This is major update with many new features. Existing users are advised to upgrade.
What’s New
Backup & Restore /etc/fstab and /etc/crypttab entries
Aptik can now backup and restore entries in /etc/fstab and /etc/crypttab.
During backup, the fstab and crypttab files are saved to the backup location, along with any key files referenced by crypttab. Files are encrypted with GPG so that the passwords and key files referenced by crypttab remain safe.
During restore, missing entries will be appended to the fstab and crypttab files and the mount point directories will be set up with proper permissions. Key files (if any) will be restored to the original location.
Backup & Restore Users and Groups
Aptik can now backup and restore any custom users and groups that you may have created on your system.
During restore, the missing users and groups will be created and the group memberships will be updated for the newly created users.
Note - All user account settings will also be restored including the login password, group memberships, account expiry settings, password change policy, etc.
Note - Aptik will only backup/restore users and groups that were created by the user. System accounts and groups will not be modified since they are created by applications.
Backup & Restore User Data in Home
Aptik can now backup and restore the user data in home directory. Duplicity is used as the back-end. This is the same back-end that is used by tools like Deja-dup. Duplicity is extremely fast and can take incremental backups to save time. Backups are compressed with GZip, and encrypted with GPG.
Note - Symbolic links in the home directory will be saved as symbolic links in the backup and will be re-created correctly after restore.
Note - This section will backup and restore only the user data in home directory. Data created by applications (such as the data in hidden app config directories) are not backed up. Use the Application Settings section for managing the data created by applications.
One-Click Backup & Restore
There is now an option to backup and restore all items with a single click. This saves the effort of clicking the backup and restore buttons for each section.
Note - The default behaviour is to backup and restore everything so that you get exactly the same system after restoring. There is usually no need to click the individual backup and restore buttons for each section. It is recommended to use the one-click button for backup and restore instead of using the backup and restore options for individual sections.
Future Changes
In my opinion, the options provided by Aptik now cover 90% of the manual set-up that users do on their new systems. The remaining 10% are things that are better done manually than by using an automated tool. If there is any other item for backup/restore which you want added to Aptik, let me know by email or in the comments below and I’ll see if it can be added.
Feel free to send me an email if you notice any issues or if you have any suggestions. You can use the links below to buy me a cup of coffee if Aptik has saved your time.
Donate with Paypal
Donate with Google Wallet
Installation
Ubuntu-based Distributions (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc)
Packages are available in the Launchpad PPA for current Ubuntu releases. Run the following commands in a terminal window:
sudo apt-add-repository -y ppa:teejee2008/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install aptik
For older Ubuntu releases which have reached end-of-life, you can install Aptik from the DEB files linked below.
aptik-latest-i386.deb (32-bit)
aptik-latest-amd64.deb (64-bit)
Debian
DEB files are available from following links:
aptik-latest-i386.deb (32-bit)
aptik-latest-amd64.deb (64-bit)
Other Linux Distributions
Aptik depends on Debian package managers like apt-get and aptitude. It should not be used on non-Ubuntu distributions.
Removal
Run the following commands in a terminal window:
sudo apt-get purge aptik
Donations
If you want to buy me a cup of coffee or send some donations my way, you can use Google wallet or Paypal to send a donation to teejeetech at gmail dot com.