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backintime-config(1) USER COMMANDS backintime-config(1)

NAME

config - BackInTime configuration files.

SYNOPSIS

~/.config/backintime/config
 
/etc/backintime/config

DESCRIPTION

Back In Time was developed as pure GUI program and so most functions are only useable with backintime-gnome or backintime-kde4. But it is possible to use Back In Time e.g. on a headless server. You have to create the configuration file (~/.config/backintime/config) manually. Look inside /usr/share/doc/backintime/examples/ for examples.
The configuration file has the following format:
 
keyword=arguments
Arguments don't need to be quoted. All characters are allowed except '='.
The given path ( profile<N>.snapshots.path, profile<N>.snapshots.local_encfs.path or profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.path) must contain a folderstructure like backintime/<HOST>/<USER>/<PROFILE_ID>. This has to be created manually.
Also the crontab entry for automatic backup shedules has to be created manually.
crontab example:
 
0 */2 * * * nice -n 19 ionice -c2 -n7 /usr/bin/backintime --backup-job >/dev/null 2>&1

POSSIBLE KEYWORDS

global.hash_collision
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
 
Internal value used to prevent hash collisions on mountpoints. Do not change this.
Default: 0
profile<N>.name
Type: str Allowed Values: text
 
Name of this profile.
Default: Main profile
profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_anacron_period
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
 
How many days to wait between new snapshots with anacron? Only validfor profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_mode = 25|27
Default: 1
profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_day
Type: int Allowed Values: 1-28
 
Which day of month the cronjob should run? Only valid for profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_mode >= 40
Default: 1
profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_mode
Type: int Allowed Values: 0|1|2|4|7|10|12|14|16|18|19|20|25|27|30|40|80
 
Which shedule used for crontab. Note that the crontab entry is only generated during saving in settings dialog. If you don't run a GUI version of BackInTime you'll have to create the crontab entry on your own.
 

0 = Disabled
 

1 = at every boot
 

2 = every 5 minute
 

4 = every 10 minute
 

7 = every 30 minute
 
10 = every hour
 
12 = every 2 hours
 
14 = every 4 hours
 
16 = every 6 hours
 
18 = every 12 hours
 
19 = custom defined hours
 
20 = every day
 
25 = daily anacron
 
27 = when drive get connected
 
30 = every week
 
40 = every month
 
80 = every year
Default: 0
profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_time
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-24
 
What time the cronjob should run? Only valid for profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_mode >= 20
Default: 0
profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_weekday
Type: int Allowed Values: 1 = monday - 7 = sunday
 
Which day of week the cronjob should run? Only valid for profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_mode = 30
Default: 7
profile<N>.snapshots.backup_on_restore.enabled
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Rename existing files before restore into FILE.backup.YYYYMMDD
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.bwlimit.enabled
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Limit rsync bandwidth usage over network. Use this with mode SSH. For mode Local you should rather use ionice.
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.bwlimit.value
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
 
Bandwidth limit in KB/sec.
Default: 3000
profile<N>.snapshots.check_for_changes
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Perform a dry-run before taking snapshots. Don't take a new snapshot if nothing has changed.
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.continue_on_errors
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Continue on errors. This will keep incomplete snapshots rather than deleting and start over again.
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.copy_links
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
When symlinks are encountered, the item that they point to (the referent) is copied, rather than the symlink.
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.copy_unsafe_links
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
This tells rsync to copy the referent of symbolic links that point outside the copied tree. Absolute symlinks are also treated like ordinary files.
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.cron.ionice
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Run cronjobs with 'ionice -c2 -n7'. This will give BackInTime the lowest IO bandwidth priority to not interupt any other working process.
 
Note that the crontab entry is only generated during saving in settings dialog. If you don't run a GUI version of BackInTime you'll have to create the crontab entry on your own.
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.cron.nice
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Run cronjobs with 'nice -n 19'. This will give BackInTime the lowest CPU priority to not interupt any other working process.
 
Note that the crontab entry is only generated during saving in settings dialog. If you don't run a GUI version of BackInTime you'll have to create the crontab entry on your own.
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.custom_backup_time
Type: str Allowed Values: comma separated int (8,12,18,23) or */3
 
Custom hours for cronjob. Only valid for profile<N>.snapshots.automatic_backup_mode = 19
Default: 8,12,18,23
profile<N>.snapshots.dont_remove_named_snapshots
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Keep snapshots with names during smart_remove.
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.exclude.<I>.value
Type: str Allowed Values: file, folder or pattern (relative or absolute)
 
Exclude this file or folder. <I> must be a counter starting with 1
Default: ''
profile<N>.snapshots.exclude.size
Type: int Allowed Values: 1-99999
 
Quantity of exclude entrys.
Default: -1
profile<N>.snapshots.full_rsync
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Full rsync mode. May be faster but snapshots are not read-only anymore and destination file-system must support all linux attributes (date, rights, user, group...)
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.gnu_find_suffix_support
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Remote SSH host support GNU find suffix (find -exec COMMAND {} +).
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.include.<I>.type
Type: int Allowed Values: 0|1
 
Specify if profile<N>.snapshots.include.<I>.value is a folder (0) or a file (1).
Default: 0
profile<N>.snapshots.include.<I>.value
Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path
 
Include this file or folder. <I> must be a counter starting with 1
Default: ''
profile<N>.snapshots.include.size
Type: int Allowed Values: 1-99999
 
Quantity of include entrys.
Default: -1
profile<N>.snapshots.keep_only_one_snapshot.enabled
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED. Remove all snapshots but one.
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.local_encfs.path
Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path
 
Where to save snapshots in mode 'local_encfs'. The encrypted path must contian a folderstructure like 'backintime/<HOST>/<USER>/<PROFILE_ID>'
Default: ''
profile<N>.snapshots.log_level
Type: int Allowed Values: 1-3
 
Log level used during take_snapshot.
 
