# Rdiff-backup > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rdiff-backup > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rdiff-backup.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rdiff-backup > Source revision: 1285263862 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Backup software}} {{more footnotes|date=May 2020}} {{lowercase}} {{Infobox software | name = rdiff-backup | logo = | screenshot = | caption = | collapsible = | author = Ben Escoto (2001–2005)
Dean Gaudet, Andrew Ferguson, Edward Ned Harvey (2005–2016)
Eric Lavarde, Otto Kekäläinen, Patrik Dufresne (Python 3 rewrite beginning in 2019) | developer = | released = 2001 | latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|P348|P548=Q2804309}} | latest release date = {{Start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}|df=yes}} | discontinued = | programming language = [Python](/source/Python_(programming_language)) | operating system = | platform = Unix-like systems, MacOS, Windows | size = | genre = backup software | license = [GPL-2.0-or-later](/source/GNU_General_Public_License) | website = {{URL|https://rdiff-backup.net/}} }} '''rdiff-backup''' is a [backup](/source/Data_backup) software written in [Python](/source/Python_(programming_language)) that creates [reverse incremental backups](/source/Incremental_backup). The most recent backup is thus directly accessible, while earlier backups will be reconstructed from [diff](/source/diff) files by rdiff-backup. As the name implies, rdiff-backup uses the [rdiff](/source/rdiff) method (more exactly, the reimplementation of [rsync](/source/rsync) within librsync) to compute the differences between file versions. rdiff-backup is able to back up files across different machines via [ssh](/source/ssh). == Usage == Beginning with version 2.2, the flags passed to rdiff-backup are either general, or specific to the operation. For example, disabling fsync (see below) is an option that is general, and thus comes after rdiff-backup. --no-compression is specific to the backup mode, and thus comes after backup. ===Backup=== Normal operation is rdiff-backup backup . [gzip](/source/gzip) compression of increment files can be disabled with --no-compression after the backup flag. The options -v 5 and --print-statistics show the backup's progress and some statistics. Specifying --no-fsync will disable [fsync](/source/fsync) and write the backup to [RAM](/source/Random-access_memory) instead of directly to the physical disk, causing a significant speedup. This comes with an elevated risk of data loss, though. === Restoration of files or directories === rdiff-backup --restore-as-of will restore to the entire backup, a single file or a sub-directory. can be specified in one of several ways: * as a date, for example "2020-02-14" (which will be interpreted as [midnight](/source/midnight) of the day in question), or as a datetime string like "2020-02-14T12:26:53+02:00" (which can be found by running rdiff-backup --list-increments first) * as a time span, for example "1M" will restore the files as they were one month ago * as a number of backups, so "10B" will restore the 10th most-recent version * or "now", which will restore the most recent backup. It is also possible to find the relevant time-stamped file in the rdiff-backup-data/increments directory, and run rdiff-backup . Simpler (but not always correctly, as the [file permission](/source/file_permission)s might not be properly restored), the most recent backup can also be restored by copying a backed-up file or directory with [cp](/source/Cp_(Unix)) -a or [rsync](/source/rsync) -a. A deleted file – recognizable by the suffix snapshot.gz – can also be restored by retrieving it in the rdiff-backup-data/increments directory, copying it to the source directory, and unpacking with [gzip](/source/gzip). ===Deleting old backups=== Only the oldest backups can be removed, with rdiff-backup --remove-older-than . The ability to delete the oldest versions of specific files (or directories) is scheduled to appear in version 2.2. When deleting old versions, takes the same arguments as when restoring files or directories (see above). === Problems === rdiff-backup does not work under Linux with [SSHFS](/source/SSHFS) and [exFAT](/source/exFAT) file systems, though [FAT](/source/File_Allocation_Table) and [NTFS](/source/NTFS) do work. This is mostly due to their implementation as [FUSE](/source/Filesystem_in_Userspace) module, causing delays in certain operations, making it probably unfit for backup purposes. No file system is explicitly supported or unsupported, but rdiff-backup does tests before starting a backup, and refuses to progress on file systems deemed unfit. Regarding exFAT, by using the [newer in-kernel exFAT-driver](/source/ExFAT), this limitation ''should'' be overcome. rdiff-backup cannot backup to a SFTP destination. rdiff-backup recognizes changed files only by file size as well as modification time ([mtime](/source/stat_(system_call))). To make sure all changed files have been backed-up, running rdiff-backup --compare-hash (or rdiff-backup --compare-full for a byte-wise comparison) will display all changed files. Then, using [touch](/source/Touch_(command)), the modification time of all problematic files can be reset to now, and thus, they will be included during the next rdiff-backup run. == References == == External links == * {{Official website|https://rdiff-backup.net/}} * {{GitHub|rdiff-backup}} * [https://linux.die.net/man/1/rdiff-backup man page for rdiff-backup] Category:2001 software Category:Free backup software Category:Cross-platform software --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rdiff-backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rdiff-backup) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rdiff-backup?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.