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If you want to know more about backup basics and diffrent types of backup you need to check here
Now we will see a easy backup and restore tool called “sbackup”
SBackup is a simple backup solution intended for desktop use. It can backup any subset of files and directories. Exclusions can be defined by regular expressions. A maximum individual file size limit can be defined. Backups may be saved to any local and remote directories that are supported by gnome-vfs. There is a Gnome GUI interface for configuration and restore.
Installing sbackup in ubuntu
sudo apt-get install sbackup
You can use synaptic also for this if you want to know how to search this software and install check here
Backup Your Data Using Sbackup
Once you completed the installation you can access sbackup using System—>Administration—>Simple Backup Config you can see this in the following screen
Next screen is asking for root password enter password and click ok
Once it opens the sbackup application you can see the following screen where you can configure your backup settings first tab is general options in this example i am choosing “Use custom backup settings”
Sbackup can be operated in 3 different modes
Recommended Backup
If you are new Ubuntu user or aren’t sure what you should backup.This will perform a daily backup of your /home,system data held in /etc,/usr/local and /var.This will deliberately exclude any files over 100MB.By default this backup will be stored /var/backup
Custom Backup
This is same as the recommended backup and in this you can change the settings include,exclude files,you can change the schedule time.
Manual Backup
If you want to backup some files from time to time this option is for you and you can click backup now button to manually perform a backup according to the settings on the other backup properties dialog box tabs.
Next you click on “Include” tab here you can include any file or directory you want to backup
If you click on “Add file” button you should see the following screen where you can select your files
If you click on “Add Directory” button you should see the following screen where you can select your Directory for backup
Next option is “Exclude” here you can exclude files and folders you don’t want to backup.Here you can exclude Paths,File Types,Regular Expressions,Max file,folder size
Next option is “Destination” here i am leaving the default location i.e /var/backup if you want to chnage the backup store location you can select the “Use Custom local Backup directory” and enter the location
Now you can select “Time” option here you can schedule when do you want to run your backup.
Available options for backups you can see in the following screen you can select hourly,daily,weekly,monthly,custom options
Next option is “Purging” here you can select old and incomplete backups and you set the no.of days you want to purge after completing all the settings you need to click on “Save” button to save your settings.
Now if you want to take backup just click on “Backup Now” or leave the schedule backup in this example i just clicked on “Backup Now” this is started a background process with process id you can see this in the following screen
Restore Your Data Using Sbackup
If you want to restore backups or any files,folders go to System—>Administration—>Simple Backup Restore you can see this in the following screen
Once it opens you should see the following screen here you can select the restore source folder and available backups from drop-down menu here you can choose files and folders you want to restore and click on “Restore” button
In this example i have choosen to restore one .iso file and once you select your file and click on “Restore” it will ask for your confirmation click on yes this will restore the file in orginal location if you want to restore in different location you need to select “Restore As” option
Note:- By default Restored Files and Directories are owned by root this is because of sbackup will runs with root.You need to chnage these files or folder permissions using chmod or just right click and select properties of the file or folder.
Backup Destination on Remote machine
One more beauty about sbackup is you can store your backup on a remotemachine for this it will give the option of using SSH or FTP for this go to System—> Administration—> Simple Backup Config once it opens the application you need to click on destination tab here you can select “Use a remote Directory” option type ssh:// or ftp:// followed by the username:password, then @, then the remote host to connect to and the remote directory.
Final Tip:-
Sbackup doesn’t create a new backup file each time it runs and it creates an incremental backup.Which means that it updates the last backup with files that you changed or been created any files that haven’t been updated since the last backup are unchanged
Sbackup Configuration from command line
If you want to configure sbackup you need to Edit /etc/sbackup.conf file
Restore Backup from command line
Run “sudo srestore.py /var/backup/2006-11-18_03 /home/myuser /home/myuser/old”. You can omit the last parameter to restore to the same directory.
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January 9th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Hi,
When I tried using /media/backup or /home/admin/backup as destination in sbackup it locks the drive’s folder. For /media/backup the drive unlocks after a reboot and the folders sbackup created are available but for /home/admin/backup a reboot doesn’t give me access to the drive and if I chmod /home/admin/backup I have access to the drive but the sbackup folders are locked. Is there a way to stop this from happening.
