Save your Ubuntu setup using the built-in tools.
Save your Ubuntu setup using the built-in tools.
Ubuntu's built-in backup tools seem to support older versions, but compatibility with newer releases like 18.04 isn't guaranteed. Since you're upgrading from 16.04, checking if the default system backup app can handle a fresh install is a good idea. Many users suggest using tools like Clonezilla for transferring data between systems.
Hi, I haven't tried Ubuntu backup tools before. You're asking about the "baked in" software—what exactly is that? It sounds like a utility designed to simplify backups, though it doesn't rely on any specific proprietary format. I prefer doing backups manually, but I've been working on automating this for a while now. Recently, a system crash nearly erased my files, but because I had backup plans in place, I avoided losing everything. What are your partition settings? Which files or directories do you want protected? If you have a /home folder, just skip formatting it during installation—it's safe to back up important data first.
It could be Gnome Backup now available for Ubuntu. It relies on Duplicity behind the scenes, and yes—you can reinstall Duplicity if necessary. http://duplicity.nongnu.org/ (it might seem tricky, but it works). This is specific to Gnome Backup. You can still use Duplicity if you prefer, though it’s mainly for incremental encrypted backups over the internet. It’s meant for regular use, daily or weekly. If you just need a simple zip archive, a basic tar command like tar cjvpf username.homedir.tar.bz2 /home/username will suffice. For a more robust offsite solution on Linux, Tarsnap is a solid alternative (though it costs money).
Yes, that's quite the Gnome quirk. In the About pane it could display "Deja Dup," which stands for Gnome Backup. The two names differ because the name updates when it becomes the default in Gnome.
I sealed everything in a tar ball to protect permissions and ownership, then placed it on a network drive or USB drive. Using backup tools or rsync on a Windows server might cause file metadata to disappear.