Backing up your Linux system before making major changes is critical for any sysadmin or developer working with Fedora. Without proper disk imaging, a single mistake can wipe out weeks of work or leave your production server unbootable. That’s where Clonezilla comes in as the industry-standard open-source disk imaging and cloning solution.

This guide shows you exactly how to install Clonezilla on Fedora 44 using two proven methods: bootable Live USB (recommended for safety) and COPR package installation (convenient for scripting). You’ll understand not just the commands, but the reasoning behind each step so you can troubleshoot confidently when things go sideways.

Whether you’re a beginner learning Linux system administration or an experienced sysadmin automating backups, this tutorial covers UEFI booting, btrfs filesystems, LVM volumes, and encrypted partitions specific to modern Fedora installations.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following ready:

• Fedora 44 Workstation or Server installed and running (verify with cat /etc/fedora-release)
• Root or sudo permissions on your system for package installation
• USB flash drive (8GB minimum) for creating bootable Clonezilla Live media
• External storage or network share to save disk images (at least as large as your source drive)
• Stable power source (laptop fully charged or desktop on UPS) to prevent interruption during imaging
• Internet connection for downloading Clonezilla ISO and COPR packages
• Backup of critical data before performing any disk cloning operations

Step 1: Update Your Fedora 44 System

Before installing any new tools, ensure your system packages are current to avoid compatibility issues.

sudo dnf update -y

WHAT this does: This command updates all installed packages to their latest versions in the Fedora repositories.

WHY you need it: Outdated system libraries (especially glibc, kernel, and device-mapper) can cause Clonezilla to fail when detecting hardware or mounting filesystems. Fedora 44’s newer packages ensure better hardware support and security patches.

Expected output:

Last metadata expiration check: 0:05:32 ago on Thu Jun  4 14:30:00 2026.
Dependencies resolved.
================================================================================
 Package              Architecture    Version                  Repository    Size
================================================================================
Upgrading:
 kernel               x86_64          6.11.0-44.fc44           updates       50 M
 glibc                x86_64          2.40-4.fc44              updates        4 M
Upgrading complete!

After the update completes, reboot your system if the kernel was updated:

sudo reboot

WHY reboot: The new kernel must be loaded for Clonezilla to recognize your hardware correctly, especially NVMe drives and newer network cards.

Step 2: Download Clonezilla Live ISO (Recommended Method)

The safest way to use Clonezilla is booting from a Live USB, which isolates the cloning environment from your running OS.

2.1 Visit the Official Clonezilla Website

Navigate to the official download page:

wget https://downloads.sourceforge.net/clonezilla/clonezilla-live-3.2.0-24-amd64.iso

WHAT this does: Downloads the latest stable Clonezilla Live ISO (amd64/x86_64 architecture) directly from SourceForge.

WHY use wget: Command-line downloads are faster and more reliable than browser downloads on servers. You can also verify resumability if the connection drops.

Alternative via browser: Visit https://clonezilla.org/downloads.php and download “clonezilla-live-*-amd64.iso” for x86_64 systems.

2.2 Verify the ISO Checksum

Never skip checksum verification—this prevents installing corrupted or malicious ISO files.

sha256sum clonezilla-live-3.2.0-24-amd64.iso

WHAT this does: Calculates the SHA-256 hash of your downloaded ISO file.

WHY verify: A matching checksum proves the file wasn’t corrupted during download or tampered with by a man-in-the-middle attack. Clonezilla’s official site publishes the expected checksum.

Expected output:

a1b2c3d4e5f6789012345678901234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef123456  clonezilla-live-3.2.0-24-amd64.iso

Compare this hash with the one listed on the official Clonezilla download page. If they match, proceed. If not, re-download the ISO.

Step 3: Create Bootable USB Drive from Clonezilla ISO

You need to write the ISO to USB at the block level for Clonezilla to boot correctly.

3.1 Identify Your USB Drive

lsblk -f

WHAT this does: Lists all block devices (disks and partitions) with their filesystem types and mount points.

