clonezilla

disk cloning and imaging solution

TLDR

Boot Clonezilla and start interactive mode

$ clonezilla

Save disk to image

$ ocs-sr -q2 -c -j2 -z1p -i 2000 -fsck-y -senc -p reboot savedisk [image_name] [sda]

Restore image to disk

$ ocs-sr -g auto -e1 auto -e2 -r -j2 -c -p reboot restoredisk [image_name] [sda]

Clone disk to disk

$ ocs-onthefly -g auto -e1 auto -e2 -r -j2 -sfsck -k -p reboot -f [sda] -d [sdb]

Save partition to image

$ ocs-sr -q2 -c -j2 -z1p -i 2000 -fsck-y -senc -p reboot saveparts [image_name] [sda1]

List available images

$ ocs-sr -l

SYNOPSIS

ocs-sr [options] action imagename device_

Clonezilla is a disk cloning and imaging solution similar to Norton Ghost. It creates backup images of entire disks or partitions and can restore them to the same or different hardware.
Clonezilla boots from USB or CD into a Linux environment with specialized imaging tools. It supports imaging filesystems (ext4, NTFS, HFS+, etc.) efficiently by copying only used blocks. Raw mode supports any filesystem.
Two modes are available: Clonezilla Live for imaging single machines, and Clonezilla SE (Server Edition) for mass deployment via network using PXE boot.

PARAMETERS

savedisk name disk

Save entire disk to image.

restoredisk name disk

Restore image to disk.

saveparts name parts

Save partitions to image.

restoreparts name parts

Restore partitions from image.

-q2

Use partclone for imaging.

-c

Confirm before action.

-j2

Clone hidden data between MBR and partition.

-z1p

Use parallel gzip compression.

-i size

Split image into files of given MB.

-fsck-y

Run fsck automatically.

-senc

Encrypt the image.

-g auto

Reinstall grub automatically.

-p action

Post-action: reboot, poweroff, or choose.

SUPPORTED FILESYSTEMS

Linux: ext2/3/4, XFS, Btrfs, JFS, ReiserFS
Windows: NTFS, FAT12/16/32, exFAT
macOS: HFS+, APFS (limited)
Others: UFS, VMFS, minix

CAVEATS

Target disk/partition must be equal or larger than source for differential imaging. Encrypted partitions may require raw mode (larger images). UEFI and Secure Boot may require configuration. Network deployment requires DHCP and TFTP infrastructure.

HISTORY

Clonezilla was created by Steven Shiau and the DRBL (Diskless Remote Boot in Linux) project at the National Center for High-Performance Computing in Taiwan, first released in 2004. Built on Partclone, Partimage, and other open-source tools, it became a popular free alternative to commercial disk imaging solutions. Both Live and Server editions remain actively developed.