Having a solid data backup strategy is imperative in keeping your data safe. Your storage drives won’t last forever. Also, hardware failure is just one way you can lose data. Even though Linux is less at risk of nasties like ransomware attacks than other operating systems, it offers no protection from things like natural disasters.
Probably one of the most important software applications, but often neglected, is the backup program. The best Linux backup software will keep you covered when you accidentally delete files, or when a disk bites the dust. Backup software protects a variety of file types, including documents, databases, photos, music, and videos. Backup software provides an automated solution for creating, managing, and restoring data from backups.
There are different types of backup software including full backup software, incremental backup software, and image backup software.
syncBackup is software which lets you backup and mirror your drives. It’s a front-end for the hugely popular rsync utility, software for syncing data between systems. rsync has become a file transfer and synchronization standard.
Besides rsync, syncBackup needs ssh-askpass which handles the authentication process when the source or destination is using the shell to connect to a remote host via ssh.
syncBackup is free and open source software.
Installation
We evaluated syncBackup under Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and Manjaro.
Under Manjaro, we installed the software using the Flatpak with Manjaro’s GUI tool, pamac (shown below).
Under Ubuntu, we also installed the Flatpak, this time using the very useful bauh utility.
The Flatpak package includes all dependencies.
Next page: Page 2 – In Operation
Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Introduction and Installation
Page 2 – In Operation
Page 3 – Summary