I have a system running RL v.8.5 with the system itself running from a 1 TB internal SSD (sda). I have a 1 TB external USB3.1 SSD. How do I copy/clone my system onto the external SSD so that I can recover the system from the external SSD in the case of a disaster?

I just now used clonezilla to backup my root drive (/dev/sda). All went well. I still need to swap a new empty SSD into the /dev/sda position and perform a restore. When that succeeds, I’ll declare victory. I appreciate the pointer to clonezilla, so far it works exactly as advertised.

How to clone running system to bootable external SSD?

Rocky Linux Help & Support

iwalker May 20, 2022, 9:44pm 2

Clonezilla is pretty good for that.

Topic		Replies	Views
Backup & restore Rocky 8.8 full OS on a portable desktop Rocky Linux Help & Support	4	911	August 28, 2023
Recommendations for system backup strategy Rocky Linux Help & Support	17	2212	August 25, 2023
Cloning a Rocky disk image and restore to a new machine by using Clonezilla Live Rocky Linux Help & Support rocky-linux-9	4	2252	July 4, 2024
Cloning Rocky 9 system drive Rocky Linux Help & Support	24	297	March 29, 2026
Rocky 8.6 won't boot after attempt to clone boot drive using dd Rocky Linux Help & Support rocky-linux-8	2	116	October 20, 2025

How to clone running system to bootable external SSD?

Related topics