Duplicati is a great piece of software that can be used to back up your files to many backup destinations. It supports local and remote backup destinations. In this article, I am going to install Duplicati 2.0 on some Linux distributions. Why would you need to consider Duplicati as your backup solution? Well, this is not a fancy looking software. But, do not underestimate Duplicati. It has many great features inside and could be the best free online backup solution for you and your organization.
Personally, I have been using Duplicati for some years and pretty satisfied with the performance. The new Duplicati 2.0 comes with a refreshed user interface and better performance.
I created this guide on a Debian 10 Buster base. But, you can also use some of the instruction/steps on this article even you run Duplicati on the other system such as Windows or Mac.
Before we jump into the installation, here are some Duplicati 2.0 features you need to know:
- It is Free and Open Source software
- Supports many backends: local folder, FTP, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, Mega, and many others.
- Simple web-based user interface
- Supports Mac, Linux, and Windows
- Built-in AES-256 encryption security feature
Step 1. Install Duplicati 2.0
Install on Ubuntu/Debian Linux
The installation is pretty easy and there is only a little command line task we need to do. But don’t worry, we are going to make it even simpler. Let’s get started. First, download the Duplicati DEB package for Debian and Ubuntu using the link below.
Duplicati 2.0 for Debian & Ubuntu
You should have a file called: duplicati_2.0.4.23-1_all.deb. We are going to install this file to Debian 10. Now open Terminal and cd to the directory where you save the DEB file. In this example, I put my file under my Download directory.
cd ~/Downloads
Now install the file with this command as root
apt install ./duplicati_2.0.4.23-1_all.deb
There will be a notification on your Terminal window about the additional files that need to be installed.
Type Y and then press Enter to confirm the installation. Wait until the process finishes and after that, you should see Duplicati icon in your application menu.
Step 2. Run Duplicati
To start using Duplicati, simply click the Duplicati icon in your App menu. And then, your default web browser should be open up. On the first step, you will need to choose how you will use Duplicati.
Click which button that matches your current situation and then the Duplicati web interface should be ready.
Now you are ready to start your first backup. Continue reading to find out how to create a new backup.
Step 3. Create a New Backup using Duplicati
Once you run Duplicati, your main focus is now the web interface. In this web interface, we can start to create a new backup. From the web interface, click Add Backup and then Configure a New Backup.
Click Next and then give a name for your new backup and select the encryption option. You can also disable the encryption if you do not wish to use it.
Now we are going to configure the backup destination. Choose the backup destination from the list. You can choose from many types of backup destination including local and remote storage. In this example, I am going to use Box as my backup destination.
If you choose remote destination such as Box.com or Dropbox or any other remote destinations, click AuthID link to generate the AuthID. You will be redirected to your remote or cloud storage login page. Enter your login detail when asked.
Don’t forget to type the path on the server which is the folder or directory on the server that will store all your backup files. If the folder does not exist, Duplicati can create it for you. Ensure that Duplicati can communicate with the remote server by clicking the Test Connection button.
Now let’s configure the backup source. Select the folder you want to backup. You can also create a filter to exclude or include files or folders using the Filter menu. Click Next when all set.
Click Next to configure the backup scheduling. You can choose how often the backup will happen.
Click Next and you can configure some additional options. Leave it as is if you don’t want to use the default settings which is good to go. Click Save to save the backup. Now you should see the new backup task is shown on the Home menu.
Click Run Now to start the backup immediately.
