Loci is a python script that can backup a directory to a server using rsync - It keeps track of the backups that have been done. Multiple backups may be kept. Rsync is used to handle the backups so only the needfull is copied and single files can be recovered from the backup if needed. loci -b tag : Backup under the tag given (I used days of the week)
loci -l : List backups showing those tags unused, backups that are needed, and backups that been run more than 5 times. I refresh these.
loci -r tag : Refresh a tag’s backup - delete the files under that tag and backuplog entries to prepare for a fresh backup using loci -b
~/.backuplog a file in .csv format that keeps track of backups done.
~/.config/loci/settings Settings file. Fully commented.
Multiple backups may be kept.
Nice work, but if I may suggest - it lacks hardlink support, so’s quite wasteful in terms of disk space - the number of ‘tags’ (snapshots) will be extremely limited.
At least two robust solutions that use rsync+hardlinks already exist: rsnapshot.org and dirvish.org (both written in perl). There’s definitely room for backup tools that produce plain copies, instead of packed chunk data like restic and Duplicacy, and a python or even bash-based tool might be nice, so keep at it.
However, I liken backup software to encryption - extreme care must be taken when rolling and using your own. Whatever tool you use, test test test the backups. :)
@droolio@feddit.uk I see what you’re asking. You’re wondering if, instead of storing a duplicate file when another backup set already contains it, I could use a hardlink to point to the file already stored in that other set?
I have a system where I create a backup set for each day of the week. When I do a backup for that day, I update the set, or if it’s out of date, I replace it entirely with a fresh backup image (After 7 backups to that set). But if the backup sets became inter-dependent, removing or updating one set could lead to problems with others that rely on files in the first set.
Does that make sense? I am asking because I am not familiar with the utilities you mentioned and may be taking your post wrong.
Saved for trying out later, ty!
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It’s also to help me learn python. And it works for me. : ^ )
Don’t mind him. Any time someone shares code, there’s always someone else who did nothing talking about how much better your code could have been. Just noise from the peanut gallery.
Yeah, no problem… I started out with just bare rsync - but I did the backup infrequently and needed my notes to know the command. Then I wrote a simple shell script to run the rsync for me. Then I decided I needed more than one backup, redundancy is good. Then I wanted to keep track of the backups so I had it write to .backuplog then that file started getting dated (every time I run a “sun” backup the record of the previous one is useless) so Finally TaDa! loci is born.
lol, you’re braver than me. No one ever sees the “code” I’ve written.
That’s ok Like any landing you can walk away from. Any code that runs to spec is good, much could be better.
Bash does seem like a better fit for this kind of script since it is a lot more portable.
I.e.: It comes by default for many Linux distributions. For windows, a Git bash install will get you most utilities needed for large reliable scripts (grep, scp, find, sort, uniq, cat, tr, ls, etc.).
With that said, you should write it on whatever language you want, especially if it is for learning purposes, that’s where the fun comes from :)
Do you wanna share a bash script, then?
Especially one that lets you know how long it’s been since you took time to run a backup, keeps track of which set of backups could be updated, and which should be refreshed, and keeps a log file up to date and in .csv format so you can mess with it in a spreadsheet?
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Ah, Improvements!
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Can you please articulate why Python and Bash are so different in your eyes?
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My system came with Python3 installed. Debian 12.
Python does not need to be compiled, have you ever used it?
Looks like a line by line translation from the python. Will you use it to backup your home directory?
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