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Create system backups
System backups are created with timeshift, an important utility tool that creates "snapshots" of key system settings and files.
These snapshots can be used to restore the system to a prior state if the current state becomes unbootable or unusable.
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Create an unscheduled, on-demand snapshot:
$ sudo timeshift --create
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Check if a snapshot is due first, and create one only if needed:
$ sudo timeshift --check
Important
It is highly recommended to create daily backups and before making changes to important system settings (such as config files).
timeshift options can be adjusted in the application, or through the terminal by running timeshift with root permissions.
RSYNC snapshots are incremental copies of changed system files.
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Keeps hard-links for files unchanged from the previous snapshot.
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Take up more space but are much more simple to set up.
BTRFS snapshots are only available on systems set up with a BTRFS file system.
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Much quicker and space-efficient.
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Requires more technical knowledge of files systems to properly configure.
It is recommended to set snapshots to save onto an external drive, or an internal drive separate from the system's boot partition.
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This eases the process of recovering to a previous state if the current one becomes unbootable.
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Note that BTRFS snapshots can only be saved onto the same device with the system's root partition.
Note
You can select the specific drive/device to save snapshots to. However, aside from the device, the default directory path for timeshift cannot be changed.
To save disk space, timeshift does not save any user files by default.
Setting timeshift to save non-system files will use a very large amount of disk space, especially with automatic snapshots enabled.
Once the number of snapshots reaches the set limit, timeshift deletes the oldest snapshot of that category. The exact amounts vary between users. Here is an example of snapshot limits:
- 4 monthly
- 4 weekly
- 7 daily
- 5 hourly
- 5 boot
Users can set up cron to schedule time-based jobs.
When configured, the system automatically generates scheduled snapshots up to the set limit, and deletes old snapshots when the limit is reached.
Tip
Automated snapshots at scheduled intervals require a scheduling daemon, which must be manually enabled. The cron scheduling daemon is used in Endeavour OS.