Speech:Backups:Clonezilla

Clonezilla
Clonezilla is open source software that allows an image to be made of a hard disk at a given time. When Clonezilla is started disks are unmounted from the system so that they may be imaged. There are beginner settings or advanced settings if you feel confident with the tool. The size of the disk is compressed to probably about 10-15% the actual size using the beginner mode. This is a good option as it will allow the system to be restored quickly in case of failure as it is essentially a system restore.

Requirements
Note: A file storage server can be used as well if access is available.
 * CD or USB with clonezilla installed
 * External hard drive for storing the image

Preparation

 * Download the ISO clonezilla from http://clonezilla.org/ on to a CD
 * Use a program such as nero to burn to a disc

To Backup the System

 * Power on the system.
 * Insert the CD into the disc drive.
 * Note: Servers are already set to boot from CD drive before HDD.
 * Clonezilla should proceed to boot.

When Clonezilla boots

 * Choose your language
 * Select “don’t touch key map” and hit enter
 * Start clonezilla
 * Select device image work with discs or partitions using images
 * Select USB local device (external HDD)
 * Hit enter on the default “Do you want to use a USB drive as a clonezilla repository”
 * Select your hard drive
 * Choose the directory in which you want to save the image to
 * Default is normally used.
 * Save the entire disc
 * Name the image
 * Suggested to put date in the name as well as server name to be descriptive.
 * Select the disc that you’re backing up from (The server’s OS disc) and hit enter to continue
 * Click yes when asked if you’re sure you want to continue
 * After the backup has been completed, you’ll be prompted to either reboot or shutdown

To Restore the System

 * Power on the system.
 * Insert the CD into the disc drive.
 * Note: Servers are already set to boot from CD drive before HDD.
 * Clonezilla should proceed to boot.

When Clonezilla boots

 * Choose your language
 * Select “don’t touch key map” and hit enter
 * Start clonezilla
 * Select device image work with discs or partitions using images
 * Choose the local hard drive in which the image is located
 * Find the directory that contains the image
 * Use beginner mode
 * Instead of Saving the entire disc, choose “restore disc”
 * Choose the image file to restore
 * Select the drive that you want to restore
 * You’ll be asked if you’re sure twice. Click yes through both prompts.