Getting Started

The following is a simple walk-through to familiarize you with how Backup works.

If you have not yet installed Backup, see the Installation page.

Generating Your First Backup Model

Let’s generate a simple Backup model file:

$ backup generate:model --trigger my_backup \
  --archives --storages='local' --compressors='gzip' --notifiers='mail'

(For a full list of options, view the Generator Page)

The above generator will provide us with a backup model file (located in ~/Backup/models/my_backup.rb) that looks like this:

##
# Backup Generated: my_backup
# Once configured, you can run the backup with the following command:
#
# $ backup perform -t my_backup [-c <path_to_configuration_file>]
#
Model.new(:my_backup, 'Description for my_backup') do
  ##
  # Split [Splitter]
  #
  # Split the backup file in to chunks of 250 megabytes
  # if the backup file size exceeds 250 megabytes
  #
  split_into_chunks_of 250

  ##
  # Archive [Archive]
  #
  # Adding a file:
  #   archive.add "/path/to/a/file.rb"
  #
  # Adding an directory (including sub-directories):
  #   archive.add "/path/to/a/directory/"
  #
  # Excluding a file:
  #   archive.exclude "/path/to/an/excluded_file.rb"
  #
  # Excluding a directory (including sub-directories):
  #   archive.exclude "/path/to/an/excluded_directory/
  #
  archive :my_archive do |archive|
    archive.add "/path/to/a/file.rb"
    archive.add "/path/to/a/folder/"
    archive.exclude "/path/to/a/excluded_file.rb"
    archive.exclude "/path/to/a/excluded_folder/"
  end

  ##
  # Local (Copy) [Storage]
  #
  store_with Local do |local|
    local.path       = "~/backups/"
    local.keep       = 5
  end

  ##
  # Gzip [Compressor]
  #
  compress_with Gzip

  ##
  # Mail [Notifier]
  #
  # The default delivery method for Mail Notifiers is 'SMTP'.
  # See the Wiki for other delivery options.
  # https://github.com/meskyanichi/backup/wiki/Notifiers
  #
  notify_by Mail do |mail|
    mail.on_success           = true
    mail.on_warning           = true
    mail.on_failure           = true

    mail.from                 = "sender@email.com"
    mail.to                   = "receiver@email.com"
    mail.address              = "smtp.gmail.com"
    mail.port                 = 587
    mail.domain               = "your.host.name"
    mail.user_name            = "sender@email.com"
    mail.password             = "my_password"
    mail.authentication       = "plain"
    mail.encryption           = :starttls
  end

end

You will also notice, this generated a ~/Backup/config.rb file. This is Backup’s main configuration file. When Backup is run, this is the first file that is loaded. Here you may setup any global configuration needed, as well as setup any component defaults. This file will then load all your model files in ~/Backup/models. See the Generator page for details.

Configuring the Backup Model

In order to perform this sample backup job, you’ll need to update the generated model file.

Update the Archive section to add a folder containing some files to backup.
Update the Storage section and set the path to a folder to store the backup. This path will be created if it doesn’t exist.
Update the Notifier with proper credentials. If you do not wish to setup the Notifier credentials at this time, you can omit it.

Once you’ve setup your configuration, check your work with:

$ backup check

If there are no syntax errors, the check should report:

[info] Configuration Check Succeeded.

More information about the check command can be found on Performing Backups page.

Performing Your First Backup

Now that you’ve setup your model, you can run this backup by issuing the following command:

$ backup perform --trigger my_backup

The my_backup refers to the :my_backup symbol in:

Model.new(:my_backup, 'Description for my_backup') do

When completed, you will find your backup in the Storage path you specified. There you will find a folder named after the trigger you provided. Within this folder, a timestamped folder will exist for each backup job performed. In these folders, a tar file will exist named <trigger>.tar. This tar file is a package that will contain all the Archives and Databases configured for the model (trigger).

This has been a very simple walk-through, but you should now have a general idea of how to setup, configure and perform a backup job.