1backintime-config(1) USER COMMANDS backintime-config(1)
2
6 config - BackInTime configuration files.
7
9 ~/.config/backintime/config
10 /etc/backintime/config
11
13 Back In Time was developed as pure GUI program and so most functions
14 are only usable with backintime-qt. But it is possible to use Back In
15 Time e.g. on a headless server. You have to create the configuration
16 file (~/.config/backintime/config) manually. Look inside
17 /usr/share/doc/backintime-common/examples/ for examples.
18 The configuration file has the following format:
20 keyword=arguments
21 Arguments don't need to be quoted. All characters are allowed except
23 '='.
24 Run 'backintime check-config' to verify the configfile, create the
26 snapshot folder and crontab entries.
27
29 config.version
30 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
31 Default: 6
34 global.hash_collision
37 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
38 Internal value used to prevent hash collisions on mountpoints. Do
39 not change this.
40 Default: 0
42 global.language
45 Type: str Allowed Values: text
46 Language code (ISO 639) used to translate the user interface. If
47 empty the operating systems current local is used. If 'en' the
48 translation is not active and the original English source strings
49 are used. It is the same if the value is unknown.
50 Default: ''
52 global.use_flock
55 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
56 Prevent multiple snapshots (from different profiles or users) to
57 be run at the same time
58 Default: false
60 profile<N>.name
63 Type: str Allowed Values: text
64 Name of this profile.
65 Default: Main profile
67 profile<N>.schedule.custom_time
70 Type: str Allowed Values: comma separated int (8,12,18,23)
71 or */3
72 Custom hours for cronjob. Only valid for profile<N>.schedule.mode
73 = 19
74 Default: 8,12,18,23
76 profile<N>.schedule.day
79 Type: int Allowed Values: 1-28
80 Which day of month the cronjob should run? Only valid for pro‐
81 file<N>.schedule.mode >= 40
82 Default: 1
84 profile<N>.schedule.mode
87 Type: int Allowed Values:
88 0|1|2|4|7|10|12|14|16|18|19|20|25|27|30|40|80
89 Which schedule used for crontab. The crontab entry will be gener‐
90 ated with 'backintime check-config'.
91 0 = Disabled
92 1 = at every boot
93 2 = every 5 minute
94 4 = every 10 minute
95 7 = every 30 minute
96 10 = every hour
97 12 = every 2 hours
98 14 = every 4 hours
99 16 = every 6 hours
100 18 = every 12 hours
101 19 = custom defined hours
102 20 = every day
103 25 = daily anacron
104 27 = when drive get connected
105 30 = every week
106 40 = every month
107 80 = every year
108 Default: 0
110 profile<N>.schedule.repeatedly.period
113 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
114 How many units to wait between new snapshots with anacron? Only
115 valid for profile<N>.schedule.mode = 25|27
116 Default: 1
118 profile<N>.schedule.repeatedly.unit
121 Type: int Allowed Values: 10|20|30|40
122 Units to wait between new snapshots with anacron.
123 10 = hours
124 20 = days
125 30 = weeks
126 40 = months
127 Only valid for profile<N>.schedule.mode = 25|27
128 Default: 20
130 profile<N>.schedule.time
133 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-2400
134 Position-coded number with the format "hhmm" to specify the hour
135 and minute the cronjob should start (eg. 2015 means a quarter
136 past 8pm). Leading zeros can be omitted (eg. 30 = 0030). Only
137 valid for profile<N>.schedule.mode = 20 (daily), 30 (weekly), 40
138 (monthly) and 80 (yearly)
139 Default: 0
141 profile<N>.schedule.weekday
144 Type: int Allowed Values: 1 = monday - 7 = sunday
145 Which day of week the cronjob should run? Only valid for pro‐
146 file<N>.schedule.mode = 30
147 Default: 7
149 profile<N>.snapshots.backup_on_restore.enabled
152 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
153 Rename existing files before restore into FILE.backup.YYYYMMDD
154 Default: true
156 profile<N>.snapshots.bwlimit.enabled
159 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
160 Limit rsync bandwidth usage over network. Use this with mode SSH.
161 For mode Local you should rather use ionice.
162 Default: false
164 profile<N>.snapshots.bwlimit.value
167 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
168 Bandwidth limit in KB/sec.
169 Default: 3000
171 profile<N>.snapshots.continue_on_errors
174 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
175 Continue on errors. This will keep incomplete snapshots rather
176 than deleting and start over again.
