timeshift-autosnap-apt

Timeshift auto-snapshot script which runs before apt upgrade|install|remove using a DPkg::Pre-Invoke hook in apt.

Features

• This scrips is a fork of timeshift-autosnap from the AUR for Arch and Arch based distros but adapted for usage in Debian based systems which use apt as their package manager.
• Creates Timeshift snapshots with unique comment.
• Deletes old snapshots which are created using this script.
• Makes a copy of /boot and /boot/efi to /boot.backup before the call to timeshift for more secure restore options.
• Can be manually executed by running sudo timeshift-autosnap-apt command.
• Autosnaphot can be temporarily skipped by setting SKIP_AUTOSNAP environment variable (e.g. sudo SKIP_AUTOSNAP= apt upgrade)
• Supports both BTRFS and RSYNC mode.
• Supports grub-btrfs which automatically creates boot menu entries of your snapshots into grub.
• For a tutorial how to use this script in production to easily rollback your system, see Pop!_OS 20.04 btrfs-luks disaster recovery and easy system rollback using Timeshift and timeshift-autosnap-apt.

Installation

Install dependencies

sudo apt install git make

Note that make is only needed for grub-btrfs.

Install and configure Timeshift

sudo apt install timeshift

Open Timeshift and configure it either using btrfs or rsync. I recommend using btrfs as a filesystem for this, see my btrfs installation guides for Pop!_OS, Ubuntu, and Manjaro.

Main installation

Clone this repository and run the following commands to copy the hook, bash script and configuration file.

git clone https://github.com/wmutschl/timeshift-autosnap-apt.git
cd timeshift-autosnap-apt
sudo cp 80-timeshift-autosnap-apt /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/80-timeshift-autosnap-apt
sudo chmod 644 /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/80-timeshift-autosnap-apt
sudo cp timeshift-autosnap-apt /usr/bin/timeshift-autosnap-apt
sudo chmod 755 /usr/bin/timeshift-autosnap-apt
sudo cp timeshift-autosnap-apt.conf /etc/timeshift-autosnap-apt.conf
sudo chmod 644 /etc/timeshift-autosnap-apt.conf

After this, optionally, make changes to the configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/timeshift-autosnap-apt.conf

For example, if you don't have a dedicated /boot partition, then you should set snapshotBoot=false.

Optionally, install grub-btrfs

grub-btrfs is a great package which will include all btrfs snapshots into the Grub menu This

git clone https://github.com/Antynea/grub-btrfs.git
cd grub-btrfs
sudo make install

By default the snapshots are displayed as "Arch Linux Snapshots", you can adapt this in /etc/default/grub-btrfs/config.

Configuration

The configuration file is located in /etc/timeshift-autosnap-apt.conf. You can set the following options:

• snapshotBoot: If set to true /boot folder will be cloned into /boot.backup before the call to timeshift. Note that this will not include the /boot/efi folder. Default: true
• snapshotEFI: If set to true /boot/efi folder will be cloned into /boot.backup/efi before the call to timeshift. Default: true
• skipAutosnap: If set to true script won't be executed. Default: false.
• deleteSnapshots: If set to false old snapshots won't be deleted. Default: true
• maxSnapshots: Defines maximum number of old snapshots to keep. Default: 3
• updateGrub: If set to false grub entries won't be generated. Default: true
• snapshotDescription Defines value used to distinguish snapshots created using timeshift-autosnap-apt. Default: {timeshift-autosnap-apt} {created before call to APT}

Test functionality

To test the functionality, try (re)installing some package maxSnapshots number of times, e.g.

sudo apt install --reinstall rolldice
sudo apt install --reinstall rolldice
sudo apt install --reinstall rolldice