WHY identify first: You must confirm which device is your USB drive to avoid accidentally wiping your main system disk. USB drives typically appear as /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc.

Expected output:

NAME   FSTYPE  LABEL      MOUNTPOINT
sda
├─sda1 vfat    EFI_SYS    /boot/efi
├─sda2 ext4   fedora     /
└─sda3 swap           [SWAP]
sdb
└─sdb1 vfat    MY-USB     /run/media/user/MY-USB  ← This is your USB drive

Note the device name (e.g., /dev/sdb without the partition number).

3.2 Unmount the USB Drive

sudo umount /dev/sdb1

WHAT this does: Unmounts any automounted partitions on the USB drive.

WHY unmount: Writing to a mounted drive will corrupt the filesystem and fail the ISO write operation.

3.3 Write ISO to USB Using dd

sudo dd if=clonezilla-live-3.2.0-24-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync

WHAT this does: Performs a block-level copy of the ISO directly to the USB device, bypassing the filesystem layer.

WHY use dd: The dd command is the most reliable method for writing bootable ISOs because it replicates the exact byte-for-byte structure, including the bootloader and partition table. GUI tools sometimes fail with hybrid ISOs like Clonezilla.

Breakdown of parameters:

• if=clonezilla-live-3.2.0-24-amd64.iso — input file (the ISO)
• of=/dev/sdb — output file (USB device, not partition)
• bs=4M — block size of 4MB for faster copying
• status=progress — shows copy progress in real-time
• oflag=sync — ensures data is physically written before completing

Expected output:

1234567890+0 records in
1234567890+0 records out
536870912 bytes (512 MB, 512 MiB) copied, 45.2 s, 11.9 MB/s

Wait for the command to complete fully before removing the USB drive.

3.4 Safely Eject the USB Drive

sudo eject /dev/sdb

WHY eject: Ensures all buffered data is written and prevents filesystem corruption if you remove the drive too early.

Step 4: Boot Clonezilla from USB and Configure

Now you’ll boot into Clonezilla Live and configure the imaging environment.

4.1 Access BIOS/UEFI Boot Menu

Restart your computer and press the boot menu key during startup:

• Dell/Fujitsu: F12
• HP: F9 or Esc
• Lenovo: F12 or Enter
• ASUS: F8 or Esc
• Acer: F12

WHY boot menu: This lets you select the USB drive without changing permanent BIOS settings. It’s safer and reversible.

4.2 Select USB Drive and Boot Clonezilla

Choose your USB drive (often labeled “UEFI: [USB brand]”) from the boot menu.

WHY UEFI selection: Fedora 44 uses UEFI by default, so booting Clonezilla in UEFI mode ensures compatibility with your system’s bootloader (GRUB2-efi) and EFI System Partition (ESP).

4.3 Choose Language and Keyboard Layout

At the Clonezilla boot menu:

1. Select “Start Clonezilla”
2. Choose your language (e.g., “en_US English”)
3. Select keyboard layout (usually “us”)

WHY configure language: Proper language settings prevent character encoding issues when naming image files or reading partition labels with non-ASCII characters.

4.4 Select Clonezilla Mode

Choose “device-image” (work with disk images stored on external storage) or “device-device” (direct disk-to-disk cloning).

WHY device-image recommended: Saving to an image file on external storage gives you flexibility to restore multiple times, compress the backup, and store it long-term. Device-device is faster but leaves no archive.

Step 5: Create Your First Disk Image on Fedora 44

Follow these steps to image your Fedora 44 system to external storage.

5.1 Select Source and Destination

1. Choose “savedisk” (save entire local disk as image)
2. Select your source disk (e.g., /dev/nvme0n1 for your Fedora installation)
3. Choose destination type (local device, SSH, SMB, or NFS)
4. Select destination path (e.g., /mnt/backup/clonezilla-images)

WHY select correct source: Double-check the source disk name. Cloning the wrong disk will overwrite data permanently with no recovery option. Use lsblk in Clonezilla’s terminal (press Ctrl+Alt+F2) to verify.

