Backup Manager
Automated backups for your files, databases, and configurations. Local, network, or cloud storage.
Category: home, security API Key Required: No (unless using cloud storage)
What It Does
Sets up and manages automated backups using rsync, cron, and optional cloud sync (rclone). Back up important files to another drive, NAS, or cloud provider (Google Drive, S3, Dropbox). Your agent handles scheduling, monitoring, and restoration.
Setup
Install dependencies
sudo apt install rsync -y
# For cloud backups:
sudo apt install rclone -y
Agent Commands
Simple backup (local to local)
# Backup home directory to external drive
rsync -avh --progress /home/USER/ /mnt/backup/home/ --delete --exclude='.cache' --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='.local/share/Trash'
Backup to another machine (SSH)
rsync -avhz --progress /home/USER/ user@BACKUP_SERVER:/backups/$(hostname)/ --delete
Create a backup script
cat > ~/backup.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H%M)
BACKUP_DIR="/mnt/backup"
LOG="/var/log/backup.log"
echo "[$TIMESTAMP] Backup starting..." >> $LOG
# Backup home directory
rsync -avh --delete \
--exclude='.cache' \
--exclude='node_modules' \
--exclude='.local/share/Trash' \
--exclude='*.tmp' \
/home/ $BACKUP_DIR/home/ 2>&1 >> $LOG
# Backup system configs
rsync -avh /etc/ $BACKUP_DIR/etc/ 2>&1 >> $LOG
echo "[$TIMESTAMP] Backup complete." >> $LOG
EOF
chmod +x ~/backup.sh
Schedule automatic backups
# Daily at 2am
(crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "0 2 * * * /home/USER/backup.sh") | crontab -
Cloud backup with rclone
# Configure (interactive, one-time)
rclone config
# Backup to Google Drive
rclone sync /home/USER/Documents remote:Backups/Documents --progress
# Backup to S3
rclone sync /home/USER/Documents s3:mybucket/backups/ --progress
# List configured remotes
rclone listremotes
Database backup (PostgreSQL)
pg_dump DATABASE_NAME > /mnt/backup/db/$(date +%Y%m%d)_database.sql
Database backup (MySQL)
mysqldump -u root DATABASE_NAME > /mnt/backup/db/$(date +%Y%m%d)_database.sql
Check backup status
# Last backup time
ls -lht /mnt/backup/ | head -5
# Backup size
du -sh /mnt/backup/*/
# Check cron is set up
crontab -l | grep backup
Compare backup with source
rsync -avhn --delete /home/USER/ /mnt/backup/home/ | head -20
# -n = dry run, shows what WOULD change
Restore from backup
# Restore specific file
cp /mnt/backup/home/USER/Documents/important.doc /home/USER/Documents/
# Restore entire directory
rsync -avh /mnt/backup/home/USER/ /home/USER/ --dry-run
# Remove --dry-run when ready to actually restore
Snapshot backup (with versions)
# Create timestamped snapshots using hard links (space efficient)
DEST="/mnt/backup/snapshots/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)"
LATEST="/mnt/backup/snapshots/latest"
rsync -avh --delete --link-dest=$LATEST /home/USER/ $DEST/
ln -snf $DEST $LATEST
Check backup integrity
# Compare checksums
find /home/USER/Documents -type f -exec md5sum {} \; | sort > /tmp/source.md5
find /mnt/backup/home/USER/Documents -type f -exec md5sum {} \; | sort > /tmp/backup.md5
diff /tmp/source.md5 /tmp/backup.md5
Clean old backups
# Remove snapshots older than 30 days
find /mnt/backup/snapshots/ -maxdepth 1 -type d -mtime +30 -exec rm -rf {} \;
The 3-2-1 Rule
For important data, follow 3-2-1:
- 3 copies of your data
- 2 different storage types (e.g. SSD + external drive)
- 1 off-site copy (cloud or remote server)
Examples
User: "Back up my stuff" → Run rsync to backup destination, report what was copied
User: "Set up automatic daily backups" → Create backup script + cron job, confirm schedule
User: "When was my last backup?" → Check backup directory timestamps and cron logs
User: "I accidentally deleted a file" → Find it in the backup, restore it
Constraints
- rsync --delete removes files from backup that no longer exist in source — be careful
- First backup takes longest (copies everything), subsequent are incremental
- Cloud backups depend on upload speed
- Always test restores — a backup you can't restore is worthless
- Database backups should happen before file backups (consistency)