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'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------