How To Backup Ubuntu 11.10 Using Déjà Dup

It's important to backup your system no matter what operating system you're using. In this quick tutorial I will show you how to backup and restore your Ubuntu desktop and data. The Ubuntu 11.10 release came with Déjà Dup, a simple Duplicity based backup tool installed by default.

Opening Déjà Dup on Ubuntu

You can access Déjà Dup on Ubuntu 11.10 by selecting the power icon in the top right corner of your desktop and then System Settings option.

On the System Settings window select the Backup icon.

Setting The Déjà Dup Options

This brings up the Backup window which has four sections shown on the left. The Overview options shows a summary of your backup and an option to turn on automatic backups. At the bottom of this window you can see the Back Up Now and Restore... buttons. Before using these we will need to setup what we are backing up and where we are backing it up to.

Click on the Storage option on the left. Now you can choose where you want to backup your Ubuntu system to and choose what folder at that location.

The Folder option lets us set the folder(s) we want to backup and the folder(s) we want to ignore during the backup.

The Schedule option includes options to set how often to backup and how long to keep the backups. This corresponds to the automatic backup feature which must be turned on in the Overview section of the backup window.

Backing Up Ubuntu With Déjà Dup

Click on the Overview option again, optionally turn on automatic backup, and then select the Back Up Now button in the bottom left of the window.

You will need to choose an encryption password or allow the backup to be restored without a password. Click continue.

Creating the first backup.

Restoring Ubuntu With Déjà Dup

Now that we've created the backup you can click the Restore button on the Overview section to restore your backup.

Choose where to restore from.

Choose what date you want to restore.

Next you can choose to restore to original locations or to a specific folder.

The last thing you have to do is type in the encryption password you chose while creating the backup.