How To Install Clonezilla on Debian 13

Losing your data without a backup is one of the most painful experiences a Linux user can face. Whether it’s a failed update, a dying hard drive, or an accidental format, the damage can be irreversible — unless you had a solid backup strategy in place. That’s exactly where Clonezilla steps in.

Clonezilla is a powerful, open-source disk cloning and bare metal backup tool trusted by system administrators and home users worldwide. It is fast, reliable, and completely free. With Debian 13 “Trixie” now serving as the current stable Debian release — built on Linux kernel 6.12 LTS — installing and using Clonezilla on your system has never been more straightforward. The package is available directly in Debian’s official Trixie repositories, which means no third-party sources, no PPAs, no workarounds.

This guide walks you through two complete methods to install Clonezilla on Debian 13: using the APT package manager, and using a bootable Clonezilla Live USB drive. You’ll also learn how to perform your first backup and restore a disk image — step by step.

What Is Clonezilla?

Clonezilla is an open-source clone system (OCS) built on top of DRBL, partclone, and udpcast. Its core job is to perform bare metal backup and recovery — meaning it can save and restore the complete state of a disk or partition, independent of the operating system installed on it.

What separates Clonezilla from basic copy tools is efficiency. Instead of copying every sector on a disk regardless of whether it contains data, Clonezilla only saves and restores used blocks. A 500 GB drive with 40 GB of actual data will produce a compact image, not a massive 500 GB file. This makes the backup process dramatically faster and more storage-friendly.

The scale at which Clonezilla can operate is impressive. At the NCHC’s Classroom C, Clonezilla Server Edition (SE) cloned 41 computers simultaneously in under 10 minutes, pushing a 5.6 GB system image via multicast to every machine at once. For home users and enterprises alike, that kind of performance is hard to match — let alone beat with proprietary tools like Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost.

Clonezilla supports a wide range of filesystems including ext4, xfs, btrfs, NTFS, FAT32, and more. It works with HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, and SD cards.

Clonezilla Live vs. Clonezilla Server Edition

Before installation, understanding which version you actually need saves time and confusion.

Clonezilla Live is a small, self-contained bootable GNU/Linux distribution for x86/amd64 systems. You download it as an ISO, write it to a USB drive, and boot from it. No DRBL server required. No network PXE setup. It’s designed for imaging and cloning individual machines.

Clonezilla Server Edition (SE), on the other hand, is built for mass deployment. It runs on a DRBL server and multicasts disk images to dozens of client machines simultaneously over a network. Think classrooms, offices, or lab environments where 20–50 machines need an identical setup.

For most Debian 13 users — whether running a personal workstation or a single server — Clonezilla Live or the APT-installed SE on a local machine is the right choice. This guide covers both.

Why Use Clonezilla on Debian 13 Trixie?

Debian 13 “Trixie” ships with Linux kernel 6.12 LTS, delivering improved hardware support, better driver compatibility, and hardened security defaults. Pairing Debian 13 with Clonezilla gives you a backup stack that is mature, rock-solid, and zero-cost.

Here’s why it’s worth setting up Clonezilla on Debian 13 specifically:

• Pre-upgrade snapshots: Before running apt dist-upgrade or switching kernels, a full disk image ensures a clean rollback path
• Hardware migration: Clone your Debian installation from an old HDD to a new NVMe SSD without reinstalling from scratch
• Disaster recovery: A server that goes down at 2 AM is recoverable in minutes with a Clonezilla image
• Automated backups: With Clonezilla SE and cron, schedule recurring disk images with zero manual effort

The Clonezilla package is available natively in the official Debian Trixie repository — no third-party sources needed.

Prerequisites

Before running a single command, make sure these items are in order:

• A working Debian 13 (Trixie) installation
• Root or sudo access to the system
• An active internet connection (for the APT install method)
• A USB flash drive of at least 512 MB (for the Live USB method)
• A backup destination device — an external USB HDD, NFS share, SSH server, or Samba/CIFS network share
• Basic comfort with the Linux terminal

One more thing: back up any critical data before performing any disk operation. Even read-only tools can surprise you.

Method 1: Install Clonezilla on Debian 13 via APT

The APT method installs Clonezilla Server Edition directly from Debian’s official repositories. It’s the fastest path and requires no extra configuration for most setups.

Step 1: Update Your Debian 13 System

Start with a full system update. This prevents dependency conflicts during installation and ensures your package index is current.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

If you haven’t already enabled the contrib and non-free components in your sources list, do so now. Open /etc/apt/sources.list and confirm your Trixie entry includes:

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

Save the file, then run sudo apt update again to refresh.

Step 2: Install Clonezilla

Install the package with a single command:

sudo apt install clonezilla -y

APT automatically resolves and installs all required dependencies — including drbl, partclone, partimage, gdisk, parted, pigz, pixz, dialog, bc, fdisk, and python3. The total download is approximately 966.5 kB, expanding to 3,530 kB on disk. This process takes roughly 30–60 seconds on a standard internet connection. No configuration prompts will interrupt the install.

Step 3 (Optional): Add the DRBL Repository for the Latest Version

The official Debian Trixie repository carries a stable Clonezilla build. If you need the absolute latest upstream release, add the DRBL repository maintained by the Clonezilla development team.

First, add the GPG signing key using the modern method (the deprecated apt-key command should be avoided on Debian 13):

curl -s https://drbl.org/GPG-KEY-DRBL | gpg --no-default-keyring \
  --keyring gnupg-ring:/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/GPG-KEY-DRBL.gpg --import
chmod 644 /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/GPG-KEY-DRBL.gpg

Then add the repository and install:

echo "deb http://free.nchc.org.tw/drbl-core drbl stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/drbl.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install drbl clonezilla -y

Step 4: Verify the Installation

Confirm Clonezilla installed successfully:

dpkg -l | grep clonezilla

You should see ii clonezilla with the version number in the output. To launch the Clonezilla text-based interface directly in your terminal, run:

sudo clonezilla

The ncurses-based wizard should load immediately. If you see command not found, re-run sudo apt update and repeat Step 2.

