address a media drive...

Ubuntu mounts usb drives automatically

1. plug in the drive
2. look at it with dolphin
3. open a terminal window from Dolphin using the menu
4. (terminal window opens at the path of the mounted drive)



chad@kubuntu13:/media/chad/EOS_DIGITAL$ pwd
/media/chad/EOS_DIGITAL

chad@kubuntu13:/media/chad/EOS_DIGITAL$ cp -r * /home/chad/Pictures
chad@kubuntu13:/media/chad/EOS_DIGITAL$

Kill a process, restart kde...

To kill a process....

Ctrl + esc

To restart kde

Alt + F2 and type

• If Ctrl-Alt-Backspace is disabled, type 

  sudo /etc/init.d/kdm restart

http://askubuntu.com/questions/19901/how-to-make-a-disk-image-and-restore-from-it-later

How to make a disk image and restore from it later?

up vote 49 down vote favorite 30

I'm a new Linux user. I've reinstalled my Wubi from scratch at least ten times the last few weeks because while getting the system up and running (drivers, resolution, etc.) I've broken something (X, grub, unknowns) and I can't get it back to work. Especially for a newbie like me, it's easier (and much faster) to just reinstall the whole shebang than try to troubleshoot several layers of failed "fixing" attempts. Coming from Windows, I expect that there is some "disk image" utility that I can run to make a snapshot of my Linux install (and of the boot partition!!) before I meddle with stuff. Then, after I've foobar'ed my machine, I would somehow restore my machine back to that working snapshot. What's the Linux equivalent of Windows disk imagers like Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost? Note: I found a similar question here. backup shareimprove this question edited Jan 15 at 21:34 Braiam 22.4k124084 asked Jan 3 '11 at 20:07 Torben Gundtofte-Bruun 2,30883969

Torben, under the Wubi folder (usually C:\UBUNTU, but may be some other drive & folder), you'll find not only the loopback disk images created for your Ubuntu install, but also some other important files (like the Wubi loader). Sorry if it's a guess, but I think it's an educated one. ;-) Maybe ('cause I really have never tried - sorry - but wouldn't hurt if you try it - I would) if you backup that folder while the system is in a good state, you can take Wubi back by replacing the good state over the non-functional one. –  Charles Roberto Canato Jan 3 '11 at 20:34 Please post this as an answer, because it sounds like a good way, specifically for Wubi installations! After my last fubar I installed a "real" Ubuntu, not Wubi, so this little trick will go into my drawer for next time I find myself in that spot. –  Torben Gundtofte-Bruun Jan 3 '11 at 20:47 You can just copy the files and the master boot record (freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/…) and you'll be fine. –  con-f-use Aug 16 '12 at 11:45 What do you mean? Can you please explan. I need thoes packages and files also. –  BigSack Aug 16 '12 at 11:46 add comment

9 Answers

active oldest votes

up vote 29 down vote accepted	It's Clonezilla Live: http://clonezilla.org/ The tutorial for Clonezilla can be found here. shareimprove this answer edited Oct 6 '12 at 14:02 Mochan 1,19621130 answered Jan 3 '11 at 20:22 user8290
	+1 Safer way of doing it. dd is little dangerous to use. –  N Bhargav Jun 6 at 11:04 add comment

