Reuse existing snapshot folder on new system (was: Backing up from Livedisc USB stick)

[lamyergeier]

I had trouble booting up into Fedora 41, so I decided to boot up from livedisc (Fedora 41 on a USB stick). Could not fix the trouble, want to reinstall Fedora 41, unfortunately this will delete entire disc due to my complicated setup with LVM. From the live disc I have access to the data on my laptop and I can back it up to external SSD on which snapshots already exist and I want to create the latest snapshot, before completely formatting my laptop.

So I installed backintime on livedisc Fedora 41, but the old snapshots are not being recognized as paths of backup locations have changed. The Backup location originally was /run/media/lamy/Crucial and from livedisc the Crucial SSD is mounted at /run/media/liveuser/Crucial So, I get the message: Can't find snapshots directory. If it is on a removable drive please plug it in and then press OK.

Also the locations that were backed up are not mounted.

Issues

1. Is it better to do chroot from livedisc, so that the locations are in the same path as stored in backintime config?
2. Is it necessary to mount the external SSD at the same location as mentioned in the config file, or should we change the config file paths of backup location and take the snapshot and change those path again afterwards after reinstalling Fedora 41 on the laptop. (from the config below, profile2.snapshots.include.1.value=/mnt/Media/Music; profile2.snapshots.include.2.value=/mnt/Media/Pictures)
3. Will this change of path (mount location of external SSD) in the backintime config in the already existing snapshot tree i.e. profile2.snapshots.path=/run/media/lamy/Crucial/Backup to profile2.snapshots.path=/run/media/liveuser/Crucial/Backup, cause the entire thing to be backed again or backintime is smart to realize this and just back up the changes since the previous snapshot? This is my most important concern that changing the path in the middle of the history can have adverse effect.

Config

• In the following I am only concerned with 2nd and 3rd profile. We can see that profile2.snapshots.path=/run/media/lamy/Crucial/Backup but on livedisc the path is available at /run/media/liveuser/Crucial/Backup

