[PLUG] Backup RPi SD card

[Tom]

dd nor rsync alone will not be able to do full backup of running
computer (RPi).
The best course of action is to separate the OS from your data -
whatever your RPi is normally writing - then backup each separately.
  * When you separate the data, you could even store it off the RPi
avoiding need for local data backups on RPi altogether.
  * If you want to keep the data on RPi, you could back it up by rsync
to separate media (USB) or a network storage
  * You cannot back up the OS while you are using it - that is why this
is normally done on a separate computer. It is easier and faster than
booting your RPi from USB or network and then doing the backup.
  * Perhaps the OS does not need to be backed up often or not at all as
you could simply create separate OS image, even on another SD card
attached to your Pi.
  * Your backup target/media could be another SD card connected to RPi
in a SD card reader, that way you could just swap the cards ....
Thinking outside of a box - perhaps you need little UPS for your Pi to
avoid regular data corruption altogether. There are some USB charging
batteries which can be charged and used both at the same time (most can
be either charged or used, not both).  Modest battery could keep your
Pi running for hours.
I hope that this is pointing you in the right direction to your
particular circumstances.
Tomas
On Sat, 2017-04-08 at 14:00 -0700, Chuck Hast wrote:
> Folks,
> I have been looking to setup a backup of a particular RPi that has a
> tendency
> to corrupt the sd card due to read/write activity during a power
> loss.
> 
> What I want to do is backup the whole image off of the unit to
> another
> machine.
> 
> I know how to use dd to create an image of the card. But I would like
> for
> it to
> ship it off to another machine so in the event of a corrupt image I
> can
> just to
> pull the last good one and put it on a SD card and press on.
> 
> I see a lot of recommendations, using dd and rsync but most of them
> in one
> form or another either require you remove the SD card and put it in
> another
> machine or you do not get all of the files you need. So I figure that
> if I
> can just
> say at about 2 a.m. start the process and let it capture the image as
> a
> snap-
> shot things will be good. But I want the image to be created on
> another
> machine
> 
>