Reasons you might want to avoid bup
-----------------------------------
- - This is a very early version. Therefore it will most probably not work
- for you, but we don't know why. It is also missing some
- probably-critical features.
+ - It's not remotely as well tested as something like tar, so it's
+ more likely to eat your data. It's also missing some
+ probably-critical features, though fewer than it used to be.
- - It requires python >= 2.5, a C compiler, and an installed git version >=
- 1.5.3.1.
+ - It requires python >= 2.6, a C compiler, and an installed git
+ version >= 1.5.6. It also requires par2 if you want fsck to be
+ able to generate the information needed to recover from some types
+ of corruption.
- - It currently only works on Linux, MacOS X >= 10.4,
- NetBSD, Solaris, or Windows (with Cygwin). Patches to support
- other platforms are welcome.
-
-
+ - It currently only works on Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OS X >= 10.4,
+ Solaris, or Windows (with Cygwin, and maybe with WSL). Patches to
+ support other platforms are welcome.
+
+ - Any items in "Things that are stupid" below.
+
+
+Notable changes introduced by a release
+=======================================
+
+ - <a href="note/0.30-from-0.29.3.md">Changes in 0.30 as compared to 0.29.3</a>
+ - <a href="note/0.29.3-from-0.29.2.md">Changes in 0.29.3 as compared to 0.29.2</a>
+ - <a href="note/0.29.2-from-0.29.1.md">Changes in 0.29.2 as compared to 0.29.1</a>
+ - <a href="note/0.29.1-from-0.29.md">Changes in 0.29.1 as compared to 0.29</a>
+ - <a href="note/0.29-from-0.28.1.md">Changes in 0.29 as compared to 0.28.1</a>
+ - <a href="note/0.28.1-from-0.28.md">Changes in 0.28.1 as compared to 0.28</a>
+ - <a href="note/0.28-from-0.27.1.md">Changes in 0.28 as compared to 0.27.1</a>
+ - <a href="note/0.27.1-from-0.27.md">Changes in 0.27.1 as compared to 0.27</a>
+
+
+Test status
+===========
+
+| branch | Debian | FreeBSD | macOS |
+|--------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| master | [](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/bup/bup) | [](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/bup/bup) | [](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/bup/bup) |
+| 0.29.x | [](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/bup/bup) | [](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/bup/bup) | [](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/bup/bup) |
+
Getting started
===============
-
From source
-----------
- Check out the bup source code using git:
-
- git clone git://github.com/bup/bup
- - Install the needed python libraries (including the development
+ ```sh
+ git clone https://github.com/bup/bup
+ ```
+
+ - This will leave you on the master branch, which is perfect if you
+ would like to help with development, but if you'd just like to use
+ bup, please check out the latest stable release like this:
+
+ ```sh
+ git checkout 0.29.1
+ ```
+
+ You can see the latest stable release here:
+ https://github.com/bup/bup/releases.
+
+ - Install the required python libraries (including the development
libraries).
- On Debian/Ubuntu this is usually sufficient (run as root):
+ On very recent Debian/Ubuntu versions, this may be sufficient (run
+ as root):
- apt-get install python2.6-dev python-fuse
- apt-get install python-pyxattr python-pylibacl
- apt-get install linux-libc-dev
+ ```sh
+ apt-get build-dep bup
+ ```
- Substitute python2.5-dev if you have an older system. Alternately,
- on newer Debian/Ubuntu versions, you can try this:
-
- apt-get build-dep bup
+ Otherwise try this (substitute python2.6-dev if you have an older
+ system):
+
+ ```sh
+ apt-get install python2.7-dev python-fuse
+ apt-get install python-pyxattr python-pylibacl
+ apt-get install linux-libc-dev
+ apt-get install acl attr
+ apt-get install python-tornado # optional
+ ```
On CentOS (for CentOS 6, at least), this should be sufficient (run
as root):
- yum groupinstall "Development Tools"
- yum install python python-devel
- yum install fuse-python pyxattr pylibacl
- yum install perl-Time-HiRes
+ ```sh
+ yum groupinstall "Development Tools"
+ yum install python python-devel
+ yum install fuse-python pyxattr pylibacl
+ yum install perl-Time-HiRes
+ ```
In addition to the default CentOS repositories, you may need to add
RPMForge (for fuse-python) and EPEL (for pyxattr and pylibacl).
