this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2024
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I use 2 different computers in 2 different locations both running Universal Blue.

I was wondering if there is any way to create a backup system where i could backup Computer1 over the internet to Computer2 and continue work like nothing happened with all the user data and installed applications being there. The goal is to only need to transfer the user data/applications and no system data (that should be the same for both because of Ublue, right?), to keep the backup size small.

To be clear, i need help figuring out the backup part, not the transfering over the internet part.

If I were to backup the directories on Computer1, which store user data, with for example borgbackup, could I restore them on Computer2 and have a working system? Or would there be conflicts because of more low level stuff missing like applications and configs? Which directories would I need and which could be excluded?

Is there a better option? Any advice is appreciated!

I also came across btrfs snapshot capabilities and thought they could possibly used for this. But as far as I understand it, that would mean transferring the whole system and not only the data and applications. Am i missing something?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

There is the overkill method of proxmox clustering VMs. You could work from a cloud instance of your distro. There is NixOS, you would clearly define your whole system and then back up and import your home folder when switching between the PCs. Since you are using an immutable distro already you can probably skip nix and use a onedrive type solution setup to sync your home directory. I havent used it but other people have suggested Syncthing and it seems like it would work for your use case and be the simplest option.