The default backup, I believe, simply backs up the Home directories of all of my Qubes. This is just my files, right? Like documents and videos and stuff? What about things like the Qubes Manager? All of my sys-net/firewall etc, dom0 and Template settings?
If I were to need my backup, I’d like to be able to restore it and then login to a QubesOS that appears identical to me. Without needing to spend hours getting things how I have them now. How do I do that? What additional files do I need to be backing up?
The configuration of your desktop is in your /home directories (general in .local and .config). So when you restore dom0, your desktop’s configuration will be restore…
if you want backing up some files outside your home’s directory. check in the documentation:
Thanks! I read that documentation and the way it’s written actually made me ask this, as it seems to imply there is a lot of other stuff you may want to back up.
Currently, this is all I think I’d want so it’s great it’s doing that anyway.
This would also require a backup of the corresponding qubes and their templates. It all depends on what you mean by “desktop”, and I infer that you don’t only mean “Desktop Environment config” in a Linux jargon way @qubes_username, but rather your whole Qubes OS experience. Is that right?
I mean my interface, and all the elements that are presently a part of it.
For example nearly the first thing I always do is click the Q in the top left, and I have my Favorites set to show there and in this, I have a list of the most common Qubes I use (browsers, apps etc).
A distant 2nd is I will open Qubes Manager and inside of this I see all of my templates and Qubes (some of which are in Favorites) etc.
I want all of that (literally everything I just named, and every part of it) if and when I have to restore a backup. And not to have to reconfigure it or recreate any of it.
This still isnt all that clear.
If you want all your "templates and Qubes " then you need a full Qubes
Backup including dom0.
If you just want the look and feel of your existing system, then a dom0
backup will do that (unless you have installed separate widgets or
system-wide tools, in which case you need to reinstall them.
I never presume to speak for the Qubes team.
When I comment in the Forum I speak for myself.
I must be using the wrong terminology because this is a straightforward question which presumably has a straightforward answer.
Since I started using Qubes I have spent many hours configuring it. Creating templates, installing apps, configuring things in Qubes Manager etc.
I don’t want to lose all of that if I need to restore a back up.
One example:
I created a sys-vpn and this gets used as the NetVM for some web browsers and internet connected Qubes, so they have a VPN attached to them automatically.
That was quite a massive pain in the neck to get working and I do not want to have to repeat it. So I’d like to back it up with my regular backups.
That and all of the other stuff I spent time setting up.
I am not sure any backup would restore dom0 environment as it was before restoring, except backup will restore only /home directory. That is why I manually backup/restore also /etc and /usr directories because I’m customizing policies, command line, cron’s, fstab, stubdoms, etc, etc…
But, nothing, and I literally mean nothing will help you more to restore whatever, than taking the notes when customizing whichever environment, whichever OS. Then, and only then is how I know which files and directories I want to prepare for a manual backup/restore.
Salt your system - then you have self documenting system, and all
you have to do is backup the salt state files. Cherry pick the ones you
want to install on to a new Qubes system.
I never presume to speak for the Qubes team.
When I comment in the Forum I speak for myself.
