On 01/15/2015 08:47 PM, Kevin O'Gorman wrote:
I was hoping for some details on why this won't work on system drives, or conditions under which it just might. Another user has suggested I read https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BackupYourSystem/TAR which suggests that it actually should work.
That would require an in-depth understanding of the Linux kernel, which I don't have. (My answer was geared towards practical system administration; it works reliably for me.)
If you want to learn everything required to explain why a file system level self-backup of an operational system drive won't work, or how to make it work (and how to restore it), more power to you. If you would care to post what you find, I'd like to read it.
David