177 Default: true
179 profile<N>.snapshots.copy_links
182 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
183 When symlinks are encountered, the item that they point to
184 (the reference) is copied, rather than the symlink.
185 Default: false
187 profile<N>.snapshots.copy_unsafe_links
190 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
191 This tells rsync to copy the referent of symbolic links that
192 point outside the copied tree. Absolute symlinks are also
193 treated like ordinary files.
194 Default: false
196 profile<N>.snapshots.cron.ionice
199 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
200 Run cronjobs with 'ionice -c2 -n7'. This will give BackInTime the
201 lowest IO bandwidth priority to not interrupt any other working
202 process.
203 Default: true
205 profile<N>.snapshots.cron.nice
208 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
209 Run cronjobs with 'nice -n19'. This will give BackInTime the low‐
210 est CPU priority to not interrupt any other working process.
211 Default: true
213 profile<N>.snapshots.cron.redirect_stderr
216 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
217 redirect stderr to /dev/null in cronjobs
218 Default: False
220 profile<N>.snapshots.cron.redirect_stdout
223 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
224 redirect stdout to /dev/null in cronjobs
225 Default: true
227 profile<N>.snapshots.dont_remove_named_snapshots
230 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
231 Keep snapshots with names during smart_remove.
232 Default: true
234 profile<N>.snapshots.exclude.bysize.enabled
237 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
238 Enable exclude files by size.
239 Default: false
241 profile<N>.snapshots.exclude.bysize.value
244 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
245 Exclude files bigger than value in MiB. With 'Full rsync mode'
246 disabled this will only affect new files because for rsync this
247 is a transfer option, not an exclude option. So big files that
248 has been backed up before will remain in snapshots even if they
249 had changed.
250 Default: 500
252 profile<N>.snapshots.exclude.<I>.value
255 Type: str Allowed Values: file, folder or pattern (relative
256 or absolute)
257 Exclude this file or folder. <I> must be a counter starting with
258 1
259 Default: ''
261 profile<N>.snapshots.exclude.size
264 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
265 Quantity of profile<N>.snapshots.exclude.<I> entries.
266 Default: -1
268 profile<N>.snapshots.include.<I>.type
271 Type: int Allowed Values: 0|1
272 Specify if profile<N>.snapshots.include.<I>.value is a folder (0)
273 or a file (1).
274 Default: 0
276 profile<N>.snapshots.include.<I>.value
279 Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path
280 Include this file or folder. <I> must be a counter starting with
281 1
282 Default: ''
284 profile<N>.snapshots.include.size
287 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
288 Quantity of profile<N>.snapshots.include.<I> entries.
289 Default: -1
291 profile<N>.snapshots.keep_only_one_snapshot.enabled
294 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
295 NOT YET IMPLEMENTED. Remove all snapshots but one.
296 Default: false
298 profile<N>.snapshots.local.nocache
301 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
302 Run rsync on local machine with 'nocache'. This will prevent
303 files from being cached in memory.
304 Default: false
306 profile<N>.snapshots.local_encfs.path
309 Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path
310 Where to save snapshots in mode 'local_encfs'.
311 Default: ''
313 profile<N>.snapshots.log_level
316 Type: int Allowed Values: 1-3
317 Log level used during takeSnapshot.
318 1 = Error
319 2 = Changes
320 3 = Info
321 Default: 3
323 profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_inodes.enabled
326 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
327 Remove snapshots until profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_inodes.value
328 free inodes in % is reached.
