fwbackups for Mint

paxolin · 02-25-2017, 01:31 AM

I’ve been looking for some backup software for Mint. I saw a favourable report about fwbackups.
I came across this website http://www.diffingo.com/oss/fwbackups/download with the instruction:

Development/Git repository
To obtain a copy of fwbackups from git, run from your terminal:
git clone git://github.com/firewing1/fwbackups.git

I had to d/l git, then tried to d/l fwbackups:

Code:

~ $ git clone git://github.com/firewing1/fwbackups.git
Cloning into 'fwbackups'...
remote: Counting objects: 1819, done.
remote: Total 1819 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 1819
Receiving objects: 100% (1819/1819), 2.00 MiB | 381.00 KiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (1220/1220), done.
Checking connectivity... done.

I think I successfully did that, but when I look in Synaptic Package Manager it doesn’t seem to find it on my system.
Or haven’t I downloaded/installed fwbackups correctly?

hydrurga · 02-25-2017, 03:31 AM

Congratulations on your first ever installation of git and cloning of a git repository.

However, what you've done is download a copy of the source code of fwbackups, not the "binary" (final runnable version). If you go into the fwbackups directory structure that was downloaded and read the README file, then it will tell you how to build and install the program.

It will be a learning process and one that you might not want to go through yet as a newbie, although there are very few steps and it would be interesting for you to do so. Even after you have built the package Synaptic won't know about it as Synaptic only know about packages that are installable or were installed with the dpkg package manager (i.e. those from the binary repositories or manually installed from the .deb archive format). In saying that, however, you will be able to run the program from the command line and create your own desktop shortcut.

So, your choices effectively are:

. go ahead and build the package and try it out.

. try and find a PPA containing the latest version of the package, or at least a .deb thereof, that supports your operating system version.

. find another backup manager.

paxolin · 02-25-2017, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrurga

Congratulations on your first ever installation of git and cloning of a git repository.

However, what you've done is download a copy of the source code of fwbackups, not the "binary" (final runnable version). If you go into the fwbackups directory structure that was downloaded and read the README file, then it will tell you how to build and install the program.

It will be a learning process and one that you might not want to go through yet as a newbie, although there are very few steps and it would be interesting for you to do so. Even after you have built the package Synaptic won't know about it as Synaptic only know about packages that are installable or were installed with the dpkg package manager (i.e. those from the binary repositories or manually installed from the .deb archive format). In saying that, however, you will be able to run the program from the command line and create your own desktop shortcut.

So, your choices effectively are:

. go ahead and build the package and try it out.

. try and find a PPA containing the latest version of the package, or at least a .deb thereof, that supports your operating system version.

. find another backup manager.

Hi hydrurga and thanks for the reply.
I can see this could drag me down another path I'm really uncomfortable with. I just want to be able to use my PC, not have to have a degree in programming to do that.
Whatever "git and cloning of a git repository" is, it's still all Greek to me.

Can anyone recommend a backup program that I can use to schedule backups of files/folders that I choose? But just as important, one I can install with ease, without having a great technical understanding in order to install it?

hydrurga · 02-25-2017, 04:56 AM

What I suggest is that you start a new thread in the Newbies forum asking for advice about Linux desktop backup programs, after having done a web search to see what might be available and also a search on LQ to see what questions have previously been asked. It also depends what you're looking for - do you just want to back up your data files or your /home directory, perhaps the whole system, or do you want something along the lines of Windows' auto system restore points, or do you want to image/restore whole partitions? Or something else?

P.S. I use FreeFileSync for my file backups (download the Ubuntu 16.04 package from http://www.freefilesync.org/download.php).

paxolin · 02-25-2017, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrurga

What I suggest is that you start a new thread in the Newbies forum asking for advice about Linux desktop backup programs, after having done a web search to see what might be available and also a search on LQ to see what questions have previously been asked. It also depends what you're looking for - do you just want to back up your data files or your /home directory, perhaps the whole system, or do you want something along the lines of Windows' auto system restore points, or do you want to image/restore whole partitions? Or something else?

P.S. I use FreeFileSync for my file backups (download the Ubuntu 16.04 package from http://www.freefilesync.org/download.php).

I d/l the program you use to have a look and hope it will do what I want. I remember it puts things in the download directory. I double-clicked and it offered to extract it. Did that. But what to do next?

Again I tried the Synaptic Package manager, but it didn't find FreeFileSync. Am I making a mistake by keep looking in the Package Manager? I thought that was how you installed programs in Mint?

hydrurga · 02-25-2017, 05:24 AM

Paxolin, a thousand apologies. I'm positive that the Ubuntu/Debian versions available for download on the FreeFileSync web site were deb packages, but that appears to have changed, they now appear to be pre-compiled releases.

I think you would be much happier with your package being part of the dpkg ecosystem, and thus being visible by Synaptic. I actually use the Getdeb repository for my version of FreeFileSync, which keeps fairly up to date. So, let's do that instead.

Edit: confusing instructions - see below.

paxolin · 02-25-2017, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrurga

Paxolin, a thousand apologies. I'm positive that the Ubuntu/Debian versions available for download on the FreeFileSync web site were deb packages, but that appears to have changed, they now appear to be pre-compiled releases.

