btrbk.conf(5)
=============
:date:        2018-03-05
:revision:    0.26.1
:man manual:  Btrbk Manual
:man source:  Btrbk


NAME
----

btrbk.conf - btrbk configuration file


SYNOPSIS
--------

[verse]
/etc/btrbk.conf
/etc/btrbk/btrbk.conf


DESCRIPTION
-----------

The btrbk configuration file specifies which btrfs subvolumes on the
filesystem are to be processed, what target subvolumes should be used
to create the backups, and where the snapshots should be
generated. The retention policy, as well as most other options can be
defined either globally or within a section.

The options specified always apply to the last section encountered,
superseding the values set in upper-level sections. This means that
global options must be set before any sections are defined.

Blank lines are ignored. A hash character (#) starts a comment
extending until end of line.


SECTIONS
--------

*volume* <volume-directory>|<url>::
	Directory of a btrfs volume containing the source subvolume(s)
	to be backed up. '<volume-directory>' must be an absolute path
	and point to a btrfs volume (or subvolume). Usually the mount
	point of a btrfs filesystem mounted with the 'subvolid=5'
	option.

*subvolume* <subvolume-name>::
    Subvolume to be backed up, relative to the '<volume-directory>'
    specified in the 'volume' section. Multiple 'subvolume' sections
    are allowed within 'volume' sections. Accepts wildcard character
    "*".
+
--
If set to ".", the subvolume at '<volume-directory>' is used as backup
source, and the snapshots will be created within the source subvolume
itself (see 'snapshot_dir' option below), which is not recommended.
Note that if this subvolume is btrfs root (id=5), it needs to have a
valid UUID, which is not the case for file systems created with
btrfs-progs < 4.16.
--

*target* <type> <target-directory>|<url>::
    Target type and directory where the backup subvolumes are to be
    created. See the <<_target_types,TARGET TYPES>> section for
    supported '<type>'. Multiple 'target' sections are allowed within
    'subvolume' sections. A 'target' section defined in the global
    context or in a 'volume' section is propagated (multiplied) to all
    underlying 'subvolume' sections, unless a target with the same
    declaration already exists (hint: run "btrbk config print" to see
    the resulting configuration).


<target-directory>::
    Run actions locally.
+
--
Note that 'whitespace' or 'unicode' characters are NOT allowed
for file names. Allowed characters are:

    [0-9] [a-z] [A-Z] and "._+-@"

This is for sanity/safety/security reasons, we apologize for the
inconvenience.
--

<url>::
    Run actions remotely via ssh.
    Either:
+
--
  ssh://<hostname>/<directory>
  <hostname>:<directory>

If a '<url>' is specified, btrbk actions for '<hostname>' (shell
commands) are executed via ssh, using the "ssh_" options described
below.

Note that btrbk keeps mountpoint and btrfs-tree information per
'hostname': specifying different 'ssh_port' for the same host,
e.g. for several virtual machines listening on same address, will NOT
work. If you need this, define alias host names for each vm.
--


OPTIONS
-------

The options described here can be specified in 'global context' as
well as 'volume', 'subvolume' and 'target' sections, unless stated
otherwise.


=== Basic Options

*timestamp_format* short|long|long-iso::
    Timestamp format used as postfix for new snapshot subvolume
    names. Defaults to ``short''.
+
--
ifndef::backend-docbook,backend-manpage[]
[horizontal]
endif::backend-docbook,backend-manpage[]
*short*;;    +YYYYMMDD[_N]+  (e.g. "20150825", "20150825_1")
*long*;;     +YYYYMMDD<T>hhmm[_N]+  (e.g. "20150825T1531")
*long-iso*;; +YYYYMMDD<T>hhmmss&plusmn;hhmm[_N]+  (e.g. "20150825T153123+0200")
--
+
Note that a postfix "_N" is appended to the timestamp if a snapshot or
backup already exists with the timestamp of current date/time.
+
Use ``long-iso'' if you want to make sure that btrbk never
creates ambiguous time stamps (which can happen if multiple
snapshots are created during a daylight saving time clock
change).
+
Note that using ``long-iso'' has implications on the scheduling, see
<<_retention_policy,RETENTION POLICY>> (caveats) below.

