I'm trying to find the most effective method to image my encrypted installation disk. It doesn't have a swap partition, and I'm running into issues with Clonezilla. I attempted to create an image using Clonezilla but encountered an error, possibly due to my use of Ventoy. It seemed to copy most of the data, but then I got a filesystem reading error and it might have switched to dd mode, which I'm not particularly interested in. I'm curious if I need to include both my root and GRUB partitions – I think just the root will suffice since I'm still using MBR partitioning. My disk is 1TB, and I've only used 85GB. I'm also looking for guidance on how to create a smaller-sized ISO that I can utilize for future reinstallations, avoiding dd altogether.
2 Answers
When using Clonezilla, I'd recommend keeping things straightforward and avoiding mixing it with Ventoy. I last used Clonezilla a couple of years ago for cloning my data onto a large USB HDD, and it worked fine for me even without encryption. If you’re targeting just a 1TB drive, consider getting an additional 1TB drive strictly for cloning. Typically, I don’t remember using ISO files for Clonezilla; I used larger image files instead. Clonezilla has many options, and you can find guidance here: https://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live-doc.php.
Have you thought about just using dd to create an image of the entire disk? It’s a powerful tool if you're comfortable with the command line. It can save the whole disk to a file or a similar physical drive.
I need to think about compression; otherwise, it’s going to take up a ton of space, especially since I want to do this for both drives. Dd writes everything without compressing, so I’d have to deal with compressing it later.
I'm actually looking to create an ISO that I can store over multiple backups for better safety. The only drive I can clone to is a 2TB one I’ve set for storage, and sticking with MBR makes it easier than dealing with UEFI.