Full Server Backup

Using dd:

Reference links:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Rsync#Full_system_backup

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/132797/how-to-dd-a-remote-disk-using-ssh-on-local-machine-and-save-to-a-local-disk

https://askubuntu.com/questions/890497/clone-a-remote-server-to-local-machine-via-ssh

What worked:

Run on my remote VPS, connecting back to local machine via my VPN:

sudo <something> # type in password, so you won't have to in next command
sudo dd status=progress if=/dev/sda | gzip -1 - | ssh <local>@<vpn_ip> dd of=backup.img.gz

The default local save location is into the home directory.