Re: [Tails-dev] Feature #5301 - Clone or Backup Persistent V…

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Author: sajolida
Date:  
To: The Tails public development discussion list
Subject: Re: [Tails-dev] Feature #5301 - Clone or Backup Persistent Volume
Andrew Gallagher:
> On 11/12/15 10:57, sajolida wrote:
>> We have "backup system for persistence" on our roadmap for 2016 [1][2]
>> and I'll be the one to work on the broad picture, UX design, etc. So I'm
>> definitely interested in your work but I wanted to test it before
>> answering (but couldn't find the time to do so), tough I won't be able
>> review your Perl code.
>
> That's fine, I can refactor it in python - although I'm not a python dev
> so the first attempt may be a little ropey.


I don't code seriously myself so I won't be able to review your Python
code either :) But as u pointed out, Tails Installer is written in
Python and if we ever want to propose a "clone everything" feature, I
think it should be integrated in Tails Installer.

If you're interested in plugging this in the current code [1] that would
be awesome. But as we haven't really finished the design decision around
the backup scenarios, I can't promise anything regarding it's official
acceptance yet.

[1]: https://git-tails.immerda.ch/liveusb-creator/

>> Right. At the moment I'm playing with Deja-Dup [3] for the backups of my
>> Tails. I really like the integration in the desktop but, as it's running
>> as the amnesia user, it can't create a perfect clone of the persistent
>> volume. So your approach is also something we've considered, see #8812 [4].
>
> I saw you had been working on it, hence why I wanted to check before
> spending too much time on potentially duplicated effort. I think there's
> value in both methods - the bootable clone is more useful for me and I'm
> sure I can't be alone.


I also think there's value in both methods. But we also prefer having
one tool for one thing and avoid overlapping features. That's for me one
of the main issue regarding the design of the backup tool:

- "Clone everything" allows for a bootable backup of literally
everything in persistence, including files owed by root.
- Deja-Dup allows incremental and distant backups with a very good
integration on the desktop but only for the files owned by `amnesia`.

I wonder whether we could have to best of both worlds in a single tool,
but I haven't taken the time to investigate this in depth really. If
it's impossible, then I might propose to have both options.

> So I'll work on and get back to you when I have something worth testing?


Sure :)