A hilariously unnecessary Python script that could have easily been done in bash since it’s literally just a wrapper around rsync. 😅

When you’ve only got a Python-sized hammer in your toolbox, everything looks like a Python nail, I guess.

#!/bin/bash

# Function to read settings
# Settings file format:
# ~/.config/loci/settings
# [backup]
#
# server = <<Name of server>>
# user = <<server user login>>
# backup_root = <<Directory off user's home Directory>>
# taglist = mon tue wed thu fri sat sun spc
# exclude_files = <<not implemented yet - leave blank>>
# source_dir = <<the local directory we are backing up>>
read_settings() {
  settings_file="$HOME/.config/loci/settings"
  if [[ -f "$settings_file" ]]; then
    while IFS='=' read -r key value || [[ -n "$key" ]]; do
      if [[ ! -z "$key" && ! "$key" =~ ^# && ! "$key" =~ ^\[ ]]; then
        key=$(echo "$key" | xargs)
        value=$(echo "$value" | xargs)
        declare -g "$key"="$value"
      fi
    done < "$settings_file"
  else
    echo "Settings file not found: $settings_file"
    exit 1
  fi
}

# Function to perform the backup
backup() {
  local tag="$1"
  read_settings
  
  # Create backup directory if it doesn't exist
  backup_dest="$backup_root/$tag"
  mkdir -p "$backup_dest" 2>/dev/null
  
  # Rsync command for backup
  target="$user@$server:/home/$user/$backup_root/$tag"
  rsync_cmd="rsync -avh $source_dir $target"
  # If exclude_files is defined and not empty, add it to rsync command
  if [[ -n "$exclude_files" ]]; then
    rsync_cmd="rsync -avh --exclude='$exclude_files' $source_dir $target"
  fi
  echo "Command:$rsync_cmd"
  eval "$rsync_cmd"
  
  # Log the backup information
  log_path="$HOME/.backuplog"
  timestamp=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")
  echo "\"$tag\",$timestamp,$rsync_cmd,$timestamp" >> "$log_path"
  
  echo "Backup for '$tag' completed and logged."
}

# Function to remove the backup
remove_backup() {
  local tag="$1"
  read_settings
  
  # Rsync remove command
  rmfile="/home/$user/$backup_root/$tag"
  rm_cmd="ssh $user@$server rm -rf $rmfile"
  eval "$rm_cmd"
  
  # Remove log entr

#!/bin/bash
read_settings() {
  settings_file="$HOME/.config/loci/settings"
  if [[ -f "$settings_file" ]]; then
    while IFS='=' read -r key value || [[ -n "$key" ]]; do
      if [[ ! -z "$key" && ! "$key" =~ ^# && ! "$key" =~ ^\[ ]]; then
        key=$(echo "$key" | xargs)
        value=$(echo "$value" | xargs)
        declare -g "$key"="$value"
      fi
    done < "$settings_file"
  else
    echo "Settings file not found: $settings_file"
    exit 1
  fi
}

# Function to perform the backup
backup() {
  local tag="$1"
  read_settings
  
  log_path="$HOME/.backuplog"
  
  # Check if header exists in log file, if not, create it
  if [[ ! -f "$log_path" ]]; then
    echo "\"tag\",\"timestamp\",\"command\",\"completion_time\"" > "$log_path"
  elif [[ $(head -1 "$log_path") != "\"tag\",\"timestamp\",\"command\",\"completion_time\"" ]]; then
    # Add header if it doesn't exist
    temp_file=$(mktemp)
    echo "\"tag\",\"timestamp\",\"command\",\"completion_time\"" > "$temp_file"
    cat "$log_path" >> "$temp_file"
    mv "$temp_file" "$log_path"
  fi
  
  # Create backup directory if it doesn't exist
  backup_dest="$backup_root/$tag"
  mkdir -p "$backup_dest" 2>/dev/null
  
  # Rsync command for backup
  target="$user@$server:/home/$user/$backup_root/$tag"
  rsync_cmd="rsync -avh $source_dir $target"
  # If exclude_files is defined and not empty, add it to rsync command
  if [[ -n "$exclude_files" ]]; then
    rsync_cmd="rsync -avh --exclude='$exclude_files' $source_dir $target"
  fi
  
  echo "Starting backup for tag '$tag' at $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')"
  echo "Command: $rsync_cmd"
  
  # Record start time
  start_timestamp=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
  
  # Execute the backup
  eval "$rsync_cmd"
  backup_status=$?
  
  # Record completion time
  completion_timestamp=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
  
  # Calculate duration
  start_seconds=$(date -d "$start_timestamp" +%s)
  end_seconds=$(date -d "$completion_timestamp" +%s)
  duration=$((end_seconds - start_seconds))
  
  # Format d

Multiple backups may be kept.

Nice work, but if I may suggest - it lacks hardlink support, so’s quite wasteful in terms of disk space - the number of ‘tags’ (snapshots) will be extremely limited.

At least two robust solutions that use rsync+hardlinks already exist: rsnapshot.org and dirvish.org (both written in perl). There’s definitely room for backup tools that produce plain copies, instead of packed chunk data like restic and Duplicacy, and a python or even bash-based tool might be nice, so keep at it.

However, I liken backup software to encryption - extreme care must be taken when rolling and using your own. Whatever tool you use, test test test the backups. :)

Saved for trying out later, ty!