up vote 36 down vote

dd is the low level utility that you can use to accomplish this task, it essentially a low level byte-for-byte copy utility. If you want the "UNIX" way of accomplishing this, then read on. All references to the file system and hard disks are located locally on the virtual /dev/ filesystem. There are a multitude of "nodes" in /dev/ that are interfaces to almost all the devices on your computer. For example, /dev/hda or /dev/sda would refer to the first hard drive in your system (hda vs sda depends on the hard drive), and /dev/hda1 would refer to the first partition on your hardrive. The most straight forward way to make a raw image of your partitions is to use dd to dump the entire partition to a single file (remember the OS access the partitions /dev/sda1 through a file interface). Make sure you are on a larger partition or on a secondary drive and perform the following command dd if=/dev/hda1 of=./part1.image to backup(repeat for different partitions) dd if=./part1.image of=/dev/hda1 to restore You can use the exact same command to backup the entire hard disk (replace hda1 with hda). You can then use any compression program (gunzip, zip, bzip) to compress the file for storage. You can use this same technique to make rote copies of entire partitions to make clones of your computer. There is one limitation though, when restoring the backup, the partition needs to be the same size as the partition you took the image from, so this limits your options in case of a restore. However, you can always expand the partition after you've restored the backup using gparted or parted. The picture gets even muddier when you are trying to restore entire disk copies, however, if you are restoring the backup to the same exact hardrive you don't need to worry about this at all. However, if you want a "friendlier" utility ala norton ghost then this suggestion might not be for you. shareimprove this answer answered Jan 3 '11 at 20:44 crasic 1,3931718

2   I almost expected there to be a built-in tool for this, but I also expected that tool to be ... not-so-noob-friendly :-) This is probably a good solution, once I get more Linux experience. –  Torben Gundtofte-Bruun Jan 3 '11 at 20:56 Also check out ddrescue. Maybe with SystemRescueCd. –  webwurst Jan 25 '13 at 9:30 Will dd work if I need to take a snapshot of a virtual machine and install it on another virtual machine? What if some files (like /etc/hostname) have to be different on both machines? –  Thomas Jan 29 '13 at 15:20 @Thomas for virual machine images you better use corresponding VM Manager built-in functionality e.g. Export image in Virtual Box. –  tommyk Aug 19 '13 at 12:07 Does the restoring hdd has to be of same size? What if I make image of a 80gb disk and dump it on a 100gb one? –  Bibhas Sep 18 '13 at 14:27 show 1 more comment

up vote 6 down vote

The "dump" and "restore" backup utilities in the Ubuntu repositories provide you with the ability to backup and recover an entire system's "system state". The "dump" and "restore" utilities can be installed from the repositories using: sudo apt-get install dump Below are links to the Man pages: ⠀Dump ⠀Restore In your case, you could backup the system to a portable drive: dump -0uan -f my_file / For recovery you would need to: Boot from your Ubuntu live CD/DVD/USB. Install the dump utility. Mount your hard drive. Restore (i.e. restore -r -f my_file /my_mount). Note: If you are restoring to a new disk you will need to install your bootloader (GRUB). More information can be found at Move linux to another hard drive (dump, restore, backup) shareimprove this answer edited Jun 6 at 13:17 karel 6,91171728 answered Aug 15 '12 at 6:20 Sparky 23623

How to restore from this if i fail to login to my ubuntu? –  BigSack Aug 15 '12 at 6:21 here is the process for recovering, or moving, a system using the dump and restore commands as above. linuxscrew.com/2007/08/13/… –  Sparky Aug 15 '12 at 6:33 @virtual.stack - the answers would sound much better if you may provide a little how to on taking and restoring backups , using this method :) –  tijybba Aug 15 '12 at 6:48 @tijybba - Sorry, I have updated the response. Please let me know if this is now clearer. Regards. –  Sparky Aug 15 '12 at 7:04 While I am a fan of dump, it is not an image based backup. –  psusi Apr 21 at 14:54 add comment

up vote 3 down vote	You can do exactly what you need using CloneZilla shareimprove this answer answered Aug 16 '12 at 11:46 Mitch♦ 37.1k860106
	Does it clone, my 320gb Hardrive on my 8gb pendrive? –  BigSack Aug 16 '12 at 11:49 1   It should. Since you said that your total installation size is only 500mb. –  Mitch♦ Aug 16 '12 at 12:36 add comment

