How to backup / restore data's using Aptik tool in Ubuntu

To Install Aptik tool to Restore/Backup your Favourite Apps and PPAs in Linux

Aptik is a user interface tool that is used to take backup and reinstall the applications and packages in the system. This provides a hassle free re-installation procedure after installing or upgrading packages in linux. Automated Package Backup and Restore Application is explained in this article.

Features

• Backup and Restore PPAs.
• Backup and Restore downloaded packages
• Backup and restore applications.
• Backup and Restore Themes or Icons.
• Custom the Apps and PPAs.
• Backup Packages and PPAs on Old Systems

To Install Aptik

To install Aptik tool, add the PPA packages and upgrade the local repository as follows.

root@linuxhelp:~# apt-add-repository -y ppa:teejee2008/ppa
gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmpwyxmrqj8/secring.gpg'  created
gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmpwyxmrqj8/pubring.gpg'  created
gpg: requesting key 2D0F61F0 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: /tmp/tmpwyxmrqj8/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg: key 2D0F61F0: public key " Launchpad PPA for Tony George"  imported
gpg: no ultimately trusted keys found
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)
OK
root@linuxhelp:~# apt-get update
Get:1 http://ppa.launchpad.net wily InRelease [15.4 kB]
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com wily-security InRelease [65.9 kB]         
Hit http://in.archive.ubuntu.com wily InRelease                                
Get:3 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com wily-updates InRelease [65.9 kB]
.
.
.
Hit http://in.archive.ubuntu.com wily-backports/multiverse i386 Packages       
Hit http://in.archive.ubuntu.com wily-backports/main Translation-en            
Hit http://in.archive.ubuntu.com wily-backports/multiverse Translation-en      
Hit http://in.archive.ubuntu.com wily-backports/restricted Translation-en      
Hit http://in.archive.ubuntu.com wily-backports/universe Translation-en        
Fetched 1,690 kB in 41s (40.9 kB/s)                                            
Reading package lists... Done

root@linuxhelp:~# apt-get install aptik
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libavahi-client-dev libavahi-common-dev libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
  libdbus-1-dev libjs-jquery libruby2.1 libyaml-0-2 ruby2.1
rubygems-integration
.
.
.
Setting up libgtk2-perl (2:1.2496-1) ...
Processing triggers for gconf2 (3.2.6-3ubuntu5) ...
Setting up gksu (2.0.2-9ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gdebi (0.9.5.7) ...
Setting up aptik (16.5.1~196~ubuntu15.10.1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.21-0ubuntu4) ...

Now Apkit tool is installed successfully.
Go to the applications menu, and click ' Aptik' .

Enter your password and click Authenticate to start the back up process.

To create a Backup Directory

Select backup directory and enter a name for the directory and click ' open' to start the backup.

To Backup Software Sources

Choose the ' Backup' option in Software Sources. A list of all installed PPAs with their Packages will be displayed. Select the packages to backup and click ' Backup'

Important: A green icon denotes an active PPA with packages installed in it and yellow icon denotes an active PPA with no installed packages in it. To select your favourite PPAs and hit " Backup" to create backup. All the PPAs will stored in a " ppa.list" file in the backup directory.

To Backup Downloaded Packages

Select ' Backup' to copy all the downloaded packages to the backup folder.

Important: The downloaded packages are stored in folder ' /var/cache/apt/archives' and it will be copied to the backup folder. This step is useful only for re-installation process and is not required in case of updating the system.

Backup Software Selections

Choose ' Backup' , it will display a list of all installed packages. Select the applications to backup and click ' backup' option.

Important: Packages installed by Linux distribution will be unchecked, and the packages installed through Software Centre will be checked by default. Select the packages you want to backup and then hit the ' Backup' . The backup of the required package will be stored in the ' packages.list' file under the backup directory.

To Backup all files in one click

Choose one-click backup option to take backup of all the files at the same time.

It automatically takes back up of each application as shown below.

To restore backups, you have to install Aptik from its own PPA on the newly installed system. Select ' Restore' to restore all PPAs Packages, Icons and Themes to your new system.