Simplistisk debian system backup and restore process

mount and unmount the floppy as needed ( it holds your system config ) 


Save System 
dpkg --get-selections * > /mnt/floppy/pkg.lst 
# You might want to save your important config files too 
tar zcvf /mnt/floppy/etc.tgz /etc 


Restore System 
build a minimally installed debian from cdrom or net install 

dpkg --set-selections < /mnt/floppy/pkg.lst 
# Check your important config files 
cd / ; tar zdvf /mnt/floppy/etc.tgz 
apt-get update 
apt-get dist-upgrade 
( or apt-get dselect-upgrade ) ( or aptitude install )