On Cygwin, install python, make, rsync, and gcc4.
+ If you would like to use the optional bup web server on systems
+ without a tornado package, you may want to try this:
+
+ ```sh
+ pip install tornado
+ ```
+
- Build the python module and symlinks:
- make
+ ```sh
+ make
+ ```
- Run the tests:
-
- make test
+
+ ```sh
+ make long-check
+ ```
+
+ or if you're in a bit more of a hurry:
+
+ ```sh
+ make check
+ ```
- (The tests should pass. If they don't pass for you, stop here and send
- me an email.)
+ The tests should pass. If they don't pass for you, stop here and
+ send an email to bup-list@googlegroups.com. Though if there are
+ symbolic links along the current working directory path, the tests
+ may fail. Running something like this before "make test" should
+ sidestep the problem:
+
+ ```sh
+ cd "$(pwd -P)"
+ ```
- You can install bup via "make install", and override the default
destination with DESTDIR and PREFIX.
Files are normally installed to "$DESTDIR/$PREFIX" where DESTDIR is
- empty by default, and PREFIX is set to /usr. So if you wanted to
+ empty by default, and PREFIX is set to /usr/local. So if you wanted to
install bup to /opt/bup, you might do something like this:
- make install DESTDIR=/opt/bup PREFIX=''
+ ```sh
+ make install DESTDIR=/opt/bup PREFIX=''
+ ```
+ - The Python executable that bup will use is chosen by ./configure,
+ which will search for a reasonable version unless PYTHON is set in
+ the environment, in which case, bup will use that path. You can
+ see which Python executable was chosen by looking at the
+ configure output, or examining cmd/python-cmd.sh, and you can
+ change the selection by re-running ./configure.
From binary packages
--------------------
- pkgsrc (NetBSD, Dragonfly, and others)
http://pkgsrc.se/sysutils/bup
http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/pkgsrc/sysutils/bup/
+ - Arch Linux:
+ https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?sort=&q=bup
+ - Fedora:
+ https://apps.fedoraproject.org/packages/bup
Using bup
---------
- - Initialize the default BUP_DIR:
+ - Get help for any bup command:
- bup init
+ ```sh
+ bup help
+ bup help init
+ bup help index
+ bup help save
+ bup help restore
+ ...
+ ```
+
+ - Initialize the default BUP_DIR (~/.bup -- you can choose another by
+ either specifying `bup -d DIR ...` or setting the `BUP_DIR`
+ environment variable for a command):
+
+ ```sh
+ bup init
+ ```
+
+ - Make a local backup (-v or -vv will increase the verbosity):
+
+ ```sh
+ bup index /etc
+ bup save -n local-etc /etc
+ ```
+
+ - Restore a local backup to ./dest:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup restore -C ./dest local-etc/latest/etc
+ ls -l dest/etc
+ ```
- - Try making a local backup as a tar file:
-
- tar -cvf - /etc | bup split -n local-etc -vv
-
- - Try restoring your backup tarball:
-
- bup join local-etc | tar -tf -
-
- Look at how much disk space your backup took:
-
- du -s ~/.bup
-
+
+ ```sh
+ du -s ~/.bup
+ ```
+
- Make another backup (which should be mostly identical to the last one;
notice that you don't have to *specify* that this backup is incremental,
it just saves space automatically):
-
- tar -cvf - /etc | bup split -n local-etc -vv
+
+ ```sh
+ bup index /etc
+ bup save -n local-etc /etc
+ ```
+
+ - Look how little extra space your second backup used (on top of the first):
+
+ ```sh
+ du -s ~/.bup
+ ```
+
+ - Get a list of your previous backups:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup ls local-etc
+ ```
+
+ - Restore your first backup again:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup restore -C ./dest-2 local-etc/2013-11-23-11195/etc
+ ```
+
+ - Make a backup to a remote server which must already have the 'bup' command
+ somewhere in its PATH (see /etc/profile, etc/environment, ~/.profile, or
+ ~/.bashrc), and be accessible via ssh.