config.version=6
global.use_flock=true
internal.manual_starts_countdown=-1
profile1.qt.last_path=/
profile1.qt.places.SortColumn=1
profile1.qt.places.SortOrder=SortOrder.AscendingOrder
profile1.qt.settingsdialog.exclude.SortColumn=1
profile1.qt.settingsdialog.exclude.SortOrder=SortOrder.AscendingOrder
profile1.qt.settingsdialog.include.SortColumn=1
profile1.qt.settingsdialog.include.SortOrder=SortOrder.AscendingOrder
profile1.schedule.custom_time=8,12,18,23
profile1.schedule.day=1
profile1.schedule.debug=false
profile1.schedule.mode=4
profile1.schedule.repeatedly.period=1
profile1.schedule.repeatedly.unit=20
profile1.schedule.time=0
profile1.schedule.weekday=7
profile1.snapshots.backup_on_restore.enabled=true
profile1.snapshots.bwlimit.enabled=false
profile1.snapshots.bwlimit.value=3000
profile1.snapshots.continue_on_errors=true
profile1.snapshots.copy_links=false
profile1.snapshots.copy_unsafe_links=false
profile1.snapshots.cron.ionice=true
profile1.snapshots.cron.nice=true
profile1.snapshots.cron.redirect_stderr=false
profile1.snapshots.cron.redirect_stdout=true
profile1.snapshots.dont_remove_named_snapshots=true
profile1.snapshots.exclude.1.value=.gvfs
profile1.snapshots.exclude.2.value=.cache/*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.3.value=.thumbnails*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.4.value=.local/share/[Tt]rash*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.5.value=*.backup*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.6.value=*~
profile1.snapshots.exclude.7.value=.dropbox*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.8.value=/proc/*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.9.value=/sys/*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.10.value=/dev/*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.11.value=/run/*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.12.value=/etc/mtab
profile1.snapshots.exclude.13.value=/var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb
profile1.snapshots.exclude.14.value=lost+found/*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.15.value=/tmp/*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.16.value=/var/tmp/*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.17.value=/var/backups/*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.18.value=.Private
profile1.snapshots.exclude.19.value=/swapfile
profile1.snapshots.exclude.20.value=SingletonLock
profile1.snapshots.exclude.21.value=SingletonCookie
profile1.snapshots.exclude.22.value=lock
profile1.snapshots.exclude.23.value=.[Tt]rash
profile1.snapshots.exclude.24.value=.Backup
profile1.snapshots.exclude.25.value=.Commit
profile1.snapshots.exclude.26.value=.Rendered
profile1.snapshots.exclude.27.value=*.gen.*
profile1.snapshots.exclude.28.value=node_modules
profile1.snapshots.exclude.bysize.enabled=false
profile1.snapshots.exclude.bysize.value=500
profile1.snapshots.exclude.size=28
profile1.snapshots.include.1.type=0
profile1.snapshots.include.1.value=/mnt/Documents/Git
profile1.snapshots.include.2.type=0
profile1.snapshots.include.2.value=/mnt/Documents/Mobile/Git
profile1.snapshots.include.size=2
profile1.snapshots.local.nocache=false
profile1.snapshots.local.password.save=false
profile1.snapshots.local.password.use_cache=true
profile1.snapshots.local_encfs.path=/mnt/Backup
profile1.snapshots.log_level=3
profile1.snapshots.min_free_inodes.enabled=true
profile1.snapshots.min_free_inodes.value=2
profile1.snapshots.min_free_space.enabled=true
profile1.snapshots.min_free_space.unit=20
profile1.snapshots.min_free_space.value=1
profile1.snapshots.mode=local
profile1.snapshots.no_on_battery=false
profile1.snapshots.notify.enabled=true
profile1.snapshots.one_file_system=false
profile1.snapshots.path=/mnt/Backup
profile1.snapshots.path.host=lamyer
profile1.snapshots.path.profile=Local
profile1.snapshots.path.user=lamy
profile1.snapshots.preserve_acl=false
profile1.snapshots.preserve_xattr=false
profile1.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.enabled=true
profile1.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.unit=80
profile1.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.value=10
profile1.snapshots.rsync_options.enabled=true
profile1.snapshots.rsync_options.value=--no-perms --no-group --no-owner
profile1.snapshots.smart_remove=false
profile1.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_all=2
profile1.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_day=7
profile1.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_month=24
profile1.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_week=4
