rdiff-backup
The facts below are what the maker publishes about rdiff-backup, checked and dated. Our editors have not written about it yet.
The facts
Each one read from rdiff-backup's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Audience
- The project describes rdiff-backup as a way to back up one hard drive to another, locally or across a network.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Backup scope
- filechecked 19 Sep 2026
- Computer backup
- Yeschecked 19 Sep 2026
- Efficient storage
- It uses librsync to save differences for changed files, including binary files, rather than storing full copies for each increment.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Efficient transfers
- Using librsync, it stores and transfers differences for changed files to reduce storage use and network bandwidth.checked 12 Oct 2026
- File recovery
- The destination mirrors the source while storing reverse diffs that can recover earlier file versions.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Filesystem metadata support
- With optional pylibacl and pyxattr modules and compatible filesystems, it can preserve ACLs and extended attributes; ACLs are not supported on macOS or Windows.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Filesystem support
- It detects filesystem capabilities such as case sensitivity, ownership, resource forks, extended attributes, and access control lists.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- SSH can be used for secure remote backups, and the project recommends installing an SSH package for remote Windows operations.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Latest backup
- The backup directory is an almost exact copy of the source, making the latest files directly accessible there.checked 12 Oct 2026
- License and development
- The GitHub repository identifies the project as open source under GPL-2.0 and says no particular company backs its development.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Metadata
- It preserves file information such as permissions, ownership, modification times, device files, fifos, and symlinks, subject to destination filesystem capabilities.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Notable limit
- The FAQ says there is no internal option to limit bandwidth usage; it suggests external utilities for that purpose.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Project status
- The project describes itself as open source and welcomes contributions.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- rdiff-backup backs up one directory to another locally or over a network, combining a mirror with incremental backups.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Remote access
- Remote backups can run over SSH, with rdiff-backup installed on both systems.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Remote transfers
- For remote backups, it sends differences over the network and can operate over SSH.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Restore modes
- filechecked 19 Sep 2026
- Restore points
- It stores changes as reverse diffs so earlier versions of files can be recovered.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Security
- The project describes using rdiff-backup with SSH as a way to securely back up a drive to a remote location.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Server backup
- Yeschecked 19 Sep 2026
- Support
- The project directs users to its FAQ, user mailing list, and GitHub issue tracker for help.checked 12 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Mac metadata
- On Mac systems, it can back up resource forks and restore that metadata.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Platforms
- The project documents installation for Linux and Windows and reports successful use on FreeBSD and Mac OS X.checked 12 Oct 2026
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