+ Make sure to replace SERVERNAME with the actual hostname of your server:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup init -r SERVERNAME:path/to/remote-bup-dir
+ bup index /etc
+ bup save -r SERVERNAME:path/to/remote-bup-dir -n local-etc /etc
+ ```
+
+ - Make a remote backup to ~/.bup on SERVER:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup index /etc
+ bup save -r SERVER: -n local-etc /etc
+ ```
+
+ - See what saves are available in ~/.bup on SERVER:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup ls -r SERVER:
+ ```
+
+ - Restore the remote backup to ./dest:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup restore -r SERVER: -C ./dest local-etc/latest/etc
+ ls -l dest/etc
+ ```
+
+ - Defend your backups from death rays (OK fine, more likely from the
+ occasional bad disk block). This writes parity information
+ (currently via par2) for all of the existing data so that bup may
+ be able to recover from some amount of repository corruption:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup fsck -g
+ ```
+
+ - Use split/join instead of index/save/restore. Try making a local
+ backup using tar:
+
+ ```sh
+ tar -cvf - /etc | bup split -n local-etc -vv
+ ```
- - Look how little extra space your second backup used on top of the first:
-
- du -s ~/.bup
+ - Try restoring the tarball:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup join local-etc | tar -tf -
+ ```
- - Restore your old backup again (the ~1 is git notation for "one older than
- the most recent"):
-
- bup join local-etc~1 | tar -tf -
-
- - Get a list of your previous backups:
+ - Look at how much disk space your backup took:
+
+ ```sh
+ du -s ~/.bup
+ ```
+
+ - Make another tar backup:
+
+ ```sh
+ tar -cvf - /etc | bup split -n local-etc -vv
+ ```
+
+ - Look at how little extra space your second backup used on top of
+ the first:
+
+ ```sh
+ du -s ~/.bup
+ ```
+
+ - Restore the first tar backup again (the ~1 is git notation for "one
+ older than the most recent"):
+
+ ```sh
+ bup join local-etc~1 | tar -tf -
+ ```
- GIT_DIR=~/.bup git log local-etc
+ - Get a list of your previous split-based backups:
+
+ ```sh
+ GIT_DIR=~/.bup git log local-etc
+ ```
- - Make a backup on a remote server (which must already have the 'bup' command
- somewhere in the server's PATH (see /etc/profile, etc/environment,
- ~/.profile, or ~/.bashrc), and be accessible via ssh.
- Make sure to replace SERVERNAME with the actual hostname of your server):
-
- tar -cvf - /etc | bup split -r SERVERNAME: -n local-etc -vv
-
- - Try restoring the remote backup tarball:
-
- bup join -r SERVERNAME: local-etc | tar -tf -
-
- - Try using the new (slightly experimental) 'bup index' and 'bup save'
- style backups, which bypass 'tar' but have some missing features (see
- "Things that are stupid" below):
-
- bup index -uv /etc
- bup save -n local-etc /etc
-
- - Do it again and see how fast an incremental backup can be:
+ - Save a tar archive to a remote server (without tar -z to facilitate
+ deduplication):
+
+ ```sh
+ tar -cvf - /etc | bup split -r SERVERNAME: -n local-etc -vv
+ ```
- bup index -uv /etc
- bup save -n local-etc /etc
-
- (You can also use the "-r SERVERNAME:" option to 'bup save', just like
- with 'bup split' and 'bup join'. The index itself is always local,
- so you don't need -r there.)
+ - Restore the archive:
+
+ ```sh
+ bup join -r SERVERNAME: local-etc | tar -tf -
+ ```
That's all there is to it!
Notes on Cygwin
---------------
- - There is no support for ACLs. If/when some entrprising person
+ - There is no support for ACLs. If/when some enterprising person
fixes this, adjust t/compare-trees.
- In t/test.sh, two tests have been disabled. These tests check to
Notes on OS X
-------------
- - There is no support for ACLs. If/when some entrprising person
+ - There is no support for ACLs. If/when some enterprising person
fixes this, adjust t/compare-trees.