profile1.snapshots.smart_remove.run_remote_in_background=false
profile1.snapshots.ssh.check_commands=true
profile1.snapshots.ssh.check_ping=true
profile1.snapshots.ssh.cipher=default
profile1.snapshots.ssh.host=
profile1.snapshots.ssh.ionice=false
profile1.snapshots.ssh.nice=false
profile1.snapshots.ssh.nocache=false
profile1.snapshots.ssh.path=
profile1.snapshots.ssh.port=22
profile1.snapshots.ssh.prefix.enabled=false
profile1.snapshots.ssh.prefix.value=PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:\$PATH
profile1.snapshots.ssh.private_key_file=/home/lamy/.ssh/id_rsa
profile1.snapshots.ssh.proxy_host=
profile1.snapshots.ssh.proxy_host_port=
profile1.snapshots.ssh.proxy_user=
profile1.snapshots.ssh.user=lamy
profile1.snapshots.take_snapshot_regardless_of_changes=false
profile1.snapshots.use_checksum=false
profile1.snapshots.user_backup.ionice=false
profile2.name=Media
profile2.qt.last_path=/mnt/Media/Pictures
profile2.qt.places.SortColumn=1
profile2.qt.places.SortOrder=SortOrder.AscendingOrder
profile2.qt.settingsdialog.exclude.SortColumn=1
profile2.qt.settingsdialog.exclude.SortOrder=SortOrder.AscendingOrder
profile2.qt.settingsdialog.include.SortColumn=1
profile2.qt.settingsdialog.include.SortOrder=SortOrder.AscendingOrder
profile2.schedule.custom_time=8,12,18,23
profile2.schedule.day=1
profile2.schedule.debug=false
profile2.schedule.mode=27
profile2.schedule.repeatedly.period=1
profile2.schedule.repeatedly.unit=20
profile2.schedule.time=0
profile2.schedule.weekday=7
profile2.snapshots.backup_on_restore.enabled=true
profile2.snapshots.bwlimit.enabled=false
profile2.snapshots.bwlimit.value=3000
profile2.snapshots.continue_on_errors=true
profile2.snapshots.copy_links=false
profile2.snapshots.copy_unsafe_links=false
profile2.snapshots.cron.ionice=true
profile2.snapshots.cron.nice=true
profile2.snapshots.cron.redirect_stderr=false
profile2.snapshots.cron.redirect_stdout=true
profile2.snapshots.dont_remove_named_snapshots=true
profile2.snapshots.exclude.1.value=.gvfs
profile2.snapshots.exclude.2.value=.cache/*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.3.value=.thumbnails*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.4.value=.local/share/[Tt]rash*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.5.value=*.backup*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.6.value=*~
profile2.snapshots.exclude.7.value=.dropbox*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.8.value=/proc/*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.9.value=/sys/*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.10.value=/dev/*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.11.value=/run/*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.12.value=/etc/mtab
profile2.snapshots.exclude.13.value=/var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb
profile2.snapshots.exclude.14.value=lost+found/*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.15.value=/tmp/*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.16.value=/var/tmp/*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.17.value=/var/backups/*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.18.value=.Private
profile2.snapshots.exclude.19.value=/swapfile
profile2.snapshots.exclude.20.value=SingletonLock
profile2.snapshots.exclude.21.value=SingletonCookie
profile2.snapshots.exclude.22.value=lock
profile2.snapshots.exclude.23.value=.stversions
profile2.snapshots.exclude.24.value=.[Tt]rash
profile2.snapshots.exclude.25.value=.Backup
profile2.snapshots.exclude.26.value=.Commit
profile2.snapshots.exclude.27.value=.Rendered
profile2.snapshots.exclude.28.value=*.gen.*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.29.value=.[tT]rash-*
profile2.snapshots.exclude.bysize.enabled=false
profile2.snapshots.exclude.bysize.value=500
profile2.snapshots.exclude.size=29
profile2.snapshots.include.1.type=0
profile2.snapshots.include.1.value=/mnt/Media/Music
profile2.snapshots.include.2.type=0
profile2.snapshots.include.2.value=/mnt/Media/Pictures
profile2.snapshots.include.size=2
profile2.snapshots.local.nocache=false
profile2.snapshots.local.password.save=false
profile2.snapshots.local.password.use_cache=true
profile2.snapshots.local_encfs.path=/run/media/lamy/Crucial/Backup
profile2.snapshots.log_level=3
profile2.snapshots.min_free_inodes.enabled=true
profile2.snapshots.min_free_inodes.value=2
profile2.snapshots.min_free_space.enabled=true
profile2.snapshots.min_free_space.unit=20
profile2.snapshots.min_free_space.value=1
profile2.snapshots.mode=local
profile2.snapshots.no_on_battery=false
profile2.snapshots.notify.enabled=true
