backintime-config(5)

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 usable with backintime-qt. 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-common/examples/ for examples.

The configuration file has the following format:
keyword=arguments

Arguments don't need to be quoted. All characters are allowed except '='.

Run 'backintime check-config' to verify the configfile, create the snapshot folder and crontab entries.

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

global.language
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    Language code (ISO 639) used to translate the user interface. If empty the operating systems current local is used. If 'en' the translation is not active and the original English source strings are used. It is the same if the value is unknown.

    Default: ''

global.use_flock
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Prevent multiple snapshots (from different profiles or users) to be run at the same time

    Default: false

profile<N>.name
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    Name of this profile.

    Default: Main profile

profile<N>.schedule.custom_time
    Type: str Allowed Values: comma separated int (8,12,18,23) or */3
    Custom hours for cronjob. Only valid for profile<N>.schedule.mode = 19

    Default: 8,12,18,23

profile<N>.schedule.day
    Type: int Allowed Values: 1-28
    Which day of month the cronjob should run? Only valid for profile<N>.schedule.mode >= 40

    Default: 1

profile<N>.schedule.debug
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Enable debug output to system log for schedule mode.

    Default: false

profile<N>.schedule.mode
    Type: int Allowed Values: 0|1|2|4|7|10|12|14|16|18|19|20|25|27|30|40|80
    Which schedule used for crontab. The crontab entry will be generated with 'backintime check-config'.
     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>.schedule.repeatedly.period
    Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
    How many units to wait between new snapshots with anacron? Only valid for profile<N>.schedule.mode = 25|27

    Default: 1

profile<N>.schedule.repeatedly.unit
    Type: int Allowed Values: 10|20|30|40
    Units to wait between new snapshots with anacron.
    10 = hours
    20 = days
    30 = weeks
    40 = months
    Only valid for profile<N>.schedule.mode = 25|27

    Default: 20

profile<N>.schedule.time
    Type: int Allowed Values: 0-2400
    Position-coded number with the format "hhmm" to specify the hour and minute the cronjob should start (eg. 2015 means a quarter past 8pm). Leading zeros can be omitted (eg. 30 = 0030). Only valid for profile<N>.schedule.mode = 20 (daily), 30 (weekly), 40 (monthly) and 80 (yearly)

    Default: 0

profile<N>.schedule.weekday
    Type: int Allowed Values: 1 = monday - 7 = sunday
    Which day of week the cronjob should run? Only valid for profile<N>.schedule.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.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 reference) 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 interrupt any other working process.

    Default: true

profile<N>.snapshots.cron.nice
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Run cronjobs with 'nice -n19'. This will give BackInTime the lowest CPU priority to not interrupt any other working process.

    Default: true

profile<N>.snapshots.cron.redirect_stderr
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    redirect stderr to /dev/null in cronjobs

    Default: False

profile<N>.snapshots.cron.redirect_stdout
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    redirect stdout to /dev/null in cronjobs

    Default: true

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.bysize.enabled
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Enable exclude files by size.

    Default: false

profile<N>.snapshots.exclude.bysize.value
    Type: int Allowed Values: 0-99999
    Exclude files bigger than value in MiB. With 'Full rsync mode' disabled this will only affect new files because for rsync this is a transfer option, not an exclude option. So big files that has been backed up before will remain in snapshots even if they had changed.

    Default: 500

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: 0-99999
    Quantity of profile<N>.snapshots.exclude.<I> entries.

    Default: -1

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: 0-99999
    Quantity of profile<N>.snapshots.include.<I> entries.

    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.nocache
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Run rsync on local machine with 'nocache'. This will prevent files from being cached in memory.

    Default: false

profile<N>.snapshots.local_encfs.path
    Type: str Allowed Values: absolute path
    Where to save snapshots in mode 'local_encfs'.

    Default: ''

profile<N>.snapshots.log_level
    Type: int Allowed Values: 1-3
    Log level used during takeSnapshot.
    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: false

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: false

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.one_file_system
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Use rsync's "--one-file-system" to avoid crossing filesystem boundaries when recursing.

    Default: false

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.host
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    Set Host for snapshot path

    Default: local hostname

profile<N>.snapshots.path.profile
    Type: str Allowed Values: 1-99999
    Set Profile-ID for snapshot path

    Default: current Profile-ID

profile<N>.snapshots.path.user
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    Set User for snapshot path

    Default: local username

profile<N>.snapshots.path.uuid
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    Devices uuid used to automatically set up udev rule if the drive is not connected.

    Default: ''

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.rsync_options.enabled
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Past additional options to rsync

    Default: false

profile<N>.snapshots.rsync_options.value
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    rsync options. Options must be quoted e.g. --exclude-from="/path/to/my exclude file"

    Default: ''

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.smart_remove.run_remote_in_background
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    If using mode SSH or SSH-encrypted, run smart_remove in background on remote machine

    Default: false

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.check_commands
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Check if all commands (used during takeSnapshot) work like expected on the remote host.

    Default: true

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.check_ping
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Check if the remote host is available before trying to mount.

    Default: true

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.max_arg_length
    Type: int Allowed Values: 0, >700
    Maximum command length of commands run on remote host. This can be tested for all ssh profiles in the configuration with 'python3 /usr/share/backintime/common/sshMaxArg.py LENGTH'.
    0 = unlimited

    Default: 0

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.nice
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Run rsync and other commands on remote host with 'nice -n19'

    Default: false

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.nocache
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Run rsync on remote host with 'nocache'. This will prevent files from being cached in memory.

    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 './'.

    Default: ''

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.port
    Type: int Allowed Values: 0-65535
    SSH Port on remote host.

    Default: 22

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.prefix.enabled
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Add prefix to every command which run through SSH on remote host.

    Default: false

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.prefix.value
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    Prefix to run before every command on remote host. Variables need to be escaped with \$FOO. This doesn't touch rsync. So to add a prefix for rsync use profile<N>.snapshots.rsync_options.value with --rsync-path="FOO=bar:\$FOO /usr/bin/rsync"

    Default: 'PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:\$PATH'

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.proxy_host
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    Proxy host used to connect to remote host.

    Default: IP or domain address

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.proxy_host_port
    Type: int Allowed Values: 0-65535
    Proxy host port used to connect to remote host.

    Default: 22

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.proxy_user
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    Remote SSH user

    Default: the local users name

profile<N>.snapshots.ssh.user
    Type: str Allowed Values: text
    Remote SSH user

    Default: local users name

profile<N>.snapshots.take_snapshot_regardless_of_changes
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Create a new snapshot regardless if there were changes or not.

    Default: false

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 interrupt any other working process.

    Default: false

profile<N>.user_callback.no_logging
    Type: bool Allowed Values: true|false
    Do not catch std{out|err} from user-callback script. The script will only write to current TTY. Default is to catch std{out|err} and write it to syslog and TTY again.

    Default: false

profiles
    Type: str Allowed Values: int separated 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-qt.

Back In Time also has a website: https://github.com/bit-team/backintime

AUTHOR
This manual page was written by BIT Team(<bit-dev@python.org>).