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borg

Deduplicating backup with compression and encryption

TLDR

Initialize repository
$ borg init --encryption=[repokey] [/path/to/repo]
Create backup
$ borg create [/path/to/repo::backup-{now}] [/path/to/data]
List archives
$ borg list [/path/to/repo]
Extract backup
$ borg extract [/path/to/repo::backup-name]
Check repository
$ borg check [/path/to/repo]
Prune old backups
$ borg prune --keep-daily [7] --keep-weekly [4] [/path/to/repo]
Compact the repository to actually free pruned space
$ borg compact [/path/to/repo]
Mount an archive to browse it as a filesystem
$ borg mount [/path/to/repo::backup-name] [/mnt/point]

SYNOPSIS

borg command [options]

DESCRIPTION

borg (BorgBackup) is a deduplicating backup program with compression and authenticated encryption. It efficiently stores multiple backups by sharing common data blocks, making it ideal for frequent backups of large datasets.The tool provides security, efficiency, and reliability for local and remote backups.

PARAMETERS

init

Initialize repository
create
Create new archive
extract
Extract archive contents
list
List archives or contents
diff
Compare archives
delete
Delete archive
prune
Delete old archives by retention policy
compact
Free repository space freed by prune or delete (run after pruning)
info
Show archive/repository information
mount
Mount archive as filesystem
check
Verify repository consistency

ENCRYPTION MODES

repokey

Key stored in repository
keyfile
Key stored locally
none
No encryption
authenticated
Authenticated only (no encryption)

WORKFLOW

$ # Initialize repository
borg init --encryption=repokey /backup/repo

# Create first backup
borg create /backup/repo::monday /home/user

# Create incremental backup (automatic deduplication)
borg create /backup/repo::tuesday /home/user

# List backups
borg list /backup/repo

# Restore
borg extract /backup/repo::monday

# Mount for browsing
borg mount /backup/repo::monday /mnt/backup

# Prune old backups
borg prune --keep-daily=7 --keep-weekly=4 /backup/repo

# Reclaim the space freed by prune
borg compact /backup/repo

FEATURES

Deduplication

Chunk-level deduplication shares common data across archives
Compression
Supports lz4, zstd, zlib, and lzma
Encryption
Authenticated AES encryption with repokey or keyfile modes
Remote backups
Push backups to a remote repository over SSH
Other
Sparse file support, archive mounting via FUSE, data verification, and efficient storage

INSTALL

sudo apt install borgbackup
sudo dnf install borgbackup
sudo pacman -S borg
sudo apk add borgbackup
sudo zypper install borgbackup
brew install borgbackup
nix profile install nixpkgs#borgbackup

CAVEATS

Repository corruption can lose all backups (keep offsite copies). Encryption key loss means permanent data loss. Large repos need significant RAM for cache. SSH connection required for remote repos. Check operations can be slow.

HISTORY

BorgBackup was created by Thomas Waldmann in 2015 as a fork of Attic backup, focusing on performance, security, and reliability.

SEE ALSO

restic(1), duplicity(1), rsync(1)

RESOURCES

Source code · Homepage · Documentation