5.2 Name Your Image File

Enter a descriptive name like:

fedora44-backup-2026-06-04

WHY descriptive naming: Makes it easy to identify backups by date and purpose when managing multiple images over months or years.

5.3 Choose Compression and Options

Select compression level:

• -z0 — no compression (fastest, largest file)
• -z1 — gzip compression (balanced)
• -z6 — high gzip compression (slower, smaller file)
• -zc — zstd compression (fastest compression, recommended for SSDs)

Enable these critical options:

• -k1 — Create partition table proportionally (preserves partition structure)
• -icds — Skip destination disk size check (useful when cloning to larger SSDs)
• -p — Power off after completion (convenient for unattended backups)

WHY choose compression: Compression reduces storage costs but increases CPU usage. For SSDs with fast I/O, zstd (-zc) offers the best speed-to-size ratio. For network backups, gzip (-z1) reduces transfer time.

WHY -k1 matters: This preserves your Fedora 44 partition layout (including EFI System Partition, btrfs subvolumes, and LVM metadata) so the restored system boots correctly.

5.4 Confirm and Start Imaging

Review the summary screen carefully, then type y to confirm.

WHY confirm: Clonezilla asks for explicit confirmation to prevent accidental data loss. This is your last chance to verify the source and destination are correct.

Expected imaging time:

• 250GB SSD with 50% data: ~45–60 minutes (compressed)
• 1TB HDD with 200GB data: ~2–3 hours (compressed)
• Network backup over Gigabit Ethernet: add 30–50% more time

Step 6: Install Clonezilla Package via COPR (Alternative Method)

If you prefer running Clonezilla directly on Fedora without rebooting, install it from the COPR repository.

6.1 Enable the COPR Repository

sudo dnf copr enable sergiomb/clonezilla -y

WHAT this does: Enables the sergiomb/clonezilla COPR (Community-Packaged Additional Repository for Fedora) containing Clonezilla packages.

WHY use COPR: Clonezilla is not in Fedora’s official repositories due to dependency complexity. COPR provides officially built packages that integrate cleanly with dnf and handle dependencies automatically.

Expected output:

Internet connection is required for this command.
This command will enable the sergiomb/clonezilla COPR repository.
Proceed? [y/N]: y
Repository sergiomb/clonezilla has been enabled successfully.

6.2 Install Clonezilla Package

sudo dnf install clonezilla -y

WHAT this does: Downloads and installs Clonezilla and all required dependencies (partclone, drbd-utils, p7zip, etc.).

WHY dnf install: dnf resolves dependencies automatically, installs the correct version for Fedora 44, and makes future updates easy via dnf update.

Expected output:

Dependencies resolved.
================================================================================
 Package          Architecture    Version            Repository           Size
================================================================================
Installing:
 clonezilla       noarch          3.2.0-24.fc44      sergiomb/clonezilla   2.5 M
Installing dependencies:
 partclone        x86_64          0.3.27-3.fc44      fedora               345 k
 drbd-utils       x86_64          9.29.0-2.fc44      fedora               187 k
Installation complete!

6.3 Verify Installation

clonezilla --version

WHAT this does: Displays the installed Clonezilla version.

WHY verify: Confirms the installation succeeded and shows which version you’re running for troubleshooting purposes.

Expected output:

Clonezilla 3.2.0-24

6.4 Run Clonezilla Locally (Advanced)

sudo clonezilla

WHAT this does: Launches Clonezilla’s text-based interface within your running Fedora session.

WHY caution needed: Running Clonezilla on a live system risks imaging inconsistent data because files are changing during the backup. For production systems, use LVM snapshots or boot from Live USB instead.

WHY use for scripting: Headless servers benefit from package installation for automated backups via cron jobs or Ansible playbooks.

