The Mac OS users have certainly known about or used the Time machine application. It is a backup software distributed with the Apple's Mac OS X to backup your data to an external drive, so that you can restore them later from the backup. If you are ever looking for an alternative to Time Machine for Linux, you need to check out "Cronopete". It is the clone of Time Machine for Linux operating systems. Using Cronopete, we can easily create periodic backups of a Linux system. It supports popular Linux distributions, including Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu. In this brief guide, we are going to see how to install and use Cronopete in Linux to backup and restore data.

Cronopete - An Apple's Time Machine Clone For Linux

Install Cronopete

On Arch Linux:

Cronopete is available in AUR, so you can install it using AUR helper programs such as Yay.

$ yay -S cronopete

On Debian, Ubuntu:

Download the latest version from here depending upon the distribution you use.

For 64bit Debian:

$ wget http://www.rastersoft.com/descargas/cronopete/cronopete-sid_4.4.0-debian1_amd64.deb

For 32bit Debian:

$ wget http://www.rastersoft.com/descargas/cronopete/cronopete-sid_4.4.0-debian1_i386.deb

For 64bit Ubuntu:

$ wget http://www.rastersoft.com/descargas/cronopete/cronopete-bionic_4.4.0-ubuntu1_amd64.deb

For 32bit Ubuntu:

$ wget http://www.rastersoft.com/descargas/cronopete/cronopete-bionic_4.4.0-ubuntu1_i386.deb

Once downloaded the .DEB file, you can install it as shown below:

$ sudo apt-get install gdebi

$ sudo gdebi cronopete*.deb

On Fedora:

Download the RPM file from the above link.

64bit:

$ wget http://www.rastersoft.com/descargas/cronopete/cronopete.fedora28-4.4.0-1.i386.rpm

32bit:

$ wget http://www.rastersoft.com/descargas/cronopete/cronopete.fedora28-4.4.0-1.i386.rpm

Then, install it using command:

$ sudo dnf install cronopete*.rpm

Cronopete Usage

Backup data

Once Cronopete installed, start it by typing the following command from the Terminal:

$ cronopete

At first launch, you will see the following screen:

Click Configure now button. The following wizard will open.

As you see in the above screenshot, there is no external drive plugged in to backup. Now, plug your external HDD or USB drive and click Change disk option.

In the next screen, Cronopete will list the available disks. Choose your USB disk and click "Select" option.

Just repeat these steps to add another backup disk. For example, you might use one backup disk while at home, and another backup disk while at work.

Cronopete will format the selected disks to be used for backups. Click Format disk to continue.

Once the format process is completed, you will be redirected to main configuration section again. You will now notice that the USB disk for backups is available.

Once you have selected the backup disk, Cronopete will immediately start to backup your data. By default, it will backup the entire $HOME directory. You can define which folders or files should be backed up from the Options section. Choose Options to define the backup parameters.

Choose what do you want to include or exclude in your backup. Also, you can choose the time interval between backups in hours. Default value is 1 hour.

Once you launched Cronopete, you will see its icon on your menu bar (task bar). You can define backup policies or stop the backup process by right clicking on the Cronopete icon in the menu bar.

Cronopete usually keeps:

Hourly backups for past 24 hours,

Daily backups for the past month,

Weekly backups until your hard disk is full.

Restore data

To restore the data, right click on the Cronopete icon on the menu bar. Choose Restore files.

Select the folder or files you want to restore from your backup USB drive and click Restore files on the top left corner.

The selected files or folders will be restored to location where you have originally selected them during backup.

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And, that's all. Hope this helps. If you find this guide useful, please spend a moment to share it on your social and professional networks, so that everyone can benefit.

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