Is the Ubuntu "Restore Test" program legitimate?

Solution 1:

That sounds like you are on Ubuntu 12.10 and are using encrypted automatic backups. Every two months, the backup system performs a Restore Test which will prompt for your password (see below for why). You should have also seen in that same dialog a checkbox to disable such tests.

However, you should have seen a success or failure dialog at the end of the test (which may take some time). It would have been a dialog that asked for attention in the launcher bar on the left, but would not have popped above your current window. Maybe you didn't notice the dialog before logging out? Else maybe there is a real bug.

(The restore test is done without using any saved passwords. That is why it asks you. This is done in part to confirm that the user has not forgotten the password and would able to restore on a fresh system.)

Solution 2:

I had the same question. My conclusion is that the software is legitimate.

Details: When I launched System Monitor, the names for the backup software were deja-dup and duplicity. When I searched for them, deja-dup is the GUI wrapper for the command line backup software of duplicity which is made by http://duplicity.nongnu.org. These software's seems to be installed by default in Ubuntu. So, it is legitimate.

In my test, the Restore Test result was done successfully when I entered my correct password but it didn't for wrong passwords in my test.

This is the initial window for the Test in Ubuntu 18.04:

And this is its result window when the correct password was given:

When a wrong password is given in the initial window, after verifying process has been finished, its result is not shown anything and then the initial window shows again for getting the correct password.

FYI, it is recommended not to use Login password or Admin password for the backup password even though the backup software is legitimate.