rs-backup-suite is a set of shell scripts for setting up a custom NAS on a computer in the network. It uses [rsync](http://rsync.samba.org/) and [rsnapshot](http://www.rsnapshot.org/).
## How it works
rs-backup-suite is designed for push backups, which means the client pushes its files to the server. This is ideal for computers which are not always on such as most desktop PCs.
It is also a user-centric backup system. That means each user creates his own backup on the NAS instead of root backing up the whole machine at once (although this is possible). That also means that each user has a UNIX account on the NAS. The NAS username is usually `<hostname>-<local user name>` (e.g. `mymachine-johndoe`).
On the client machine(s) each user can create a file called `.rs-backup-include` (name is configurable) inside his home directory which includes the list of files that should be considered by the backup. Additionally root can maintain a similar file located at `/usr/local/etc/rs-backup/include-files` for the system files.
*`BACKUP_ROOT`: The directory under which the home directories of the backup users are stored. The default is `/bkp`
*`FILES_DIR`: The directory under which the actual backups are kept (relative to the backup user's home directory). The default is `files`.
*`SET_QUOTA`: Whether to set disk quota for the users or not (for Ext3/4 file systems). Default is `false`.
*`QUOTA_SOFT_LIMIT`, `QUOTA_HARD_LIMIT`, `QUOTA_INODE_SOFT_LIMIT`, `QUOTA_INODE_HARD_LIMIT`: The individual limits for disk quota. Ignored, if `SET_QUOTA` is `false`.
**WARNING:** Adjust these settings *before* you create backup users, because they won't be re-applied for already existing users!
A backup user is an unprivileged UNIX account on the server. Normally each user on each client has one corresponding backup user which he uses to log into the NAS. A backup user can be created by running
on the server where `hostname` is the name of the client host and `username` is the name of the user on that machine for whom this account is made. Of course you can use any other names for `hostname` and `username` as well, but it's generally a good idea to stick to this naming convention. The resulting UNIX username will be the combination of both.
The optional third parameter specifies the path to the SSH public key file which the user will use to log into the NAS. If you don't specify it, the user won't be able to log in at all. But you can add one later at any time by running
rs-backup-suite can chroot backup users into the backup home base directory. For this to work you need to add a few lines to your `/etc/fstab` and run `mount -a` afterwards (replace `/bkp` with your backup path):
**NOTE:** In Ubuntu the Perl modules are located at `/usr/share/perl` instead of `/usr/share/perl5`. Change that accordingly. Also note that if you are using Synology DSM, you also need to add a bind mount for /opt/bin to /bkp/opt/bin.
**NOTE:** When using a chroot environment and you change anything in your user configuration (e.g. the username) you need to run `rs-update-passwd` or your user might not be able to log in anymore.
To change how many increments of which level are kept, edit the file `/bkp/etc/rsnapshot.global.conf`. This is the global configuration file for rsnapshot which will be included in each user-specific configuration. There you can tweak the names and numbers for all backup levels.
If you add or remove any backup levels, make sure you also update the cron scripts. By default three cron scripts are installed: `/etc/cron.daily/rs-backup-rotate`, `/etc/cron.weekly/rs-backup-rotate` and `/etc/cron.monthly/rs-backup-rotate`.
on your client machine. Then copy the file `/etc/rs-backup/client-config.example` to `/etc/rs-backup/client-config`, edit it as root and replace the value of `REMOTE_HOST` with the hostname or IP address of your NAS.
On the client machines the script `/usr/bin/rs-backup-run` is used for performing the backups. This script can either be run as root or as an unprivileged user. The behavior differs in both cases:
* If run as root, all files and folder specified in /etc/rs-backup/include-files` will be backed up. The backup user used for logging into the NAS is `hostname-root` by default (where `hostname` is the hostname of the current machine). Additionally the home directories of all users will be scanned. If a home directory contains a file called `.rs-backup-include` all files and folders specified inside that file will be backed up under this user's privileges. The username used for logging into the NAS is `hostname-username` (where `hostname` is again substituted for the hostname of the current machine and `username` for the user whose home directory is being backed up).
All the client configuration options are defined in `/etc/rs-backup/client-config`. You can edit the file as you wish. All parameters are documented clearly by comments. Most of these configuration options can also be overridden at runtime by passing command line arguments to `rs-backup-run`. For a list and a description of all possible command line arguments run
## Installing client and server on the same machine
You can of course also install server and client on the same machine. This may be useful if you want, e.g. save your data to an external USB drive instead of a real NAS. A shortcut for running both `sudo make server-install` and `sudo make client-install` is simply running
For uninstalling run `./uninstall.sh [all|server|client]`. This removes all the scripts but preserves the data in `/bkp` (or whatever your backup folder is).
The intended use case for rs-backup-suite is as follows: you set up the server part on your NAS. Then you create a backup user for each user on each client machine.
In the next step you edit the crontab for root on each client and add a job for running `/usr/bin/rs-backup-run` at certain times. You can of course also create a shell script that calls `rs-backup-run` and put it in `/etc/cron.daily` to perform a global backup once a day.
After everything is set up that way you create the file `/etc/rs-backup/include-file` and write to it a list of files and folders you want to back up as root (e.g. you can specify `/etc/***` to backup the whole `/etc` directory and all its subdirectories). Furthermore each user creates a file called `.rs-backup-include` inside his home directory that serves the same purpose for his own home directory instead of the global system. Such a file could look like this:
Lines that start with a `-` are treated as excludes, all other lines as includes. The three asterisks mean “Include this directory and everything below”. For more information about these globbing patterns read the FILTER RULES section of the rsync(1) man page.
**NOTE:** To include a directory you need to mark all parent directories for inclusion, too. For instance to include `/home/johndoe` you also need to include `/home` as shown above. But don't confuse `/home` with `/home/`! `/home` without the trailing slash only selects the (empty) directory itself, not its contents.
rsync -a -e ssh backupuser@remotehost::pull/source/path /destination/path
Replace `backupuser` with the proper backup user (e.g. `mymachine-johndoe`) and `remotehost` with the hostname of the NAS. `/source/path` is the file name on the remote side (e.g. `/daily.2/home/johndoe/foobar`) and `/destination/path` is the local destination file name.
You can also log into the NAS using SFTP or SSHFS. This is probably more convenient for browsing available files.
Be aware that both access methods are strictly read-only! Write access is only granted via rsync through the `push` module:
rsync -a -e ssh backupuser@remotehost::push/destination/path /source/path
Because rs-backup-suite uses rsync for the client-server communication you don't necessarily need both parts. As long as you have a working rsync server on your NAS you can use the client script to push files to it. On the other hand you can use the rs-backup-suite server part with any other rsync client, as well.
`rs-backup` used to reside in `/usr/local` instead of `/usr`. With the addition of a proper Makefile in version 0.2.0 this has changed. The consequence is that older setups won't work with the new version without modifications. In order to update your setup you need to update the path to `rs-run-ssh-cmd` (now at `/usr/bin/rs-run-ssh-cmd`) inside your users' `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` files as well as the path to `rs-rotate` (`/usr/bin/rs-rotate`) inside their `rsync.conf` files. Alternatively just create symlinks to the old locations.
Moving `rs-backup` to `/usr` also means that for chroot setups the `/bkp/usr/local` mountpoint is no longer needed.
