[CLI] Creating a new, encrypted backup in 2 minutes

Guides
#1

Up until a few years ago, I mostly used interface-driven backup applications. In some cases, these would spare me from reading a manual, or opening the terminal. However, even I have come to realize the value of a simple, terminal driven application - that usually has fewer bugs, is much faster and can be automated (scripted) easily.

restic is an example of that; We’ll use that below.

Here’s how-to create an encrypted backup on the command line:

  1. First of all, plugin the external HDD you want to backup to
    • I’m assuming it’s already formatted and ready to go
    • By default, you should be prompted whether to open the drive (and thus mount it)
    • It should be mounted at `/home/your_username/some-long-uuid-string-…
  2. Open up the Terminal: Menu > System Tools > Terminal

Install the backup application:

guix package -i restic

Find out where where your drive is mounted:

$ ls /media/your_username

# example: ls /media/franz
# 68bcdc8a-3661-4c0a-81ce-4d5077a1367f/

I’d suggest to create a sub-folder for the backup. For ex.

mkdir /media/your_username/some-long-uuid-string/backup
# example: mkdir /media/franz/68bcdc8a-3661-4c0a-81ce-4d5077a1367f/backup

Now you can configure your backup. This will prompt you for an encryption password.

restic init --repo /media/your_username/some-long-uuid-string/backup
# example: restic init --repo /media/franz/68bcdc8a-3661-4c0a-81ce-4d5077a1367f/backup

Next, create a bash file, to easily run the backup, whenever the drive is attached. For this, you can use your preferred text-editor; here’s how-to open nano:

nano ~/backup.sh

If you simply want to backup all your files, with a few exclusions (I have quite a few), write something like this into the backup.sh (make sure to use your username and backup location path!):

restic -r /media/franz/68bcdc8a-3661-4c0a-81ce-4d5077a1367f/backup --verbose backup /home/franz \
--exclude /home/franz/Android \
--exclude /home/franz/.android \
--exclude /home/franz/.npm \
--exclude /home/franz/.NPM_GLOBAL \
--exclude /home/franz/.npm-packages \
--exclude /home/franz/.pm2 \
--exclude /home/franz/.var \
--exclude /home/franz/.cache \
--exclude /home/franz/.cargo \
--exclude /home/franz/.gradle \
--exclude /home/franz/.local/share/flatpak \
--exclude /home/franz/.local/share/Trash \
--exclude /home/franz/.java \
--exclude /home/franz/.kde \
--exclude /home/franz/.dbus \
--exclude /home/franz/.recoll \
--exclude /home/franz/.recollweb

Write the file with STRG + O. Confirm the file name. Close with STRG + X.

Now simply run the file, whenever you want to backup (assuming the drive is attached):

bash backup.sh

You will be prompted for your backup password.

If you’ve made it this far, here’s some more links to checkout:

A couple of notes:

  • You should definitely look into removing old snapshots
    • for ex. restic -r ./backup forget --keep-last 14 --prune
  • restic does not check if there’s enough disk space, to complete the backup

I haven’t automated this yet, but once I do, I’ll make sure to share it here.
If you already have, I encourage you to post your approach.

Enjoy the new year!