Summary
rdiff-backup is a useful script. It makes the process of backing up one directory to another simple and effective. It also preserves symlinks, special files, hardlinks, permissions, uid/gid ownership, and modification times. It offers features of both a mirror and an incremental backup.
If your data has value to you, making regular backups is a necessity. That practice is not, in itself, sufficient to protect your data. You actually need to test the backups to make sure they actually work. rdiff-backup’s verify action comes in useful.
Backup software should provide multiple options for restoring your data, including restoring to its original location or a different location under your control.
Website: rdiff-backup.net
Support: GitHub Code Repository
Developer: Eric L.
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
This software is evaluated using Toshiba Enterprise HDDs and NAS devices from Asustor and Synology.
rdiff-backup is written in Python. Learn Python with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Introduction and Installation
Page 2 – In Operation
Page 3 – Summary
I used rdiff-backup for a number of years… but since I manage a number of different distros, I ran into some issues with different versions of rdiff-backup on different hosts. I also ran into issues with a partial/failed backup (because of network issues or file corruption on the disk) basically making my current series of backups unusable and had to start over from scratch.
I have since switched to borgbackup, which I’ve been using for about 3 years, and it has been a champ. borgbackup also includes a fuse-filesystem based tool for easily accessing the backups… as well as compression, encryption and dedup (and I use all three) so I’m able to maintain a long history without really taking up so much disk space…. and I don’t have to trust the host I’m backing up to.
I’m using restic, it’s a bobby-dazzler.
I’ve been using rdiff-backup for years. It’s performed flawlessly. Perfect for my simple needs.