2. FAQ

2.1. I want to restore my home directory after a fresh install. Should I use Aptik or Homi?

If you are reinstalling your system, use Aptik for the restore. It will backup and restore your home folder to its original location. It will exclude caches, and also update the dconf database in the home directory. It will do everything automatically without any intervention on your part.

Homi will backup the data but leave it to you on what you want to restore and how. Mount a snapshot, open it in a file manager, and you can do whatever you wish. Copy one file or copy all files back to your home folder. It’s up to you. Restoring files in this way is useful when you accidentally delete or modify a file and realize it later. Homi will keep multiple versions of files going back weeks or months.

Aptik makes it easier to restore the entire home directory after a reinstall, but the convenience comes at the cost of flexibility.

Aptik is less flexible than Homi since:

1. Only one version of files are kept.

2. You cannot restore individual files.

3. Restore can be done only on a freshly installed system.

Extract Action

The Extract action in Homi’s GUI will extract the snapshot contents to a NEW folder that you choose. It will recreate the directory structure in the target folder. So if you select extraction path as X it will create X/home/john/.... To extract all files to the original location, select the destination as the root directory (/ instead of /home).

Note: Extracting all files is not the same as replacing your home folder. Extra files in the destination that don’t exist in the snapshot will be kept.