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I wanted to install timeshift on a headless server. Unfortunately it depends on a mass of GUI that I really don't want polluting a server (for example x11-common etc).

Is there either a way to install it without it's GUI, or an alternative that does the same thing. I've been using rsnapshot (fine for what it does) but I'm looking for a system restore utility rather than data backup.

David
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    This question needs more defined limits. The mention of timeshift suggests you seek a whole-system backup/restore solution, which can become complex. A less-complex data-only backup/restore can be much easier and more reliable. Servers that include VMs or Containers might back those up separately using hypervisor tools, so a whole-system backup might be unnecessary. The best tool is the tool that you understand how to use properly on a bad day when you really need it. – user535733 Feb 07 '23 at 16:13
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    “The best tool is the tool that you understand how to use properly on a bad day when you really need it.” … This sums it up :-) @user535733 – Raffa Feb 07 '23 at 16:21
  • I use, instead, this fantastic little tool: btrbk. Have fun! :) – Diagon Mar 27 '24 at 09:59

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Unfortunately, although it can completely run from the terminal as a CLI application, timeshift depends on libgtk-3-0 which in turn depends on all sorts of GUI/display server(both X11 and Wayland) related packages and unless those dependencies are satisfied, it won't be possible to install timeshift(at least the linked package from the official repositories).

You can always use rsync directly as most of those backup applications including timeshift and rsnapshot are merely/mainly front-ends for it ... Please see extra related information here as well.

Raffa
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This is not true, you can install timeshift on Ubuntu 18 server in CLI, using the direct Ubuntu20 version but! The issue / downside is, when restoring back to a snapshot it may not fully do it, and may make the server unbootable. Experiment it, see if it works for you

download the Ubuntu20 from https://pkgs.org/download/timeshift

wget https://ubuntu.pkgs.org/22.04/ubuntu-universe-amd64/timeshift_21.09.1-1_amd64.deb.html

then

sudo dpkg -i timeshift_21.09.1-1_amd64.deb

system will complain about missing depencies so install those by :

sudo apt install -f

then retry install the deb package

sudo dpkg -i timeshift_21.09.1-1_amd64.deb

timeshift will install, but remember the warnings.

Android Enthusiast
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  • @Raffa The instructions I provided is based on working Ubuntu 18, if you are unable to test it, please don't call an answer "misleading", it's a shame that you just read an article and talk about it without testing it at all. I have been testing this for the past 3 weeks now. And Yes it works with limitations! Do not call the instructions "misleading" without testing it! – Android Enthusiast Apr 04 '23 at 22:31
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    @Raffa Thanks, I made that change, it's not for ARM, it's for 64 bit. – Android Enthusiast Apr 10 '23 at 21:32