In Part 4 of this Linux series we learn how to set up Timeshift, an efficient and safe way to roll back your Linux install to a safe point in the event something goes wrong, without having to do a clean install of the OS. Previous parts of this series involved items like updating the system and video codecs for example. Feel free to check out Part 1 if you’re new to the series.
Timeshift isn’t like other backup solutions though; it includes system files, configs, and critical OS components in the backup, which is very useful if you break the system as you try to learn it. Simply roll back the system to a previous useful state and you’re good to go. Lets start our learning journey by installing Timeshift
Install Timeshift
Start by opening a terminal on your system. Then enter the following command:
sudo apt install timeshift
Once the terminal installs Timeshift, search for and click on Timeshift in your app launcher
Select Snapshot Type
Make sure that RSYNC is selected as it composes snapshots into files and folders for easy access. Click “Next.”
Select Snapshot Location
Click on the partition that you’ll want to use for your backup. Ideally you’ll want to put this on a separate hard drive. If you don’t have that option, use what you have access to. Notice the partition that I chose was the only one I had access to.
Once you select your partition, click “Next.”
Select Snapshot Levels
This is the Timeshift Setup Wizard. It allows you to set up how often a backup is captured and how many previous backups are kept. It starts at monthly and gets increasingly more often as you go down the list. Unless you’re engaging in extensive lab or testing work that could break your system, everyday users should choose weekly or daily.
Keep Levels
As mentioned previously, the “Keep” section of each interval governs how many of your newest backups are kept. For example, if you choose “Weekly” keep 5, then 5 of the newest backups are kept. On the sixth backup, the oldest backup out of the 5 will be deleted automatically.
Stop cron emails for scheduled tasks
Cron is a scheduler that runs within Linux and it manages background jobs. If the box is unchecked, then Timeshift could send notifications about snapshot creation. If the box is checked, no email will be sent. Leaving it checked is the preferred option.
Additional Details Below the List
Snapshots are not scheduled at fixed time
This means that the snapshots don’t always run at the same time everyday, it simply checks the system for any changes
A maintenance task runs once every hour and creates snapshots as needed
Seems obvious what this means, but what is really happening is a cron job runs in the background based on the time it is set to run. .
Boot snapshots are created with a delay of 10 minutes after system startup
What this means is that if you check the boot box, Timeshift won’t run the backup until the system has ample time to boot up properly, preventing a system slowdown.
For this instance, I kept the Daily box checked and have set the Keep section to 5. Click Finish
Create Your First Snapshot
Now that we have our snapshot parameters configured, it’s time to create our first snapshot. To begin, click “Create,” then wait for the process to finish.
You’ll see a screen like this while it processes
When the process finishes, the Timeshift window will look like this:
How To Restore a Snapshot
The next set of steps/screenshots is for demonstrative purposes only. If your system isn’t broken, do not do these steps. Be sure to back up all data before attempting a restore. I accept no responsibility for any unintended results and/or lost data.
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Lets say that something goes wrong and you need to restore your system to a previous snapshot. First, click on a snapshot and then click “Restore” to begin the process
You’ll notice on the next screen that there are many options. You can leave these options untouched unless you dual boot your system, in which case you want to see the next point
If you dual boot your system with another OS
This is very important. If you dual boot and there isn’t anything wrong with your bootloader, click where it says “Bootloader Options (Advanced)”
When the Bootloader Options screen loads, uncheck the “(Re)install GRUB2 on:” and “Update GRUB menu” boxes. This prevents the restore function from hiding or otherwise messing up your dual boot setup. Click “close” once the boxes are unchecked.
Once you’re back on the Restore Snapshot screen, click Next.
Click Next when you see this screen.
Check any and all warnings on this final screen. If anything doesn’t seem right, cancel the process, research anything thoroughly to make sure that everything is set the way you need it to. Read the Disclaimer before you proceed as well. When you’re ready, click “Next.”
Your screen will run lots of activity and will look something like this:
You system should restart normally after the restore takes place. I hope this ending process provided a nice visual for how a restore would look for you, should you ever need to run one.
Wrap Up
In this guide we discussed installing Timeshift, a very useful program that restores a system in case we break something accidentally, among other things. We discussed the various backup time intervals and how many backups to keep so that we can choose the restore point that best serves our purposes. Lastly, we created a snapshot and demonstrated how to perform a restore from a restore point. I hope that this guide was helpful and that you feel that you’ve increased in skill level as a result of this guide. In the next part of this series, we talk about something quite fun: apps! Yes, we get into the good stuff, what apps shall we run that offer the same functionality as those on Windows? There are quite a few good (potentially better?) apps that perform the same tasks as their Windows counterparts. I’ll see you there!
