Provided by: btrbk_0.26.0-1_all 
NAME
btrbk - backup tool for btrfs subvolumes
SYNOPSIS
btrbk [-h|--help] [--version]
[-c|--config <file>] [-n|--dry-run]
[-p|--preserve] [--preserve-snapshots] [--preserve-backups]
[-v|--verbose] [-q|--quiet] [-l|--loglevel <level>]
[-t|--table] [--format <output-format>]
[--progress] [--print-schedule]
[--override <config_option>=<value>]
[--lockfile <file>]
<command> [<args>]
DESCRIPTION
btrbk is a backup tool for btrfs subvolumes, taking advantage of btrfs specific capabilities to create
atomic snapshots and transfer them incrementally to a target btrfs filesystem. It is able to perform
backups from one source to multiple destinations.
Snapshots as well as backup subvolume names are created in form:
<snapshot-name>.<timestamp>[_N]
Where <snapshot-name> is identical to the source subvolume name, unless the configuration option
snapshot_name is set. The <timestamp> is either "YYYYMMDD" or "YYYYMMDDThhmm" (dependent of the
timestamp_format configuration option), where "YYYY" is the year, "MM" is the month, "DD" is the day,
"hh" is the hour and "mm" is the minute of the creation time (local time of the host running btrbk). If
multiple snapshots/backups are created on the same date/time, N will be incremented on each snapshot,
starting at 1.
OPTIONS
-h, --help
Prints the synopsis and a list of the commands.
--version
Prints the btrbk version.
-n, --dry-run
Don’t run anything that would alter the filesystem, just show the snapshots and backup subvolumes
that would be created/deleted by the run, snapshot, resume, prune, archive and clean commands. Use in
conjunction with -l debug to see the btrfs commands that would be executed.
-c, --config <file>
Read the configuration from <file>.
-p, --preserve
Preserve all snapshots and backups. Skips deletion of any snapshots and backups, even if specified in
the configuration file (shortcut for "--preserve-snapshots --preserve-backups").
--preserve-snapshots
Preserve all snapshots. Skips deletion of any snapshots, even if specified in the configuration file.
--preserve-backups
Preserve all backups. Skips deletion of any backups, even if specified in the configuration file.
--wipe
Ignore configured snapshot retention policy, delete all but latest snapshots instead. All snapshots
needed for incremental backup (latest common) are also preserved. Useful if you are getting low on
disk space (ENOSPC).
-v, --verbose
Verbose output (shortcut for "--loglevel=info").
-q, --quiet
Quiet operation. If set, btrbk does not print the summary after executing the run, snapshot, resume,
prune, or archive commands.
-l, --loglevel <level>
Set the level of verbosity. Accepted levels are warn, info, debug, and trace.
-t, --table
Print output in table format (shortcut for "--format=table").
--format table|long|raw
Print output in specified format. If set to "raw", prints space-separated key="value" pairs (machine
readable). Affects output format for run, snapshot, resume, prune, archive and list commands. Useful
for further exporting/scripting.
--progress
Show progress bar on send-receive operation.
--print-schedule
Print detailed scheduler information on run, snapshot, resume, prune and archive commands. Use the
--format command line option to switch between different output formats.
--lockfile <file>
Create lockfile <file> on startup; checks lockfile before running any btrfs commands (using perl
"flock"), and exits if the lock is held by another btrbk instance. Overrides configuration option
"lockfile". Ignored on dryrun (-n, --dry-run).
--override <config_option>=<value>
Override a configuration option <config_option> with <value>. Globally, for ALL contexts. Use with
care!
COMMANDS
Actions
The following commands are used to create snapshots and/or backups. All actions can operate in dry-run
mode (-n, --dry-run). Use the --format command line option to switch between different output formats.
See section RETENTION POLICY in btrbk.conf(5) for information on configuring the retention policy.
run [filter...]
Perform snapshot and backup operations as specified in the configuration file. If the optional
[filter...] arguments are present, snapshots and backups are only performed for the
subvolumes/targets matching a filter statement (see FILTER STATEMENTS below).
Step 0: Read Data
Read information from the source and target btrfs filesystems in order to perform sanity checks
and identify parent/child and received-from relationships.
Step 1: Create Snapshots
If the checks succeed, btrbk creates snapshots for the source subvolumes specified in the
configuration file, according to the snapshot_create option.
Step 2: Create Backups
For each specified target, btrbk creates the backups as follows: After comparing the backups to
the source snapshots, btrbk transfers all missing snapshots needed to satisfy the configured
target retention policy, incrementally from the latest common parent subvolume found. If no
common parent subvolume is found (or if the incremental option is set to “no”), a full
(non-incremental) backup is created.
Step 3: Delete Backups
Unless the -p, --preserve or --preserve-backups option is set, backup subvolumes that are not
preserved by their configured retention policy will be deleted. Note that the latest
snapshot/backup pair are always preserved, regardless of the retention policy.
Step 4: Delete Snapshots
Unless the -p, --preserve or --preserve-snapshots option is set, snapshots that are not preserved
by their configured retention policy will be deleted. Note that the latest snapshot (the one
created in step 1) as well as the latest snapshot/backup pair are always preserved, regardless of
the retention policy.
dryrun [filter...]
