qt4-fsarchiver is a gui version for the command line version fsarchiver. A howto for the cli version is available here:
http://www.fsarchiver.org/QuickStart
The gui version is available on sourceforge.net as deb packages and Live CD - http://sourceforge.net/projects/qt4-fsarchiver/files/
My version is an older one, german only. But in newer versions you can choose between german, english and russian. In order to
change the language go to "Einstellungen" -> "Basiseinstellungen" -> "Sprache" and choose Englisch or Russisch. Then hit the buttons "Einstellungen speichern" -> "Beenden" and restart qt4 to make en or ru effective. The same procedure you have to go, if you use
a Live CD.
The best way to work with qt4-fsa is, if you have two Ubuntu/Debian based systems installed. It also works with rpm based distros.
rpm packages are available here - http://sisyphus.ru/en/srpm/Sisyphus/qt4-fsarchiver/get -
If you don't have two Linux systems, at latest in order to restore partitions you need a Live CD. A Live Cd is available Ubuntu
Oneiric based:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/qt4-fsa ... s/Live-CD/
ukbrian produced a rescue CD based on SalineOS. Thanks for it Brian
http://lin.me.uk/qt4-fsarchiver/qt4-fsa ... -01-24.iso
Save Partitions
qt4-fsarchiver must be run as root. If you start qt4-fsa from your menu and the terminal don't open in order to type in
your password, open a terminal and start fsa with:
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sudo qt4-fsarchiver
webbrowsing, writing etc. but you shouldn't install new apps and not use Dropbox if you don't want to loose datas!
In order to save a partition go to Existing Partitions and choose the partition you want to save. qt4-fsa can handle ext3, ext4
and btrfs partitions. Save the MBR is possible. If Grub is the bootloader the PBR must not be saved or restored. It is not safe to use
the gui at present for ntfs backup and it's not possible to save encrypted partitions.
Then go to Backup Directory and choose a folder where you want to store your backup. Next step is Name the backup
and after it's done hit Save Partition. After about 12 minutes the work should be done if you choosed gzip standard
compression.
Restore Partitions
It is not possible to restore mounted partitions. If you have two Linux installations, install qt4-fsa in both. Then restore the
unmounted partition from your running Operating System. If you don't have two OS's, use a Live System (CD/Stick) and restore
from there. It is possible to restore an fsa clone to any partition of your choice on your system. A clone restored to another
partition than it was backed up from, gets the UUID and Label from the origin partition.
Warning:
What means, don't forget to format the origin partition, if you restored to another!DataMan wrote:
I can shed some light on the duplicate uuid situation from "first hand experience"....
I recently cloned through fsarchiver my production Mint Debian "/" & "/home" to new partitions. I re-directed a dedicated boot to the cloned install as well as a dedicated boot to the original install (dedicated GRUB legacy boot loader). It was driving me bonkers as I was randomly booting to one or the other. I knew this as I had set different distinct backgrounds in each ops.
So the long and the short of it is... if you crave a little bit of uncontrolled excitement in your life, definitely clone a complete Mint Debian to another partition and enjoy the uncertainty of where you will end up booting to.
-DataMan
In order to restore first mark Restore Partition with fsarchiver. In Existing Partitions choose the one to restore. In Backup Directory go to the folder where your backup is stored and choose the backup file you want to restore. For example LMDE-date.fsa. Then hit Partition restore.
Normally it's enough to backup once per week. But if you read in our forums the testing or sid breakage threads
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=198&t=67502
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=198&t=70230
and a dist-upgrade is noted as suspect, it's a good idea to create a fresh backup before you update.
For me sometimes it's fun to break my system with a suspect update and then try to fix it. If i don't find a fix, with a backup
i'm always on a safe side. I wish you fun with LMDE Testing or Sid and Backups
Note: if you can't backup a mounted partition and you don't have a second Linux OS with qt4-fsa installed, use a Live System!
Warning: if you use this program, and you use symlinks to the distro you are backing up, then nothing is going to work again until
you remount the partition because qt4-fsa will unmount the distro you are backing up and remount it to /tmp. I also VERY seriously suggest that if you use Dropbox across multiple distros that you switch it off before you start the backup and only switch it on again after you have remounted the partition.
Compressionoverview:
Mode/Level..................Compression Rate...................Needed Time
___________________________________________________________________
lzo..............................2.141.695.938 Byte...(1.99 GiB)...11 min 12 Sek
gzip fast.......................1.822.273.889 Byte...(1.7 GiB)...12min 11 Sek
gzip standard................1.695.248.687 Byte...(1.58 GiB)...12 min 49 Sek
gzip best......................1.688.266.397 Byte...(1,57 GiB)...23 min 52 Sek
bzip2 fast.....................1.660.019.964 Byte...(1,55 GiB)...26 min 11 Sek
bzip2 good....................1.637.605.954 Byte...(1,53 GiB)...28 min 23 Sek
lzma fast......................1.597.604.088 Byte...(1,49 GiB)...19 min 19 Sek
lzma medium................1.480.208.664 Byte...(1,38 GiB)...59 min 4 Sek
lzma best.....................1.461.640.213 Byte...(1,36 GiB)...67 min 0 Sek
Video help produced by ukbrian
Low resolution size 29MB http://lin.me.uk/mint/videos/qt4-fsarchiver-low-res.mp4
Low resolution zipped size 21 MB http://lin.me.uk/mint/videos/qt4-fsarch ... mp4.tar.gz
High resolution size 133 MB http://lin.me.uk/mint/videos/qt4-fsarchiver.mp4
High resolution zipped size 117 MB http://lin.me.uk/mint/videos/qt4-fsarchiver.mp4.tar.gz
If the Debian 6.0 package complaines about liblzma.so.2 not found, run:
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ln -sf /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/liblzma.so.5.0.0 /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/liblzma.so.2
Written with a little help by my friend YouTranslate and a lot of help by viking777. Thank you.
A big thanks to the developers for this useful and easy to use program.