============
Basic storage:
+--------------
bup stores its data in a git-formatted repository. Unfortunately, git
itself doesn't actually behave very well for bup's use case (huge numbers of
Basically, 'bup split' reads the data on stdin (or from files specified on
the command line), breaks it into chunks using a rolling checksum (similar to
-rsync), and saves those chunks into a new git packfile. There is one git
-packfile per backup.
+rsync), and saves those chunks into a new git packfile. There is at least one
+git packfile per backup.
When deciding whether to write a particular chunk into the new packfile, bup
first checks all the other packfiles that exist to see if they already have that
scripts that do something with those values.
The bup index:
+--------------
'bup index' walks through your filesystem and updates a file (whose name is,
by default, ~/.bup/bupindex) to contain the name, attributes, and an
Things that are stupid for now but which we'll fix later
---------------------------------------------------------
+========================================================
Help with any of these problems, or others, is very welcome. Join the
mailing list (see below) if you'd like to help.
- 'bup save' and 'bup restore' have immature metadata support.
On the plus side, they actually do have support now, but it's new,
- and not remotely as well tested as tar/rsync/whatever's. If you'd
- like to help test, please do (see t/compare-trees for one
- comparison method).
+ and not remotely as well tested as tar/rsync/whatever's. However,
+ you have to start somewhere, and as of 0.25, we think it's ready
+ for more general use. Please let us know if you have any trouble.
- In addition, at the moment, if any strip or graft-style options
- are specified to 'bup save', then no metadata will be written for
- the root directory. That's obviously less than ideal.
+ Also, if any strip or graft-style options are specified to 'bup
+ save', then no metadata will be written for the root directory.
+ That's obviously less than ideal.
- bup is overly optimistic about mmap. Right now bup just assumes
that it can mmap as large a block as it likes, and that mmap will
give the continuous-backup process a really low CPU and I/O priority so
you wouldn't even know it was running.
- - bup currently has no features that prune away *old* backups.
-
- Because of the way the packfile system works, backups become "entangled"
- in weird ways and it's not actually possible to delete one pack
- (corresponding approximately to one backup) without risking screwing up
- other backups.
-
- git itself has lots of ways of optimizing this sort of thing, but its
- methods aren't really applicable here; bup packfiles are just too huge.
- We'll have to do it in a totally different way. There are lots of
- options. For now: make sure you've got lots of disk space :)
+ - bup only has experimental support for pruning old backups.
+
+ While you should now be able to drop old saves and branches with
+ `bup rm`, and reclaim the space occupied by data that's no longer
+ needed by other backups with `bup gc`, these commands are
+ experimental, and should be handled with great care. See the
+ man pages for more information.
- - bup has never been tested on anything but Linux, MacOS, and Windows+Cygwin.
+ Unless you want to help test the new commands, one possible
+ workaround is to just start a new BUP_DIR occasionally,
+ i.e. bup-2013, bup-2014...
+
+ - bup has never been tested on anything but Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD,
+ OS X, and Windows+Cygwin.
There's nothing that makes it *inherently* non-portable, though, so
that's mostly a matter of someone putting in some effort. (For a
- bup needs better documentation.
- According to a recent article about bup in Linux Weekly News
+ According to an article about bup in Linux Weekly News
(https://lwn.net/Articles/380983/), "it's a bit short on examples and
a user guide would be nice." Documentation is the sort of thing that
will never be great unless someone from outside contributes it (since
- bup has no GUI.
- Actually, that's not stupid, but you might consider it a limitation.
- There are a bunch of Linux GUI backup programs; someday I expect someone
- will adapt one of them to use bup.
-
+ Actually, that's not stupid, but you might consider it a
+ limitation. See the ["Related Projects"](https://bup.github.io/)
+ list for some possible options.
More Documentation
-------------------
+==================
bup has an extensive set of man pages. Try using 'bup help' to get
started, or use 'bup help SUBCOMMAND' for any bup subcommand (like split,
projects / bup.git / blobdiff