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**Nx-99** · Mar 05, 2017, 03:59 AM

Timeshift is a system restore utility which takes snapshots of the system at regular intervals. These snapshots can be restored at a later date to undo system
changes. Creates incremental snapshots using rsync or BTRFS snapshots using BTRFS tools.

**GreyGeek** · Mar 05, 2017, 02:11 PM

IF you want to use Tar here are the scripts I used before I retired 9 years ago. Cron may work differently now.

Using tar scripts and CRON to back up

These are the scripts I wrote to backup my Qt dev files at work (before I retired eight years ago!)

There are three bash shell scripts listed below.
They can be run manually or be added to a cron script as appropriate:
backup_all.bsh can be put in the weekly cron
backup_inc.bsh can be put into the daily cron
restor_all.bsh is run manually when ever needed

How to setup cron scripts is shown below the backup and restore scripts.

The list of directories to back up or restore are in both backup scripts and should be identical. Modify them to suit your needs. They should not include the destination for the tar file which is created.
"bkupdir" is the full path to the directory where the tar files that are created are stored. That directory should not be among those backed up.
"bkupname" is the name that will be given to the file. Change the string portion to suit yourself.

Consult the tar man for details on tar parameters and auxiliary files.

backup_all.bsh
***************
Code:

#!/bin/bash
#copyright 2004 Jerry L Kreps
#released under the terms of the GNU General Public License
bkupdir=/backup
bkupname="Webserver_fullbkup_"$(date +'%Y-%m-%d')
tar --create
--gzip
--sparse
--same-permissions
--file=$bkupdir/$bkupname.tgz
--blocking-factor=256
--directory=/
--label=$bkupname
/boot /etc /home /lib /misc /opt /root /sbin /selinux /usr /var 2> $bkupdir/backup_errors.txt &

backup_inc.bsh
************************
Code:

#!/bin/bash
#copyright 2004 Jerry L Kreps
#released under the terms of the GNU General Public License
bkupdir=/backup
bkupname="Webserver_incbkup_"$(date +'%Y-%m-%d')
tar --create
--gzip
--sparse
--same-permissions
--file=$bkupdir/$bkupname.tgz
--blocking-factor=256
--directory=/
--label=$bkupname
--listed-incremental=$bkupdir/webserver.snar
/bin /boot /etc /home /lib /misc /opt /root /sbin /selinux /usr /var &

"restore_all.bsh" is followed by the tar file which will be extracted as the first parameter.

restore_all.bsh
*********************
Code:

#!/bin/bash
#copyright 2004 Jerry L Kreps
#released under the terms of the GNU General Public License
tar -xzsSpf --numeric-owner %1 2> /backup/restore_errors.txt

Newbie: Intro to cron
Date: 30-Dec-99
Author: cogNiTioN <cognition@attrition.org>

Cron

This file is an introduction to cron, it covers the basics of what cron does,
and how to use it.

What is cron? ( Consult the man on cron and crontab for more details)

Cron is the name of program that enables unix users to execute commands or
scripts (groups of commands) automatically at a specified time/date.

Cron is a daemon, which means that it only needs to be started once, and will
lay dormant until it is required. The cron daemon, or crond, stays dormant
until a time specified in one of the config files, or crontabs.

On most Linux distributions crond is automatically installed and entered into
the start up scripts. To find out if it's running do the following:

cog@pingu $ ps aux | grep crond
root 311 0.0 0.7 1284 112 ? S Dec24 0:00 crond

The second line shows that crond is running.

If it's not running then
sudo /etc/init.d/cron start

Using cron

There are a few different ways to use cron (surprise, surprise).

In the /etc directory you will probably find some sub directories called
'cron.hourly', 'cron.daily', 'cron.weekly' and 'cron.monthly'. If you place
a script into one of those directories it will be run either hourly, daily,
weekly or monthly, depending on the name of the directory.

If you want more flexibility than this, you can edit a crontab (the name
for cron's config files). The main config file is normally /etc/crontab.

jerry@jerry-sonylaptop:~$ cat /etc/crontab
Code:

# /etc/crontab: system-wide crontab
# Unlike any other crontab you don't have to run the `crontab'
# command to install the new version when you edit this file
# and files in /etc/cron.d. These files also have username fields,
# that none of the other crontabs do.

SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

# m h dom mon dow user command
17 * * * * root cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly
25 6 * * * root test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily )
47 6 * * 7 root test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly )
52 6 1 * * root test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.monthly )
#

The first part is almost self explanatory; it sets the variables for cron.

