Mintbackup and incremental backups

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hanspb
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Mintbackup and incremental backups

Post by hanspb »

Is it possible to update a .tar.gz backup with only the files that are new since last backup? I noticed it is not possible to select such a file as target, only a folder. And then a new archive will be made. It seems like incremental backups are only available when you select "preserve structure". Am I right?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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harshad1

Re: Mintbackup and incremental backups

Post by harshad1 »

hanspb wrote:Is it possible to update a .tar.gz backup with only the files that are new since last backup? I noticed it is not possible to select such a file as target, only a folder. And then a new archive will be made. It seems like incremental backups are only available when you select "preserve structure". Am I right?
The tar program itself supports this feature very well. I am not sure about mintbackup though - it was way too simplistic for my needs.

The following command will backup your home folder completely the first time and incrementally from then on. I haven't tested it completely yet, but it should work.

Code: Select all

cd /...../<backup folder>
tar cvpzf backup.tar.gz /home/<you>/ --listed-incremental=increment.snar --one-file-system --exclude=".Thumbnails" --exclude=*.iso
I believe you will need to change the file name (backup1.tar.gz etc etc should do or you could look up how to name a backup based on the current date) every time you run this. Also, this line ignores '.Thumbnails', iso files and sticks to one file system (should not cross over into something if it is mounted under /home/you...)

I tried all the major backup systems (sbackup, mintbackup, rsync, grsync, backin time etc) before settling on writing my own script. You could try them out too. They didn't work out for me.

If you look at the software forum there should be a thread titled 'backup script - opinions' which has the code which I wrote.

Not particularly to the point, I know, but I hope it helps...
kbkb

Re: Mintbackup and incremental backups

Post by kbkb »

One feature I like about rsync is that a mirror image of what you want is backed up and maintained in a separate location. The complete folder/file structure is maintained.
When you execute rsync, and differences in files are encountered, rsync does not need to send the entire file(s) to the destination. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rsync under Algorithm) It actually sends portions of the file that are different. This drastically increases the speed by lowering bandwidth. I was blown away when I executed rsync a second time. It took about 80 seconds to update the destination. The archive is about 60 gb (gigabytes). I doubted that it worked so I changed a file on my desktop. Sure enough when I executed the command again, I found it in my destination location.

What I've started to do:
In mint, I first backup the software using backup. I backup the software to my home folder. Next I type in the terminal:
rsync -zavh --delete --exclude=Downloads/ /home/[profilename] /media/TerraByte/mint_backup_rsync

The destination is: /media/TerraByte/mint_backup_rsync

This topic is of interest to me and I don't claim to be anything other than a recent windows-linux convert.

Regards.
morty007

Re: Mintbackup and incremental backups

Post by morty007 »

There absolutely positively has to be an easy incremental gui backup tool.
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