Relax-and-Recover
Relax-and-Recover (ReaR) is a free Linux disaster recovery framework that creates bootable images for restoring systems to replacement physical or virtual ha…
What Relax-and-Recover is
Relax-and-Recover (ReaR) is a free Linux disaster recovery framework that creates bootable images for restoring systems to replacement physical or virtual hardware. Its recovery process rebuilds the storage layout, restores system data from a backup program, and installs a boot loader. It is described as a tool for system administrators, particularly those working with enterprise Linux distributions such as RHEL and SLES. Recovery can be guided through menus or fully unattended for larger deployments, and can move between physical and virtual systems. Boot media includes ISO, USB, eSATA, bootable tape, and PXE. Built-in backup methods include tar and rsync, with integrations such as Bacula, Borg, Commvault, NetBackup, and Veeam. Supported storage setups include RAID, LVM, multipathing, DRBD, iSCSI, and LUKS-encrypted partitions and filesystems. ReaR is written in Bash with a modular design that can be extended. It exposes no network services or ports, but must run as root. The default rescue media does not contain secrets such as passwords or encryption keys; users are responsible for protecting configuration files and rescue media. ReaR is GPL licensed, and version 2.9 was released in January 2025.
Good
- Free and GPL licensed.
- Supports recovery between physical and virtual systems.
- Offers ISO, USB, eSATA, tape, and PXE boot media.
- Integrates with multiple backup programs.
- Can run fully unattended for large deployments.
Watch out
- Must run as root.
- Users are responsible for protecting configuration files and rescue media.
- Supports Linux only.
Who it suits
ReaR suits Linux system administrators who need to create recovery images, especially in enterprise Linux environments. It supports both guided and unattended recovery workflows.
Verdict
ReaR covers bootable disaster recovery across varied hardware, storage layouts, and backup tools. It requires root access, and users need to protect configuration files and rescue media.
Plans and prices
From Relax-and-Recover's own pricing page, checked 10 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Relax-and-Recover | Free | GPL licensed · Linux disaster recovery framework |
The facts
Each one read from Relax-and-Recover's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Automation
- The maker says fully unattended recovery is possible for large deployments, with guided menus available when needed.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Backup integrations
- Supported backup methods include tar, rsync, Bacula, Bareos, Borg, Commvault, Veeam, IBM Storage Protect, and other listed tools.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Backup scope
- ReaR complements backup and restore with bare metal recovery, and the maker says it is not backup management software.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Central management
- ReaR integrates with Disaster Recovery Linux Manager, which can centrally manage ReaR deployments.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Computer backup
- Yeschecked 23 Sep 2026
- Current release
- The download page states that ReaR v2.9 was released in January 2025 and provides packages through GitHub Releases and Linux distribution repositories.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Disk layouts
- Supported disk layout technologies include hardware and software RAID, LVM, multipathing, DRBD, iSCSI, and LUKS encrypted partitions and filesystems.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Extensibility
- ReaR is written in Bash and has a modular design that the maker says can be extended with custom functionality.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Hardware recovery
- The maker lists physical-to-virtual, virtual-to-physical, physical-to-physical, and virtual-to-virtual recovery, including KVM, Xen, and VMware.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The project describes ReaR as a system administrator tool and framework, used in particular on enterprise Linux distributions such as RHEL and SLES.checked 10 Oct 2026
- License
- The security page states ReaR is licensed under GNU General Public License version 3 or later.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Licensing
- The project says ReaR is GPL licensed and welcomes feedback and contributions.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Media and transport
- Supported boot media include ISO, USB, eSATA, bootable tape, and PXE; listed transport methods include HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SFTP, NFS, and CIFS/SMB.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Monitoring and scheduling
- The project describes monitoring examples for Nagios/Opsview and scheduling image recreation and transfer with cron.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- ReaR creates bootable disaster recovery images for bare-metal recovery with data restore on physical or virtual replacement hardware.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Recovery media
- Supported boot media include ISO, USB, eSATA, bootable tape, and PXE.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Recovery modes
- It supports guided or fully unattended recovery and physical-to-virtual, virtual-to-physical, physical-to-physical, and virtual-to-virtual recovery.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Recovery workflow
- Recovery recreates the storage layout, restores system files from a backup program, and installs a boot loader.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Release
- The download page says ReaR v2.9 was released in January 2025 and packages are available through GitHub Releases.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Restore modes
- mixedchecked 23 Sep 2026
- Security
- ReaR exposes no network services or ports and must run as root; its rescue media omits secrets by default, though secrets can be configured into it.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Security responsibility
- The security documentation assigns users responsibility for protecting their data, systems, configuration files, and rescue media.checked 10 Oct 2026
The company
- Founded
- 2006checked 28 Sep 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Yeschecked 23 Sep 2026
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