20 of the Best Free Linux Backup Software.

Whilst it has always been possible to use command line tools to backup files in Linux, this can be a daunting task for beginners and end-users.

This article explores how making regular backups can be a painless task. We explore backup software with intuitive graphical interfaces, applications that backup systems with snapshots, whilst not forgetting the powerful command-line tools that exist.

To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 21 high quality free Linux backup tools. Hopefully, there will be something of interest for anyone who wishes to safeguard their hard work.

Now, let's explore the 21 backup tools at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the software in action (where relevant), a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.

Backup Tool (Graphical User Interface)
Areca Backup
File backup software developed in Java
BackupPC
High-performance, enterprise-grade system for backing up PCs
Bacula
Network backup, recovery and verification
fwbackups
Feature-rich backup sofware
Keep
Backup system for KDE
Simple Backup Solution Set of backend backup daemon and Gnome GUI frontends

Backup Tool (Command-line)
afbackup
Client-Server Backup System (GUI is also available)
AMANDA
Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver
Cedar Backup
Local and remote backups to CD or DVD media
Duplicity
Encrypted bandwidth-efficient backup
Dump / restore
Dump and restore utilities for ext2/ext3 filesystems
Snapshot backups
FlyBack Equivalent of OS X's Time Machine
Time Vault
Snapshotting daemon

Synchronisation
rsnapshot
Local and remote filesystem snapshot utility
rsync
Fast remote file copy program

Disaster Recovery / Disk Cloning
Clonezilla
Offers similar functionality to Symantec Ghost
Mondo Rescue
A powerful disaster recovery suite
PartImage
Backup partitions into a compressed image file
PING
Also offers similar functionality to Symantec Ghost

Specialist
Zmanda

Perl-based utility to automate backup and recovery of MySQL databases