1 = Error
 
2 = Changes
 
3 = Info
Default: 3
profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_inodes.enabled
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Remove snapshots until profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_inodes.value free inodes in % is reached.
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_inodes.value
Type: int Allowed Values: 1-15
 
Keep at least value % free inodes.
Default: 2
profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_space.enabled
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Remove snapshots until profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_space.value free space is reached.
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_space.unit
Type: int Allowed Values: 10|20
 
10 = MB
 
20 = GB
Default: 20
profile<N>.snapshots.min_free_space.value
Type: int Allowed Values: 1-99999
 
Keep at least value + unit free space.
Default: 1
profile<N>.snapshots.mode
Type: str Allowed Values: local|local_encfs|ssh|ssh_encfs
 
Use mode (or backend) for this snapshot. Look at 'man backintime' section 'Modes'.
Default: local
profile<N>.snapshots.<MODE>.password.save
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Save password to system keyring (gnome-keyring or kwallet). <MODE> must be the same as profile<N>.snapshots.mode
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.<MODE>.password.use_cache
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Cache password in RAM so it can be read by cronjobs. Security issue: root might be able to read that password, too. <MODE> must be the same as profile<N>.snapshots.mode
Default: true if home is not encrypted
profile<N>.snapshots.no_on_battery
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Don't take snapshots if the Computer runs on battery.
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.notify.enabled
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Display notifications (errors, warnings) through libnotify.
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.path
Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path
 
Where to save snapshots in mode 'local'. This path must contain a folderstructure like 'backintime/<HOST>/<USER>/<PROFILE_ID>'
Default: ''
profile<N>.snapshots.path.auto
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Automaticaly set HOST, USER and PROFILE_ID for snapshot path.
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.path.host
Type: str Allowed Values: text
 
Set Host for snapshot path if profile<N>.snapshots.path.auto is false
Default: local hostname
profile<N>.snapshots.path.profile
Type: str Allowed Values: 1-99999
 
Set Profile-ID for snapshot path if profile<N>.snapshots.path.auto is false
Default: current Profile-ID
profile<N>.snapshots.path.user
Type: str Allowed Values: text
 
Set User for snapshot path if profile<N>.snapshots.path.auto is false
Default: local username
profile<N>.snapshots.preserve_acl
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Preserve ACL. The source and destination systems must have compatible ACL entries for this option to work properly.
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.preserve_xattr
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Preserve extended attributes (xattr).
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.enabled
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Remove all snapshots older than value + unit
Default: true
profile<N>.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.unit
Type: int Allowed Values: 20|30|80
 
20 = days
 
30 = weeks
 
80 = years
Default: 80
profile<N>.snapshots.remove_old_snapshots.value
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
 
Snapshots older than this times units will be removed
Default: 10
profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Run smart_remove to clean up old snapshots after a new snapshot was created.
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_all
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
 
Keep all snapshots for X days.
Default: 2
profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_day
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
 
Keep one snapshot per day for X days.
Default: 7
profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_month
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
 
Keep one snapshot per month for X month.
Default: 24
profile<N>.snapshots.smart_remove.keep_one_per_week
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
 
Keep one snapshot per week for X weeks.
Default: 4
profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.cipher
Type: str Allowed Values: default|aes192-cbc|aes256-cbc|aes128-ctr|aes192-ctr|aes256-ctr|arcfour|arcfour256|arcfour128|aes128-cbc|3des-cbc|blowfish-cbc|cast128-cbc
 
Cipher that is used for encrypting the SSH tunnel. Depending on the environment (network bandwidth, cpu and hdd performance) a different cipher might be faster.
Default: default
profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.host
Type: str Allowed Values: IP or domain address
 
Remote host used for mode 'ssh' and 'ssh_encfs'.
Default: ''
profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.ionice
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Run rsync and other commands on remote host with 'ionice -c2 -n7'
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.nice
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Run rsync and other commands on remote host with 'nice -n 19'
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.path
Type: str Allowed Values: absolute or relative path
 
Snapshot path on remote host. If the path is relative (no leading '/') it will start from remote Users homedir. An empty path will be replaced with './'. This path must contain a folderstructure like 'backintime/<HOST>/<USER>/<PROFILE_ID>'
Default: ''
profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.port
Type: int Allowed Values: 0-65535
 
SSH Port on remote host.
Default: 22
profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.private_key_file
Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path to private key file
 
Private key file used for password-less authentication on remote host.
Default: ~/.ssh/id_dsa
profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.user
Type: str Allowed Values: text
 
Remote SSH user
Default: local users name
profile<N>.snapshots.take_snapshot.<STEP>.user.script
Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path
 
Run this scrip on events defined by <STEP>.
 
Possible events for <STEP>:
 

before
 

after
 

new_snapshot
 

error
Default: ''
profile<N>.snapshots.use_checksum
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Use checksum to detect changes rather than size + time.
Default: false
profile<N>.snapshots.user_backup.ionice
Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
 
Run BackInTime with 'ionice -c2 -n7' when taking a manual snapshot. This will give BackInTime the lowest IO bandwidth priority to not interupt any other working process.
Default: false
profiles
Type: str Allowed Values: int seperated by colon (e.g. 1:3:4)
 
All active Profiles (<N> in profile<N>.snapshots...).
Default: 1
profiles.version
Type: int Allowed Values: 1
 
Internal version of profiles config.
Default: 1

SEE ALSO

backintime, backintime-gnome, backintime-kde4.
Back In Time also has a website: http://backintime.le-web.org

AUTHOR

This manual page was written by BIT Team(<bit-team@lists.launchpad.net>).
Oct 2013 version 1.0.36