Backup your installed linux apps with AptOnCD

Every time I installed a new distro (debian based) in my system, the very first thing that concerned me was installling all those applications and packages from scratch. I used to wonder whether there is an application which would backup all my installed packages in a file and later allow me to restore it in a new system. Then suddenly I stumbled upon an application called AptOnCD which exactly works in the same fashion I used to wonder.

AptOnCD, a deb package which can be downloaded HERE backups all your installed packages (deb files) and their dependencies into a CD, DVD or an ISO image such that if you happen to crash your OS or meanwhile do a fresh install of your distro, you can restore all those packages without the need of an internet connection. Moreover, you do not need to remember what all packages you had installed in your system to replicate it to new system ( I remember myself noting down all the important packages’ name prior to performing a fresh install Ubuntu ). The only thing you need to install in your new system before restoring the iso image is AptOnCD application itself and from there, you can restore all your packages by pointing to the iso image where you had earlier stored (removable storage would be the best option to store) and clicking restore.

P.S.After installing the AptOnCD, you can run the application either from System>Adminstration>AptOnCD or in the terminal, type “aptoncd” (without quotes). It is a good idea to backup the aptoncd.deb package which you downloaded from above link in order to avoid the hassle of downloading it again from the new system.

So, do you have any better way of backing up your installed applications in Linux, if yes, please share in the comments below !!!