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In Linux is there an equivalent for Windows shadow copies? I would like to use this for a small setup nothing big but it would be nice to have some type of functionality like shadow copies.

kasperd
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redknight
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5 Answers5

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LVM snapshot(1,2) not full equivalent, but work fine. Also btrfs support snapshot.

alvosu
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You could look at R1Soft's free Hot Copy or commercial CDP solutions. The Hot Copy is a kernel module that allows you to take copy-on-write volume snapshots of mounted filesystems.

See their tips page: http://www.r1soft.com/tools/linux-hot-copy/hcp-tips/#c852

ewwhite
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You could set up a mirror using LVM or md then break the mirror to get the snapshot, or use an overlay filesystem

symcbean
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Another possibility could be to use rsnapshot. But LVM snapshot is probably the better solution if you have a large amount of data.

Raffael Luthiger
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I wouldn't recommend using BTRFS right now (as of this writing, it is still a rapidly developed product). But it is in a usable state, given the recent enough (4.2+ recent) kernel.

The mature alternative to both LVM and BTRFS is ZFS, and it has a number of advantages over BTRFS, i.e. recursive operations by default. I strongly recommend it, if you don't give a crap to licensing bullshit.

AnrDaemon
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    This answer is wront: using LVM snapshot, writing to the original filesystem will *not* affect the snapshotted one. – shodanshok Oct 22 '16 at 11:32
  • This answer is the most correct. ZFS is the best option PERIOD. I've been using ZFS Root with snapshots for years and its rock solid. BTRFS was ok but not as solid as ZFS. BTRFS saved my butt back in 2016 when I was playing with Suse. – Timothy C. Quinn Jul 01 '23 at 02:36