In the previous article, we talked about the different ways to use the “dd” command in Linux. The “dd” command is useful for many different tasks such as creating disk images, backing up partitions, and writing disk images to portable flash drives. Of course, “dd” is only available through the Terminal, and can also overwrite the entire hard drive without warning if you mix up the input and output sources. So it was nice to see that a graphical interface exists for those Linux users who want a more convenient and condescending method of using the “dd” command.
The program, called gdiskdump, is easy to use, and while it won’t be nearly as fast for those familiar with Terminal, it’s definitely an easier way to access some of the capabilities dd has to offer.
To download gdiskdump, you need to go to either its Gtk-apps.org entry or its Launchpad page where you can download the Debian / Ubuntu installer or source code. In this example, we will be installing gdiskdump on Ubuntu.
Once you’ve downloaded the installer, you can simply right-click it and choose your preferred installation method. For DEB files, we use GDebi.
Once opened, click “Install”. You will most likely need to enter a password.
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All required libraries will be automatically downloaded and installed, and when you are done, you will see this confirmation.
You can now open gdiskdump, which is located in the Applications menu under Accessories.
You will most likely need to enter your password (unless you recently finished typing it for some other reason), since the dd command must always be run as root.
When this is complete, you will see the first gdiskdump screen asking you to choose an input format. You can choose a partition, hard disk or file as the input format. The file selection will be like this, while the partition will be a complete hard disk partition and the hard disk option includes all (all partitions).
Once you have selected the input format and device / file, click the “Next” button to go to the next screen where you will select the output format.
Again, you have the choice of outputting to a file, partition, or hard drive. You need to select the type first and then the physical location where your backup will be saved.
You may see a warning informing you that there is not enough space in your target directory to store your backup.
Assuming you’ve selected a drive that has enough space, you can click OK to start the process. Or, if you need a little more control (similar to what you get with “dd” from the command line), you can choose to view additional settings.
Again, when ready, click OK; the following warning will always appear.
This warning first tells you that your backup will overwrite the partition or hard drive that you have chosen as the target location, and that when copying a partition or hard drive (but not a single file), the partition should not be mounted. In practice, this means that you cannot back up the boot disk. To do this, you need to run dd or gdiskdump from a USB stick.
Depending on the size of your file, partition, or hard drive, the process may take some time, and although the pop-up message about the completion of the task does not appear, a progress bar at the top of the screen will show you when the backup will take place. completed.
That’s all. Using “dd” from Terminal is quick and efficient, but for those looking for something more user-friendly, gdiskdump is a good choice.
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