In this post we will discuss how to backup a Linux workstation to a cloud automatically. As an example we will use Ubuntu Desktop 14.04.5.
Standard Cloud Backup Ways
Linux-based systems have built-in backup tools, which are flexible enough to make a full-fledged backup. You can use TAR command to create a backup file – find out more on the Ubuntu Community Help Wiki page.
Another concern is backup upload to a cloud. For instance, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has Command Line Interface, which allows using AWS API to connect to cloud storage. Another way is to mount a cloud S3 bucket as a local drive with s3fs-fuse utility.
Nevertheless, the solutions above need further adjustment for automatic backup creation and transfer. That is why third-party apps still remain to be the primary Linux cloud backup tools.
CloudBerry Backup As a Solution
CloudBerry Backup (CBB) is a cross-platform solution, which offers automatic backup and restoration for Windows, OS X and Linux. It has both GUI and command line interface (CLI) ensuring its flexibility in use. Find out more about such features on the CBB Linux page.
The minimum system requirements for using CBB with Linux PC are as follows:
OS: Ubuntu 12/14/16, Suse 11/12, Red Hat 6.x/7.x, Fedora 12/21, CentOS 6/7, Oracle Linux 6.x/7.x.
CPU: 1.4 GHz 64-bit processor.
RAM: 512 MB.
Disk space: 100MB of free space required.
Network adapter.
CBB provides a backup feature for Linux on the file level. That is enough for both system and working data recovery, since they differ only in directories to restore. CBB also has a block-level updates feature to reduce storage utilization. At the moment we are working on the image-level backup feature which will allow restoring to physical and cloud virtual machines with a minimum of user effort.
CloudBerry Backup Installation
First of all you need to download the latest version on the CloudBerry Backup for Linux page.
Start installation using the following command:
sudo dpkg -i /PATH/pack_name for Ubuntu.
sudo rpm -i /PATH/pack_name for other Linux editions.
The installation process is typical for Linux system and may vary depending on the distribution.
On the first CBB launch you need to choose a license option:
The free version doesn’t support compression and encryption. It also has a 200GB storage limit.
CloudBerry Backup CLI allows performing any action with Terminal. On the CLI page you can find a complete list of commands.
To start the trial version via the console, run this command:
cbb activateLicense -e "email" -t
Where email is a contact email address.
You can activate the license at any time under the License tab of the Settings on CBB toolbar. Just enter your key in a corresponding field.
The console command is:
cbb activateLicense -e "email" -k "license_key"
Where license_key is the key received after purchasing.
There is also offline activation with the following steps:
Generate a service key. The command is:
cbb activateLicense -e "email" -k "license_key" -or
Send it to support@cloudberrylab.com
Receive the activation key and paste it to the Activate field.
The command is:
cbb activateLicense -e "email" -k "license_key" -oa "activationkey_received"
How to Backup
To start the backup process, you need to sign up to the cloud storage. If you don’t have an account yet, we have explained the registration process in How to Get Started with S3 post.
Let’s see an example based on Amazon S3:
Under the Storage tab of CBB Settings choose S3 as the storage provider.
In the opened window you need to specify:
Any display name.
AWS access keys.
A bucket for backups. You can create a new one within CBB interface.
When the app verifies the credentials, the S3 storage is ready for backup. The console command is:
cbb addAccount -d DisplayName -st AmazonS3 -ac AccessKey -sk SecretKey -c BucketName -ssl
To start a backup process for a server, you need to create a Backup Plan using a corresponding button on CBB toolbar.
After Wizard launch you can:
Choose files and folders for backups.
Configure the task scheduler.
Enable data compression and encryption.
Turn on notifications.
Choose whether to include files and empty folders into the backup system.
The basic console command is:
cbb addBackupPlan -n "PlanName" -a "DisplayName" -f "folder/subfolder" -f "folder/doc.txt" -ef "folder/subfolder/private_folder" -c yes -ea "AES256" -ep "qwerty" -every day -at "00:00” -notification errorOnly
This will create a backup plan called PlanName for storage account DisplayName, which will upload to the cloud all files and folders in folder/subfolder and file folder/doc.txt but exclude folder/subfolder/private_folder. CBB will compress this backup and encrypt it using AES-256 algorithm with a qwerty password. The task will start every day at 00:00, and you will get a notification in case of an error.
If you want to get a complete list of backup plan options, visit the CBB Linux Command Line Interface page.
To start the backup process, launch a new plan via Start on CBB toolbar or with this command:
cbb run -r PlanName
How to Restore
To recover data, use CBB toolbar to launch the Restore Wizard.
During Wizard operation you can:
Choose files and folders to download
Select backup versions for recovery.
Configure the task scheduler.
Decrypt encrypted files.
Turn on notifications.
Set the overwriting policy.
The same restoration options are available when using CLI command cbb addRestorePlan -en. If you want to get a complete list of data recovery options, visit the CBB Linux Command Line Interface page.
Conclusion
We have seen how to install CloudBerry Backup on Linux and set up a backup plan. Don’t forget to visit the CBB Linux Command Line Interface page to find out more. We also offer a 15-day FREE trial version, so you can evaluate our backup solution yourself. If you have questions left, check our Support Center to contact the developers and community.
Related Products
CloudBerry Backup
Linux Edition
Incremental backups
Compression
256-bit AES Encryption
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