[gentoo-user] Re: Suggestions for backup scheme?

[Grant Edwards <grant.b.edwards@gmail.com>]

On 2024-02-03, Michael <confabulate@kintzios.com> wrote:

>> If you'll forgive the analogy, we'll say the the functionality of
>> rsync (as used by rsnapshot) is built-in to ZFS.
>
> Broadly and rather loosely yes, by virtue of the COW and snapshot fs 
> architecture and the btrfs/zfs send-receive commands.
>
>> Is there an application that does with ZFS snapshots what the
>> rsnapshot application itself does with rsync?
>
> COW filesystems do not need a 3rd party application.

Really? I can edit a configuration file and then ZFS will provide me
with daily/weekly/monthly/yearly snapshots of (say) /home, /etc, and
/usr/local on an external hard drive?

> They come with their own commands which can be called manually, or
> scripted for convenience and automation.

Yes, I know that. AFAICT, they provide commands that do pretty much
what rsync does in my current backup scheme. It's the automation
provided by rsnapshot that I'm asking about.

> Various people have created their own scripts and applications, e.g.
>
> https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/696513/best-strategy-to-backup-btrfs-root-filesystem
>
>> I googled for ZFS backup applications, but didn't find anything that
>> seemed to be widespread and "supported" the way that rsnapshot is.
>
> There must be quite a few scripts out there, but can't say what support they 
> may receive.  Random search revealed:
>
> https://www.zfsnap.org/
>
> https://github.com/shirkdog/zfsbackup
>
> https://gbyte.dev/blog/simple-zfs-snapshotting-replicating-backup-rotating-convenience-bash-script

Yes, there seem to be a lot of bare-bones homebrewed scripts like
those. That is the sort of what I was looking for but they all seem a
bit incomplete and unsupported compared rsnapshot.  I can install
rsnapshot with a simple "emerge rsnapshot", edit the config file, set
up the crontab entries, and Bob's your uncle: rsnapshot bugfixes and
updates get installed by the usual Gentoo update process, and backups
"just happen".

--
Grant