Real newbie question

I have a raspberry pi 4 running openmediavault, portainer and duplicati.

I installed duplicati using portainer.

Duplicati has installed OK - well no errors are shown, but I am not sure whether I have setup the source and backups folders in the correct locations.

The reason for my confusion is that I have no idea as to what these two folders are used for, where they should be installed or how to use them.
For example - do I have to copy all files I wish to backup to the source folder and will they them be backup to the backups folder?

Is there an idiots guide to help me through this crisis?

Hello and welcome!

Duplicati is designed to back up local data on the device in which it’s installed. When using docker, the source folder is just a suggested place to map host data so the docker container can see it. Don’t copy the data you want to protect to that location, that’s not the intended workflow for Duplicati at all.

Is the source data you want to protect already on your pi somewhere? Or are you trying to make the pi your backup destination for other machines?

I have a pi 4 and a 1TB SSD fitted in a deskpi pro V2 case along with an external 2TB USB3.0 SSD which will be used for backups.

I wish to backup files on my internal 1TB SSD to my external 2TB SSD.

One of the problems I have is that I do not understand the functions of the source and backups files as created in the installation of Duplicati using Portainer.

When I try to set up a Duplicati backup I am able to find the source files to backup but I cannot find the external SSD.

Does Duplication backup to a drive or to a file on a drive

As you can probably guess I am a complete newbie to all things Pi, Linux, Openmediavault and Duplicati so I am finding the learning curve steep.

I am finding it a steep leaning curve.

In your opinion am I overcomplicating thins by using doicker to install Duplicati. Would it be better installed directly.

Duplicati backups to a directory in a target. A target is usually a cloud setup, but can be a local device.
If I have Duplicati setup in a container and I plug an USB drive to the host it does not appear automagically in the container when trying to setup a new backup.
So if you use Docker you probably have to manage the sharing of USB devices with the host at some point.

You could do this with Duplicati - back up data from one local drive to another. I see what you mean about steep learning curve, you are biting into multiple technologies all at once. I personally think the docker learning curve is worth it. It’s a great technology.

With docker each container has an isolated filesystem view. They can’t see drives/folders on the host machine unless they are mapped. I suggest you look at docker documentation on how to do such mappings. Here is an article on bind mounts:

You would need to map both the source and destination into the Duplicati docker container. Once you do that you should be able to select the source and targets correctly when setting up a backup job.

Thanks for the help. It is much appreciated.

When setting up Dulicati I used Docker and set up two folders called Source and Backups, which I was informed, would be used when setting up a Duplicati backup. I also used Bind and the absolute path for the relevant folders.

I have two drives I wish to use - a 1TB internal ssd used to store the OMV shared files etc and a 2Tb ssd connected to the Pi via USB 3.0 to hold the actual backups

When I set up the Source and backups files I put both on the internal 1TB ssd as I assumed that these folders would be just used for temporary storage of the backup information before being sent to its final destination.

I get the impression that I should have set up the Backups folder on the external ssd.

Are there any detailed documents or videos on this topic that could help me improve my knowledge?

I am slowly beginning to understand what I am trying to do.

I have no problems with the source folder or the backups folder but I am still totally lost with the source folder.

I wish to backup files from an overarching folder, lets say called myfolder, which contains the folders I wish to back up from.

I know the absolute path of the internal ssd containing myfolder but I am unsure how to specify the folder path and name in the stack.

Do I specify the actual name, myfolder, in the absolute path or do I have to use the name /source.

If I don’t use /source how qill the installer know that this is the source folder.

You would use the path from the viewpoint of inside the docker container.

Nothing is automatically selected for backup. You configure your backup jobs in the Duplicati web UI, and you can select which folders you want to back up. It doesn’t have to be that “/source” folder - that’s just a suggestion for you to use. There is no requirement to do your bind mounts in any particular location.

Thank you very much for all your replies. They have been extremely helpful.

I now have a clearer idea as to hoe Duplicati works.

I will now (endeavour) to set up a test backup. I am now much more hopeful

1 Like