A Statement about MX Snapshot

[u/ShizenFacen]

I am in awe of MX Snapshot. I tested MX on one of my older intel machines just to try MX Tools Snapshot and I've got to say I don't know why this software isn't ported to work on every linux OS. It's a great piece of software imho

For those that are new recruits to MX, Snapshot creates an iso image of your system with several different config options. If something shitty happens and you boot to kernel panic and don't know or don't want to know how to tty into terminal for a fix, run your saved backup Snapshot as an iso and you're back up and running

I use ubuntu gnome 50 daily use and nothing on there compares to snapshot. When I was editing gdm greeter some code and borked the login, MX snapshot if available would have been greatly appreciated - would have a got a nice donation 😄

Of course someone with the prerequisite tech knowledge could maybe get it to run on gnome 50 but after looking into it, it's a major task and I can't find anyone who's tried it. If anyone knows of anyone working on something like this let me know, I'll contribute where I can

To new users or those thinking abut MX, it's a good distro imho with MX Tools as one of the best suites out there. Just wanted MX to know that their good work is being noticed - thanks

[u/redgator12]

My favorite thing about the antiX/MX Snapshot tool is the fact that I can create a fully customized Live USB with my snapshot and then enable persistence. I've built snapshots just to play Steam games on computers with dead hard drives, or just to act as a YouTube Music kiosk using AudioTube. If anyone ever got their hands on the USB and didn't know the password, all they would be able to do is boot to the base state with a logged out Steam or logged out AudioTube. It really is an amazing tool.

[u/Samhain_69]

And not only can you boot and run off the live USB, you can install off it. So if your main system's SSD was to completely fail, or if it was a laptop that got lost or stolen, you can boot your live USB on another system, install from the USB, and have a new system with all the software installed, all your saved files, all your preferences and configuration (from the day you created the snapshot).

Being able to clone everything you care about on a system, run live off USB, or install to another system, is a really cool and potentially very valuable capability. Probably not a very good backup strategy, but extremely handy in certain bad situations.

[u/Hot-Development-9036]

Yes fantastic and very underrated utility. It works perfectly. I got curious and tried it out one day and it recovered everything exactly as it was. Remarkable.

[u/Procver]

You could use Timeshift in gnome I think. I heard it's pretty good as well.
MX Tools are highly underrated. So many important tasks made so simple.

[u/greenzaytun → u/Procver]

Any other favorite features of MX Tools I should look into? Considering trying MX or Antix out, maybe MX with systemd enabled( IKNOW🫢😱)

[u/Savings_Art5944 → u/Procver]

If the ISO saves the timeshift data, then it is even more powerful.

[u/Ok-Position-3113]

Macrium reflect can make a perfect clone of your Linux partition with all your software installed ,with swap,ext,boot file ,grub...

[u/Korkman → u/Ok-Position-3113]

MX Snapshot doesn't really compare to imaging software. As a backup solution, it's actually terrible because it doesn't even attempt to create a crash-consistent snapshot AFAIK. What makes it valuable is that you get a live ISO mirror of your customized OS. Drivers, software, user accounts, everything is there (unless you exclude it). It makes a good starting point to recover from an actual backup. But where it really shines is custom live ISO creation. `apt install` whatever you need in your pocket to help out friends or fix servers. Create ISO. Add to Ventoy drive.

Edit: to clarify, MX Snapshot does create a usable backup in desktop scenarios, but from a database admins perspective it's useless.

[u/adrian_mxlinux → u/Korkman]

It was never meant to be used as a backup (not sure why some people insist to use is as such), it's a tool for creating a working Live ISO from your system.

[u/RealityOk9823 → u/Ok-Position-3113]

Macrium reflect didn't work worth a crap for my Windows machines. Clonezilla is great.

[u/Savings_Art5944]

You can restore or run your ISO'd OS on entirely different hardware.

[u/greenzaytun]

How does this compare to OpenSuse's Snapper snapshots, do you know? Or their "immutable" image.

[u/Korkman → u/greenzaytun]

It doesn't. See my other post

[u/Krezzin]

MXSS is the GOAT!

[u/Danrobi1]

I don't know why this software isn't ported to work on every linux OS

penguins-eggs The idea is that every system should have its own way of being remastered.

[u/Turbulent_Test_1180]

You can install mx-snapshot via apt. I have it installed on Mabox linux

[u/Feifel81]

For other distros you could use rescuezilla to make a backup of your disk state. Takes a bit longer but works aswell.

[u/nawofford]

I agree completely and I think it's one of the greatest features I've ever seen. I tried MX Linux for the first time about 6 months ago and I don't think I'll ever switch away. I'm so happy now I won't look back. I can play around in my system all I want, and as long as I have my snapshot.iso on a handy thumb drive, I can restore my system completely in just a couple minutes if I screw something up.