*Note;
I use Macrium Reflect to image my drives and was using Genie Timeline / Crash Plan to backup files which change all the time like GAME data.
Now only using Duplicati, as a replacement ( I hope ) for Crash Plan / Genie Timeline
I still use Macrium Reflect to image my drives, a full backup.
QUESTIONS
Would like to know what Duplicati Scripts to use, when making backups that keep variations
of files like how Genie Timeline / Crash Plan work.
Would like my Duplicati to backup specific files every 3 mins or every day automatically.
Duplicati must also be able to skip files if missing and backup new files that have appeared
ie , like backing up Windows Desktop, these files are either been delete added or moved, all the time.
I tried to setup Duplicati via the Task manger to run at specific time, after reading a post here, but cant get it working, as the system tray icon stays black, I assume the command line string is not working.
Manual run, does work, I see a command box open, yet see no feed back its ābacking upā
Is there a specific run everyday script ?
I assume orphans from Crash Plan would be seeking the same information
Why donāt you do the scheduling within Duplicati itself?
I used to use CrashPlan and had multiple backup sets. I would back up my main working folders every 15 minutes, and then other less active areas less frequently.
From what I can see you should be able to have Duplicati do something similar. Create a backup set for your most active data and schedule it for every 3 minutes. What I do not know is if Duplicati lets multiple backup sets run at the same time. I read somewhere (I think) that the scheduler wonāt do that. So Iām not sure how it would behave.
I also think (and I could be wrong) that the different backup sets may need to go to different backup destinations. That could be simply a different folder in your cloud storage bucket. Again I am not sure about that detail. Iām relatively new to Duplicati and still learning.
Iām also a recent Macrium Reflect user and use it to image my Windows computers to my NAS. Doing weekly fulls and daily incrementals. So far itās working well. Only doing maybe 2 week retention on these image level because they are really for DR only.
You shouldnāt need any scripts, I think what you are asking for can be done in the GUI.
You can create multiple backup jobs with unique items being backed up and unique schedules. Note that these are separate backups and should go to separate destination folders.
Missing files will be treated as deleted, add files will automatically be included in the backup. Depending on your ākeepā settings even deleted files may be restorable.
As @drwtsn32 said, Duplicati has scheduling built in - I think itās step 4 (Scheduling) when editing a backup job.
Note that Duplicati only backs up files, not whole disk images like I believe Macrim Reflect can do.
What Scripts, ? to set this upā¦ The ones from the drop down box ?.
Iām using Dup, as a Genie Crash clone file folder backup, keeping each change , would like to be able to delete older ones, that are superseded by newer changes, have DUP do it after 3 months
Iām a little unsure whether Iām misunderstanding your question or youāre misunderstanding my answer (or both) but it seems to me that you just need to edit your backup job and get to step 5 (Options) with settings like the non-darkened ones below:
Thanks for clarifying, I think I understand a little better what you are wanting.
Some things we canāt answer without knowing what type of destination you are using. For example hash likely would not be needed for a local USB of UNC destination.
For the advanced options, yes there are a lot of them. What I often do us select one so it gets added to the GUI with a longer description of what it does. If itās not what I want then I use the āxā on the right to remove it.
Alternatively, you can read all the descriptions in one place at.
Failures in Task Scheduler often seem to be related to permissions issues and scope. For example, if you manually run a backup involving a mapped or UNC drive and it works but fails when scheduled itās likely because the scheduled task is running under a system account that doesnāt have that drive mapped (try changing the task user to your account) or have network access (try your account or Network account).
Note that when using your own account for a scheduled task, if you change your account password you must also update the scheduled account with the new password or the task will silently not start.
This just has information about all of the command line arguments, I donāt think it has information about all of the advanced backup commands unless Iām missing something?
What sorts of backup commands are you thinking of? As people close to the program itās easy to forget to describe something or to do so in a way that isnāt as clear to a new user add we would hope.
Iām still not sure what you mean by āscriptsā. Other than the ārun beforeā and ārun afterā parameters (which could call scripts) all other command line backup features are used as a single call with a pile of parameters.
If thatās what you are looking for Iād recommend either building what you want in the GUI then using the Export feature to spit it out āAs command-lineā.
That being said, when I get a few minutes Iāll try to post some basic examples of daily or 3 minute backups of C:\Users to a D: drive, UNC share, and a WebDAV cloud all with auto removal of versions over 3 months old.
Note that providing more specifics, such as which cloud provider youāre interested in using allows us to provide more specific examples.
Ive no idea how to set up DUP, so it works like Genie time line or Crash Plan, in that DUP will keep a file Iām using which is changing all the time, like game dataā¦ I need to keep the last change and the 2 before that.
I also set up DUP via the Task Manger have no clue how this affect the in built backup schedule
see the side question
Only had DUP for 2 days, still lot of reading to do, BUT templates is the way to go, so some basic examples, would be great, with those scripts needed for those examples to work well
Side question:
If I have DUP , shutdown, ( memory usage is high) can the Task Manger start DUP run the task then close DUP
In other words does DUP need to be running all the time , or can it just be run at call ?
