Many methods of performing backups with Linux exist, such as dump, tar, cpio, as well as dd that are each available by default on your Linux system. Also available are text-based utilities, such as Amanda, which is designed to add a friendlier user interface to the backup and restore procedures. Finally, commercial backup utilities are also available, such as BRU.

The procedures for performing a backup and restore will differ depending on your choice of a backup solution. For this reason we will discuss methods for performing backups with the traditional UNIX tools: