IFL running under Linux (MINT)

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by TheRollbackFrog, Nov 17, 2017.

  1. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Greetings all IFx users. Having just started my most serious entry into LINUX (can I abandon Windows completely?), one of my first questions concerns imaging. My two favorite programs in the past for imaging Windows has been Macrium Reflect and IFW... both superior at this state of their development.

    So, my "noobie" question in this area is... can I run IFL as an installed application under Linux MINT? I've read a lot about creating BOOT media, etc. but very little about IFL as an installed Linux application.

    Is there a heads-up place y'all can send me so I can get up to date on this capability?

    Thanks!
     
  2. n8chavez

    n8chavez Registered Member

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    I do not believe you can. As far as I know it's called Image for Linux not because it can run within Linux, but because Linux is the basis for the boot disc. I have IFL added as a boot entry, and it works just fine.
     
  3. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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  4. n8chavez

    n8chavez Registered Member

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    Interesting. I guess I truly do learn something every day. But is doing this practical? What point does it serve? Just like with IFW, you will be able to image but not restore an active partition. That being the case, why not just use the boot media?
     
  5. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    Depends on how you use your system. If only one OS is installed, I agree is not practical. But if you dual/triple/etc.-boot is is handy. When you are in the first OS you backup/restore the second (while working, playing, navigating in the net, etc.) and when in the second OS you backup/restore the first. :)
    The only problem is that you won't take anymore long coffee-breaks during the backups/restores. :p

    Panagiotis
     
  6. n8chavez

    n8chavez Registered Member

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    True. That's a nice cold-boot work around. TheRollBackFrog, I suggest you create the IFL boot disc (iso) even if you use this method just be be on the safe side.
     
  7. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Whaaaaaat!?! No PhyLoc for Linux :eek: (sure would be nice to have).
     
  8. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    What would be the main advantages (other than possibly some speed) in using IFL BOOT media over Macrium Reflect BOOT media for imaging (Incremental/Differential) LINUX Systems?
     
  9. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    Actually linux has this frreeze functionality, snapshots, etc. from 2004, but with logical volumes... Unfortunatly IFL/IFW/IFD does not support linux's logical volumes imaging.
    Did Macrium add support for ext4? Last time I checked (more than a year ago it did not)
    Some that come to mind, Partition resizing, changed sectors only restore.

    Panagiotis
     
  10. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Macrium Reflect, even its boot media, does not support EXT4, unless you do sector-by-sector raw backup. For Linux disk imaging, best ones are IFL/IFW, Drive Snapshot and Clonezilla. R-Drive Disk Image should also work.
     
  11. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    Yes, partial support at least. It can backup and restore ext4 partitions without any problem using "intelligent copy" even if they're included with other partition types on the same drive. (See this KB article.) However, Reflect has no inherent capability for mounting backup images of ext4 partitions unless something like Ext2Fsd is included in your Windows OS setup.
     
  12. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    If you check the used disk size using the Macrium boot media PE, and compare that to the actual used size in you Linux OS, you'll see a significant difference - under UEFI Secure Boot conditions. Because of this, I am not sure if MR really has the ability to backup EXT4 correctly, even if it may seem it does.
     
  13. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    The displayed size discrepancy may possibly reflect its inability to mount the partition. All I can say for sure is that my own backup and restore experience confirms that Macrium KB article's statement without exception ... or perhaps I should say that it has on several occasions to date.
     
  14. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Is your hardware UEFI with secure boot enabled? It could make a difference - One example is Symantec System Recovery 2013R2 could backup/restore EXT4 no problem for MBR system, but it did not work for UEFI Secure Boot. All my systems are UEFI Secure Boot so for MBR system MR might be OK.
     
  15. Arvy

    Arvy Registered Member

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    Yes, my ASUS system setup has secure boot enabled. My WinPE rescue media can boot either way (MBR or UEFI) and I've tried both. If you have actually experienced a problem with Reflect restoring an ext4 partition I'd certainly be worried about that and would be grateful for any details. But perhaps we should switch any further discussion about that to the Macrium Reflect topic.
     
  16. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    TRF,

    Your question has already been answered. I have IFL in all my Linux installs. MBR and UEFI BIOS installs. I think its main function is to create IFL boot media or install IFL to a HD partition. As mentioned you can use IFL to create images of other partitions on the drives. Or restore other partitions on the drives.

    In addition to Panagiotis' links on how to install IFL, have a look at readme.txt in the "ifl_en_gui" folder. (after the zip has been extracted). You can install PartWork during the IFL install by entering your registration info.

    To let IFL and PartWork see your disks you have to...

    sudo adduser "login name" disk

    Then restart Linux.

    I haven't tried Macrium with Linux.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2017
  17. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Thanks for the details about your test. Yes let's switch back to IFL :)

    Let me endorse IFL/IFW (boot media) one more time: it works on backing up every OS, Windows, Linux or even Mac OS X HFS+.

    Also, when I dual boot Ubuntu/Windows 10, I always backup the whole HDD which contains both WIN+Linux all at once in a single image. When restore you can select which partition/OS to restore. Much simpler to do backup this way (at least for me anyways).
     
  18. n8chavez

    n8chavez Registered Member

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    Me too. I have the same configuration. IFW/IFL works like a charm...every time!
     
  19. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Another quick question... in the latest IFL release, has Terabyte developed the FileSystem reference (used in IFW) for quick Incrementals of EXT4 partitions... or are they "incrementalizing" Linux partitions using the old method of scanning the entire partition and saving only the changed sectors?

    Thanks in advance!
     
  20. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    TRF,

    See page 47 in the IFL userguide...

    Looks like NTFS partitions only.
     
  21. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Thanks, Brian... looks like that's the case after all.
     
  22. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    TRF,

    I just checked my diff backup times using IFW (not IFL) with the /usemd and /hash parameters.
    A fresh Win10 install had a diff backup time of 3 seconds.
    A fresh Linux install had a diff backup time of 20 seconds.
     
  23. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Thank you for your effort, Brian... good performance points!
     
  24. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    @TheRollbackFrog Since you are you "new" in the Linux I would advise to use a different partition to mount Home. This way you will minimise the system backups size of the OS and you won't have to worry to worry that your user account settings or new data get lost when restoring an older backup.

    Panagiotis
     
  25. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Thanks Panagiotis... was considering that but the System is still pretty small and in the "testing" phase. As I move forward I will rebuild as suggested.

    So far it's fun... just getting used to the cryptic nature of the ADMIN world :eek:
     
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