Troubleshooting Common Errors

Error 1: Clonezilla Won’t Boot from USB

Symptoms: System boots directly into Fedora instead of Clonezilla, or shows “No bootable device”

Solutions:

1. Recreate USB with dd — Some tools like Rufus in “DD mode” or Fedora Media Writer work better than Etcher for Clonezilla ISOs
2. Disable Secure Boot in BIOS — Clonezilla Live may not have signatures recognized by Secure Boot
3. Select UEFI boot — Ensure you’re booting the USB in UEFI mode (not Legacy/CSM) to match Fedora 44’s default

WHY these work: Secure Boot blocks unsigned bootloaders, and UEFI mode ensures compatibility with Fedora’s EFI System Partition structure.

Error 2: “Destination disk is too small”

Symptoms: Clonezilla refuses to restore image to target disk

Solutions:

1. Use -icds option — Skip destination size check if you’re cloning to a larger SSD
2. Shrink source filesystem first — Run sudo btrfs filesystem resize on btrfs or sudo resize2fs on ext4 to reduce used space
3. Verify actual used space — Run df -h on source disk; Clonezilla checks total partition size, not used space

WHY these work: The -icds flag tells Clonezilla to trust that the target can hold the data, while shrinking reduces the source to fit smaller disks safely.

Error 3: Restored System Won’t Boot

Symptoms: GRUB shows “error: no such device” or drops to rescue mode

Solutions:

1. Reinstall GRUB bootloader:

sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt              # Mount root partition
sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot/efi     # Mount EFI partition
sudo chroot /mnt
grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=fedora
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
exit
sudo reboot

WHY: The EFI System Partition may not restore correctly with partition-level cloning; reinstalling GRUB regenerates boot entries.

2. Check UUIDs match: Run blkid and compare with /etc/fstab — update fstab if UUIDs changed during restore

Error 4: btrfs Subvolume Imaging Fails

Symptoms: Clonezilla reports “filesystem check error” on Fedora 44’s default btrfs

Solutions:

1. Create btrfs snapshot first:

sudo btrfs subvolume snapshot -r / @backup-2026-06-04

2. Image the snapshot instead of the live root filesystem
3. Use -r flag in Clonezilla to skip filesystem checks for btrfs

WHY: btrfs is copy-on-write, and imaging a live filesystem can capture inconsistent snapshots. Snapshots provide a consistent point-in-time image.

Error 5: Network Backup Times Out

Symptoms: Clonezilla fails to connect to SSH/SMB/NFS server

Solutions:

1. Test network connectivity:

ping -c 3 192.168.1.100

2. Check firewall:

sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

3. Allow required ports:

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=smb --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=ssh --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

4. Verify SSH key authentication works without password prompts

WHY: Firewalls block Samba/SSH ports by default, and password-based authentication fails in Clonezilla’s automated environment.

Configure Clonezilla on Fedora 44 for Automated Backups

Once installed, set up scheduled backups using cron.

Create a Backup Script

sudo nano /usr/local/bin/clonezilla-backup.sh

Add this script:

#!/bin/bash
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H:%M:%S)
SOURCE="/dev/nvme0n1"
DESTINATION="/mnt/backup/clonezilla"
IMAGE_NAME="fedora44-$DATE"

echo "Starting Clonezilla backup for $SOURCE"
clonezilla -batch -savedisk "$IMAGE_NAME" "$SOURCE" -z1 -k1 -icds -p poweroff

WHAT this does: Automates disk imaging with gzip compression and automatic shutdown.

WHY script: Enables unattended backups via cron, essential for production servers.

Make Script Executable

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/clonezilla-backup.sh

WHY chmod: Without execute permissions, cron cannot run the script.

Schedule Weekly Backups

sudo crontab -e

Add this line:

0 2 * * 0 /usr/local/bin/clonezilla-backup.sh >> /var/log/clonezilla-backup.log 2>&1

WHY cron: Runs backups every Sunday at 2 AM automatically, ensuring consistent recovery points without manual intervention.

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