4 ways to back up Linux Wine apps
Wine is a fantastic piece of technology that allows Linux users to enjoy Windows apps. However, Wine has a fatal flaw: there’s no built-in backup system for your apps. So, if anything happens to your Linux PC, you could lose all of your Wine programs. In this list, we’ll go over a few ways you can prevent losing your Linux Wine apps with backup solutions.
1. Tar backup
If you’re worried about losing your Wine apps and games installed on your Linux PC, the Tar backup method is a quick and easy way to take care of it, as backing up your Wine folder can be done with a single command. To start the backup process for your Wine apps, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard.
Once the terminal window is open, make use of the following tar command to compress your Wine folder, which houses all of your Wine configurations, as well as programs and games.
tar -czvf my-wine-backup.tar.gz ~/.wine/
The compression will take a bit of time to complete, especially if your Wine directory is extensive. Sit back and wait as the compression goes on. When the process is done, you will have a complete backup of your Wine apps in the home directory with the name of my-wine-backup.tar.gz.
2. Rar backup
Another tool that you can use to backup your Wine apps is Rar, a simple command-line utility that can compress files in the Rar format. If you’re a fan of the command-line, but don’t want your Wine backup in the TarGZ format, this option is a great way to go.
Unfortunately, the Rar application does not come pre-installed on Linux systems, as the RAR format is proprietary. As a result, we must demonstrate how to set it up. Using the commands below, install Rar.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install rar
Debian
sudo apt-get install rar
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S rar
Fedora
sudo dnf install https://forensics.cert.org/fedora/cert/32/x86_64/rar-5.4.0-1.fc32.x86_64.rpm
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper addrepo https://packman.inode.at/suse/openSUSE_Leap_15.2/ packman-x86_64 sudo zypper install rar
After the Rar application is installed, you can use it to back up your Wine app folder using the following command below. Keep in mind, backing up a Wine directory can sometimes take time, especially if there are a lot of files in it.
rar a -r my-wine-backup.rar ~/.wine/
When the compression process is complete, you will have a RAR format backup of your Wine folder with the name of my-wine-backup.rar, filled with all of your apps, games, etc.
3. Kbackup backup
There are many different backup programs on the Linux platform that are useful for creating backups for things like Wine. However, many of these backup tools focus on creating a “system snapshot” rather than allowing the user more control to specify what they want to back up.
If you’re not a massive fan of the terminal but still want to create a complete backup of your Wine apps, programs, etc., Kbackup is the way to go. It gives users granular control to create backups, perfect for backing up Wine.
To create a backup of your Wine apps with Kbackup, you must first install the Kbackup app. To do that, open up a terminal window and enter the commands below.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install kbackup
Debian
sudo apt-get install kbackup
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S kbackup
Fedora
sudo dnf install kbackup
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install kbackup
Once the Kbackup application is installed, launch it on your computer. Then, click on the “Settings” menu in Kbackup with the mouse, and select “Show Hidden Files” to make hidden files viewable.
After making hidden files viewable in Kbackup, find the “Target” area in Kbackup, and find the “Folder” area. In the “Folder” area, click on the folder icon to browse for where the Wine backup should be saved.
Next, go to the folder tree on the left, and click on “Home,” followed by the folder with your username. In your username folder, locate “.wine” and check the box next to it to select your Wine folder for backup.
With the “.Wine” folder selected, find the “Start Backup” button to create a backup of your Wine directory. When the process is complete, your Wine backup will appear in the folder you choose in the “Folder” section.
4. Deja-Dup backup
If you’re looking to back up your Wine folder, but don’t want to make a fuss, Deja-Dup is the app you want. It’s a simple program that allows users to make backups (even encrypt them) without much effort.
To create a backup of your Wine apps on Linux with Deja-Dup, you’ll need to install it, however. The reason? Only a select few Linux distributions include the app by default.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install deja-dup
Debian
sudo apt-get install deja-dup
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S deja-dup
Fedora
sudo dnf install deja-dup
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install deja-dup
Once the app is installed, launch it by searching for it in the app menu on your desktop. With the app open, look for the “Folders to save” button, and click on it.
In the “Folders to save” area, it should say “Home”. “Home” means that Deja-Dup will back up your entire user folder in /home/username/, along with all the sub-folders, including the Wine app directory. Select “Home” and click on the minus sign to remove it from the list.
Upon removing “Home” from the list, click on the plus sign. Selecting the plus sign will open up the file browser. Inside of the file-browser, right-click and select “Show hidden files” and select on the “Home” directory.
Inside of the “Home” directory, look for “.wine” and click on it to add it to the “Folders to save” list. Then, locate “Storage location” and set up your preferred backup storage location.
With your backup storage location configured, click on the “Overview” button. After that, select the “Back Up Now” button to begin backing up your Linux Wine apps.
When the backup process is complete, all of your Linux Wine apps will be uploaded to your backup storage location of choice, as is set in the “Storage location” section.
Conclusion
In this list, we covered some ways you can make a backup of your Linux Wine apps. However, there are more than just 5 backup programs that you can use to backup Wine. So tell us in the comments; what are your favorite backup tools to use on Linux?
