SYSTEMBACK 2019: Live installation require DOUBLE space on HD drive!

[fabiocasi]

Hi everyone

I'm using the latest version of SYSTEMBACK 2019made by the Italian https://francoconidi.it for linux MINT 19.1 MATE 64bit.

To avoid errors in "live" at startup and for a correct installation on Bios EFI and GPT disks I had to do: (as for the old official Systemback versions, with Kernel after v. 4. ***)

sudo apt-get install unionfs-fuse
sudo apt-get install live-boot
sudo apt-get remove casper
sudo apt-get install grub2-common grub-efi-amd64-bin grub-pc-bin

In this way it works with BIOS EFI and LEGACY!

The problem, is that when I try to install the LIVE on Virtualbox, with a "small" virtual disk, 14 GB, the installation ends with ERROR "not enough free space on disk..."


Installing on a 25Gbyte partition, everything works! and I find the t in \lib\live\mount\ there is a COMPLETE COPY of the entire operating system backupped, and this DOUBLING the destination disk space required for the installation!

On the "LIVE" ISO system, if I do in terminal:
linux@mint19:$ df
/dev/sr0 2,8G 2,8G 0 100% /lib/live/mount/medium
/dev/loop0 2,7G 2,7G 0 100% /lib/live/mount/rootfs/filesystem.squashfs

but the .ISO file image size is correct fot JUST ONE system copied! so the problem in the "mounting" of the ISO LIVE system ...

Do you have any idea what is the reason / solutions?
Thanks in advance.

[Larry78723]

I have no experience with systemback but I have a question. Why are you using it instead of the already installed Timeshift to back up the system and BackInTime to back up your personal data and settings? They both do a fantastic job for me and are quick.

[fabiocasi]

I have no experience with systemback but I have a question. Why are you using it instead of the already installed Timeshift to back up the system and BackInTime to back up your personal data and settings? They both do a fantastic job for me and are quick.

Because I need to make an installable .ISO personal distro, to reinstall it, in a various computer.

[LinWinux]

I have no experience with systemback but I have a question. Why are you using it instead of the already installed Timeshift to back up the system and BackInTime to back up your personal data and settings? They both do a fantastic job for me and are quick.

Because I need to make an installable .ISO personal distro, to reinstall it, in a various computer.

Well, in our family I'm the only one who sets up the computers for everyone. Timeshare is indeed great (although I keep it disabled), but when you have a custom setup which you can install on a live boot ... to then install that identical system on three additional computers in mere minutes per computer with backgrounds, emails, browser bookmarks, passwords, etc. running on each and every one of them ... you simply can't beat that kind of convenience. Timeshare obviously can't do that.

I got spoiled by the custom live .iso function since that's installed by default in MX Linux. It's a sheer pleasure to prepare going for vacation, popping in that newly created live usb stick, and setting up the vacation laptop to run identical to our office machines while we're on the road. My understanding is that systemback does exactly that, create an identical copy of your currently running machine which you can then install easily on other machines as well (just like the snapshot tool of MX Linux).

BTW: Have you ever tried deleting any Timeshare files from another disk where those were copied to? It's so darn difficult that I eventually just gave up and reformatted that disk. That's the thing that I severely dislike about Timeshare, it's not friendly at all from one computer to the next with previously backed up files.

.

[LinWinux]

And here's the sourceforge link for systemback.
My understanding is that it is not by some italian developer?
https://sourceforge.net/projects/systemback/

Hasn't been updated in 2 to 3 years though. Perhaps abandoned ...

.

[Larry78723]

Apparently, someone has picked it up. Link to it: https://francoconidi.it/systemback-1-9- ... -10-18-04/

Will test later this week.

[LinWinux]

What makes that particular link really confusing is the fact that ... at least on my Chrome browser ... the comments are totally scattered between 2008 and 2019. Along with the myriad of instructions for 32bit systems, problem fixes, and ubuntu installs which failed, I really don't know how far to trust the information on that site? Nothing there appears to be organized & sorted very well. And yeah, Mint is not Ubuntu ... even though both of them are Debian based. Either way, it'll be great to find out if systemback is something that can be reliably ported to Mint. I would definitely love that feature ...
Have a great weekend.

.

[Len E]

Hi fabiocasi:

In recent days, I've tried the latest versions of systemback, 1.9.3 and 1.9.4 on Debian 10
and encountered the same problem as you, and utilized the same solution. I made sure
that my destination partition for my remastered distro was somewhat more than twice
the space used in the originating partition.

I stumbled on one detail which may be of some use to you in future. I've been unaware
over the years that I've used the original Kendek version of systemback that, although
during the setup of the system install process I've always designated a swap partition,
it was never used by the installed distro.

I've just learned, by monitoring the install process, that after about 5% completion of the
install, gparted shows that whereas the destination root partition is locked by the installer,
the swap partition is not. Also, htop shows that there is no usage of the swap partition.
By then turning swapon for the swap partition from gparted, htop shows swap partition usage
by the installer from that moment forward.

This fact is of no great consequence during the install, but after installation is complete,
and the newly-installed distro is booted up, the swap partition is locked at the outset, the
same as the root partition. Therefore, there should be some performance improvement
in perpetuity.

Len E