Dots Backup

💾 Dots Backup Guide

The dots backup utility provides comprehensive backup and restoration capabilities for your dotfiles configuration. This tool helps you create snapshots, manage backup schedules, and restore previous configurations when needed.

Tip

Regular backups are essential for maintaining system stability and recovering from configuration issues. The backup tool integrates seamlessly with chezmoi and your dotfiles workflow.

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🚀 Usage

# Create a backup with default settings
dots backup

# List all available backups
dots backup --list

# Restore from a specific backup
dots backup --rollback

# Set up automated backups with cron
dots backup --register-cron

# Remove automated backups
dots backup --unregister-cron

Advanced Options

# Custom backup location
dots backup --backup-dir=/path/to/custom/location

# Custom backup name
dots backup --backup-name=my-custom-backup

# Custom dotfiles directory (if not using default ~/.dotfiles)
dots backup --dotfiles-dir=/path/to/dotfiles

# Custom log file location
dots backup --log-file=/path/to/custom.log

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📦 What Gets Backed Up

The backup tool creates comprehensive snapshots including:

• Dotfiles source: Your complete ~/.dotfiles directory
• Applied configurations: Key config files from ~/.config
• Shell configurations: .zshrc, .bashrc, .profile, etc.
• SSH configurations: ~/.ssh directory (with permission preservation)
• Git configurations: .gitconfig and related files
• Custom scripts: ~/.local/bin contents
• Application data: Selected application configurations

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🔄 Automated Backups

Setting Up Cron Jobs

# Register daily backups at 2 AM
dots backup --register-cron

# This creates a cron job that runs:
# 0 2 * * * /home/user/.local/bin/dots-backup --backup-name=daily_$(date +\%Y\%m\%d)

Managing Automated Backups

# View current cron jobs
crontab -l

# Remove automated backups
dots backup --unregister-cron

# Check backup logs
tail -f ~/.cache/dots/backup.log

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🔧 Backup Management

Listing Backups

dots backup --list

This shows:

• Backup name and date
• Backup size
• Location on disk
• Backup integrity status

Restoring from Backup

# Interactive restoration (shows available backups)
dots backup --rollback

# The restore process:
# 1. Lists available backups with timestamps
# 2. Allows you to select which backup to restore
# 3. Creates a pre-restore backup of current state
# 4. Restores selected backup
# 5. Runs chezmoi apply to sync changes

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📁 Backup Structure

Default backup location: ~/.dotfiles/backup/

backup/
├── dotfiles_backup_20250109_143022/
│   ├── dotfiles/          # Complete .dotfiles directory
│   ├── configs/           # Applied configurations
│   ├── ssh/              # SSH configurations (encrypted)
│   ├── scripts/          # Custom scripts
│   └── metadata.json     # Backup metadata and checksums
├── dotfiles_backup_20250108_140000/
└── ...

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🛡️ Security Features

Permission Preservation

• SSH keys maintain 600 permissions
• Directories preserve 700/755 permissions
• Sensitive files are properly secured

Encryption Support

# Backup with GPG encryption (if gpg is configured)
dots backup --encrypt

# Restore encrypted backup
dots backup --rollback --decrypt

Integrity Checking

• SHA256 checksums for all backed up files
• Automatic integrity verification during restore
• Corruption detection and reporting

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⚙️ Configuration

Default Settings

The backup tool uses these defaults:

• Backup directory: ~/.dotfiles/backup
• Backup name: dotfiles_backup_$(date)
• Log file: /tmp/dots_backup_log_$(date).txt
• Retention: Keeps last 10 backups by default

Customizing Backup Behavior

You can modify the backup script to:

• Change default retention policy
• Add/remove directories from backup scope
• Modify backup naming conventions
• Customize encryption settings

# Edit the backup script
chezmoi edit ~/.local/bin/executable_dots-backup
chezmoi apply

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🆘 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Permission Denied

# Ensure proper permissions for backup directory
chmod 755 ~/.dotfiles/backup

Large Backup Sizes

# Exclude large files or directories by editing the script
# Add exclusions for cache directories, logs, etc.

Failed Restores

# Check backup integrity
dots backup --verify backup_name

# Manual restoration
cp -r ~/.dotfiles/backup/backup_name/dotfiles ~/.dotfiles-restored

Recovery

If something goes wrong:

1. Current config is automatically backed up before any restore
2. Use chezmoi diff to see what changed
3. Use chezmoi apply --dry-run to preview changes
4. Restore from the automatic pre-restore backup if needed

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💡 Best Practices

1. Regular Backups: Set up daily automated backups
2. Test Restores: Periodically test backup restoration
3. Multiple Locations: Consider backing up to external storage
4. Version Control: Use git for additional version tracking
5. Documentation: Document any custom backup configurations

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🔗 Related Commands

• chezmoi archive - Create chezmoi-specific archives
• dots config-manager - Manage configuration snapshots
• dots security-audit - Audit backup security

The backup system works hand-in-hand with chezmoi to provide comprehensive configuration management and disaster recovery capabilities.