2228May 019108yClon0CoeziDp May 2019 LXF249 31
Disk cloning tools roundup
G4L 8/10
As with Clonezilla, the interface of the G4L
Live CD is text-based and written in
ncurses. This one, however, is much more
verbose. The process of creating and
restoring images takes you through
several wizards, each of which is loaded
with quite a number of steps. Unlike
Clonezilla, G4L ships with four different
kernels so you’ll first have to select the
one based on your hardware. If you’re
using G4L on an older machine, use an
older kernel for greater compatibility.
Upon booting, the Live environment will
first display some basic usage information
spread across multiple pages. Advanced
users can then either issue a cloning or
restoration command directly, or use the
interface to construct the command using
the various menus. As you step through
each screen, G4L brings up another
screen asking for more relevant options
to complete the task.FoGProject 8/10
FOG Project has a much more involved
installation process than the other
solutions here. Unlike Clonezilla and G4L,
you first need to set up an imaging server.
While the initial deployment might be
time-consuming, FOG Project’s web
interface makes the effort worthwhile
since it can image and deploy multiple
computers simultaneously with ease.
FOG Project’s web interface is fairly
intuitive for anyone who is familiar with
the intricacies of the imaging process. The
menus are arranged in a logical fashion
and first time users should have no issues
navigating it. The setup is scalable as well,
and you can set up dedicated storage
nodes which can help take the load off
the main FOG Project server, if you have to
host and deploy images to a large number
of computers. You can use the web
interface to manage all imaged computers
as well as their cloned images.
wereSync 6/10
Installing WereSync is fairly
straightforward since you can grab it from
Python’s PIP package manager with a
single command. You can then fire up the
graphical interface which is fairly intuitive,
although there are some options that
don’t immediately make sense.
A quick scroll through the
documentation is advisable to familiarise
yourself with the peculiarities of the tool.
Some of the options also have a brief
explanation built into the app itself.
Despite these avenues of help, it’s difficult
to differentiate between options that are
mandatory and optional, and the impact
that their inclusion or exclusion will have
on the cloning process.
Also disappointing is the lack of
meaningful errors. By default the app
is configured such that once begun, all
cloning tasks end with a success message,
even when the process has failed.VErdICT
lonezilla hosts a pretty comprehensive FAQ on its
website, which you should scroll through before
experimenting with the tool. You can also engage
directlywith Clonezilla’s developer via the official forum boards,
where he is fairly active. New users can also find getting started
information littered all over the web, including on YouTube.
The primary source of information about G4L is its verbose
interface. The project is hosted on SourceForge and besides the
built-in help, there’s little else on its website. G4L does have an
active forum where you can engage with the developer, who again
is fairly active. Again, just like Clonezilla, G4L is fairly well-covered
and you can find lots of getting started information and tutorials
all over the internet.
New users will be well taken care of by FOG Project. The
project has extensive documentation on its website including a
wiki and a detailed FAQ. There’s also an installation guide with
distro-specific installation notes. If you run into any trouble with
your FOG Project installation you can get help from its very active
Help and support
Where do you go if you run into trouble?
C
ClonEzIllA 9/10
dEEpInClonE 5/10
FoGprojECT 9/10G4l 8/10
WErESynC 5/10forum boards, and can even find its developers and seasoned
users via its IRC channel.
Although it has a very intuitive interface, as we’ve said there
isn’t much information available about Deepin Clone. It doesn’t
have any dedicated avenues of support besides the ones for the
main distro.
There are two parts to the WereSync tool, a command-line
utility and a graphical one. The project’s webpage has adequate
information to orientate new users with both the utilities,
including an in-depth explanation of all its CLI parameters.While the mature tools don’t always have good documentation of their own,
you can find help elsewhere on the internet.