Documentation › System

Snapshots and recovery

Automatic system snapshots on btrfs, rolling back from the boot menu, Timeshift

On a btrfs installation (the installer's default) Aurora keeps snapshots of the system:

• Fresh install, taken at the first boot;
• one before every update or package installation (the last 10);
• daily (the last 5) and weekly (the last 3).

Snapshots are instant and only take the space of what changes afterwards. They cover the system, not your files in Home: rolling back never loses your documents.

#If an update breaks something

1. Restart. In the boot menu choose Aurora OS snapshots (hold Shift or press Esc while starting if the menu is hidden), then the snapshot from before the update.
2. Aurora starts as it was then (read-only for the system). Check that everything works.
3. Open Timeshift (Settings → Software Updates → Open Timeshift), select the same snapshot and click Restore. Restart once more: the rollback is permanent.

#Managing snapshots

• Settings → Software Updates → Take a Snapshot Now, or turn the automatic ones off (Snapshot before every update).
• Timeshift lists, deletes and restores them, and sets how many are kept.