I think you would be much happier with your package being part of the dpkg ecosystem, and thus being visible by Synaptic. I actually use the Getdeb repository for my version of FreeFileSync, which keeps fairly up to date. So, let's do that instead.

Code:

deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu xenial-getdeb apps

wget -q -O- http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install freefilesync

Oh dear, it's not as easy (to me) as it looks.
First I pasted all the text you quoted into terminal, but that failed. Then I thought I'd better try one line at a time. That failed too:

Code:

~ $ deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu xenial-getdeb apps
No command 'deb' found, did you mean:
 Command 'dub' from package 'dub' (universe)
 Command 'debi' from package 'devscripts' (main)
 Command 'dex' from package 'dex' (universe)
 Command 'dab' from package 'bsdgames' (universe)
 Command 'deb3' from package 'quilt' (universe)
 Command 'derb' from package 'icu-devtools' (main)
 Command 'xdeb' from package 'xdeb' (universe)
 Command 'debc' from package 'devscripts' (main)
deb: command not found
watt@PCMint ~ $ 
watt@PCMint ~ $ wget -q -O- http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key | sudo apt-key add -
[sudo] password for watt: 
Sorry, try again.
[sudo] password for watt: 
OK
watt@PCMint ~ $ deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu xenial-getdeb apps
No command 'deb' found, did you mean:
 Command 'dex' from package 'dex' (universe)
 Command 'debi' from package 'devscripts' (main)
 Command 'derb' from package 'icu-devtools' (main)
 Command 'dab' from package 'bsdgames' (universe)
 Command 'xdeb' from package 'xdeb' (universe)
 Command 'dub' from package 'dub' (universe)
 Command 'debc' from package 'devscripts' (main)
 Command 'deb3' from package 'quilt' (universe)
deb: command not found

hydrurga · 02-25-2017, 05:42 AM

Paxolin, I'm not even firing on 2 cylinders this morning. My humblest apologies again. This must only be putting you off, which is entirely my fault. I'm rushing to go somewhere and it's obviously affecting my concentration.

The first line isn't a command, it's a line to be added to the repository file.

So, let's take it step by step and I'll try really hard to concentrate.

From the command line, run gksudo software-sources (it will ask you for your password).

Click on Additional repositories.

Click on Add a new repository...

Paste in the line:

Code:

deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu xenial-getdeb apps

Click on OK and then close the window.

Now, on the command line, run, each line at a time:

Code:

wget -q -O- http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install freefilesync

paxolin · 02-25-2017, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrurga

Paxolin, I'm not even firing on 2 cylinders this morning. My humblest apologies again. This must only be putting you off, which is entirely my fault. I'm rushing to go somewhere and it's obviously affecting my concentration.

The first line isn't a command, it's a line to be added to the repository file.

So, let's take it step by step and I'll try really hard to concentrate.

From the command line, run gksudo software-sources (it will ask you for your password).

Click on Additional repositories.

Click on Add a new repository...

Paste in the line:

Code:

deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu xenial-getdeb apps

Click on OK and then close the window.

Now, on the command line, run, each line at a time:

Code:

wget -q -O- http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install freefilesync

I'm afraid this isn't working. When I tried to add a new ppa and add the line you supplied, it failed with the message:
Cannot add PPA: ''This PPA does not support xenial'' whatever that means?

hydrurga · 02-25-2017, 06:06 AM

It's not a PPA. You should be adding it to Additional repositories, not PPAs.

paxolin · 02-25-2017, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrurga

It's not a PPA. You should be adding it to Additional repositories, not PPAs.

Oh right, sorry. My mistake. Not that I still understand what any of these really are.
It now has installed the program successfully. I'll have a browse and see what's what.
Thanks.

TxLonghorn · 02-26-2017, 08:25 AM

There are a lot of options for backup. fsarchiver is not difficult to learn, and it is accessible in Synaptic, in Mint.

But, fsarchiver is great for creating a backup of your root partition, while Grsync is better for backing up a /home or /data partition. So, you should answer the question posed by hydrurga:

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrurga

do you just want to back up your data files or your /home directory, perhaps the whole system, or do you want something along the lines of Windows' auto system restore points, or do you want to image/restore whole partitions? Or something else?

beachboy2 · 02-26-2017, 08:34 AM

paxolin,

I can give a strong recommendation for rsync.

There is also a GUI version, Grsync, which you may prefer.

Install it as follows:

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install grsync

Find it in Mint using:
Menu > All Applications > Grsync.

Scroll down to Grsync:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/rsync

Before you go any further:
Setup a second hard drive or an external hard drive as a backup drive.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/68809...external-drive

Open Grsync and under the Basic Options tab:

Click on +

Name: Mynewbackup_26FEB2017

Source: /home/paxo/

Destination: /media/drive2/

Tick boxes for Preserve Time, Verbose, Show Transfer Progress.

Click on Cog/Gearwheel to make a full run/Go.

There are Advanced and Additional Options, but I find the Basic setup is fine for my requirements.