*snapshot_dir* <directory>::
    Directory in which the btrfs snapshots are created, relative to
    '<volume-directory>' of the 'volume' section. Note that btrbk does
    not autmatically create this directory, and the snapshot creation
    will fail if it is not present.

*snapshot_name* <basename>::
    Base name of the created snapshot (and backup). This option is
    only valid in the 'subvolume' section. Defaults to
    '<subvolume-name>'.

*snapshot_create* always|onchange|ondemand|no::
    If set to ``always'', snapshots are always created. If set to
    ``onchange'', snapshots are only created if the source subvolume
    has changed since the last snapshot (more precisely: if the btrfs
    generation has been increased since the last snapshot). If set to
    ``ondemand'', snapshots are only created if the target subvolume
    is reachable (useful if you are tight on disk space and you only
    need btrbk for backups to an external disk which is not always
    connected). If set to ``no'', the snapshots are never created
    (useful if another instance of btrbk is taking care of snapshot
    creation). Defaults to ``always''.

*incremental* yes|no|strict::
    If set, incremental backups are created. If set to ``strict'',
    non-incremental (initial) backups are never created. Defaults to
    ``yes''.


=== Grouping Options

*group* <group-name>[,<group-name>]...::
    Add the current section (volume, subvolume or target) to a
    user-defined group, which can be used as filter for most btrbk
    commands. This option can be set multiple times within the same
    context.


=== Retention Policy Options

*preserve_day_of_week* monday|tuesday|...|sunday::
    Defines on what day a snapshot/backup is considered to be a
    "weekly" backup. Weekly, monthly and yearly backups are preserved
    on this day of week (see <<_retention_policy,RETENTION POLICY>>
    below). Defaults to ``sunday''.

*preserve_hour_of_day* [0..23]::
    Defines after what time (in full hours since midnight) a
    snapshot/backup is considered to be a "daily" backup. Daily,
    weekly, monthly and yearly backups are preserved on this hour (see
    <<_retention_policy,RETENTION POLICY>> below). If you set this
    option, make sure to also set 'timestamp_format' to ``long'' or
    ``long-iso'' (backups and snapshots having no time information
    will ignore this option). Defaults to ``0''.

*snapshot_preserve* no|<retention_policy>::
    Set retention policy for snapshots (see
    <<_retention_policy,RETENTION POLICY>> below). If set to ``no'',
    preserve snapshots according to 'snapshot_preserve_min'
    only. Defaults to ``no''.

*snapshot_preserve_min* all|latest|<number>{h,d,w,m,y}::
    Preserve all snapshots for a minimum amount of hours (h), days
    (d), weeks (w), months (m) or years (y), regardless of how many
    there are. If set to ``all'', preserve all snapshots forever. If
    set to ``latest'', preserve latest snapshot. Defaults to ``all''.

*target_preserve* no|<retention_policy>::
    Set retention policy for backups (see
    <<_retention_policy,RETENTION POLICY>> below). If set to ``no'',
    preserve backups according to 'target_preserve_min' only. Defaults
    to ``no''.

*target_preserve_min*  all|latest|no|<number>{h,d,w,m,y}::
    Preserve all backups for a minimum amount of hours (h), days (d),
    weeks (w), months (m) or years (y), regardless of how many there
    are. If set to ``all'', preserve all backups forever. If set to
    ``latest'', always preserve the latest backup (useful in
    conjunction with "target_preserve no", if you want to keep the
    latest backup only). If set to ``no'', only the backups following
    the 'target_preserve' policy are created. Defaults to ``all''.

*archive_preserve* no|<retention_policy>::
    Set retention policy for archives ("btrbk archive" command), with
    same semantics as 'target_preserve'.

