The process of making a backup is something that can save your entire professional life. It is always advisable to do it frequently to avoid data loss either on a server or on your personal computer. So, in this post, I show you some backup tools in Linux. They are mainly oriented for a desktop user.
As a brief introduction, we will say that some of these tools are focused on Ubuntu but also support other distributions. So, let’s get started.
Linux Backup Tools
Back In Time
Back In Time is a simple backup tool for Linux, inspired by “flyback project”. It provides a command-line client ‘backintime’ and a Qt5 GUI ‘backintime-qt’ both written in Python3.
It is very easy to use because you only need to specify 3 things:
- Where to save snapshots
- What folders to backup
- Backup frequency (manual, every hour, every hour, every day, every month)
The installation is mainly focused on Ubuntu and derivatives like Linux Mint. It has versions for Plasma and GNOME that we can install by adding the PPA of the application.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bit-team/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install backintime-qt4
Then, we can start it from the main menu of the system.
Also, on the Github page, you can see the instructions to compile the program on another distribution and even generate DEB packages.
Grsync
Rsync is a CLi tool that is used by many to perform simple backups. However, the fact that you have to use the console, as well as many of the options can make it not ideal for everyone.
This is why Grsync was born to provide a graphical interface to this command. Although it provides support for the more advanced features of rsync, it does allow you to backup your folders quickly.
Sample uses of grsync include: synchronize a music collection with removable devices, backup personal files to a networked drive, replication of a partition to another one, mirroring of files, etc.
To install it on your favorite distribution you have to do it from the default package manager.
So, on Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives you just need to run
sudo apt update
sudo apt install grsync
In the case of Fedora
sudo dnf install grsync
Or for Arch Linux based distributions
sudo pacman -S grsync
Then, start it from the main menu.
LuckyBackup
This is another tool that uses rsync as a backend for backups. But unlike Grsync, it is a more complete and reliable application.
It is simple to use, fast (transfers over only changes made and not all data), safe (keeps your data safe by checking all declared directories before proceeding in any data manipulation ), reliable, and fully customizable.
With LuckyBackup you can set which folders to back up and which not to back up. This increases operation times. It also includes a task scheduler so you can forget about backing up all the time. It even supports remote connections.
To install it on Debian and Ubuntu-based distributions just run
sudo apt update
sudo apt install luckybackup
In the case of Fedora, you have to run
sudo dnf install luckybackup
This way you only have to run it from the main menu.
Conclusion
These applications allow you to make backups in a fast and easy way so you don’t lose data in case of an unforeseen event. Each of them has its advantages and ease of use, now it’s your turn to use them.
