Timeshift
Timeshift is a back up tool specifically for taking snapshots of the operating system maintained by Linux Mint Development team. It has both BTRFS and Non-btrfs mode backup using rsync.
When using Timeshift to take a snapshot of pc to external device, it runs in rsync mode. Based on the below information, if a second snapshot is taken, the new snapshot appears with just 200Mb additional space being used.
Any snapshot can be deleted in a similar way by specifying snapshot device and snapshot name.
sudo timeshift --create --rsync --snapshot-device /dev/sdc1 --comments "homepc-lm" prabu@homepc-lm:/media$ sudo timeshift --list --snapshot-device /dev/sdc1 Mounted '/dev/sdc1' at '/run/timeshift/backup' Device : /dev/sdc1 UUID : 9fafef5c-4251-462b-adbc-ac385489b5b4 Path : /run/timeshift/backup Mode : RSYNC Status : OK 1 snapshots, 136.7 GB free Num Name Tags Description ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0 > 2020-12-30_14-14-13 O homepc-lm prabu@homepc-lm:~$ sudo timeshift --list --snapshot-device /dev/sdc1 /dev/sdc1 is mounted at: /run/timeshift/backup, options: rw,relatim Device : /dev/sdc1 UUID : 9fafef5c-4251-462b-adbc-ac385489b5b4 Path : /run/timeshift/backup Mode : RSYNC Status : OK 2 snapshots, 136.5 GB free Num Name Tags Description ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 > 2020-12-30_14-14-13 O homepc-lm 1 > 2020-12-30_14-48-43 O homepc-lm prabu@homepc-lm:~$ sudo timeshift --delete --snapshot '2020-12-30_14-48-43' --snapshot-device /dev/sdc1 Mounted '/dev/sdc1' at '/run/timeshift/backup' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Removing '2020-12-30_14-48-43'... Removed '2020-12-30_14-48-43' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------