Introduction
In this blog post, we will learn about Clonezilla, its features, how to download and make a bootable Clonezilla USB flash drive, and then how to save disk images using Clonezilla.
What is Clonezilla?
Clonezilla is a free and open-source disk imaging, disk cloning, data recovery, system deployment, bare metal backup, and recovery software. It is available in three types such as Clonezilla live, Clonezilla lite server, and Clonezilla Server Edition.
Feature of Clonezilla
- Multi file system support for Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, etc.
- Disk Cloning.
- Image Encryption.
- Bare metal restore.
- Support for BIOS and UEFI machine.
- Unattended mode.
- Whole disk partition save and restore.
- BitTorrent support for massive deployment in Clonezilla lite.
- Customizable Imaging and cloning.
- The image file can be on a local disk, SSH server, samba server, NFS server, or WebDAV server.
- AES-256 encryption could be used to secure data access, storage, and transfer.
System Requirements
Minimum System Requirements for Clonezilla live
- X86 or x86-64 processor
- 196 MB of system memory (RAM)
- Boot device, e.g. CD/DVD Drive, USB port, PXE, or hard drive
Downloading and Creating Clonezilla Bootable Media
Visit the below website to download the Clonezilla image file.
https://clonezilla.org/downloads.php
Click on stable to download the stable version of Clonezilla.
Select your CPU architecture, iso file type and click Download, wait for few minutes it will download Clonezilla iso file.
Create Bootable Media
The next step is to make a Clonezilla bootable USB flash drive. Follow the below link to make a bootable USB flash drive with Rufus.
https://easytechhub.com/create-bootable-usb-rufus/
How to save disk image using Clonezilla
After you make a bootable Clonezilla Live USB flash drive, you need to connect your backup device and make sure it is larger than the internal drive.
Restart the computer and select the Clonezilla to live bootable media device from the boot menu by pressing Esc, F8, F9, or F12.
The boot menu of Clonezilla Live will open. Select Clonezilla Live (Default settings, VGA 800×600), and press enter.
Choose the language as English and press enter.
Select a keyboard layout. The default keyboard layout is the US keyboard. Press Enter.
The Start Clonezilla screen will appear. Press enter to start Clonezilla.
Clonezilla will ask you to choose its operating mode. If you want to make a copy of your hard disk, choose the device image first option.
Choose the local_dev option to assign nvme0n2p1 as the image home and press enter.
There are other options. e.g. ssh_server, samba, nfs, webdev, AWS S3, or Openstack Swift, you can use them when the network is available.
Press Ctrl + C to exit the window.
To save the image file, choose the image repository where the backup image will be saved.
Exit browsing directory
Click No
Press enter to continue.
Select beginner mode and press enter.
Select save disk and press enter.
Enter the image name and press enter.
Select the local disk as a source This will be your operating system drive.
Select the compression option, zip, and press enter.
You can choose if you want to check and repair the file system before saving it. You can skip it as well, but it’s recommended to do such a check. For the purpose of testing, I will skip it and press enter.
Select if you want to check the save image. It is recommended to do such a check. Press Enter.
The image is not encrypted by default, but it is always a good idea to encrypt it. If you choose encryption, enter a strong password and remember it for future reference; I will skip it and press enter.
After the image has been saved, select the mode by typing -p reboot/shutdown/etc and pressing enter.
Press enter to continue.
Clonezilla is saving disk image.
Type y and press enter to continue the process.
Press enter to continue.
Select reboot and press enter.
The saving of disk images has been completed.
Conclusion
Clonezilla is the best free open-source disk imaging, disk cloning, and bare metal recovery software for personal and commercial use. It is my personal favorite free disk cloning software. I would highly recommend using Clonezilla.