*archive_preserve_min* all|latest|no|<number>{h,d,w,m,y}::
    Set retention policy for archives ("btrbk archive" command), with
    same semantics as 'target_preserve_min'.

*archive_exclude* <pattern>  _*experimental*_::
    Exclude subvolumes matching <pattern> from archiving. The pattern
    accepts wildcard character "*", and is matched against the end of
    the pathname.


=== SSH Options

*ssh_identity* <file>::
    Absolute path to a ssh identity file (private key). Note that if
    the private key is password protected, btrbk will prompt for user
    input, which is usually not desired.

*ssh_user* <username>::
    Remote username for ssh. Defaults to ``root''. Note that you will
    have to make sure that the remote user is able to run
    "/sbin/btrfs" (which needs root privileges).

*ssh_port* <port>|default::
    Port to connect to on the remote host. Defaults to ``default''
    (the port specified in 'ssh_config', which defaults to 22).
+
--
Note that btrbk keeps mountpoint and btrfs-tree information per
'hostname': specifying different 'ssh_port' for the same host,
e.g. for several virtual machines listening on same address, will NOT
work. If you need this, define alias host names for each vm.
--

*ssh_compression* yes|no:: 
    Enables or disables the compression of ssh connections. Defaults
    to ``no''.

*ssh_cipher_spec* <cipher_spec>::
    Selects the cipher specification for encrypting the session
    (comma-separated list of ciphers in order of preference). See the
    "-c cipher_spec" option in ssh(1) for more information. Defaults
    to ``default'' (the ciphers specified in 'ssh_config').


=== Data Stream Options

*stream_compress* <compress_command>|no::
    Compress the btrfs send stream before transferring it from/to
    remote locations. Defaults to ``no''. If enabled, make sure that
    '<compress_command>' is available on the source and target
    hosts. Supported '<compress_command>': gzip, pigz, bzip2, pbzip2,
    xz, lzo, lz4.

*stream_compress_level* default|<number>::
    Compression level for the specified '<compress_command>'. Refer to
    the related man-page for details (usually [1..9], where 1 means
    fastest compression). Defaults to ``default'' (the default
    compression level of '<compress_command>').

*stream_compress_threads* default|<number>::
    Number of threads to use for <compress_command>. Only supported
    for "pigz", "pbzip2" and recent versions of "xz".

*stream_buffer* <size>|no::
    Add a buffer to the btrfs send stream (in front of "btrfs
    receive"), with a maximum size of '<size>'. This can give a speed
    improvement (measured up to 20%) on both local or remote
    operations, but also increases system load. A suffix of "k", "m",
    "g", or "%" can be added to '<size>' to denote kilobytes (*1024),
    megabytes, gigabytes, or a percentage of total physical
    memory. Defaults to ``no''. If enabled, make sure that the
    "mbuffer" command is available on the target host.

*rate_limit* <rate>|no::
    Limit the transfer to a maximum of '<rate>' bytes per second. A
    suffix of "k", "m", "g", or "t" can be added to denote kilobytes
    (*1024), megabytes, and so on. Defaults to ``no''. If enabled for
    remote sources, make sure that the "pv" command is available on
    the source host.


=== System Options

*transaction_log* <file>|no::
    If set, all transactions (snapshot create, subvolume send-receive,
    subvolume delete) as well as abort messages are logged to <file>,
    in a space-separated table format: "localtime type status
    target_url source_url parent_url message".

*transaction_syslog*  <facility>|no::
    If set, all transactions (as described in 'transaction_log' above)
    are logged to syslog. The program name used in the messages is
    "btrbk".  Accepted parameters for '<facility>': user, mail,
    daemon, auth, lpr, news, cron, authpriv, local0..local7.

*lockfile* <file>|no::
    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. Ignored on dryrun ('-n',
    '--dry-run'). See also '--lockfile' command-line option.