profile2.snapshots.one_file_system=false
profile2.snapshots.path=/run/media/lamy/Crucial/Backup
profile2.snapshots.path.host=lamyer
profile2.snapshots.path.profile=Media
profile2.snapshots.path.user=lamy
profile2.snapshots.path.uuid=a25390fa-d3ae-4466-8086-f8e39ad8c0cf
profile2.snapshots.preserve_acl=false
profile2.snapshots.preserve_xattr=false
profile2.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.enabled=true
profile2.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.unit=80
profile2.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.value=10
profile2.snapshots.rsync_options.enabled=true
profile2.snapshots.rsync_options.value=--no-perms --no-group --no-owner
profile2.snapshots.smart_remove=false
profile2.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_all=2
profile2.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_day=7
profile2.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_month=24
profile2.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_week=4
profile2.snapshots.smart_remove.run_remote_in_background=false
profile2.snapshots.ssh.check_commands=true
profile2.snapshots.ssh.check_ping=true
profile2.snapshots.ssh.cipher=default
profile2.snapshots.ssh.host=
profile2.snapshots.ssh.ionice=false
profile2.snapshots.ssh.nice=false
profile2.snapshots.ssh.nocache=false
profile2.snapshots.ssh.path=
profile2.snapshots.ssh.port=22
profile2.snapshots.ssh.prefix.enabled=false
profile2.snapshots.ssh.prefix.value=PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:\$PATH
profile2.snapshots.ssh.private_key_file=/home/lamy/.ssh/id_rsa
profile2.snapshots.ssh.proxy_host=
profile2.snapshots.ssh.proxy_host_port=
profile2.snapshots.ssh.proxy_user=
profile2.snapshots.ssh.user=lamy
profile2.snapshots.take_snapshot_regardless_of_changes=false
profile2.snapshots.use_checksum=true
profile2.snapshots.user_backup.ionice=false
profile3.name=Data_document
profile3.qt.last_path=/mnt
profile3.qt.places.SortColumn=1
profile3.qt.places.SortOrder=SortOrder.AscendingOrder
profile3.qt.settingsdialog.exclude.SortColumn=1
profile3.qt.settingsdialog.exclude.SortOrder=SortOrder.AscendingOrder
profile3.qt.settingsdialog.include.SortColumn=1
profile3.qt.settingsdialog.include.SortOrder=SortOrder.AscendingOrder
profile3.schedule.custom_time=8,12,18,23
profile3.schedule.day=1
profile3.schedule.debug=false
profile3.schedule.mode=27
profile3.schedule.repeatedly.period=1
profile3.schedule.repeatedly.unit=20
profile3.schedule.time=0
profile3.schedule.weekday=7
profile3.snapshots.backup_on_restore.enabled=true
profile3.snapshots.bwlimit.enabled=false
profile3.snapshots.bwlimit.value=3000
profile3.snapshots.continue_on_errors=true
profile3.snapshots.copy_links=false
profile3.snapshots.copy_unsafe_links=false
profile3.snapshots.cron.ionice=true
profile3.snapshots.cron.nice=true
profile3.snapshots.cron.redirect_stderr=false
profile3.snapshots.cron.redirect_stdout=true
profile3.snapshots.dont_remove_named_snapshots=true
profile3.snapshots.exclude.1.value=.gvfs
profile3.snapshots.exclude.2.value=.cache/*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.3.value=.thumbnails*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.4.value=.local/share/[Tt]rash*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.5.value=*.backup*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.6.value=*~
profile3.snapshots.exclude.7.value=.dropbox*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.8.value=/proc/*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.9.value=/sys/*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.10.value=/dev/*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.11.value=/run/*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.12.value=/etc/mtab
profile3.snapshots.exclude.13.value=/var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb
profile3.snapshots.exclude.14.value=lost+found/*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.15.value=/tmp/*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.16.value=/var/tmp/*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.17.value=/var/backups/*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.18.value=.Private
profile3.snapshots.exclude.19.value=/swapfile
profile3.snapshots.exclude.20.value=SingletonLock
profile3.snapshots.exclude.21.value=SingletonCookie
profile3.snapshots.exclude.22.value=lock
profile3.snapshots.exclude.23.value=.Backup
profile3.snapshots.exclude.24.value=.Commit
profile3.snapshots.exclude.25.value=.Rendered
profile3.snapshots.exclude.26.value=.[Tt]rash
profile3.snapshots.exclude.27.value=*.gen.*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.28.value=lost+found
