Disk images and full-drive copies give you a way to preserve a system for backup, restoration, or migration. Clonezilla boots independently from Windows and uses a text-based, guided workflow to image or copy disks and partitions.
What can Clonezilla save?
Clonezilla Live handles backup and restoration on one computer. It can create an image of a whole disk or a selected partition, or copy one disk directly to another. For supported file systems, it saves used blocks; for an unsupported file system, it makes a sector-by-sector copy.
Supported formats include Windows NTFS, FAT12/16/32, and exFAT, along with common Linux file systems such as ext2, ext3, ext4, XFS, and Btrfs. The program also supports MBR and GPT partition tables, plus Linux LVM2 and LUKS.
Booting Clonezilla Live
Clonezilla runs from bootable media, such as a USB drive or CD/DVD, instead of launching as a regular Windows application. After booting, choose whether to save or restore an image, or clone a disk directly. The text-mode prompts guide the operation, including the choice of source and destination.
Images can be stored on local disks or on network locations such as SSH, Samba, NFS, and WebDAV servers. Clonezilla also supports image encryption. Its boot options and command-line settings allow imaging tasks to be customized or run unattended.
Options for multiple computers
For larger deployments, Clonezilla SE and Clonezilla lite server provide workflows for copying or restoring many computers. Clonezilla SE uses a DRBL server; lite server supports deployment methods that include multicast and BitTorrent. Clonezilla Live is intended for work on a single machine.
Pros
- Images whole disks or individual partitions
- Saves used blocks on supported file systems
- Supports NTFS, FAT, exFAT, and many Linux file systems
- Can encrypt images and restore one image to multiple local devices
Cons
- Imaging requires unmounted partitions, and the destination partition must be at least as large as the source
System requirements: 32-bit and 64-bit · 196 MB of system memory · A boot device, such as a USB port, CD/DVD drive, PXE, or hard drive
Can Clonezilla copy an entire disk?
Yes. It can image a whole disk or copy a disk to another drive, as well as work with individual partitions.
Can Clonezilla deploy an image to multiple computers?
Yes. Clonezilla SE and Clonezilla lite server support deployment to multiple machines; Clonezilla Live is for a single machine.