The Problem

A couple of days ago, my laptop’s second HD (500GB WD) went rogue (once again). The issues:

  • File corruption when accessing stored files
  • System wouldn’t boot with drive connected (Ubuntu 13.04)
  • All my work files were on the failing drive

Fortunately, I had:

  • A 32GB SSD boot partition on the motherboard
  • A full system backup on an external 3TB drive

The Challenge

The backup presented its own problems:

  • Hundreds of GBs in size
  • Only 32GB SSD available for restore
  • Attempts to restore to backup drive itself failed
  • Original folder structure gone, preventing GUI restore

The Solution: Selective File Restoration

After some research, here’s how to selectively restore files from a Duplicity backup:

1. List Backup Contents

duplicity list-current-files --no-encryption file:///[path_to_backup_folder] > ~/list.txt

Note: The file:/// prefix is required - use full path to backup folder

2. Create Restore Directory

mkdir [PATH_AND_FILENAME_FOR_RESTORED_FILE]

3. Restore Selected Files

Find your files in list.txt (created in step 1), then:

duplicity restore --no-encryption --file-to-restore [FILE_FROM_LIST] \
file:///[LOCATION_OF_BACKUP] [RESTORE_PATH]

Important Notes

  • Different procedure required for encrypted backups
  • Check the Duplicity Reference

for encryption options Always verify restored files integrity Consider keeping critical files on more reliable storage