*backend* btrfs-progs|btrfs-progs-btrbk|btrfs-progs-sudo::
    Backend filesystem utilities to be used for btrfs specific
    operations. The default ``btrfs-progs'' simply executes btrfs(8)
    commands groups (e.g. "btrfs subvolume show").
+
--
btrfs-progs::
    Default backend, btrfs commands are called as specified in
    btrfs(8) (e.g. "btrfs subvolume show").

btrfs-progs-btrbk::
    btrfs commands are separated by a dash instead of a whitespace
    (e.g. "btrfs-subvolume-show" instead of "btrfs subvolume
    show"). Useful for setting suid or file capabilities (setcap) on
    specific btrfs commands, as implemented in
    <https://github.com/digint/btrfs-progs-btrbk>.

btrfs-progs-sudo::
    btrfs commands are prefixed with "sudo -n" (e.g. "sudo -n btrfs
    subvolume show" instead of "btrfs subvolume show"). Make sure to
    have appropriate (root) permissions for "btrfs" command groups in
    /etc/sudoers.
--
+
For convenience, it is also possible to set *backend_local* or
*backend_remote* options, which will override the backend only for
local or remote sources/targets (e.g. "backend_remote
btrfs-progs-btrbk").


=== Btrfs Specific Options

*btrfs_commit_delete* after|each|no::
    If set, make sure the deletion of snapshot and backup subvolumes
    are committed to disk when btrbk terminates. Defaults to ``no''.

*snapshot_qgroup_destroy* yes|no  _*experimental*_:: {blank}
*target_qgroup_destroy* yes|no  _*experimental*_:: {blank}
*archive_qgroup_destroy* yes|no  _*experimental*_::
    Whenever a subvolume is deleted, also destroy corresponding
    default qgroup "+0/<subvol-id>+". Only useful if you have enabled
    btrfs quota support. See also:
    <https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=91751>


RETENTION POLICY
----------------

btrbk uses separate retention policies for snapshots and backups,
which are defined by the 'snapshot_preserve_min', 'snapshot_preserve',
'target_preserve_min', 'target_preserve', 'preserve_day_of_week' and
'preserve_hour_of_day' configuration options.

Within this section, any statement about "backups" is always valid for
backups as well as snapshots, referring to 'target_preserve' or
'snapshot_preserve' respectively.

The format for '<retention_policy>' is:

{nwsp}:: [<hourly>h] [<daily>d] [<weekly>w] [<monthly>m] [<yearly>y]

With the following semantics:

*hourly*::
    Defines how many hours back hourly backups should be
    preserved. The first backup of an hour is considered an hourly
    backup. Note that if you use <hourly> scheduling, make sure to
    also set 'timestamp_format' to ``long'' or ``long-iso'', or the
    scheduler will interpret the time as "00:00" (midnight).

*daily*::
    Defines how many days back daily backups should be preserved. The
    first backup of a day (starting at 'preserve_hour_of_day') is
    considered a daily backup.

*weekly*::
    Defines how many weeks back weekly backups should be
    preserved. The first daily backup created at
    'preserve_day_of_week' (or the first backup in this week if none
    was made on the exact day) is considered as a weekly backup.

*monthly*::
    Defines how many months back monthly backups should be
    preserved. Every first weekly backup in a month is considered a
    monthly backup.

*yearly*::
    Defines for how many years back yearly backups should be
    preserved. Every first monthly backup in a year is considered a
    yearly backup.

Use an asterisk for ``all'' (e.g. "target_preserve 60d *m"
states: "preserve daily backups for 60 days back, and all monthly
backups").

The reference time (which defines the beginning of a day, week, month
or year) for all date/time calculations is the local time of the host
running btrbk.

Hint: Run btrbk with the '--print-schedule' option to get a
comprehensive output of the scheduler results.

Caveats:

* If you run a setup with several btrbk instances (e.g. one
  snapshot-only instance per remote client, and a separate fetch-only
  instance on the backup server), it makes perfectly sense to run
  btrbk with different local time on the clients, in order to make
  sure the backups from all the remote hosts are preserved for
  "midnight", and not at "00:00 UTC" (which would be "14:00" in
  Honolulu). If you want this behaviour, do NOT use "timestamp_format
  long-iso".