profile3.snapshots.exclude.29.value=.[tT]rash-*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.30.value=[wW]aydroid*
profile3.snapshots.exclude.bysize.enabled=false
profile3.snapshots.exclude.bysize.value=500
profile3.snapshots.exclude.size=30
profile3.snapshots.include.1.type=0
profile3.snapshots.include.1.value=/mnt/Data
profile3.snapshots.include.2.type=0
profile3.snapshots.include.2.value=/mnt/Documents
profile3.snapshots.include.3.type=0
profile3.snapshots.include.3.value=/home/lamy
profile3.snapshots.include.size=3
profile3.snapshots.local.nocache=false
profile3.snapshots.local.password.save=false
profile3.snapshots.local.password.use_cache=true
profile3.snapshots.local_encfs.path=/run/media/lamy/Crucial/Backup
profile3.snapshots.log_level=3
profile3.snapshots.min_free_inodes.enabled=true
profile3.snapshots.min_free_inodes.value=2
profile3.snapshots.min_free_space.enabled=true
profile3.snapshots.min_free_space.unit=20
profile3.snapshots.min_free_space.value=1
profile3.snapshots.mode=local
profile3.snapshots.no_on_battery=false
profile3.snapshots.notify.enabled=true
profile3.snapshots.one_file_system=false
profile3.snapshots.path=/run/media/lamy/Crucial/Backup
profile3.snapshots.path.host=lamyer
profile3.snapshots.path.profile=Data_document
profile3.snapshots.path.user=lamy
profile3.snapshots.path.uuid=a25390fa-d3ae-4466-8086-f8e39ad8c0cf
profile3.snapshots.preserve_acl=false
profile3.snapshots.preserve_xattr=false
profile3.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.enabled=true
profile3.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.unit=80
profile3.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.value=10
profile3.snapshots.rsync_options.enabled=true
profile3.snapshots.rsync_options.value=--no-perms --no-group --no-owner
profile3.snapshots.smart_remove=false
profile3.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_all=2
profile3.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_day=7
profile3.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_month=24
profile3.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_week=4
profile3.snapshots.smart_remove.run_remote_in_background=false
profile3.snapshots.ssh.check_commands=true
profile3.snapshots.ssh.check_ping=true
profile3.snapshots.ssh.cipher=default
profile3.snapshots.ssh.host=
profile3.snapshots.ssh.ionice=false
profile3.snapshots.ssh.nice=false
profile3.snapshots.ssh.nocache=false
profile3.snapshots.ssh.path=
profile3.snapshots.ssh.port=22
profile3.snapshots.ssh.prefix.enabled=false
profile3.snapshots.ssh.prefix.value=PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:\$PATH
profile3.snapshots.ssh.private_key_file=/home/lamy/.ssh/id_rsa
profile3.snapshots.ssh.proxy_host=
profile3.snapshots.ssh.proxy_host_port=
profile3.snapshots.ssh.proxy_user=
profile3.snapshots.ssh.user=lamy
profile3.snapshots.take_snapshot_regardless_of_changes=false
profile3.snapshots.use_checksum=false
profile3.snapshots.user_backup.ionice=false
profiles=1:2:3
profiles.version=1
qt.last_path=/mnt/Media/Pictures
qt.logview.height=1431
qt.logview.width=2256
qt.main_window.files_view.date_width=100
qt.main_window.files_view.name_width=100
qt.main_window.files_view.size_width=100
qt.main_window.files_view.sort.ascending=true
qt.main_window.files_view.sort.column=0
qt.main_window.height=500
qt.main_window.main_splitter_left_w=199
qt.main_window.main_splitter_right_w=597
qt.main_window.second_splitter_left_w=193
qt.main_window.second_splitter_right_w=385
qt.main_window.width=800
qt.main_window.x=-11
qt.main_window.y=-49
qt.show_hidden_files=true

[buhtz]

Hello lamyergeier,
I am sorry, but you need to be more precise with your reports. The same as you we do this in our spare time on voluntary basis. I don't have the time and resource to guess your problem.

Do I guess that correct:
You have an existing snapshot/backup folder. You boot another system (live from USB), start another BIT instance and wants to access this existing backup folder with the new BIT instance?

[lamyergeier]

I have an existing snapshot/backup (on external ssd) of internal ssd on a laptop.

I boot into another system (live from USB) into same laptop with same internal ssd. I installed backintime on the live disc.

I want to update the backup on the external ssd by creating a new snapshot of the internal ssd from the live disc.

[buhtz]

Ah, I See. Please See the FAQ about it.
https://github.com/bit-team/backintime/blob/dev/FAQ.md

It is possible but might need some manuell work and deeper understanding about BIT internals.