up vote 2 down vote

There also Ghost for Linux, but Clonezilla is the better option - it's more up to date. The latest version of Ghost for Linux is listed May 2009, while Clonezilla's latest version was posted in November 2010. One minor limitation of Clonezilla compared to Ghost is that you can't resize the partition on restore, while Norton Ghost can. You probably won't need it, but Clonezilla also supports multicasting. shareimprove this answer answered Jan 3 '11 at 20:38 Scaine 6,24911543

add comment

up vote 2 down vote

Using "Dump" and "Restore" is one solution, as indicated by virtual.stack. However you might be interested in using Clonezilla if you have an external USB hard disk drive or a NAS. You just have to download an ISO image by clicking here (you can access the global download page here), burn it with "Brasero". Boot from Clonezilla Live CD and perform a backup (disk or partition to image) of your main hard disk drive (with your healthy Ubuntu). Please note that you can't backup the partition you have mounted as backup destination (quite logical). If your system is broken, you just have to boot again with Clonezilla Live CD and perform a restore of your system. Don't forget that Clonezilla makes snapshots, so if you have your data ("/home", "/etc", ...) on the same disk/partition as Ubuntu system, you'll get back the one from the backup and loose what has been done since that backup was performed... You can find a tutorial for Clonezilla Live here : How to Use Clonezilla - Tutorial You can also use "Back In Time (backintime-gnome)" (available from Ubuntu Software Center) or else (Déjà Dup, ...) alongside to get a backup of your data. You just have to include ("/home", "/etc", "/var", "/usr/local", ...) in the backup profile. Like that you can get back your healthy system with Clonezilla and then your latest data with "Back In Time" or else.

Master Boot Record -Back it up !...

How to back up your Master Boot Record (MBR): fail to prepare or prepare to fail

Short URL: http://fsmsh.com/2438

Sun, 2007-08-05 06:30 -- Gary Richmond

Backup, like security, is a well-worn mantra in the world of GNU/Linux—and even the most battle-hardened, street-wise user has, for whatever reason, thought about regular backups after disaster has already struck. It is an all too familiar story. System Administrators, by the very nature of their work, will have that imperative carved on their headstones. For them it will be a way of life. Desktop users, being responsible only for themselves, can afford to be a little more louche about such things. If it all goes a bit “arms in the air” there is no one to reproach them but themselves.
You should backup many things: the files in your home directory, configurations files in /etc, (and there are many excellent graphical tools to do the job) but one of the simplest and best things you can do is to backup your boot master boot record (MBR). It’s one thing to experience lost or corrupted files, it’s quite another not to be able to bootup your computer at all. What follows may just get you out of a fix.

Windows manners

It is highly unlikely that you came to GNU/Linux as a computing virgin. You almost certainly, like me, came via Windows and therefore either installed over it or decided to attempt to dual boot. Like Bill and Steve, Windows is a bit short on computing etiquette and if you installed GNU/Linux first on a blank hard drive and then followed up with an installation of some version of Windows you will have made a painful discovery. Windows will, without so much as a by-your-leave, stamp all over your GNU/Linux boot sector with great big hobnail boots. The first lesson is to install Windows first.
However, you don’t need to be dual booting with Windows to court disaster. Dual booting with several versions of GNU/Linux can lead to boot problems too. At best, only one version will boot—or worse, none and you may find yourself googling furiously to understand terse and cryptic GRUB error messages. Sometimes, boot sectors (including partition tables) can just get corrupted for no discernable reason at all. Whatever the reason, you need to prepare for all eventualities as GRUB (GRand Universal Bootloader) does not make a copy of the MBR during installation.