Don’t run any btrfs commands that would alter the filesystem, just show the snapshots and backup
subvolumes that would be created/deleted by the run command. Use in conjunction with -l debug to see
the btrfs commands that would be executed.
snapshot [filter...]
Snapshot only: skips backup creation and deletion (steps 2 and 3). Use in conjunction with -p,
--preserve (or --preserve-snapshots) if you also want to skip snapshot deletion (step 4).
resume [filter...]
Resume backups: skips snapshot creation (step 1), transfers and deletes snapshots/backups in order to
satisfy their configured retention policy. Use in conjunction with -p, --preserve,
--preserve-backups, --preserve-snapshots if you want to skip backup and/or snapshot deletion (steps
3, 4).
prune [filter...]
Prune snapshots and backups: skips snapshot and backup creation (steps 1, 2), only deletes snapshots
and backups in order to satisfy their configured retention policy. Useful for cleaning the disk after
changing the retention policy. Use in conjunction with --preserve-backups, --preserve-snapshots if
you want to skip backup or snapshot deletion (steps 3, 4).
archive <source> <target> *experimental*
Recursively copy all subvolumes created by btrbk from <source> to <target> directory, optionally
rescheduled using archive_preserve_* configuration options. Also creates directory tree on <target>
(see bugs below). Useful for creating extra archive copies (clones) from your backup disks. Note that
you can continue using btrbk after swapping your backup disk with the archive disk.
Note that this feature needs a linux kernel >=4.4 to work correctly! Kernels >=4.1 and <4.4 have a
bug when re-sending subvolumes (the archived subvolumes will have incorrect received_uuid, see
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.file-systems.btrfs/48798), so make sure you run a recent kernel.
Known bugs: If you want to use nested subvolumes on the target filesystem, you need to create them by
hand (e.g. by running "btrfs subvolume create <target>/dir"). Check the output of --dry-run if
unsure.
clean [filter...]
Delete incomplete (garbled) backups. Incomplete backups can be left behind on network errors or kill
signals while a send/receive operation is ongoing, and are identified by the "received_uuid" flag not
being set on a target (backup) subvolume.
The following table gives a quick overview of the action commands and resulting snapshot creation (S+),
backup creation (B+), snapshot deletion (S-), and backup deletion (B-):
Command Option S+ B+ S- B-
--------------------------------------------
run x x x x
run --preserve x x
run --preserve-snapshots x x x
run --preserve-backups x x x
snapshot x x
snapshot --preserve x
resume x x x
resume --preserve x
resume --preserve-snapshots x x
resume --preserve-backups x x
prune x x
prune --preserve-snapshots x
prune --preserve-backups x
Informative Commands
The following commands are informative only, and will not alter the file system.
stats [filter...]
Print statistics of snapshot and backup subvolumes. Optionally filtered by [filter...] arguments (see
FILTER STATEMENTS below).
list <subcommand> [filter...]
Print information defined by <subcommand> in a tabular form. Optionally filtered by [filter...]
arguments (see FILTER STATEMENTS below).
Available subcommands:
snapshots
List all snapshots (and corresponding backups).
backups
List all backups (and corresponding snapshots).
latest
List most recent common snapshot/backup pair, or most recent snapshot if no common found.
config
List configured source/snapshot/target relations.
source
List configured source/snapshot relations.
volume
List configured volume sections.
target
List configured targets.
Use the --format command line option to switch between different output formats.
usage [filter...]
Print filesystem usage information for all source/target volumes, optionally filtered by [filter...]
arguments (see FILTER STATEMENTS below). Note that the "free" value is an estimate of the amount of
data that can still be written to the file system.
origin <subvolume>
Print the subvolume origin tree: Shows the parent-child relationships as well as the received-from
information. Use the --format command line option to switch between different output formats.
diff <from> <to>
Print new files since subvolume <from> for subvolume <to>.
config print|print-all
Prints the parsed configuration file. Use the --format command line option to switch between
different output formats.
FILTER STATEMENTS
Filter arguments are accepted in form:
<group-name>
Matches the group configuration option of a volume, subvolume or target section.
[hostname:]<volume-directory>
Matches all subvolumes and targets of a volume configuration section.
[hostname:]<volume-directory>/<subvolume-name>
Matches the specified subvolume and all targets of a subvolume configuration section.
[hostname:]<target-directory>
Matches all targets of a target configuration section.
[hostname:]<target-directory>/<snapshot-name>
Matches a single target of a target section within a subvolume section with given <snapshot-name>.
For convenience, [hostname:] can be specified as either "hostname:" or "ssh://hostname/".
FILES
/etc/btrbk.conf, /etc/btrbk/btrbk.conf
Default configuration file. The file format and configuration options are described in btrbk.conf(5).
EXIT STATUS
btrbk returns the following error codes:
0
No problems occurred.
1
Generic error code.
2
Parse error: when parsing command-line options or configuration file.
3
Lockfile error: if lockfile is present on startup.
10
Backup abort: At least one backup task aborted.
255
Script error.
AVAILABILITY
Please refer to the btrbk project page https://digint.ch/btrbk/ for further details.
SEE ALSO
btrbk.conf(5), btrfs(8) For more information about btrfs and incremental backups, see the web site at https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Incremental_Backup
AUTHOR
Axel Burri <axel@tty0.ch>