SHELL is the 'shell' cron runs under. If unspecified, it will default to
the entry in the /etc/passwd file.

PATH contains the directories which will be in the search path for cron
e.g if you've got a program 'foo' in the directory /usr/cog/bin, it might
be worth adding /usr/cog/bin to the path, as it will stop you having to use
the full path to 'foo' every time you want to call it.

Here is part of /etc/crontab edited to show it executing backup_all.bsh every Sunday morning at 1AAM
and doing the incremental backups at 1AM every Mon thru Fri morning. /backup is an NFS mount to a second HD or remote server.
Code:

00 1 * * 7 root /backup/backup_all.bsh
00 1 * * 1-5 root /backup/backup_inc.bsh
17 * * * * root cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly
25 6 * * * root test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily )
47 6 * * 7 root test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly )
52 6 1 * * root test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.monthly )

Now for the more complicated second part of a crontab file.
An entry in cron is made up of a series of fields, much like the /etc/passwd
file is, but in the crontab they are separated by a space. There are normally
seven fields in one entry. The fields are:

m h dom mon dow user cmd

m = minute This controls what minute of the hour the command will run on,
and is between '0' and '59'
h = hour This controls what hour the command will run on, and is specified in
the 24 hour clock, values must be between 0 and 23 (0 is midnight)
dom This is the Day of Month, that you want the command run on, e.g. to
run a command on the 19th of each month, the dom would be 19.
mon This is the month a specified command will run on, it may be specified
numerically (0-12), or as the name of the month (e.g. May)
dow This is the Day of Week that you want a command to be run on, it can
also be numeric (0-7) or as the name of the day (e.g. sun).
user This is the user who runs the command.
cmd This is the command that you want run. This field may contain
multiple words or spaces.

If you don't wish to specify a value for a field, just place a * in the
field.

e.g.
01 * * * * root echo "This command is run at one min past every hour"
17 8 * * * root echo "This command is run daily at 8:17 am"
17 20 * * * root echo "This command is run daily at 8:17 pm"
00 4 * * 0 root echo "This command is run at 4 am every Sunday"
* 4 * * Sun root echo "So is this"
42 4 1 * * root echo "This command is run 4:42 am every 1st of the month"
01 * 19 07 * root echo "This command is run hourly on the 19th of July"

Notes:

Under dow 0 and 7 are both Sunday.

If both the dom and dow are specified, the command will be executed when
either of the events happen.
e.g.
* 12 16 * Mon root cmd
Will run cmd at midday every Monday and every 16th, and will produce the
same result as both of these entries put together would:
* 12 16 * * root cmd
* 12 * * Mon root cmd

Vixie Cron also accepts lists in the fields. Lists can be in the form, 1,2,3
(meaning 1 and 2 and 3) or 1-3 (also meaning 1 and 2 and 3).
e.g.
59 11 * * 1,2,3,4,5 root backup.sh
Will run backup.sh at 11:59 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,
as will:
59 11 * * 1-5 root backup.sh

Cron also supports 'step' values.
A value of */2 in the dom field would mean the command runs every two days
and likewise, */5 in the hours field would mean the command runs every
5 hours.
e.g.
* 12 10-16/2 * * root backup.sh
is the same as:
* 12 10,12,14,16 * * root backup.sh

*/15 9-17 * * * root connection.test
Will run connection.test every 15 mins between the hours or 9am and 5pm

Lists can also be combined with each other, or with steps:
* 12 1-15,17,20-25 * * root cmd
Will run cmd every midday between the 1st and the 15th as well as the 20th
and 25th (inclusive) and also on the 17th of every month.
* 12 10-16/2 * * root backup.sh
is the same as:
* 12 10,12,14,16 * * root backup.sh

When using the names of weekdays or months, it isn't case sensitive, but only
the first three letters should be used, e.g. Mon, sun or Mar, jul.

Comments are allowed in crontabs, but they must be preceded with a '#', and
must be on a line by them self.
....

Additional Reference:
Man pages: cron(Cool crontab(5) crontab(1)
Book: _Running Linux_ (O'Reilly ISBN: 1-56592-469-X)
© Copyright 2000 cogNiTioN <cognition@attrition.org>

**GreyGeek** · Mar 05, 2017, 02:12 PM

Better than Tar is using btrfs as your filing system so that snapshot can be used. Far and away the easiest way to backup and recover.

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