Hi, can I somehow backup whole linux (ubuntu 20.04) vps using duplicati so I could restore it (rollback) when something happens. I have heard about whole disk image backups but not sure how it works. I know duplicate doesn’t have exactly that option, but maybe isn’t there some tool which creates those system images and then I can backup them with duplicati
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Can duplicati backup my whole linux vps? #5075 is seemingly GitHub Issues earlier attempt at this.
Apparently no VPS users are jumping in. This isn’t a VPS forum, but those do exist and might help.
The search box in upper right might find some answers, but actually there’s a generic question too.
How to backup everything installed on a Debian server says why you should know your server data locations. You might have to reassemble the VPS when you restore. An image backup removes the requirement, and many VPS providers will provide these with varying frequency and maybe a price.
One advantage is that they are sometimes done from below the virtualization that the VPS provides, allowing them to be crash-consistent as opposed to just picking up different pieces at different times.
If your data changes rapidly, you could use file backup in addition to image backup to get other stuff. Duplicati database should be rebuilt if you restore from image, as a stale database leads to disaster. Database must always match the actual destination, and an image backup of database will get stale.
If you mean from VPS provider, details vary, so check web site. If do-it-yourself, where do you store it? Maybe getting fancy with partitions would be an option, but it’s going to use more space so more cost?
Streaming it out rather than storing it in VPS might be an option, but it’s time and maybe transfer costs.
Also important is how you get it back into the VPS. For a local system, I think you boot a recovery tool, however from a bit of research, I’m hearing that VPS providers limit the sorts of things you can boot up.
Providers that allow use of custom images/snapshots. Ask your provider? Also ask them about backup.
Duplicati can probably back up the important pieces of your VPS. Your data is what counts, not the OS (depending on how customized it is). You can load standard software from wherever it had come from.
You will probably have an easier Duplicati installation if VPS OS is one that Duplicati means to support, however your VPS might lack support for graphics (is it text-only?), and this can add some install pains. Remote GUI is sometimes possible (maybe slow), but you can port forward HTTP by SSH to Duplicati. Using CLI version is another option, but is not as easy as using the web browser interface – somehow.