Re: backing up a complete Debian GNU/Linux system

[Peter S Galbraith <GalbraithP@dfo-mpo.gc.ca>]

Gary L. Hennigan wrote:

> David Wright <d.wright@open.ac.uk> writes:
>
> > The very idea of all one's system software in a set of homogeneous
> > .deb files is probably foreign to most unix administrators.
> 
> Only those with "home brew" systems. In institutional settings it's
> also a matter of wasted time. Why fight with a whole installation
> procedure when you can simply do:
> 
> restore /dev/tape /

Sure, but restoring from debs will be pretty easy.

I don't backup system files.  I backup kernels, /etc and
/var/lib/dpkg/status* files.  I also collect a list of installed
debs I can reinstall from CD:

# dpkg --get-selections > /backup/debian.selections

Peter