Which folders and files do I need to exclude from TimeShift?

Also is there a way to also exclude programs installed as .deb ?

I doing this to reduce Backup size as I have limited storage.

100GB - Windows 11
400GB - Storage
400GB - Mint
100GB - TimeShift
    • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
      2·
      3 days ago

      You can convert a running ext4 system into BTRFS and even move back to ext4, but to optimise the file system there are quite a few tricks to run as well. They come down to “remove the ext4 metadata (can’t go back after that), defragment, balance, maybe defragment again” and there are tools out there that make this stuff doable though the GUI, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that approach I novices.

      The cleanest switch would be to reinstall. Not just because of the steps above, but also to make sure the right subvolumes are set up with the right properties. This too can be done from a (mostly) running system, but it’s an absolute pain in the ass to have to do manually, especially if you’re not an expert in command line stuff.

      ext4 works fine if you don’t want to deal with all of this, but you’ll have to keep an eye on things like backup sizes just a bit more often

      • gpstarman@lemmy.todayOP
        1·
        3 days ago

        Thank You for detailed information.

        I think I should learn more about BTRFS and practice installing or converting it in VM.

        • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
          2·
          3 days ago

          Doing it in a VM would be excellent! I recommend taking a look at a tool called “btrfs assistant” if it’s available for your distro, it’s a lot easier to navigate than the deep menu of command line flags.

    • Canary9341@lemmy.ml
      2·
      3 days ago

      You can convert it from ext4 to btrfs, but I don’t know how well it works. If you are going to do it, I suggest you check it carefully and make a backup.