So since I started to use Linux I have used rsync as a backup system. This has some limitations, and this week I decided to see if there is an actual backup solution. Well it turns out there are a number of FOSS backup packages to choose from. As usual the Gnome one (sbackup) isn't being maintained currently like so many Gnome Desktop packages. Fortunately I found BorgBackup which comes in the Debian repositories and seems to be a good package that is well supported.
There was some drama when I tried to update my system to the 1.1.4 edition of Borg. Because I tried using a sid package instead of looking to see if there was a stretch backport, a lot of the dependencies for qgis and some other software got trashed in the process. So I had to reinstall MainPC twice. However reinstallation is something I have got down to a fine art and can be completed in a couple of hours including all the application software packages. One of the reasons that makes it straightforward is that the home drive is on a separate disk (actually a RAID-1 disk array) from the install volume (which is an SSD). So reinstalling is just a matter of setting up the SSD as the / mount point and installing there, and then reconnecting the RAID array and bringing that back up as /home.
So I have spent the evening reinstalling but as usual it has been straightforward and trouble free and at least I have the latest edition of Borg. The first backup took up much less disk space than rsync backups did and because of the deduplicator built into it, subsequent backups will be fairly small. This means much more efficient disk space usage. After due consideration borg will be the backup software for both mainpc and mediapc, and I am sure it will do a great job.
