Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- other:win10wsl [2022/08/31 11:40] – Started moving 'backup' to the Advanced section jypeter
+++ other:win10wsl [2022/08/31 14:56] – Moved the restore section to the advanced section jypeter
@@ Line 983: / Line 983: @@
-==== Creating a backup of the Linux running in WSL ====
+===== Advanced usage =====
-There are several types of WSL related directories that you may want to back up:
-  * <wrap hi>Your Linux //home// directory</wrap> (''/home/<your_login>''), or some specific sub-directories of the //Ubuntu// running in WSL (sub-directories of ''/''): all these files are located in a [[other:win10wsl#location_of_the_files|hidden sub-directory of you Windows directory]], and the best way to save them is probably to **create a tar file from Linux**, and put this tar file in a specific Windows //WSL backup folder// (we will use below the directory ''/mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>'' or ''c:\Scratch\<your_login>'')
+==== Creating a backup ====
+=== Backup of a FULL Linux installation ===
+You can use ''wsl'' to [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/faq#how-can-i-back-up-my-wsl-distributions--or-move-them-from-one-drive-to-another-|save a full Linux installation]] to a //tar// file, that can be:
+  * used later for //restoring// the full installation
+  * used for //relocating// the full installation from ''C:\'' to another disk
+Detailed steps:
+  * Determine the name of the current Linux installation(s) used in WSL
+    * <code>> wsl --list --verbose
+  NAME      STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu    Running         2</code>
+  * [[other:win10wsl#rebooting_wsl|Stop WSL+Linux]]
+      * <code>> wsl --shutdown
+> wsl -l -v
+  NAME      STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu    Stopped         2</code>
+  * Export the specified Linux installation to a //tar// file:
+    * You should export to a directory or external disk where you have //enough// space\\ e.g. The tar file for a [[other:win10wsl#base_installation|newly installed and updated]] //Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS// is ~1.4 Gb
+    * You should use a detailed enough file name for the tar file\\ e.g. WSL_<Linux_Distribution>_<Distribution_Version>_<User>_<Date>.tar
+    * Example: ''%%wsl --export Ubuntu C:\Scratch\<your_login>\WSL\WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar%%''
+    * If you are not going to use the backup tar file right away, you can optionally compress it in order to save some space
+      * <code>Add compression example here</code>
+=== Backup of specific directories ===
+You can also just create backups of specific directories:
+  * Your Linux //home// directory (''/home/<your_login>/''), or some specific sub-directories of the //Ubuntu// running in WSL (sub-directories of ''/''): the best way to save them is probably to **create a //tar// file from Linux**, and put this //tar// file in a specific Windows //WSL backup folder// (we will use below the directory ''/mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>'' or ''c:\Scratch\<your_login>'')
     * <code bash>$ cd /home
@@ Line 1003: / Line 1033: @@
 K Feb 24 12:09 /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/<your_login>_home_210224_1209.tgz</code>
-  * <wrap hi>Regular Windows folders</wrap> where you store data used by WSL: you can use ''tar'' in a Linux terminal, as above, or use any usual way of backing up Windows files (drag and drop, some specific [[other:win10apps#backup_software|backup software]])
+  * Regular Windows folders where you store data used by WSL: you can use ''tar'' in a Linux terminal, as above, or use any usual way of backing up Windows files (drag and drop, some specific [[other:win10apps#backup_software|backup software]])
+    * WARNING: there should not be performance issues using ''tar'' (from Linux) to make a backup of Windows files with WSL 1, but **WSL 2 is significantly slower than WSL 1 to access Windows files** ([[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/compare-versions#exceptions-for-using-wsl-1-rather-than-wsl-2|Exceptions for using WSL 1 rather than WSL 2]])
+==== Restoring or relocating a Linux installation ====
+When we have a backup in a tar file, we can restore it to the default location (Check ?? FIXME), or specify where we want to restore it. This is a way of moving (relocating) an installation to another disk or partition than the default location ''C:\''
 ==== Restoring a WSL backup ====
@@ Line 1025: / Line 1059: @@
-===== Advanced usage =====
-==== Creating a backup of a Linux installation ====
-You can use ''wsl'' to [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/faq#how-can-i-back-up-my-wsl-distributions--or-move-them-from-one-drive-to-another-|save a full Linux installation]] to a //tar// file, that can be:
-  * used later for restoring the full installation
-  * used for relocating the full installation from ''C:\'' to another disk
-  * Determine the name of the current Linux installation used in WSL (and see if it is running, and using //WSL 1// or //WSL 2//)
-    * <code>> wsl --list --verbose
-  NAME      STATE           VERSION
-* Ubuntu    Running         2</code>
-  * [[other:win10wsl#rebooting_wsl|Stop WSL+Linux]]
-      * <code>> wsl --shutdown
-> wsl -l -v
-  NAME      STATE           VERSION
-* Ubuntu    Stopped         2</code>
-  * Export the specified Linux installation to a //tar// file:
-    * You should export to a directory or external disk where you have //enough// space
-    * You should use a detailed enough file name for the tar file
-    * ''wsl --export Ubuntu C:\Scratch\<your_login>\WSL\WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.4_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar''
-        * 1.4 Gb
-    * <code> > wsl --export Ubuntu C:\Scratch\<your_login>\<your_login>_ubuntu-<ubuntu_version>-full_<some_date>.tar</code>
-    * You can optionally open a new terminal (this will start again WSL+Ubuntu) to get some information about the created file (size and number of saved files/directories), and compress it in order to save some disk space
-      * <code>$ cd /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>
-$ ls -ltrh *ubuntu*tar*
-M Jan 21  2020 <your_login>_200121.tar.gz
-.8G Aug 22  2020 <your_login>-16.04-full_200822.tar
-.4G Feb 24 14:06 <your_login>-20-04-1-full_210224.tar
-# Determine the number of files/directories in the backup
-$ tar tvf <your_login>-20-04-1-full_210224.tar | wc -l
-$ gzip *ubuntu*.tar
-$ ls -ltrh *ubuntu*tar*
-M Jan 21  2020 <your_login>_200121.tar.gz
-.2G Aug 22  2020 <your_login>-16.04-full_200822.tar.gz
-.8G Feb 24 14:06 <your_login>-20-04-1-full_210224.tar.gz
-</code>
-==== Restoring or relocating a Linux installation ====
-When we have a backup in a tar file, we can restore it to the default location (Check ?? FIXME), or specify where we want to restore it. This is a way of moving (relocating) an installation to another disk or partition than the default location ''C:\''
 ==== Uninstalling WSL ====