#remastersys

Recently I was thinking, what will happen if my laptop which is installed with ubuntu crashes. I've made lot of customization in it and don't want to do that all over again. I was searching for a tool which can backup all my current configuration and burn that to a DVD/CD, so that I can install from it straight away. The research ended up with Remastersys.

Its a beautiful tool, and you can do the install from Synaptic Package Manager.

Now you might be confused with the option you need to select for creating the backup, the options I chose was the second

Another thing you need to note is that you need to omit the data folders and files which are large in size. There is an option named modify where you can specify them.

Another interesting I've learned is the compressed filesystem called squashfs which has a greater compressing power that tar and gz.  This is used by remastersys while taking backup.

Remember to unmount any other windows partitions if you are using a dual OS on your machine.

Now the backup is complete and you can see your iso file in /home/remastersys/remastersys folder

Burn this ISO file to a DVD using gnomebaker, for that you should use the option Tools > Burn to DVD.

A few people have asked me how they can backup their system so they will be able to re-install from it, or to be able to install it onto a different system. With this guide I will show you the steps needed to have a working installable distro built from your Pinguy OS system that will have all your settings and changes saved into it. Basically a Full system backup that is also an installable Distro.

First thing to do is to sort out your home folder. As this will be making a complete copy of your system you may want to exclude things like your Music and Videos.

To do this lets make a folder in your home called "Exclude". Now move all the folders/files you don't want to be part of the Backup Distro into that folder. Do not move the Desktop folder. That needs to stay where it is. If you have anything on your desktop it's best to remove them.

This next step is only if you are going to be making a backup on Pinguy OS 11.04.1. All the other versions like the Mini, Ping-Eee ect. you won't have to.

If it is indeed a backup of Pinguy OS 11.04.1 run this.

Terminal

sudo cp -R /etc/skel/Desktop/alacarte-made.desktop ~/Desktop

You should now see the install icon on the desktop.

Now we are going to do a bit of a cleaning up to try and get the size of the install down as much as possible. First run the Remove orphaned packages. If you haven't installed or removed many apps this should come up empty. If anything is listed just remove them.

Next thing to run is Ubuntu Tweak. Run all the cleaning tasks except "Purge PPAs". Just make sure the last thing run is "Clean Config".

The last cleaning tool to run before we start making the backup is BleachBit. You are going to want to run that as normal as well as root.

Now that the system is all prepared lets get started on making the backup. In the terminal run this

Terminal

gksu /usr/bin/remastersys-gui

This will bring up Remastersys.

Click OK and go to the next screen.

Here we want to select Modify.

Here you can rename the Distro to what ever you like. If you do get errors when compiling the backup it could be because the title name is to long, so try and keep it short. Also do not change "Working Directory". If you do you will have all sorts of problems with permissions. The most important thing here is the "Files to Exclude".

This is where we want to place your Exclude folder that we sorted out earlier.

/home/"USER"/Exclude

Replace user with your user name and place it at the end. So it looks something like this.

/windows /dos /home/USER/Exclude

Now we want to go back to the main menu and select Backup.

Next you will see this

Click OK and continue, you will start seeing it compile the Backup.

Depending on the system this can take anywhere between 20mins to an hour.

Once done you will find the iso in /home/remastersys/remastersys