Déjà Dup: The Perfect Linux Backup Software

With an incredibly simple user interface and the ability to encrypt and backup your data to network drives, external drives, FTP/SSH servers and even Amazon S3 storage, Déjà Dup is the perfect Linux backup solution. Set up a secure, regularly-scheduled backup in minutes. It’s like Carbonite for Linux, except you can pick where your data goes.
Linux backup software is certainly nothing new. Many people swear by rsync for their backup needs, while others like Back In Time, an easy backup program for Linux.

Those applications might work for you, but Déjà Dup will for sure. Aiming to allow you to do backups the right way – that is, to quote their web site, “encrypted, off-site, and regular” – this program is based on command-line utility duplicity but sports a GUI anyone can use.

Dead Simple

That’s really what the program looks like when you launch it. Obviously you’ll want to backup your data first, so go ahead and click that button and you’ll be presented with the first options page:

Here you can pick where you want to store your backup. You can use an external hard drive, if you like, or a remote connection. Click the “Connect To Server” button to mount any network drive Gnome can, including FTP, SSH, Windows shares and WebDAV.
In addition, Déjà Dup can directly mount Amazon S3 storage drives:

These options mean you have no shortage of places to back up your data. Once you’ve selected your ideal backup place you’ll be asked what you want backed up, as well as any files you’d like excluded:

It’s generally a good idea to back up your entire Home folder, though there are some exceptions. For example: I didn’t back up my Dropbox folder, because it is already on four different computers as well as Dropbox’s own server. You could decide certain folders aren’t essential to back up, such as “Music”. It’s all up to you.
Once this step is done the backing up begins. You’ll see a nifty progress window:

Go ahead and close this window if you want; the backup will run in the background of your computer. You can monitor progress from the system tray, using this indicator applet:

Once everything is backed up for the first time you’ll have the opportunity to schedule future backups. Set this according to your personal preference and everything is set. Take note: future backups won’t take so long, as only changes you’ve made to your files will be backed up.

Installation

Installing Déjà Dup on Ubuntu 10.10 is easy: just click here. Those using earlier versions of Ubuntu can add the Déjà Dup PPA. Users of other Linux distributions should check their package manager, or find the source code on Launch Pad.

Awesome

I, and many people I know, have been looking for exactly this program for a while. If you’re not backing up your data regularly, you really should. With programs as good as this on the market there’s really no excuse to not do so. Download it, set it up and then forget about it. You’ll be glad you did if your hard drive dies.
Can you recommend a better backup program for Linux? Wow; that’s amazing. Share it below. Alternatively, feel free to ask any questions about this one.