Déjà Dup: a Simple Backup Solution for Linux

Déjà Dup is a simple, easy to use GNOME-based backup solution for Linux. Despite its simplicity, the software comes with some fine features such as encryption, off-site backup, and more. It is also bundled with several key functionalities such as integration with Amazon's EC2 and its capability to setup an automated backup to a remote Linux serverusing protocols such as SSH. Let's take a closer look at some of the features that Déjà Dup has to offer.

Installation:

If you are using Ubuntu Linux, the installation process is quite simple. You need to add a repository, refresh the sources, and begin the installation using apt-get.

Add the repository:

# sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deja-dup-team/ppa

Open the sources.list file...

# sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

then add the following entries at the bottom of the document:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/deja-dup-team/ppa/ubuntu karmic main

deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/deja-dup-team/ppa/ubuntu karmic main

Now refresh your apt sources:

# sudo apt-get update

And then complete the installation with the following command:

# sudo apt-get install deja-dup

Although the repositories that you add will differ between versions of Ubuntu Linux, the process remains the same. Voila, your installation should now be complete.

If you are using a different flavor of Linux, you might need to look up the documentation related to it to see how you can get the latest version of Déjà Dup installed on your computer.

Launch Déjà Dup:

Once your installation is complete you can launch Déjà Dup from the Applications menu. It should usually be located under the Applications -> Accessories in your menu. Upon first launch, you will immediately notice a simple, clean user interface with just two buttons on it - Restore and Backup. This is something that I particularly like about this backup tool. As a user, having limited options in the main window make mistakes less likely.

The Setup:

If you click on Edit -> Preferences, you will be able to set up things such as your remote server or EC2 account. This will launch a wizard that guide you through the necessary steps as you go about setting up your backup procedure. Other than a local backup, the tool offers you a number of other backup options such as Amazon EC2, FTP, Windows shares, WebDAV, and SSH.

This range of options is very useful. Also, the simplicity with which it has been implemented and presented makes it easy to use for novice users. During this setup you can define which parts of your system you want backed up, which backup system you want to use, whether or not you want to use encryption, and more.

Bringing It All Back:

An important part of the backup tool Déjà Dup is the restore feature, which allows you to bring back data from your backups. This process is relatively simple. However, I have yet to come across a backup solution for Linux that allows users to restore backed up data with the ease of Time Machine on the Mac. One big drawback is that you can only restore entire backups, and not choose a certain portion of your backup that you want to revert to. I hope that the developers of this tool will introduce some more advanced features in the restore process, as they have in the backup process.

Verdict:

Overall, I think that Déjà Dup makes for a great backup solution for Linux. With a straightforward installation process, a very well designed user interface, which makes the software usable even for non-computer savvy Linux user, a host of well thought out backup storage options, and good security in the way of encryption, this software gets two thumbs up from me. The one issue is that the restore process needs much work. I hope that the developers of this fine tool will put in some more effort into it, which could help make Déjà Dup become the most popular backup solution for Linux.

Back Up Files With Déjà Dup (Linux Mint 11)

Version 1.0 
Author: Christian Schmalfeld 
Last edited 10/11/2011

This article is about how to back up your files with the file based back-up program duplicity's Graphical User Interface déjà dup.

This tutorial comes without warranty of any kind.

1 Preliminary Note

I have tried the tutorial on the Linux Mint 11 distribution, but it should work fine with all other Ubuntu based distributions.

2 Install Déjà Dup

Déjà Dup is available in the default Ubuntu repositories, that is why you can easily download it via Synaptic Package Manager by entering deja-dup into the search bar. Another way to download it is by doing so in a terminal. Simply log in as root and enter:

apt-get install deja-dup

3 Backup Files

You can open Déjà Dup by browsing your Menu to Menu > System Tools > Déjà Dup or go directly to the preferences withMenu > Administration > Déjà Dup Preferences. On first startup of the main program you will be presented with a very simplistic menu, consisting of a system toolbar and two large buttons for backing up and restoring file systems:

Before you back up any files, you first have to configure what files to back up, where to back them up and when to back them up. For this, click on Edit and select Preferences. The first tab that opens with the preferences window is theStorage tab. Here, you select where to store the backed up files. This can be on clouds, all kinds of online servers, local servers and folders. You also have the option to encrypt the files and are prompted for a password upon checking the encryption box. This password is needed for backing up and restoring later. Please notice that you cannot back up without encryption into a back-up-folder specified that was used for encrypted back up before. You will be prompted for a bad password if you try.

Please notice that I selected a local folder only for demonstrational purposes. A back up is supposed to save and restore your files in case of emergency, which is most likely a corruption of the hard drive the data is on, that is why you should either select an external hard drive or an online server you have access to. The next tab is the Files tab, where you specify which files you want to back up and, if that is the case, which files to exclude from backing up.

The last tab, Schedule, configures if Déjà Dup shall back up your files automatically on a timely basis, which you can specify.

Now that you have configured everything to your likings you can close the preferences window to go back to the main window with the two large buttons. If you are sure about your settings, click on the Backup... button. Once more you will be asked if your configuration is correct. Continue on Back up and enter the password you have chosen before. After the process is done, close the window.

The files are stored in packages of up to 30 megabyte, either as tar.gz or as gpg files, depending on if they are encrypted or not.

4 Restoring Files

To restore your files, open Déjà Dup once more and click on the large Restore... button. You are given a dropdown menu with a selection of dates you have made a backup on. Choose the desired one and continue with Forward. Choose a location to restore the files to and click Forward again. If the info on the summary is correct, proceed with Restore.