329 Default: true
331 profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_inodes.value
334 Type: int Allowed Values: 1-15
335 Keep at least value % free inodes.
336 Default: 2
338 profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_space.enabled
341 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
342 Remove snapshots until profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_space.value
343 free space is reached.
344 Default: true
346 profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_space.unit
349 Type: int Allowed Values: 10|20
350 10 = MB
351 20 = GB
352 Default: 20
354 profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_space.value
357 Type: int Allowed Values: 1-99999
358 Keep at least value + unit free space.
359 Default: 1
361 profile<N>.snapshots.mode
364 Type: str Allowed Values: local|local_encfs|ssh|ssh_encfs
365 Use mode (or backend) for this snapshot. Look at 'man backin‐
366 time' section 'Modes'.
367 Default: local
369 profile<N>.snapshots.<MODE>.password.save
372 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
373 Save password to system keyring (gnome-keyring or kwallet).
374 <MODE> must be the same as profile<N>.snapshots.mode
375 Default: false
377 profile<N>.snapshots.<MODE>.password.use_cache
380 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
381 Cache password in RAM so it can be read by cronjobs. Security is‐
382 sue: root might be able to read that password, too. <MODE> must
383 be the same as profile<N>.snapshots.mode
384 Default: true if home is not encrypted
386 profile<N>.snapshots.no_on_battery
389 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
390 Don't take snapshots if the Computer runs on battery.
391 Default: false
393 profile<N>.snapshots.notify.enabled
396 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
397 Display notifications (errors, warnings) through libnotify.
398 Default: true
400 profile<N>.snapshots.path
403 Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path
404 Where to save snapshots in mode 'local'. This path must contain a
405 folderstructure like 'backintime/<HOST>/<USER>/<PROFILE_ID>'
406 Default: ''
408 profile<N>.snapshots.path.host
411 Type: str Allowed Values: text
412 Set Host for snapshot path
413 Default: local hostname
415 profile<N>.snapshots.path.profile
418 Type: str Allowed Values: 1-99999
419 Set Profile-ID for snapshot path
420 Default: current Profile-ID
422 profile<N>.snapshots.path.user
425 Type: str Allowed Values: text
426 Set User for snapshot path
427 Default: local username
429 profile<N>.snapshots.path.uuid
432 Type: str Allowed Values: text
433 Devices uuid used to automatically set up udev rule if the drive
434 is not connected.
435 Default: ''
437 profile<N>.snapshots.preserve_acl
440 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
441 Preserve ACL. The source and destination systems must have
442 compatible ACL entries for this option to work properly.
443 Default: false
445 profile<N>.snapshots.preserve_xattr
448 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
449 Preserve extended attributes (xattr).
450 Default: false
452 profile<N>.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.enabled
455 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
456 Remove all snapshots older than value + unit
457 Default: true
459 profile<N>.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.unit
462 Type: int Allowed Values: 20|30|80
463 20 = days
464 30 = weeks
465 80 = years
466 Default: 80
468 profile<N>.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.value
471 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
472 Snapshots older than this times units will be removed
473 Default: 10
475 profile<N>.snapshots.rsync_options.enabled
478 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
479 Past additional options to rsync
480 Default: false
482 profile<N>.snapshots.rsync_options.value
485 Type: str Allowed Values: text
486 rsync options. Options must be quoted e.g. --exclude-
487 from="/path/to/my exclude file"
488 Default: ''
490 profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove
493 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
494 Run smart_remove to clean up old snapshots after a new snapshot
495 was created.
496 Default: false
498 profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_all
501 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
502 Keep all snapshots for X days.
503 Default: 2
505 profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_day
508 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
509 Keep one snapshot per day for X days.
510 Default: 7
512 profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_month
515 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
516 Keep one snapshot per month for X month.
517 Default: 24
519 profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_week
522 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
523 Keep one snapshot per week for X weeks.
524 Default: 4
526 profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove.run_remote_in_background
529 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
530 If using mode SSH or SSH-encrypted, run smart_remove in back‐
531 ground on remote machine
532 Default: false
534 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.check_commands
537 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
538 Check if all commands (used during takeSnapshot) work like ex‐
539 pected on the remote host.
540 Default: true
542 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.check_ping
545 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
546 Check if the remote host is available before trying to mount.
547 Default: true
549 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.cipher
552 Type: str Allowed Values: default | aes192-cbc | aes256-cbc
553 | aes128-ctr | aes192-ctr | aes256-ctr | arcfour | arcfour256 |
554 arcfour128 | aes128-cbc | 3des-cbc | blowfish-cbc | cast128-cbc
555 Cipher that is used for encrypting the SSH tunnel. Depending on
556 the environment (network bandwidth, cpu and hdd performance) a
557 different cipher might be faster.
558 Default: default
560 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.host
563 Type: str Allowed Values: IP or domain address
564 Remote host used for mode 'ssh' and 'ssh_encfs'.
565 Default: ''
567 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.ionice
570 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
571 Run rsync and other commands on remote host with 'ionice -c2 -n7'
572 Default: false
574 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.max_arg_length
577 Type: int Allowed Values: 0, >700
578 Maximum command length of commands run on remote host. This can
579 be tested for all ssh profiles in the configuration with 'python3
580 /usr/share/backintime/common/sshMaxArg.py [ini‐
581 tial_ssh_cmd_length]'.
582 0 = unlimited
583 Default: 0
585 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.nice
588 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
589 Run rsync and other commands on remote host with 'nice -n19'
590 Default: false
592 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.nocache
595 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
596 Run rsync on remote host with 'nocache'. This will prevent files
597 from being cached in memory.
598 Default: false
600 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.path
603 Type: str Allowed Values: absolute or relative path
604 Snapshot path on remote host. If the path is relative (no leading
605 '/') it will start from remote Users homedir. An empty path will
606 be replaced with './'.
607 Default: ''
609 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.port
612 Type: int Allowed Values: 0-65535
613 SSH Port on remote host.
614 Default: 22
616 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.prefix.enabled
619 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
620 Add prefix to every command which run through SSH on remote host.
621 Default: false
623 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.prefix.value
626 Type: str Allowed Values: text
627 Prefix to run before every command on remote host. Variables need
628 to be escaped with \$FOO. This doesn't touch rsync. So to add a
629 prefix for rsync use profile<N>.snapshots.rsync_options.value
630 with --rsync-path="FOO=bar:\$FOO /usr/bin/rsync"
631 Default: 'PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:\$PATH'
633 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.private_key_file
636 Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path to private key file
637 Private key file used for password-less authentication on remote
638 host.
639 Default: ~/.ssh/id_dsa
641 profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.user
644 Type: str Allowed Values: text
645 Remote SSH user
646 Default: local users name
648 profile<N>.snapshots.take_snapshot_regardless_of_changes
651 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
652 Create a new snapshot regardless if there were changes or not.
653 Default: false
655 profile<N>.snapshots.use_checksum
658 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
659 Use checksum to detect changes rather than size + time.
660 Default: false
662 profile<N>.snapshots.user_backup.ionice
665 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
666 Run BackInTime with 'ionice -c2 -n7' when taking a manual snap‐
667 shot. This will give BackInTime the lowest IO bandwidth priority
668 to not interrupt any other working process.
669 Default: false
671 profile<N>.user_callback.no_logging
674 Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
675 Do not catch std{out|err} from user-callback script. The script
676 will only write to current TTY. Default is to catch std{out|err}
677 and write it to syslog and TTY again.
678 Default: false
680 profiles
683 Type: str Allowed Values: int separated by colon (e.g.
684 1:3:4)
685 All active Profiles (<N> in profile<N>.snapshots...).
686 Default: 1
688 profiles.version
691 Type: int Allowed Values: 1
692 Internal version of profiles config.
693 Default: 1
695
697 backintime, backintime-qt.
698 Back In Time also has a website: https://github.com/bit-team/backintime
700
702 This manual page was written by BIT Team(<bit-team@lists.launch‐
703 pad.net>).
704version 1.4.1 Oct 2023 backintime-config(1)