How to use Rescuezilla to clone a Linux hard drive
Do you need to clone a Linux hard drive? Unsure how to go about doing it? Check out the Rescuzilla live USB tool. What is Rescuezilla?
Rescuezilla is a bootable live operating system that Linux users can use to “rescue” their system without dealing with complex, confusing options. In this guide, we’ll show you have to use Rescuezilla to clone a Linux hard drive.
Note: you will need a USB flash drive of at least 1 GB in size to create a Rescuezilla live USB key. Additionally, you must have a source hard drive and a destination hard drive for the cloning process to work.
Downloading Rescuezilla to your computer
Rescuezilla is available for download as an ISO file on the official website. So head over to the official Rescuezilla website to get your hands on it. Once on the website, find the “Download” button at the top of the page and select it with the mouse.
After selecting the download button, you’ll be brought to the official download page. Then, locate “rescuezilla-2.3.1-64bit.impish.iso” and select it to start the download. This download will not take a whole lot of time to complete.
Insert a USB flash drive into your computer’s USB port when the download is complete. Your USB flash drive should be at least 1 GB in size.
Creating a Rescuezilla live USB
You must create a bootable USB Rescuzilla environment to clone a Linux hard drive. To create a live USB, start downloading the Etcher application to your computer.
Are you unsure about where to get Etcher? Head over to the official website. Once there, download the app, launch it and install it on your computer via the instructions on the page. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions below to create a Rescuezilla live USB.
Step 1: Find the “Flash from file” button, and click on it with the mouse. After selecting this button, a pop-up window will appear. Using the pop-up window, browse for the Rescuezilla ISO file downloaded earlier.
Step 2: Once you’ve selected the ISO file, find the “Select target” button and click on it with the mouse. Then, browse for your USB flash drive in the UI, and choose it as the target for Etcher to use.
Step 3: Select the “Flash!” button to start the flashing process for the Rescuezilla ISO in Etcher. The flashing process should take a few minutes to complete. When done, boot your computer into the BIOS.
Once you’ve loaded up your computer’s BIOS, access the boot options, and configure it so that the Rescuezilla USB loads up instead of your operating system.
Cloning a Linux hard drive with Rescuezilla
Now that your Rescuezilla live USB is set up, the cloning process can begin. Please follow the step-by-step instructions below to clone a Linux hard drive with Rescuezilla.
Step 1: Select your language in Rescuezilla bootloader by pressing the Enter key.
Step 2: Find the “Clone” option in the Rescuezilla pop-up window and select it to start the clone dialog. After accessing the clone dialog, you’ll be greeted with a message. Read the message, then click the “Next” button to move to the next page.
Step 3: Select the disk you’ll be cloning with Rescuezilla with the mouse. After selecting your source hard drive, find the “Next” button and click on it to move to the next page in the cloning tool.
Step 4: Select the disk you’ll be sending the clone to (AKA the destination hard drive). After selecting the destination hard drive, find the “Next” button and click on it to move to the next page in the cloning tool.
Step 5: By default, the Rescuezilla cloning tool will select the option to “Overwrite the partition” table on the destination hard drive. Don’t uncheck this box unless you’re an expert and know what you are doing.
Click on the “Next” button to move to the next page in the Rescuezilla cloning tool Wizard application.
Step 6: Rescuezilla will show you what it plans to do during the cloning process. Read the outline that Rescuezilla presents to you. When done, select the “Next” button to start the cloning process.
The hard drive cloning process will take some time, so be patient.
Step 7: When Rescuezilla has finished cloning your hard drive, you’ll see a “Clone Summary” screen. This summary will outline what it did during the cloning process in detail. It is highly suggested that you read this summary.
When you’ve finished reading the cloning summary, find the “Next” button and click on it with the mouse to move to the next page.
Step 8: After clicking on the “Next” button, you’ll be brought to the start of the Rescuezilla tool. Close this window, and reboot your computer. Then, remove the cloned hard drive put it in place for safekeeping.
