# Enhanced Simple LVM Backup System with Borg Support

A reliable, straightforward backup system for LVM-enabled Linux systems. Born from the need for simple, dependable backups without complex logic that can cause system issues.

## Philosophy

**Simple is better.** This system does exactly three things:
1. Create LVM snapshot
2. Copy data (dd/pv for raw, Borg for repositories)
3. Clean up snapshot

No complex migration logic, no fancy features that can break. Just reliable backups.

## Features

### Five Backup Modes

- **LV → LV**: Update existing logical volume backups
- **LV → Raw**: Create fresh backups on raw devices
- **VG → Raw**: Clone entire volume groups with LVM metadata
- **LV → Borg**: Backup logical volume **block device** to Borg repository (preserves exact block-level state)
- **VG → Borg**: Backup **all block devices** from volume group to Borg repository

### Two Interfaces

- **GUI**: `simple_backup_gui.py` - User-friendly interface with Borg configuration
- **CLI**: `enhanced_simple_backup.sh` - Command-line power user interface

## Quick Start

### 1. See Available Options
```bash
sudo ./list_drives.sh
```

### 2. Choose Your Backup Mode

**Update existing backup:**
```bash
sudo ./enhanced_simple_backup.sh lv-to-lv /dev/internal-vg/root /dev/backup-vg/root
```

**Fresh backup to external drive:**
```bash
sudo ./enhanced_simple_backup.sh lv-to-raw /dev/internal-vg/root /dev/sdb
```

**Clone entire system:**
```bash
sudo ./enhanced_simple_backup.sh vg-to-raw internal-vg /dev/sdb
```

**Use the GUI:**
```bash
sudo python3 simple_backup_gui.py
```

**Borg repository backups (block-level):**
```bash
# Create new Borg repo and backup LV as block device
sudo ./enhanced_simple_backup.sh lv-to-borg /dev/internal-vg/root /path/to/borg/repo --new-repo --encryption repokey --passphrase mypass

# Backup entire VG as multiple block devices to existing repo
sudo ./enhanced_simple_backup.sh vg-to-borg internal-vg /path/to/borg/repo --passphrase mypass
```

**Key Difference:**
- **LV → Borg**: Stores one snapshot as `{lv_name}.img` in a single archive
- **VG → Borg**: Creates separate archives for each LV (space-efficient, processes one LV at a time)

## Files

### Core System
- `simple_backup_gui.py` - GUI interface with mode selection
- `enhanced_simple_backup.sh` - CLI with three backup modes
- `list_drives.sh` - Helper to show available sources/targets
- `SIMPLE_BACKUP_README.md` - Detailed documentation

### Legacy Files  
- `old_scripts/` - Previous complex implementations (archived)
- Various `.md` files - Documentation from previous iterations

## Requirements

- LVM-enabled Linux system
- Root access (`sudo`)
- Python 3 + tkinter (for GUI)
- `pv` command (optional, for progress display)
- **Borg Backup** (for Borg modes): `sudo apt install borgbackup`

## Safety Features

- Clear confirmations before destructive operations
- Automatic snapshot cleanup on errors
- Emergency stop functionality (GUI)
- Input validation and error handling
- Timestamped snapshot names to avoid collisions on retries
- Read-only snapshot mounts with filesystem-aware safety flags (ext4: noload, xfs: norecovery)
- Strict shell mode in CLI (set -euo pipefail) for reliable error propagation
- Pre-flight checks for VG free space before creating snapshots

## What This System Does NOT Do

- Complex migration between different LVM setups
- Automatic boot repair or GRUB handling  
- Multiple backup formats or compression
- Network backups or cloud integration
- File-level incremental backups

For those features, use dedicated tools like Borg Backup, CloneZilla, or rsync.

## Why This Approach?

Previous versions of this project included complex migration logic that occasionally caused system issues. This version returns to basics:

✅ Uses standard LVM commands only  
✅ Minimal chance of errors  
✅ Easy to understand and debug  
✅ Predictable behavior  
✅ No hidden "smart" features  

Notes and limitations:
- Multi-PV VGs: Raw clone and VG→Borg flows require careful handling. If a VG spans multiple PVs, the simple raw clone path is not supported; use block-level per-LV backups or full-disk cloning tools.
- File-level backups are for data safety, not bootability. Use block-level backups for exact bootable images.
- Ensure the Borg repository is not located on the same LV being snapshotted.

## Recovery

### From LV Backup
Mount the backup LV and copy files, or use it to restore your system.

### From Raw Device Backup  
Boot directly from the device, or restore using dd in reverse.

### From VG Clone
Import the volume group or boot directly from the cloned device.

## Contributing

Keep it simple. Any additions should follow the core principle: minimal logic, maximum reliability.

## License

Open source - use and modify as needed.