Insider Tips: Backup with Rsync and SSH
SAFE HARBORS
It is often inefficient to fire up a tape drive whenever you need to back up files or restore a backup. The Rsync tool pushes critical files to a second computer, where you can access them easily.
A full backup on separate media is a vital part of any backup strategy, however, the task of restoring backups from tapes, CDs, or DVDs is often too time-consuming. It sometimes makes sense to also perform online backups. There are a few ready-to-run solutions for online backup, such as Rsnapshot [2]. This month’s Admin Workshop will discuss a scripted approach that uses Rsync and SSH. Cooperation The practical Rsync tool, combined with SSH, takes care of transporting your backup data across the network. These tools solve two problems for admins. First, they save bandwidth, as Rsync will compress your data if asked to do so. Second, SSH ensures that sniffers on the network will be unable to grab your backups off the wire. An additional advantage of Rsync is that it transfers only the changes across the network and merges them with the last full backup on the target machine, thus providing the simplicity of a full backup with the efficiency of an incremental backup.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.