphi]

PhilippeH is quite correct. If your disk fails you lose the lot, both operating system and backup.

Put your backup, whether it is via Timeshift or rsync on a drive separate from your operating system. You can give your "other" drive a permanent mount point to enable instant access.

My Home backup and my system snapshots are on a drive separate from the operating system, each in separate partitions making access as well as retrieval very simple.

The advice to never put all your eggs in one basket applies here.

[trope]

Is disk the same as hard drive? I have a laptop with a single hard drive, so what would be recommended, connecting to an external HD for timeshift? On the current hard drive I have 3 partitions, one for windows, one is an extended which has 2 Mint partitions, a swap, and a data partition, and then I have some unallocated space (all this is according to the Disks utility).

[gm10]

Is disk the same as hard drive? I have a laptop with a single hard drive, so what would be recommended, connecting to an external HD for timeshift? On the current hard drive I have 3 partitions, one for windows, one is an extended which has 2 Mint partitions, a swap, and a data partition, and then I have some unallocated space (all this is according to the Disks utility).

Backups should definitely go on a different storage medium. Drop your laptop while it's running, the hard drive head crashes and the disk is gone. With your backup on the same disk, that's gone as well.

Note I said backup, not snapshots. Whether you care as much about your system snapshots as you should care for your data is up to you. Personally I store snapshots to the same drive because I'm not overly concerned about losing it all, I don't mind having to reinstall if the snapshot gets lost, to me they are just a convenience. But backups of my actual data, those I store externally for sure. Your priorities may vary so choose accordingly.

I don't believe having a separate partition for snapshots has any value by the way unless you need it for the file system (e.g. if storing to an USB stick that's also holding other data on a FAT partition). Otherwise just put them anywhere you've got room.

[slipstick]

I keep my snapshots on the same drive as my system, in a separate partition, and I keep two copies of my personal data on separate USB hard drives (I use Back-In-Time for this). But I also keep a copy of my TimeShift snapshots on one of my USB drives, though I only update it once every three or four days, using a script file based on rsync. I include my home in my snapshots, but do not include personal data, for which I use BIT. Here's the space used by my latest set of TS snapshots:

Code: Select all

steve@steve-Z97X ~ $ sudo bash -c "du -shc /media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/*"
[sudo] password for steve: 
12G	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2018-12-01_19-00-02
2.8G	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-01_19-00-02
912M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-11_00-57-53
337M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-11_01-12-07
426M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-13_02-00-01
557M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-20_02-00-01
681M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-26_03-00-02
389M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-27_02-00-02
348M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-27_21-21-41
275M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-28_02-00-01
359M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-29_02-00-01
617M	/media/root/LM18_timeshift/timeshift/snapshots/2019-01-30_02-00-01
19G	total