HOWTO: backup my Ubuntu

This is a short guide to my backup scheme. I use this nice guide from the ubuntu forum. First of all, I found it will take ages to extract some certain file from the huge tar file of the whole system backup. So I backup separately. The idea is to backup the home folder into 3 files, and other system files into one. Here they are:

• tar cvpzf /media/SEA_DISK/Backup/Linux/Wei/personal_111206.tgz /home/wei/personal This backup all the personal files include my pictures and application files (say KmyMoney file).
• tar cvpzf /media/SEA_DISK/Backup/Linux/Wei/samba_111206.tgz /home/wei/samba
  This backup the samba folder, which is used to share with my Windows XP via VMWARE. Yeah, I am still usingWindows XP, unber VMWARE. I have to use windows to do some study. This folder is shared between Ubuntu and Windows XP so that I can save the data file in Windows and edit my paper in Ubuntu with just “Ctrl+Alt” to switch out VMWARE.
• tar cvpzf /media/SEA_DISK/Backup/Linux/Wei/wei_others_111206.tgz –exclude=/home/wei/personal –exclude=/home/wei/samba –exclude=/home/wei/songs –exclude=/home/wei/vmware /home/wei
  This backup all the other files in my home folder except the”song” folder, which stores temporary mp3 files I copy from my external hard disk occasionally.
• tar cvpzf /media/SEA_DISK/Backup/Linux/system/system_edgy_kde_111206.tgz –exclude=/proc –exclude=/lost+found –exclude=/mnt –exclude=/media –exclude=/home / This backup all other system files.

• One very IMPORTANT hint: don’t add the last “/” symbol in the exclude parameter. For example, write “–exclude=/home”, but NOT “–exclude=/home/”. Maybe this is a tar bug. /media/SEA_DISK/ is the mount folder of my external hard disk. 

Just these simple steps to backup my Ubuntu, with no need to boot by a CD using Ghost. This is done in running Ubuntu. Amazing, isn’t it? I haven’t restored my Ubuntu yet, but it is just unpack this tar files, again, in the running Ubuntu. In fact, I doubt there wouldn’t be a chance that I have to restore it, Ubuntu seems so stable and easy-repair.