I know how to run CloneZilla from a bootable USB or DVD. No worries. How do I install and run CloneZilla as a desktop utility?
I could get the bits onto /usr/local but I could never make things run.

It is critical to use a bootable media edition of CloneZilla when working with a workstation primary drive and file systems. A running system leaves too many footprints -- that are constantly changing -- to try and make a copy while those file systems are in active use.

However, I have other "data drives" that I wish to work with. CloneZilla offers the right set of tools to move things among drives and file systems. I simply want to launch CloneZilla much as I would launch 'gparted' or 'nautilus.'

Thanks in advance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

clonezilla is in the Ubuntu (and therefore Mint) repos.

apt install clonezilla

or install through the Software Manager or Synaptic.

Note that the installed version of clonezilla is run from the command line.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks, I get this far. NOTE -- You can also get it from Software Manager.

The shell script gets planted at /usr/sbin/clonezilla and will launch just fine. However, it doesn't want to see or read or write any of my available file systems.

I want to:

• select one of my file systems to clone
  • select any one of my available file systems as the source
  • select any one of my other file systems as the destination
  • write the source fs contents to the destination as some sort of data file.
• repeat for my group of source file systems

From the command line, CloneZilla (1) cannot read what I cannot select, and (2) cannot write to what I cannot select.

The file, /usr/sbin/clonezilla is a shell script. I'm trying to make sense of it now.
It would not surprise me if there are built-in assumptions from the bootable media implementation.

Thanks in advance for any help and helpers,
~~~ 0;-/ Dan

Could it be as simple as you need to run it as root?

1 members found this post helpful.

Differences between gksudo/kdesudo, sudo, and su
"mint"? I heard mint.

1 members found this post helpful.

You need to make sure the file system you would like to 'clone' is NOT in use when trying to 'clone' it. This is the benefit of running clonezilla off a USB or CD/DVD. And I would suggest installing it onto a USB stick and running it from there instead.

1 members found this post helpful.

When I launch /usr/sbin/clonezilla it checks for 'root' user and forces your to try again if you are not running that way.

~~~ 0;-Dan

indeed, that was my point. Some tools require root and behave oddly when they don't get it.

Much like the requirement to run as the 'root' priviledged user, it would seem apropriate for CloneZilla to test for and announce if a source file system is mounted or which ever form of busy it wants to avoid.

Do you know if it simply wants an unmounted source partition, or does it prefer other not-busy details?

Thanks in advance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

If a device has a mounted filesystem, clonezilla won't even offer it as a candidate for the image source.

1 members found this post helpful.

Yep that's right, which is why I suggested you install it onto a USB and boot your PC off of it instead. As therefore the only file system that would be in use, would be the one on the USB.

I have two separate external, USB connected, enclosures. Both have two(2) drives installed. Some drives are a single partition/file-system. Others have multiple parititions/file-systems. I would expect that the CLI edition of CloneZilla would let me manipulate the contents of the external drives. Also, I would like to read from workstation internal partitions/file-systems. Sadly, it does not see the external drives at all so I cannot use them as a destination. It sees the workstation partitions/file-systems but won't read them either.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

Clonezilla has a GUI?

Erm, something at http://clonezilla.org/related-live-c.../more_info.php
Personally, I don't think you know what you want.

The only thing I can think of would be clonezilla is not being run with superuser/root permission?? I would suggest you get a normal USB stick (thumb drive) and install it onto there, then boot your PC from the normal USB stick (thumb drive).

I have not had any problems running it this way, I also suggest you install clonezilla onto it, within a virtual machine. As this way there is no risk to your real system (if you get the destination drive wrong, and be CAREFUL).

See the following, if you need help installing it onto a USB stick; http://clonezilla.org/liveusb.php


Clonezilla has a text based GUI (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text-based_user_interface) which guides you though setting up your 'clone' image.


Best of luck!!

I'd love to use this effort to motivate my learning about virtual machines. I've never had a pressing need to run multiple Linux instances -- until now -- and running win-dose on Linux has always seemed to be a real chore to setup. (grin) I'd welcome the help and advice or pointers to a good-enough howto...

Thanks in advance,
~~~ 0;-Dan