Using Clonezilla to create and restore disk images

Tested on 6 February 2012 using clonezilla-live-1.2.11-23-i486

Running Clonezilla:
Note: Before using Clonezilla see the limitations section on the home page: http://clonezilla.org/ .

1. Download an ISO image of the latest stable version and burn it to disc (or create bootable USB). 2. Insert the disc in the CD drive and shut down the computer. 3. Start the computer and boot from the source of the Clonezilla media (CD drive or bootable USB). If booting from a USB: For older BIOS options, try work,

USB-HDD first. If not USB-ZIP may

USB-FDD is usually unsupported.

Source: Pendrivelinux: Common USB BIOS boot options

Creating a disk or partition image:

1. Select

Clonezilla live (Default settings) and press enter language (English) and press enter keymap (Don't touch keymap) and press enter

2. Select a

3. Configure the 4. Select

Start Clonezilla and press enter mode (device-image) and press enter

5. Select the 6. Select

where to save the image to (local_dev) and press enter

If the local-dev option is selected and the image is being saved to a FAT32 file system, be aware that FAT32 cannot handle files larger than 4GB so if the image exceeds this it will probably fail.

7. If backing up to a USB device, add it now and wait for it to be found. Once found, Clonezilla should display

New USB device found or similar. Press enter and wait while all

devices are mounted and displayed 8. Next Clonezilla needs to mount a device in

/home/partimag to enable it to save the

image. Select a device or partition where the backup image is to be saved (not the device or partition that is to be imaged as a back up) 9. Choose a directory for the backup image (only the top directories are shown) and press enter 10. The file system of the device is listed, press enter to continue 11. Select the

wizard mode; beginner or expert (beginner) and press enter

12. Select what to save; the full disk (savedisk) or a partition (saveparts) and press enter For Windows 7, if you have multiple partitions and only want to back up the OS partition, you should still select both the 100MB system reserved (usually system partition (usually

sda1) and the operating

sda2).

13. Enter a name for the image and press enter 14. Select (using the spacebar) the disk or partition to be backed up and press enter 15. Select whether to check and repair the file system before saving (default) and press enter 16. Select whether to check if the image is restorable (default) and press enter 17. Clonezilla now displays a single command that can be run (with these settings) next time an image is required, press enter to continue 18. A warning is displayed to

confirm that you want to continue, press y

19. When the backup is complete, Clonezilla will display a summary, press enter to continue 20. Finally, select an option (poweroff, reboot etc)

Restoring a disk or partition image:

Note: An image will typically fail to restore as expected if any of the following are not true:

Each target partition should be at least the same size (not smaller) than the imaged partition

Each target partition should use the same file system as the imaged partition Each target partition should use the same partition name (e.g. /dev/sda1, /dev/hda5) as the imaged partition

If the partition layout has been modified since the image was created it may well be necessary to recreate it on the drive as it was, before attempting to restore the image. To do this use GParted or similar.

Another solution that ensures the partition layout is the same as when the image was taken is to (temporarily) install a new OS (as used in the image) onto the drive, creating the same partitions* as before. This will allow the installer to set the partition layout as it was when the image was taken. Next, use Clonezilla to overwrite this new install with the backup image. * Windows 7, for instance, creates an additional 100MB reserved partition (for bit-locker). To find the partition layout information of an existing image, search in the same directory as the image for a file named 1. Select

Info-lshw.txt. Within this file, view the data below the -disk entry.

Clonezilla live (Default settings) and press enter language (English) and press enter keymap (Don't touch keymap) and press enter

2. Select a

3. Configure the 4. Select

Start Clonezilla and press enter mode (device-image) and press enter

5. Select the 6. Select

where to read the image from (local_dev) and press enter

7. If restoring from a USB device, add it now and wait for it to be found. Once found, Clonezilla should display

New USB device found or similar. Press enter and wait while all

devices are mounted and displayed

8. Next Clonezilla needs to mount a device in

/home/partimag to enable it to read the

image. Select a device or partition that contains the backup image (not the device or partition that is to be restored) 9. Choose the directory that contains the backup image (only the top directories are shown) and press enter 10. The file system of the device is listed, press enter to continue 11. Select the

wizard mode; beginner or expert (beginner) and press enter

12. Select what to restore; the full disk (restoredisk) or a partition (restoreparts) and press enter 13. Select (using the spacebar) the disk or partition image to be restored and press enter 14. Select the target (this is the device or partition that is to be restored) and press enter 15. Clonezilla now displays a single command that can be run next time this image needs to be restored, press enter to continue 16. A warning is displayed to confirm that you want to continue, press y 17. Once the has been restored, Clonezilla will display a summary, press enter to continue 18. Finally, select an option (poweroff, reboot etc)