Good point, I should have been more specific. You mentioned that you can read the descriptions for all of the advanced options in the help.txt file on the github site. I was trying to say that the help file has descriptions for all of the basic commands, but not all of the advanced options (retry-delay, upload-unchanged-backups, number-of-retries, snapshot-policy, etc.). The only way I know to get the full descriptions for all of the advanced options are either via the GUI as you described, or to actually use the built in help in the command line:
> Duplicati.CommandLine.exe help advanced
For what itās worth I found it helpful to save the advanced options out to a file when I was first getting started so I could reference them in a text editor:
> Duplicati.CommandLine.exe help advanced > %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\DuplicatiAdvancedOptions.txt
Keep up the good work @JonMikelV, didnāt mean to disrupt just remembered it being tricky to track down those descriptions when I was first starting off.
Hi sutex, iām also new to Duplicati and i found the best way to try it out is toā¦ try it out
Iāve gotten some basics including multiple backup sets (3) and email notification established, and iāve learned how to delete an individual set and check logs and such. Iāve done this within a Virtual Machine, simply backing up to itself initially (i have yet to attempt via FTP or similar). Iāve been too busy lately to go much deeper, and ironically i need to do some manual backups before i update my NAS (to also run Duplicati).
What iām trying to say is that drop-down is daunting, but the vast majority is totally optional and āadvancedā in that itās not needed to establish an understanding of the basics. With that knowledge, and a VM, you can experiment to hearts content and worry not!
Thanksā¦ Ive now have the Command line to run at idle , without DUP running in the system tray.
seem to work, but Ive yet to see the Command line box open, as it does when hitting Run on the task.
But the DUP file time stamp does change, really would like to be able to track the Command lineā¦
as it doesnāt seem to interact with the Browser DUP view, thought the command line may update some files there.
As for the setup, how to back up, Ive worked it out, but it would be handy, to have templates, to include all the scripts you would need (from the drop down box ) to do A, B, or C etcā¦ depending on what setup
Local / NAS networking / Cloud, then have templates for security and such.
Yeahā¦ Sorry about not getting those templates posted yet. Iām glad to hear youāve gotten some stuff going though!
The console window doesnāt open (or not for long) with scheduled command lines because all itās doing is telling the āserverā (whether running as the tray icon it a service) what to do. If you want that window to appear I think there are ways to do it as part of the task call, but I not sure Duplicati has anything to control that.
Donāt panic about the templates, wasnāt complaining just a general observation, that given Crash Plan home user is closing down, and Local backup is usually what Crash plane home users where doing.
Then to save forums the usual questions How & What does this script do ā¦DUP could set up some templates.
under different Storage options , that use different Scripts.
CrashPlan refugees are coming , be preparedā¦
The Command line cheers ,Iām looking into thatā¦ no worries
I am also something of an Orphan from CrashPlan, although I had only just gotten started with it. In fact, that is how I found Duplicati. I was about to start a new post, and then I saw that CrashPlan was headlined in this thread. Before I go much further, please advise if I should start a new thread about the following, or proceed here, or if there is a better thread for me to tag onto.
The issue I wanted help with is not the same one that Sutex started here. The feature that was so intriguing to me about CrashPlan is that you could set up a remote backup site on a friendās backup disk or NAS. This seemed like a great way to have more complete control of your remote backups, without using one of the standard Cloud backup solutions. My brother-in-law and I were planning to backup essential files to each othersā houses. The great thing about Crashplan was that they made this extremely easy to do. I think I should be able to do this also with Duplicati, but Iām unclear about what the setup procedure would be. I presume the remote computer would have to be setup to serve a secure ftp connection, or something similar, and I would setup Duplicati to backup to this. I was hoping someone will understand the intent and walk me through how to do this.
Should I start this as a new thread, or continue here?
another Crash Plan orphan wanting to replicate their āsameā backup type, with DUP
This type of Backup @Bilateral , however its setup, would be great if a Template or list was posted,
Iām assuming Bilateral setup would need some scripts from the drop down box,
Yep, thatās exactly the CrashPlan feature I miss! It would be great if Duplicati could include something like a built in sftp sever, but unfortunately you are correct - with how Duplicati works fort now you have to manually set up the ādestinationā server at each end.
The process varies depending on the destination OS, but here are two How-To topics that might help get you started using the S3 compatible tool Mino.
I think part of the reason itās but as simple as CrashPlan is because working through firewalls in a simple way generally requires a sever (that both clients can talk to) that gets all the right ports open so the two clients can then talk directly to each other. Since Duplicati is client only, that intermediary is missing. For now.
Oh, and also keep in mind that Duplicati currently only initiates backups at their scheduled time. If your Duplicati says ātime to back upā but you brother is offline then the backup is skipped until the next scheduled time. With CrashPlan I believe it would repeatedly check if the destination is online then start / continue a backup.
Oh, and as far a new post goes, if this discussion gets too long or too off OP topic we can shift the new posts over after the fact for you.
