Upgrading to Ubuntu 20, *how* to back up?

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 19:03:39 +0200, Ralf Mardorf via ubuntu-users wrote:
>Hi,
>
>don't backup your install to an internal drive.
>
>Download an Ubuntu flavour image and burn it to a DVD.
>
>Restart the computer and boot the live DVD by clicking the icon of the
>partition of your install and the one of the external drive.
>Fortunately your install is on a single partition.
>Open a terminal and run
>
>$ sudo -i
>
>then change to the mount point of the install you want to backup
>
># cd /media/ubuntu_flavor/mount_point_of_the_root_directory
>
>note, the root directory is / , it is not /root .
>
>List all files by running
>
># ls -hAl
>
>It should only show files and directories that do not start with a dot.
>
>IOW it should not contain any .file or .directory/, since due to
>globbing, by using the asterisk, as shown by my example below, would
>not backup files that start with a dot.
>
>If no items beginning with a dot are shown either run
>
># cp -ai * /media/ubuntu_flavor/mount_point_backup_partition; echo $?
>
>or run
>
># tar --xattrs -czf backup.tar.gz *; echo $?
>
>The echo command should return the value 0, if it shouldn't, the
>backup is broken.
>
>If you use the cp command you could use the diff command to ensure that
>the target and backup are identical, run

When using cp instead of tar also run

ls -hAl /media/ubuntu_flavor/mount_point_backup_partition

to ensure that the backup partition is empty. There's no need that it is
empty when using tar.

>
># diff -r /media/ubuntu_flavor/mount_point_of_the_root_directory
>/media/ubuntu_flavor/mount_point_backup_partition
>
>As long as it doesn't complain about missing sockets or doesn't
>complain at all, everything is good. Don't worry about sockets.
>
>Before following my advices, wait until another subscriber of this
>mailing list confirms that I didn't made a typo or another mistake.
>
>If the backup is done, disconnect the external drive, before you
>continue with booting and updating your install.
>
>Regards,
>Ralf
>



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