BackinTime backup to FAT32 ok?

Google tells me it should be ok to backup ext4 “/” or subdirs to a FAT32 partition. Its not for me but i would like to tell a friend of mine ( not computer interested but using Mint ) how to backup to new external disk, thats probably FAT32 formatted.

My BackIntIme backups are on ext4 partition and i see a file there called “fileinfo” that seems to have all the file attributes saved.

Example line in file fileinfo:
32813 root root /var/lib/NetworkManager/secret_key

Any risks?

FAT32 has no file permissions like ext4.

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No, backintime should not be used for storing backups on a FAT, FAT-derivative or NTFS filesystem, because it uses rsync in the background, which needs to be able to create hard-links for files that haven’t changed since the last backup, and those filesystems do not support that.

In addition to that, as @Keruskerfuerst said, those filesystems do not support POSIX permissions and file ownership.

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Ok, then i have to tell my friend how to format his external drive.

That’s no fun, because he thinks its allways the computer causing troubles :slight_smile:
He should better use an Apple PC, but thats too expensive for him!

You can use the partition manager of the GUI or fdisk with mk.ext4.

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fat32 has a limitation size ( file no more than 4go ) and limitation in name directory size ,
for exchange see exfat
for backup use initial fs format

I have an external USB disc formatted with ext4.
Rsync from internal disc to external disc works well.

If I use rsync to transfer data form internal SSD to USB stick (with FAT32 filesystem), then rsync doesn´t work well.

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