Personal Files Backups with Rsync

Published on August 28th 2025

In my homelab, a simple Ubuntu server acts as my NAS. It hosts a `Backups` directory with dedicated subdirectories for each of my computers. To keep everything synchronized, each computer runs an rsync script every four hours via a cron job. This backup process is efficient and unobtrusive, running in the background and only syncing new or changed files.

The Backup Script

The backup script is quite simple, relying on a single rsync command. It targets my home directory and uses an `excludes` list to skip any unwanted directories. A critical consideration is to also exclude any mounted directories, as rsync will otherwise traverse into these mounts and attempt to back up their contents as well.

The script is designed for easy customization. You'll need to adjust the `sourcedir`, `backupdir`, and `logfile` variables to match your environment. The most critical part to configure is the `exclusions` array. It's essential to add any mounted filesystems to this list to prevent rsync from attempting to back them up. I also recommend excluding large, non-essential directories—such as game libraries or virtual machine images—to ensure the backup process remains swift and efficient.

#!/bin/bash

# Set as a cron job: This runs the job every 4 hours at 00:00, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00
# echo "0 */4 * * * username /home/username/scripts/sync.sh > /home/username/scripts/logs/sync.log 2>&1" | sudo tee -a /etc/crontab > /dev/null

# Variables
today_date=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
sourcedir="/home/username/"
backupdir="/mnt/nfs/disk4/BACKUPS/HOSTNAME/SYNC"
logfile="/home/username/scripts/logs/sync_$today_date.log"

# Exclusions list
exclusions=(
".cache"
"cache/"
"/cache/"
"cache2/"
"Cache/"
"/Cache/"
"CacheStorage/"
"/CacheStorage/"
"ScriptCache/"
"Code Cache/"
"CachedData/"
"/dev/*"
"logs/"
"/logs/"
"/proc/*"
"/sys/*"
"/tmp/*"
"/run/*"
"/var/log/*"
"/mnt/*"
"/media/*"
"swapfile"
"Steam"
"Games"
"GOG Games"
"Thumbnails/"
"/Thumbnails/"
"lost+found"
"Downloads"
"Videos"
"VirtualBox VMs"
".ecryptfs"
".cinnamon"
".local"
".themes"
".linuxmint"
".npm"
".nvm"
".steam"
".var"
"retrodeck"
"Applications/lazydocker"
"*.log"
)

# Function to log messages
log() {
echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - $1" | tee -a $logfile
}

# Start backup
log "Backup started"
notify-send "Backup started"

# Check if backup directory exists
if [ -d "$backupdir" ]; then
log "Backup directory exists: $backupdir"

# Build rsync command
rsync_command="rsync -avzP --delete"
for exclude in "${exclusions[@]}"; do
    rsync_command+=" --exclude=\"$exclude\""
done
rsync_command+=" $sourcedir $backupdir"

# Execute rsync command
log "Executing rsync command"
eval $rsync_command 2>&1 | tee -a $logfile

if [ ${PIPESTATUS[0]} -eq 0 ]; then
    log "Backup completed successfully"
    notify-send "Backup completed successfully"
else
    log "Backup encountered errors"
    notify-send "Backup encountered errors"
fi
else
log "Backup directory not found: $backupdir"
notify-send "Backup directory not found: $backupdir"
exit 1
fi

exit 0

Set to Run as a Cron Job

I have my backup script set as a cron job to run every four hours. You can set this up by editing the crontab file on your system.

I like to use nano for this task.

sudo nano /etc/crontab

Add this line to you crontab file. Change /home/username... to the path that the script is located in.

0 */4 * * * /home/username/scripts/sync.sh > /home/username/scripts/logs/sync.log 2>&1

The Server Archive Script

To create historical snapshots, a second script runs weekly on the NAS server itself. This cron job compresses the entire `SYNC` directory into a date-stamped `tar.gz` archive. The script also handles cleanup, automatically deleting any archives older than 21 days, which ensures I always have three weeks of backups on hand. As with the client script, you'll need to modify the `BACKUP_DIR` and `ARCHIVE_DIR` variables for your setup.

#!/bin/bash

# Configuration
TODAY_DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
BACKUP_DIR="/mnt/disk4/BACKUPS/THINKPAD-MINT/SYNC"
ARCHIVE_DIR="/mnt/disk4/BACKUPS/THINKPAD-MINT/Archives"
LOG_FILE="/home/username/scripts/logs/thinkpad-mint_sync_archive.log"
RETENTION_DAYS=21

# Ensure log file exists and truncate
sudo truncate -s 0 "$LOG_FILE"

log() {
    echo "$(date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - $1" | sudo tee -a "$LOG_FILE" > /dev/null
}

log "Backup process started"

# Check if backup directory exists
if [ -d "$BACKUP_DIR" ]; then
    log "Directory $BACKUP_DIR exists"
    
    # Create the archive
    ARCHIVE_FILE="$ARCHIVE_DIR/backup-$TODAY_DATE.tar.gz"
    if sudo tar -czvf "$ARCHIVE_FILE" "$BACKUP_DIR" &>> "$LOG_FILE"; then
        log "Backup completed successfully: $ARCHIVE_FILE"
    else
        log "Error creating archive $ARCHIVE_FILE"
        exit 1
    fi
else
    log "Directory $BACKUP_DIR not found"
    exit 1
fi

# Delete old backups
log "Deleting backups older than $RETENTION_DAYS days"
if find "$ARCHIVE_DIR" -type f -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -name '*.tar.gz' -delete &>> "$LOG_FILE"; then
    log "Old backups deleted successfully"
else
    log "Error deleting old backups"
    exit 1
fi

log "Backup process completed"
exit 0

And that's all it takes to implement a robust, automated, and unobtrusive backup strategy for your personal files. This simple `rsync`-based system has proven to be a lifesaver on numerous occasions. Whether I've accidentally deleted a file, a directory, or a critical configuration, recovery is as simple as browsing the NAS and copying the data back. It's a small setup for invaluable peace of mind.