Need help with BTRFS-Assistant

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1

Hello! I’m new to Fedora and since it has btrfs I wanted to try snapshots to have something similar to system restore in windows. I’ve read this guide but I have some questions: Fedora System Restore Root Snapshots Using Btrfs-Assistant

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I configured everything just like in the image but:

  1. Are the snapshot retention numbers alright? I kept the default but maybe it should be changed?

  2. What does Snapper timeline, Snapper cleanup and Snapper boot mean?

  3. I read somewhere to use grub-btrfs to have the snapshots in the grub menu but it’s not in the repos. Should I use it?

  4. Am I doing it right to use BTRFS assistant anyway? Maybe there’s a better way to do this?

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

There is no right or wrong answer here but I would probably do more hourly snapshots. Hourly snapshots cost very little in terms of space. I usually retain 24 hourly snapshots. The rest of that is probably not what you want. I would keep 7 daily snapshots and 4-8 weekly snapshots of root depending on how far you think you might need to go back.

I would not keep any monthly or yearly snapshots of root, personally. You would generally not need to go back that far and keeping 10 years of snapshots will waste a lot of space.

As for the number snapshots,50 seems high to me. I would probably do more like 20. But that assumes you are even taking number snapshots, if you aren’t, it won’t make any difference.

If the snapper timeline service is enabled, you won’t get hourly snapshots so you probably want that one enabled.

The snapper cleanup service is what removes the snapshots when they reach the retention limit. You almost definitely want that enabled.

The snapper boot service takes a snapshot at each boot. This is more of a personal preference if you want that. I am satisfied with hourly snapshots but some people like to take an extra snapshot at boot.

Booting off snapshots isn’t a requirement. It is up to you if you actually want to do that. For the record, I have never booted off a snapshot outside of the testing I do.

3

I see, thank you for the reply :slight_smile: