trinkup - TRivial INcremental bacKUP script

    Уж 200 раз твердили Сене:       A hundred times to Sam they've said,
    Хардлинк спасет от удаленья!    Hard links save files from being dead.
    А кто создать его поможет?      But who will aid in their creation?
    Crontab и man, тупая рожа!      Crontab and man, strong foundation!

    (c) linux.org.ru, no-dashi

Introduction

Trinkup is designed to be the simplest possible tool for creating incremental backups. It maintains the specified number of snapshots for a given rsync source, which can either be a local filesystem path or a remote path using rsync-over-SSH (e.g., hostname:/path).

Snapshots are named using the current date and time in ISO format and stored in a specified base directory. Each source should have its own unique base directory. Each snapshot is a directory containing the backed-up files. To save space, unchanged files are stored as hard links between snapshots.

Prerequisites

To use trinkup, you need:

• Bash shell
• rsync

Installation

1. Download the trinkup script.
2. Place the script in a convenient location, such as /usr/local/bin/.
3. Make the script executable by running chmod +x /path/to/trinkup.

Configuration

If you plan to use rsync-over-SSH, make sure to set up SSH keys for passwordless authentication. Consult the official SSH documentation for more information.

Usage

trinkup <rsync_source> <base_directory> <number_of_backups> [rsync_args]

Examples

1. Daily local backup of the /home directory, retaining the last 7 days of backups:

5 0 * * * /usr/local/bin/trinkup /home /backups/home 7

2. Daily rsync-over-SSH backup, retaining the last 7 days of backups:

5 0 * * * /usr/local/bin/trinkup example.com:/home /backups/example.com/home 7

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues, check the following:

• Ensure that rsync is installed and in your system's PATH.
• Verify that the base directory exists and has the correct permissions.
• Check the script's output for error messages or consult your system logs.

FAQ

Q: Why not just use rsync?

A: While rsync can create hard links on its own, this feature is not ideal for backups, as hard links only work within a single filesystem. Trinkup creates hard links from the latest backup directory, rather than the source, avoiding the need to cross filesystem boundaries. This makes Trinkup a more efficient solution for incremental backups.

License

Trinkup is licensed under the "Do What The F*** You Want With It" (DWTFYWWI) license. See the LICENSE file for more information.

Contribution

If you want to contribute to the project or report issues, please open an issue or submit a pull request on the project's GitHub page.

Contact Information

For questions or support related to the script, use Github Issues.