* If "timestamp_format long-iso" is set, running btrbk from different
  time zones leads to different interpretation of "first in day, week,
  month, or year". Make sure to run btrbk with the same time zone on
  every host, e.g. by setting the TZ environment variable (see
  tzset(3)).


TARGET TYPES
------------

*send-receive*::
    Backup to a btrfs filesystem, using "btrfs send/receive". This is
    the recommended (standard) target type. The '<target-directory>'
    must be an absolute path and point to a btrfs volume (or
    subvolume), or to a directory within a subvolume. See
    btrfs-send(8), btrfs-receive(8).

*raw*  _*experimental*_::
    Backup to a raw (filesystem independent) file from the output of
    btrfs-send(8), with optional compression and encryption.
+
--
Note that the target preserve mechanism is currently disabled for
incremental raw backups (btrbk does not delete any incremental raw
files)!

Raw backups consist of two files: the main data file containing the
btrfs send stream, and a sidecar file ".info" containing metadata:

  <snapshot-name>.<timestamp>[_N].btrfs[.gz|.bz2|.xz][.gpg]
  <snapshot-name>.<timestamp>[_N].btrfs[.gz|.bz2|.xz][.gpg].info

For 'incremental' backups ("incremental yes"), please note that:

* As soon as a single 'incremental' backup file is lost or corrupted,
  all later incremental backups become invalid, as there is no common
  parent for the subsequent incremental images anymore. This might be
  a good compromise for a vacation backup plan, but for the long term
  make sure that a non-incremental backup is triggered from time to
  time.

* There is currently no support for rotation of incremental backups:
  if 'incremental' is set, a full backup must be triggered manually
  from time to time in order to be able to delete old backups.


Additional options for raw targets:

*raw_target_compress* <compress_command>|no::
    Compression algorithm to use for raw backup target. Supported
    '<compress_command>': gzip, pigz, bzip2, pbzip2, xz, lzo, lz4.
*raw_target_compress_level* default|<number>::
    Compression level for the specified <compress_command>.
*raw_target_compress_threads* default|<number>::
    Number of threads to use for <compress_command>.
*raw_target_split* <size>|no:: {zwsp}
    Split the raw backup file into pieces of size '<size>'.
*raw_target_block_size* <number>::
    Block size to use for writing the raw backup file. Defaults to
    ``128K''.
*raw_target_encrypt* gpg|openssl_enc|no::
    If enabled, encrypt the target raw file using gpg or openssl_enc.


Additional options for "raw_target_encrypt gpg":

*gpg_keyring* <file>::
    Keyring to use for gpg, e.g. "`/etc/btrbk/gpg/pubring.kbx`".
*gpg_recipient* <name>::
    Encrypt for user id '<name>' (email address).


Additional options for "raw_target_encrypt openssl_enc" ('very
experimental'):

*openssl_ciphername*{nbsp}<name>::
    Defaults to ``aes-256-cbc''.
*openssl_iv_size* <size-in-bytes>|no::
    Depends on selected cipher.
*openssl_keyfile* <file>|no::
    Point to a key file in hex (absolute path). Example key file
    creation (256bit key):
+
------------
  # dd if=/dev/urandom bs=1 count=32 \
    | od -x -A n \
    | tr -d "[:space:]" > /path/to/keyfile
------------

*kdf_backend* <file>|no::
    KDF backend to be executed,
    e.g. "`/usr/share/btrbk/scripts/kdf_pbkdf2.py`".
*kdf_keysize* <size-in-bytes>::
    Defaults to ``32''.
*kdf_keygen* once|each::
    Defaults to ``once''.
--


AVAILABILITY
------------

Please refer to the btrbk project page *<https://digint.ch/btrbk/>*
for further details.


SEE ALSO
--------

*btrbk*(1)


AUTHOR
------
Axel Burri <axel@tty0.ch>
