Which folders and files do I need to exclude from TimeShift?

Also is there a way to also exclude programs installed as .deb ?

I doing this to reduce Backup size as I have limited storage.

100GB - Windows 11
400GB - Storage
400GB - Mint
100GB - TimeShift
  • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
    7·
    5 months ago

    If you can’t take advantage of Timeshift’s BTRFS support, you’ll probably need to keep an eye on disk space regardless.

    All the .deb files are installed across system directories like /usr and /etc. If you only want backups of your files, just exclude everything outside /home and your data drive. This makes it more difficult to recover from a failed upgrade Windows System Restore style (as you exclude the system components from the backups) but hopefully you’ll never need that (or will be willing to reinstall and restore from backup when failure does happen). You may also want to exclude folders like $HOME/.cache and $HOME/.var if they’re present on your system. I think Chrome puts some of its cache in $HOME/.config as well, though I’d back up most .config folders myself.

    If your storage is that limited and you’re already familiar with Timeshift, you may want to consider switching to BTRFS. It’s not very friendly when it’s almost full, but compression and deduplication can save a lot of disk space, especially with tools like Timeshift. Other filesystems also offer these features, but Timeshift doesn’t make use of anything but BTRFS as far as I know.

    • gpstarman@lemmy.todayOP
      1·
      5 months ago

      If you only want backups of your files

      Actually, I want to backup my system as I’m new to Linux, there is that I will break the system. So, setting up my system from ground again due to some silly mistake I made is tiresome. Also I have separate Storage drive for personal files.

      BTRFS.

      I’m afraid about the compatibility of BTRFS ( not like system drive need any compatibility ). Does it have a good community support as ext4?

      It’s not very friendly when it’s almost full

      ?

        • gpstarman@lemmy.todayOP
          2·
          5 months ago

          Thanks man. you rock.

          I learned a lot. Now, I’m planning to use BTRFS in a VM first to understand it fully.

        • gpstarman@lemmy.todayOP
          1·
          5 months ago

          Tools like df and other file system monitors

          What’s df though?😅 Is it like cli file manager.

          The problems you mentioned regarding the remaining space left on BTRFS, they occur on GUI file managers too?

              • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
                2·
                4 months ago

                I take advantage of the free disk space savings and don’t worry about disk space much. I’ll clear out my download directory and maybe some caches when my disk usage grows beyond 80% (as reported in GUI tools). Running duperemove across my drive every now and then also tends to help a lot without deleting anything.

                If I do run out of space, there are a few interactive terminal tools that’ll point out the biggest files so I can delete them and save some space in a pinch. I practice, I just don’t really think about it much.

      • tron@midwest.social
        2·
        5 months ago

        Snapshotting is a feature of BTRFS file systems. Timeshift will manage said snapshots. BTRFS file system is required.

  • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    4·
    5 months ago

    I put /var/lib/flatpak in a separate btrfs subvolume. Timeshift only takes a snapshot of the root and home subvolumes.

    • gpstarman@lemmy.todayOP
      41·
      5 months ago

      Oh. BTRFS is alien to me man. But a lot of people recommending it to counter the storage constraints. I have to learn it first.

  • stuner@lemmy.world
    3·
    4 months ago

    You can make this work using ext and Timeshift rsync. I have also opted to exclude /var/lib/flatpak/ because it’s quite large. With that, my 5 snapshots currently take up about 34 GB.

    However, I would recommend backing up your deb applications/packages (typically installed under/usr), as those can be critical for your system.

  • mrvictory1@lemmy.world
    2·
    5 months ago

    When I did dual boot (good riddance) I gave Linux <100 GB and rest to Windows. I had additional storage partitions but in long term they made management harder for me so I mounted Windows partition for additional space. Here are my recommendations:

    • Merge “Mint” and “Timeshift” partitions.
    • Use BTRFS if you can. In rsync mode of timeshift, the disk will hold 2 copies of your current system + changes between snapshots. In BTRFS there will be 1 copy + changes. BTRFS also supports compression.
    • System wide flatpaks are in /var/lib/flatpak/app. Flatpak installed for one user only are installed somewhere in ~/.var. Keep in mind that home directory is not backed up by default.
    • If you can, ditch dual boot. If the reason of keeping Windows is MS Office or Adobe apps, you can install them on Wine.
    • gpstarman@lemmy.todayOP
      2·
      5 months ago

      Merge “Mint” and “Timeshift” partitions.

      I thought (also most people said) keeping the Backup in same partition as root defeats the purpose of Backup and brings certain inconvenience like can’t just delete the partition. Also I don’t know if its possible to restore a backup from a partition to the same partition itself.

      Use BTRFS if you can.

      I’m aware that BTRFS has certain adavantages. But the whole BTRFS is alien to me, as I’m new to Linux. Also I assumed that BTRFS doesn’t have enough community support as ext4 is default on Linux and many people just aren’t bothered to change it.

      If you can, ditch dual boot. If the reason of keeping Windows is MS Office or Adobe apps, you can install them on Wine.

      I only use Windows for DaVinci Resolve Free. And for the possibility of requiring Windows exclusive programs in the future as I’m an Engineering Student.

      System wide flatpaks are in /var/lib/flatpak/app. Flatpak installed for one user only are installed somewhere in ~/.var. Keep in mind that home directory is not backed up by default.

      Thank You.

      • Bitrot@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        6·
        5 months ago

        Btrfs is well supported.

        Btrfs uses snapshots and subvolumes. It is not a traditional partition and can restore to itself.

        I think Timeshift is primarily a snapshotting tool for a quick rollback if something breaks. I would not consider it a full backup tool, there are tools that are much more robust and configurable for keeping files safe and elsewhere.

        • mrvictory1@lemmy.world
          1·
          5 months ago

          I would recommend using Timeshift. BTRFS mode can create local snapshots and rsync mode can be used to backup to external media. Timeshift can exclude directories based on user preferences.

        • gpstarman@lemmy.todayOP
          1·
          5 months ago

          there are tools that are much more robust and configurable for keeping files safe and elsewhere.

          But AFAIK, Only Pika Backup has intuitive GUI. And It’s auto backup doen’t work on Mint 21.3 cause of some old packge. So I sticked to TimeShift.

      • Canary9341@lemmy.ml
        3·
        5 months ago

        As the other user says, btrfs is well supported. In fact it is preferable in your case, as it allows you to use transparent compression for the whole system. In addition, btrfs snapshots are also drastically safer and faster.

          • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
            2·
            5 months ago

            You can convert a running ext4 system into BTRFS and even move back to ext4, but to optimise the file system there are quite a few tricks to run as well. They come down to “remove the ext4 metadata (can’t go back after that), defragment, balance, maybe defragment again” and there are tools out there that make this stuff doable though the GUI, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that approach I novices.

            The cleanest switch would be to reinstall. Not just because of the steps above, but also to make sure the right subvolumes are set up with the right properties. This too can be done from a (mostly) running system, but it’s an absolute pain in the ass to have to do manually, especially if you’re not an expert in command line stuff.

            ext4 works fine if you don’t want to deal with all of this, but you’ll have to keep an eye on things like backup sizes just a bit more often

          • Canary9341@lemmy.ml
            2·
            5 months ago

            You can convert it from ext4 to btrfs, but I don’t know how well it works. If you are going to do it, I suggest you check it carefully and make a backup.