Backups on Linux: rsync, restic and Timeshift

In short: A backup is only one when you can restore it. Linux has simple tools: rsync for copying, restic or Borg for encrypted, space-saving backups, Timeshift for system snapshots.

The 3-2-1 rule

3 copies, on 2 different media, 1 of them in another place. A second copy on the same disk or in the same room does not protect against fire, theft or ransomware.

rsync

rsync -avh --delete ~/Documents/ /mnt/backup/Documents/
rsync -avh ~/Documents/ user@server:/backup/Documents/   # over SSH

Copies only changes. --delete removes in the target what is missing in the source (careful, test with --dry-run first). Mind the trailing slash on the source.

restic and Borg

They create encrypted, deduplicated snapshots: each backup shows the state of a day but costs only the changed space.

restic -r /mnt/backup init
restic -r /mnt/backup backup ~/Documents
restic -r /mnt/backup snapshots
restic -r /mnt/backup restore latest --target /tmp/restore

Targets: disk, SFTP, cloud storage. Keep the password safe; without it the data is lost.

Timeshift

Snapshots of the system (before updates), mainly with Linux file systems: ext4, Btrfs, XFS and ZFS (Btrfs snapshots). It does not back up your personal data.

Automate and verify

Run it regularly by timer (logs and scheduling) and test the restore.

See also: Partitions, LVM and encryption (LUKS)