Re: [Tails-ux] Backups of the persistent volume

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Author: flapflap
Date:  
To: tails-ux
Subject: Re: [Tails-ux] Backups of the persistent volume
flapflap:
> sajolida:
>> Lawrie:
>>> AS regards this idea-> https://tails.boum.org/blueprint/backups/     -  
>>> Backups of the persistent volume

>>>
>>> I am a user (and donor)
>>>
>>> Backups of the persistent volume is a bit of an issue and my suggestion
>>> is as follows--
>>>
>>> Applications> Tails Installer has options of:-
>>>
>>> 1    Clone                                (other partitions lost)
>>> 2    Clone & Upgrade            (other partitions like Persistent volume
>>> on the target retained)
>>> 3    Install TAILS from an iso.

>>>
>>> What about an option 'Clone Everything' - so the original TAILS _and_
>>> the Persistent volume on the original are cloned to the target. - that
>>> is the backup.
>>
>> I think that's a good idea actually. So I added it to the backup blueprint:
>>
>> https://tails.boum.org/blueprint/backups#index7h2
>>
>> The bad news is that our core team is very busy trying to improve our
>> internal infrastructure and making the project more sustainable and we
>> have little time to dedicate to actually implement the crazy new
>> features that we have in mind (like this one).
>>
>> But another good point about your idea is that it shouldn't be *too*
>> hard to implement by someone who is new to coding for Tails.
>>
>
> To me the "Clone everything" feature as proposed would be partly useless
> or the naming is not precise enough:
> Say for example the current situation with no incremental upgrade for
> Tails 1.2.1 to 1.2.2. From this usecase's perspective, the user already
> has a Tails 1.2.1 USB stick and wants to install Tails 1.2.2 on another
> one. The user could boot into 1.2.1 and then say "Clone everything"
> which would duplicate the /old/ 1.2.1 on the other USB stick. That is
> already somewhat a nice feature, but not the kind I find of much use.
>
> As an alternative, I'd call that feature, for example, "Import
> persistent volume". The workflow would be:

<snip a lot of nonsense from me>

I just found out that the feature for the usecase (manual upgrade) I
described is already present \o/
It's called "Clone & Upgrade" in Tails Installer. I did the following
workflow to manually upgrade my USB stick:
- Download & verify Tails 1.2.2 ISO
- Boot the ISO in VirtualBox, attach USB stick
- Select "Clone & Upgrade" in Tails Installer
- Wait some time...
- Shutdown the VM and boot into the USB stick on bare metal.
Works and persistent volume data is preserved \o/!

Now, I understand why Lawrie thinks that a "Clone Tails _and_ Persistent
Volume" is missing/would be nice to have. I second that.

~flapflap