You should see output for BTRFS similar to

# Using system disk as snapshot device for creating snapshots in BTRFS mode
#
# /dev/dm-1 is mounted at: /run/timeshift/backup, options: rw,relatime,compress=zstd:3,ssd,space_cache,commit=120,subvolid=5,subvol=/
#
# Creating new backup...(BTRFS)
# Saving to device: /dev/dm-1, mounted at path: /run/timeshift/backup
# Created directory: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2020-04-29_09-46-30
# Created subvolume snapshot: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2020-04-29_09-46-30/@
# Created subvolume snapshot: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2020-04-29_09-46-30/@home
# Created control file: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2020-04-29_09-46-30/info.json
# BTRFS Snapshot saved successfully (0s)
# Tagged snapshot '2020-04-29_09-46-30': ondemand
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------

or for RSYNC similar to

# /dev/vdb1 is mounted at: /run/timeshift/backup, options: rw,relatime
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Creating new snapshot...(RSYNC)
# Saving to device: /dev/vdb1, mounted at path: /run/timeshift/backup
# Synching files with rsync...
# Created control file: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift/snapshots/2020-04-29_10-25-35/info.json
# RSYNC Snapshot saved successfully (6s)
# Tagged snapshot '2020-04-29_10-25-35': ondemand
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Open timeshift and see whether there are maxSnapshots packages:

Close timeshift and reinstall the package another time and you should see that the first package is now deleted:

sudo apt install --reinstall rolldice
#
# Using system disk as snapshot device for creating snapshots in BTRFS mode
# /dev/dm-1 is mounted at: /run/timeshift/backup, options: rw,relatime,compress=zstd:3,ssd,space_cache,commit=120,subvolid=5,subvol=/
# Creating new backup...(BTRFS)
# Saving to device: /dev/dm-1, mounted at path: /run/timeshift/backup
# Created directory: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2020-04-29_09-53-25
# Created subvolume snapshot: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2020-04-29_09-53-25/@
# Created subvolume snapshot: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2020-04-29_09-53-25/@home
# Created control file: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2020-04-29_09-53-25/info.json
# BTRFS Snapshot saved successfully (0s)
# Tagged snapshot '2020-04-29_09-53-25': ondemand
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 
# /dev/dm-1 is mounted at: /run/timeshift/backup, options: rw,relatime,compress=zstd:3,ssd,space_cache,commit=120,subvolid=5,subvol=/
# 
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Removing snapshot: 2020-04-29_09-46-30
# Deleting subvolume: @home (Id:662)
# Deleted subvolume: @home (Id:662)
# 
# Destroying qgroup: 0/662
# Destroyed qgroup: 0/662
# 
# Deleting subvolume: @ (Id:661)
# Deleted subvolume: @ (Id:661)
# 
# Destroying qgroup: 0/661
# Destroyed qgroup: 0/661
# 
# Deleted directory: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2020-04-29_09-46-30
# Removed snapshot: 2020-04-29_09-46-30
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

or for RSYNC:

# /dev/vdb1 is mounted at: /run/timeshift/backup, options: rw,relatime
# 
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Creating new snapshot...(RSYNC)
# Saving to device: /dev/vdb1, mounted at path: /run/timeshift/backup
# Linking from snapshot: 2020-04-29_10-25-15
# Synching files with rsync...
# Created control file: /run/timeshift/backup/timeshift/snapshots/2020-04-29_10-25-35/info.json
# RSYNC Snapshot saved successfully (6s)
# Tagged snapshot '2020-04-29_10-25-35': ondemand
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 
# /dev/vdb1 is mounted at: /run/timeshift/backup, options: rw,relatime
# 
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Removing '2020-04-29_10-24-35'...
# Removed '2020-04-29_10-24-35'                                                   
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ideas and contributions

• Ask to be included into official Timeshift package, status pending.
• Copy /boot and /boot/efi to filesystem for better control option when restoring (tested on Pop!_OS)
• Check and adapt grub-btrfs for compatibility with Debian-based systems and this script (test on Ubuntu) to automatically create menu entries into grub.

All new ideas and contributors are welcomed, just open an issue for that!