#README#

##manback: A simple backup script written in bash.##

manback is a utility that will make recursive backups of a directory for recovery purposes. The utility assumes you have a continuously connected hard drive to back up to. This can be attached via usb or internal connection as long as a UUID is supplied and is static.

The script will make a set of directories of the backup directory and makes hard links to the files that have changed since the last backup. This method results in a directory that you can use regular linux commands as search utilities.

There are a few things to set up before you run the script.

1. Obtaining the code

Save the git repository in root's home directory. You can either clone the git repository or download the source from https://github.com/patrickmalsom/manback

2. Configuring the backup device

You need to have another hard drive or other backup medium attached to the system. Add an entry to /etc/fstab for the backup device. The fstab entry should mount the backup device as read only on bootup and use a UUID (ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid) to identify the device. Here is an example:

UUID=2c8c806b-b73f-418d-888c-b6d342064890   /root/backup   ext4   defaults,ro   1   1

2. Edit the config file

manback.conf should be edited with the values you find appropriate.

3. Edit cron to automate

Backups should happen without you requesting them, so use cron. A simple cron entry that backs up 4 times a day every day is:

0 0,6,12,18 * * * /bin/bash /root/manback/manback > /dev/null

If you wish to request a backup at a different time than the cron job you can simply run the script from the command line

sudo /bin/bash /root/manback/manback

###Exclude file###

An example exclude file. The default location is /root/manback/manback.exclude

#rsync script exclude file

#do not backup the following directories and all subdirectories
**/.gvfs
**/.local/share/Trash
**/.mozilla
**/.thunderbird
**/.config/google-chrome

# do not backup files with these extensions
**/*.temp
**/*.dat