Thanks, Marc
January 11th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Hi, again
Ok, so I didn’t read all the article. I use dapper 6.06 and have updated it. But I don’t have the purge option. Purge would help.
Also about root, I read it was possible to create an extra “GUI” user that will be root and that this was a bad idea, is this because of software being free to do dumb stuff, me being free to do dumb stuff, or both ?
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Marc
January 13th, 2007 at 12:42 am
Hi,
So I found out how to install a .deb and now am happily running sbackup 0.10 (after uninstalling 0.9) . I also found out more about root during my travels.
Anyway I like the way things are now. So thanks, this is one of the best pages I’ve seen and sometimes just getting a chance to ask a question is what’s needed.
Best
Marc
February 20th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
I’am running sbackup under Ubuntu Edgy Eft 6.10 i386, When i try to restore /var it fails!
I have come to the conclusion that it’s the /var/run directory that fails, is this map nessesary for a proper backup?
April 5th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I have installed Sbackup 0.10 on Ubuntu 6.10. After configuring it the way I want I click save. Then click Backup Now and nothing happens. When I close the program and reopen it it has not saved my setitings. Help please!!!! I just want to get my system backed up. Spent many hours trying but have gottenm no where!!
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Hi,
I’ve used SBackup for a while now and it always worked really well. However for some reason it just doesnt make any backups anymore no matter whether it’s triggered by cron or manually. It only creates a text file called ver with 1.3 in it. But no files! I would appreciate any comments or help on this very much!
Cheers
May 31st, 2007 at 6:14 am
Same problem as Johannes, I just installed sbackup on Ubuntu Feisty and when I try to backup to my external USB drive, I only get a file called “ver” and no other files. Help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
July 4th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Yes, sbackup appears to be broken for Ubuntu 7.04. I just installed & it does neither runs nor even bothers to save a config. Wonder if this is another of the dsh-vs-bash issues; or perhaps a change in a newer Python version
August 7th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
I have installed Sbackup on two machines I have at home, an HP Pavilion dv8000 laptop with 2 gig ram and an HP Pavilion ZD8000 with a gig of ram. the program will backup as expected but the incremental backups aren’t automated. Both of the cron files reported to be created by the program are in place. the cron.d entry is there and contains data i.e. the files nad directories to back up. The other cron file is empty. Is this correct? I doubt it but don’t have a clue.
thanks
Bill
September 1st, 2007 at 1:18 pm
i have a simple problem: I activate the prog and then follow the main window and ask me for the root password. After the input the request is password wrong. No way!! I can open a shell and use su. Password is absolutly correct. What is my Fault?
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Does it use any kind of compression? Is there a way to set the compression level?? That would be nice.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
anyone know where all he apps are stored (config files +all
May 8th, 2008 at 6:42 am
It seems to store everything in a “files.tgz”, so it uses gzip for compression. Two issues with this program:
1) No option to backup without tarring or compressing. I prefer to backup everything as-is, ie. to just copy the files across without any specific treatment. This is just in case a file gets corrupted during a disk crash or the power suddenly goes out etc. If “files.tgz” becomes corrupted, then I’m stuffed, but if one of the files in the backup gets corrupted then it isn’t such a big problem.
2) Small issue, I’ve started the backup process but I realized that I forgot to exclude a particular directory, and there seems to be no easy way to cancel the backup.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:09 am
What about ensuring the files being backed up are “quiet”, that is, they aren’t in the middle of being written to, or a daemon isn’t part way through updating several files so an inconsistent picture is taken? Does sbackup do anything to ensure that?
July 24th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Heiko:
It wants your user password, not your root password. The main user on a system is by default an “admin” user, and you need your user password. Same with sudo. In fact, the gui box is just a front-end to sudo, I think. (gksudo)
Lukasz:
The easiest way to stop a backup would be to kill the process. sbackup tells you the PID number when it first starts. “kill PID” will stop it.