Method 2: Install & Use Clonezilla Live via Bootable USB

Clonezilla Live is the method of choice when you want to clone or back up the currently running Debian 13 system. Since it boots independently from your operating system, it can safely image the OS disk without interference.

Step 1: Download the Clonezilla Live ISO

Visit the official download page at clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live.php and select the version that matches your needs:

• Debian-based (stable) — recommended for most users with standard BIOS or UEFI
• Ubuntu-based — required if Secure Boot is enabled on your system

Choose the amd64 architecture and download the .iso file. After downloading, verify the SHA256 checksum against the value listed on the official site. This one step protects you from corrupted or tampered images.

Step 2: Write the ISO to a USB Drive Using dd

Identify your USB drive’s device name first:

lsblk

Look for a device like /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc that matches your USB drive’s size. Do not guess — dd will irreversibly overwrite whatever device you point it at.

Write the ISO:

sudo dd if=/path/to/clonezilla-live.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress && sync

Replace /dev/sdX with the actual device identifier (e.g., /dev/sdb). The status=progress flag shows real-time write speed. Wait for the sync command to complete before removing the USB. Prefer a GUI tool? balenaEtcher and GNOME Disks on Linux both handle this reliably.

Step 3: Boot from the Clonezilla USB

Insert the USB drive and reboot. Enter your system’s BIOS/UEFI firmware menu — common keys include F2, F10, F12, or DEL depending on your hardware manufacturer. Set the USB drive as the primary boot device, save, and exit.

At the Clonezilla Live boot menu, select:

Clonezilla live (Default settings, VGA 800x600)

For UEFI systems, choose the UEFI-compatible entry. If your system has Secure Boot enabled and you’re using the Debian-based ISO, disable Secure Boot in firmware settings first — or switch to the Ubuntu-based Clonezilla Live ISO instead.

Step 4: Navigate the Boot Wizard

Clonezilla walks you through setup with a guided wizard:

1. Select your language
2. Accept the default keyboard layout (or choose your own)
3. Select “Start Clonezilla” from the main screen
4. Choose your operating mode:
   • device-image — saves/restores a disk or partition as an image file (recommended for most users)
   • device-device — clones one disk directly to another in real time

The device-image mode is more flexible since it lets you store backups on external drives, NFS shares, or remote SSH servers.

Creating Your First Backup with Clonezilla

Once Clonezilla is running — either from the APT-installed version or the Live USB — performing a disk backup follows the same wizard flow.

Step 1 — Select your storage destination. After choosing device-image, select where to save the image:

• local_dev — a locally attached USB drive or secondary disk
• ssh_server — over an SSH connection to a remote Linux server
• samba_server — to a Windows-compatible network share
• nfs_server — to an NFS mount point on your network

For most home setups, local_dev with an external USB HDD is the simplest path. Sysadmins typically prefer ssh_server or nfs_server for centralized backup management.

Step 2 — Choose backup mode and source disk. Select Beginner mode for standard options. Then choose:

• savedisk — backs up an entire disk as a single image
• saveparts — backs up selected partitions only

Enter a descriptive image name (e.g., debian13-backup-2026-02-24), select the source disk (e.g., /dev/sda), and choose a compression method. The -z1p option (zstd parallel compression) is a solid choice — it’s fast and produces small image files without taxing older hardware. Clonezilla only saves used blocks, so even a large drive produces a compact backup.

Step 3 — Run and monitor the backup. Confirm the operation summary. Clonezilla displays a live progress bar with transfer rate and estimated time remaining. After completion, always run the built-in “Check the saved image” option to verify integrity before closing. On success, you can choose to power off or reboot the machine directly from the Clonezilla interface.

Restoring a Disk Image on Debian 13

Restoration follows the same boot process. Boot into Clonezilla Live, select device-image, and mount the storage location where your image is saved. Then select:

• restoredisk — restores a full disk image to a target disk
• restoreparts — restores specific partitions only

Choose your saved image by name, select the target disk, and confirm. Clonezilla will warn that all existing data on the target disk will be erased. The restoration progress bar reflects real-time transfer speed.

After restoration, reboot and verify that Debian 13 boots normally. If you’ve restored to a larger disk, the partitions won’t automatically expand to fill the extra space. Use GParted after the restore to resize partitions and utilize the full capacity.

Troubleshooting Common Clonezilla Issues on Debian 13

clonezilla: command not found — The package may not have installed correctly. Re-run sudo apt update && sudo apt install clonezilla and verify your Trixie sources.list includes the main component.

USB drive not detected at boot — This usually points to a Secure Boot conflict. Switch to the Ubuntu-based Clonezilla Live ISO or disable Secure Boot in your UEFI firmware settings.

GPG key error when adding the DRBL repo — Avoid the deprecated apt-key add command. Use the gpg --no-default-keyring method shown in Step 3 of Method 1 above.

Image save fails mid-operation — Confirm the backup destination has sufficient free space. The target must have at least as much free space as the amount of used data on the source disk. Also verify the target drive isn’t failing by running:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdX

drblsrv -i hangs during DRBL server setup on Trixie — This is a known compatibility issue. Check the DRBL Trixie discussion thread on SourceForge and ensure your DRBL repository is set to stable, not testing.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Clonezilla. Thanks for using this tutorial to install the latest version of Clonezilla partition and disk imaging/cloning on Debian 13 “Trixie” system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Clonezilla website.