I know there is a backup utility that comes with Mint, but I didn't like it. I don't like making giant snapshot backups of my entire home folder, and prefer to backup different pieces of it at different rates. Some parts of the home folder just don't need to be backup up very often.
Oh! Before you read the code, just keep in mind that this is probably the second or third non-trivial script I've ever written in Bash. I'd appreciate comments or suggestions, but don't rip it apart please. I'm not asking for help with anything and the script is working perfectly for my needs. I just wanted to share it.Before I made the script I searched the web for backup script template and found nothing, so I made my own. Feel free to use this as a template and modify it for your own needs.
Code: Select all
#!/bin/bash
set -euo
# IFS is used in variable expansion. Setting it to a semicolon instead of the default of space/tab/newline. This makes sooooo much stuff easier to do.
SAVEIFS=$IFS
IFS=$';'
# Colorize lines of text.
green() { printf '\e[1;32m%b\e[0m\n' "$@"; }
yellow() { printf '\e[1;33m%b\e[0m\n' "$@"; }
red() { printf '\e[1;31m%b\e[0m\n' "$@"; }
# Valid arguments are:
# code, documents, photos, references, music, videos, games, or everything.
# NOTE: Only one argument is processed. Choose one of the above options to create one or all archive types.
echo
green "Running backup script..."
yellow "$(date)"
echo
# General variables.
dest="Archives"
external_media="/media/username/Storage"
day=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
hostname=$(hostname -s)
# Set aside a folder for holding the archives, if it doesn't already exist.
mkdir -p "$dest"
#############################################################################################################################
# File variables.
# Separate all paths with a semicolon ';' character.
#############################################################################################################################
# Code projects and config files, including IDE settings.
code_files="CLionProjects;\
Code;\
.gitconfig;\
.config/JetBrains"
code_archive="$day $hostname Code Projects.tar.bz2"
# General and misc documents, including downloads, shared files, and file templates.
doc_files="Desktop;\
Documents;\
Downloads;\
Public;\
Templates;\
.bashrc;\
.face;\
.cinnamon/backgrounds/user-folders.lst;\
.config/keepassxc/keepassxc.ini"
doc_archive="$day $hostname Documents and Downloads.tar.bz2"
# Reference documents.
reference_files="Reference"
reference_archive="$day $hostname Reference Documents.tar.bz2"
# Pictures and sorted photos.
pic_files=$(find "Pictures" -maxdepth 1 -not -path "." -not -path "Pictures" -not -path "Pictures/hydrus-image-database" -not -path "Pictures/hydrus-image-database/*" -printf "%p;")
photo_files="Pictures/hydrus-image-database"
pic_archive="$day $hostname Home Folder Pictures.tar.bz2"
photo_archive="$day $hostname Hydrus Photo Database.tar.bz2"
# Music
music_files="Music"
music_archive="$day $hostname Music.tar.bz2"
# Videos and video projects.
video_files="Videos"
video_archive="$day $hostname Videos.tar.bz2"
# Game saves and config files, including controller and/or emulator settings.
game_files=$(find "Gaming" -maxdepth 1 -not -path "." -not -path "Gaming" -not -path "Gaming/minecraft" -printf "%p;")
game_archive="$day $hostname Game Saves.tar.bz2"
minecraft_files="Gaming/minecraft"
minecraft_archive="$day $hostname Minecraft Worlds and Notes.tar.bz2"
#############################################################################################################################
# Create the appropriate archive selected by the user.
#############################################################################################################################
if [ "$1" = "" ] || [ "$1" = "help" ]
then
echo
echo "Makes a compressed archive of select items of your home folder."
echo "Usage: ./backup.sh [option]"
echo
echo "Options include: code, documents, photos, references, music, videos, games,"
echo "or everything."
echo
echo "Run this script from your home folder. A directory named \"Archives\" will"
echo "be created for you containing the archive option you requested. After that"
echo "you may move the archive to an external device."
echo
echo "If you have your primary Storage drive plugged in while this script is running"
echo "then all backups in the Archive folder will automatically be moved to the"
echo "external drive."
echo
fi
# if [ "$1" = "test" ] || [ "$1" = "everything" ]
# then
# echo "Argument \$1 read successfully!"
# fi
# Code projects and config files.
if [ "$1" = "code" ] || [ "$1" = "everything" ]
then
tar cvjf "$dest/$code_archive" $code_files
fi
if [ "$1" = "documents" ] || [ "$1" = "everything" ]
then
tar cvjf "$dest/$doc_archive" $doc_files
fi
if [ "$1" = "photos" ] || [ "$1" = "everything" ]
then
tar cvjf "$dest/$pic_archive" $pic_files
tar cvjf "$dest/$photo_archive" $photo_files
fi
if [ "$1" = "references" ] || [ "$1" = "everything" ]
then
tar cvjf "$dest/$reference_archive" $reference_files
fi
if [ "$1" = "music" ] || [ "$1" = "everything" ]
then
tar cvjf "$dest/$music_archive" $music_files
fi
if [ "$1" = "videos" ] || [ "$1" = "everything" ]
then
tar cvjf "$dest/$video_archive" $video_files
fi
if [ "$1" = "games" ] || [ "$1" = "everything" ]
then
tar cvjf "$dest/$game_archive" $game_files
tar cvjf "$dest/$minecraft_archive" $minecraft_files
fi
#############################################################################################################################
# Optionally, copy the backup files if my storage drive is plugged in.
#############################################################################################################################
if [ -d "$external_media" ]
then
echo
yellow "Storage drive detected!"
green "Moving all backup archives to the external drive."
echo
# Set aside a folder for holding the archives, if it doesn't already exist.
mkdir -p "$external_media/$dest"
# Move all the local archives to the external drive.
mv -vf "$dest"/* "$external_media/$dest"
fi
IFS=$SAVEIFS
echo
green "Backup script has finished running."
echo
- CLionProjects (this is temporary and I'll be removing it soon)
- Code
- Desktop
- Documents
- Downloads
- Gaming
- Music
- Pictures
- Public
- Reference
- Templates
- Videos
I specifically made this script in order to specially handle certain things during a backup. The two big ones you can see in the code are how the Pictures and Gaming directories are dealt with.
In the Gaming folder I have a minecraft directory. This is actually the hidden .minecraft folder from the my home directory. I take full advantage of how most programs can't tell the difference between a symbolic link and an actual directory so I move all of my game save folders into the Gaming directory, leaving sym-links behind in the game's install folders named identically to the original file. Minecraft worlds are pretty big, change a lot, and I want them in a separate archive. Also, when I get around to reinstalling my family servers the script is already set for me to add those into that particular backup. I may even specifically add a "minecraft" argument to the script.
Photos are handled specially too. I recently started using a program called Hydrus Network to sort and tag family photos. The pictures directory then mostly contains photos that I haven't sorted yet, screen captures, temp image files, desktop backgrounds, and other misc pictures. I used the symbolic link trick again to rip the user database out of the Hydrus install directory and into my Pictures folder. My script then makes a backup of that database separately from all the other random misc pictures that I have.
The last thing this script does is check to see if I have my backup drive plugged in. The fact that Linux treats everything as a file makes that trivial to check.