Backing up

The MBR, as I will refer to it hereafter, is a 512 byte segment on the very first sector of your hard drive composed of three parts: 1) the boot code which is 446 bytes long, 2) the partiton table which is 64 btyes long, and 3) the boot code signature which is 2 bytes long. These numbers are VERY important. Any careless or impulsive fingering at the keyboard of these numbers could well render your machine unbootable or the partition table unreadable. The sight of a grown man crying is not pretty. You have been warned!
The core of the backup command is dd—which will be familiar to every system administrator, especially to those who intend to clone an entire hard disk. To see all the options type man dd. As we want to back up only the first 512 bytes we need to append some agruments to it. Here is the full command you need (and remember to run it as the root user, su (and sudo for Ubuntu users):

dd if=/dev/hda of=/home/richmondg/mbr_backup bs=512 count=1

Obviously, you will need to substitute the partition where your boot sector resides and also use your own username. Now let’s see just what we did there. dd just stands for disk dump, if means input file, of means output file, bs simply means bytes and count=1 tells the command to do this just once. It makes sense to save this out to some removable device, usually a USB stick, in which case amend the file path to suit so that /home/richmondg/mbr_backup reads, say, /dev/sda/mbr_backup or just copy the original backup to the external device.

Or, only copy the first 446 bytes. Why?

This could be a useful tip. If you change 512 to 446 in the above command you will only save the boot sector, but not the partition table. Why would you want to do that? The reason is that if you use 512 bytes and subsequently amend your partitons for any reason and then restore the MBR it will be out of sync. So, ensure that if you have made any partiton changes since your original MBR backup that you update that backup.

Restoring the MBR

Not surprisingly, in order to restore the MBR it is only necessary to reverse that original command which saved it. If you managed to hose the MBR you will not be able to boot up, so you can use a live CD to access your hard drive and read the backup off any removable media such as a USB stick. Here is the command:

dd if=/dev/sda/mbr_backup of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1

Again, amend sda to read where you saved the MBR and run the command as root. If you wish to kill the MBR altogether, including the partition table, then you can overwrite it with a series of zeros:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1

If you want to kill the MBR but leave the partition table intact then simply change 512 to 446.
There are, of course, alternatives which involve using your install CD in rescue mode to reinstall GRUB which will have the same effect (with the added advantage of not overwriting the partition table) but that is another topic in its own right. In the meantime, using the dd command with arguments will help familiarise you with other linux commands and the file structure. Mastery of the command line is a learning curve but one that can repay huge dividends when things go wrong.

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/backing_up_your_master_boot_record

Recovery ideas

June 12

tonight Quantal stopped working and I could not shut it down. The mouse was frozen, as well as the keyboard. I eventually hit the reset button, but the system would no longer boot. The recovery modes all failed, as well as the older system recovery option...

I installed another drive I had made for Kevins machine, which has Saucy on it. This one worked, and I retrieved my home directory files from the other drive which has the broken Quantal system

I'm happy to have the ipad which is quite resilient.

June 13,

I reinstalled 13.04 on the disk that kevin's Quantal (above) was on.

chad@kubuntu13:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu Raring Ringtail (development branch)
Release:        13.04
Codename:       raring
chad@kubuntu13:~$

Firefox

vlc, and keepassx

keepassx does not read the new format of the data file.

I installed keepass2 (also available in Muon) and it seems to work just fine with the new format of data file.


===================
I need a good way to recover !!!
===================
idea:

• on a small 500MB drive, create two partions.
• /dev/hda1 will be the first partion where kubuntu will be installed
• /dev/hda2 will be used for the backup images
• the MBR will point to grub on /dev/hda1
• /dev/hda1 will always be installed with a ubuntu image that uses the whole partition, thus grub will always be simple for one only system...

•  determine your drives and your partitions with lsblk

chad@kubuntu13:~$ lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
├─sda1   8:1    0 449.8G  0 part /                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
├─sda2   8:2    0     1K  0 part                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
└─sda5   8:5    0    16G  0 part [SWAP]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
sdb      8:16   0   1.4T  0 disk                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
└─sdb1   8:17   0   1.4T  0 part /media/FreeAgent Drive                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
sr0     11:0    1  1024M  0 rom                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
chad@kubuntu13:~$ ^C                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
chad@kubuntu13:~$     

my hard drive is sda, my system partition is sda1, my swap partition is sda5, a portible drive plugged into the usb is sdb




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