How to do a monthly system backup

Question

I want to create an automatic monthly backup on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS - Server Ed., with the following command:

$ tar -cvpz --exclude=/bckupftp --exclude=/ser --exclude=/proc --exclude=/lost+found --exclude=/mnt --exclude=/sys / | split -d -b 750m - /bckupftp/backup20160422-041400.tar.gz

I added a date and time in the backup filename. It would be nice if this could be set to the actual-backup-date/time automatically. For a cronjob set to run on May 01, 2016 at 1am, the backup-filename would be: /bckupftp/backup20160501-010000.tar.gz.

Can somebody help me set up a cronjob for this command ? Thanks, Kevin

@DavidFoerster: Yes, I would second your flagging this as a dupe, if I could . — Cbhihe, Apr 24 '16 at 12:05
You probably want to exclude /dev, /tmp, and /run as well. Backing up /boot or /var doesn't make a lot of sense either. — David Foerster, Apr 24 '16 at 12:12

Cbhihe · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-23T18:57:20.897

To set up the cronjob for yr present non-root user, do in terminal:

$ crontab -e

The above will open yr (non-root) user's crontab with his/her default editor.

Alternatively, to do so for the root crontab, but with yr present (presumably non-root) user environment parameters (default editor, etc.):

$ sudo -i crontab -e

In yr opened crontab, enter a new line:

0 01 01 * * /bin/tar -cvpz --exclude=/bckupftp --exclude=/ser --exclude=/proc --exclude=/lost+found --exclude=/mnt --exclude=/sys / | /usr/bin/split -d -b 750m - /bckupftp/backup$(/bin/date +\%Y\%m\%d-\%H\%M\%S).tar.gz

(I did not check the validity of yr tar cmd.)

Note that:

crontab uses a 24-hour clock, military style: 15 means 3pm, 03 means 3am, etc.
the above cron entry runs at 01:00 o'clock the first day of every month. In terminal , do: man crontab for more info on crontab formats.
in crontab, it's a good habit to prefix cmds with their full path. To find the full path of any non-built-in cmd, do in terminal $ which <cmd>. Thus the tar cmd becomes /bin/tar, split becomes /usr/bin/split, etc..
as soon as you save the newly edited crontab, the cron job becomes effective. No need to reboot, log out and back in, or restart whatever service.
when saving yr bckup file(s), the time stamp has the following format YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS. If you need it to be more precise, try replacing %S with %s in yr crontab entry.
I am certain (meaning "with 100% probability") you can find all the above explained in great details in AU, SE at large as well as in other fora. Remember that StartPage is yr friend.

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 23 '16 at 18:06

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Create a file: /etc/cron.monthly/backups.sh make it executable by: $ chmod +x /etc/cron.monthly/backups.sh

to tidy it up, create a variable:

DATE=`date +%Y.%m.%d-%H.%M.%S`                   # eg. 2016.04.22-13.01.59

And then reference your command above with: /bckupftp/backup${DATE}.tar.gz

It would produce a file similar to: /bckupftp/backup2016.04.22-13.01.59.tar.gz

Feel free to remove dots to your liking and needs.

edited Apr 23 '16 at 18:06

Cbhihe

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answered Apr 23 '16 at 09:38

Jacques Bezuidenhout

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Welcome to AU ! Please look up formatting guidelines (https://meta.askubuntu.com/questions/89/style-guide-for-questions-and-answers) on this site, as well as this answer (https://meta.askubuntu.com/questions/13828/formatting-guideline-convention-for-program-names-commands-strings-values/13839#13839) by Eliah Kagan. Doing so will make yr answers and questions even greater. :-) – Cbhihe Apr 23 '16 at 17:23

How to do a monthly system backup

2 Answers2