Is Linux full restore broken?

Restore
1

I’m trying to do a full restore (not specific file restore), of the last snapshot i have from a computer onto another computer, both are debian linux, but i cant do it.

I have a local network server running debian 13 running UrBackup Server v2.5.35.0, with a btrfs backup directory, where i do backups of two machines one is a windows machine (not relevant for the topic) and the other is my computer which is debian linux running UrBackup Client Controller v2.5.28.0. I backup the home folder of my computer onto the server every day using snapshots and full file backups. i will call it “old pc”

Im trying to restore the last snapshot of my computer onto a new computer, as i plan to migrate from my computer to that new computer, which is running debian 13 too with UrBackup Client Controller v2.5.28.0. i will call it “new pc”.

the problem is:

first i tried to simply download the client in the new computer, but that didnt work because it creates another client and cant communicate with the client i want to restore from.

then i read the posts [1] and downloaded the client from the web interface of my wanted client, though i didnt find any of this in the documentation. and i activated the “allow-restore” option to restore from the web interface, like said in [2], but when restoring it restores the backup onto the old pc, not in the new pc.

then i tried to copy the contents of the old pc /usr/local/var/urbackup to the new pc and tried to do a snapshot backup like said in [2] but it failed with the error “no backup server found”, and it created another client that shows in the web interface, with the host name of my new pc.

so, as i have seen more posts about those issues, my question is if the full linux restoration is broken, or if im doing something wrong.

References

[1] “Restore from command line specific file in folder - Restore,” UrBackup - Discourse. Accessed: Jul. 27, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://forums.urbackup.org/t/restore-from-command-line-specific-file-in-folder/8762/25

[2] “Complete restore on linux: Issues - client,” UrBackup - Discourse. Accessed: May 17, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://forums.urbackup.org/t/complete-restore-on-linux-issues/4119

old-client-config.txt (1.2 KB)

new-client-config.txt (1.2 KB)

server-config.txt (1.3 KB)

2

Urbackup does not support creating and restoring image backups on Linux. You can only back up and restore files. There is no such issue on Windows.

3

I know. im talking about restoring the entire snapshot in a directory.

I backup my /home/$user folder and i want to restore it in another computer /home/$user folder.

4

Urbackup isn’t meant to restore files onto another PC, but onto the “same”.

As you found out you can install the client for “the specific PC” onto another and allow restore when you replace the PC, but that should be done once the old PC is gone and will never connect to the server again.

5

Well, i even turned off the old pc and tried restoration from the web interface in the new pc, it started but did nothing.

I now managed to do my restoration through open source program Kopia, but its still necessary to clarify this issue in urbackup.