# rbackup
**rbackup** is a fast, cross-platform, and multithreaded command-line utility written in Rust for performing incremental backups of directories. It is inspired by tools like `rsync` and `robocopy`, but designed with simplicity, portability, and localization in mind.
[](LICENSE)
[](https://github.com/umpire274/rBackup/releases)
[](https://github.com/umpire274/rbackup/releases)
📋 [View recent changes (Changelog)](CHANGELOG.md)
---
## ✨ Features
- 🚀 **Incremental backup** – copies only new or modified files
- ⚡ **Multithreaded** – uses all CPU cores to speed up large backups
- 🌍 **Multilingual support** – English and Italian (with auto-detection)
- 📦 **Portable** – no installation required, single binary
- 🧾 **Optional logging** – write backup reports to a file
- 📊 **Progress bar** – display graphical progress bar during copy process
- 🤫 **Quiet mode** – suppress all output for silent operation
---
## 📦 Installation
[](https://repology.org/project/rbackup/versions)
### 🐧 AUR (Arch Linux)
[](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/rbackup)
```bash
yay -S rfortune
# or
paru -S rfortune
```
### 🍺 Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
[](https://github.com/umpire274/homebrew-rbackup)
```bash
brew tap umpire274/rbackup
brew install rbackup
```
### 🦀 Crates.io (Rust)
[](https://crates.io/crates/rbackup)
```bash
cargo install rbackup
```
---
## 📥 Download
Precompiled binaries are available in the [Releases](https://github.com/umpire274/rbackup/releases) section.
| Windows | x86_64 | `rbackup-<version>-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip` |
| Linux | x86_64 | `rbackup-<version>-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz` |
| macOS | x86_64 | `rbackup-<version>-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` |
| macOS | aarch64 | `rbackup-<version>-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` |
---
## 🔐 GPG Signature
All release archives are cryptographically signed with GPG.
- `.sig` files contain the ASCII-armored detached signature for the corresponding archive.
- You can verify the archive with:
```bash
gpg --verify rbackup-<version>-<target>.tar.gz.sig rbackup-<version>-<target>.tar.gz
```
---
## 🔑 Public Key
The releases are signed with the following GPG key:
* Key ID: 423FABCE0A1921FB
* Fingerprint: 8118 9716 9512 2A32 1F3D C04C 423F ABCE 0A19 21FB
* Download: https://github.com/umpire274.gpg
To import the key from a keyserver:
```sh
gpg --recv-keys 423FABCE0A1921FB
```
Or from OpenPGP server:
```sh
gpg --keyserver keys.openpgp.org --recv-keys 423FABCE0A1921FB
```
Then verify the fingerprint:
```sh
gpg --fingerprint 423FABCE0A1921FB
```
---
## 🚀 Usage
```sh
rbackup <source> <destination> [OPTIONS]
```
---
## ✅ Basic example
```sh
rbackup ~/Documents /mnt/backup_drive/Documents
```
---
## 🧩 Options
| `-q`, `--quiet` | Suppress console output |
| `-t`, `--timestamp` | Prepend timestamp to messages |
| `--log <FILE>` | Write output to a log file |
| `-l`, `--lang <code>` | Force language (e.g. `en`, `it`) |
| `-V`, `--version` | Show version |
| `-h`, `--help` | Show help message |
---
## 🔎 Exclude patterns (`--exclude`)
`rbackup copy` supports flexible exclude patterns to skip files and directories during a backup. The `--exclude <PATTERN>` option can be used multiple times to provide multiple glob patterns.
Where patterns are matched
- By default patterns are matched against the path *relative* to the source directory. Example: with source `/home/me/project`, pattern `build/**` matches `/home/me/project/build/foo`.
- Use `--absolute-exclude` to match the pattern against the absolute path of the source file instead.
- The matcher also tests the file basename (the filename only). This means a simple pattern like `$RECYCLE.BIN` or `Thumbs.db` will match files whose name equals that string anywhere in the source tree.
Case sensitivity
- By default matching is case-sensitive.
- Use `--ignore-case` to enable case-insensitive matching for exclude patterns.
Examples
- Exclude macOS DMG files and Thumbs.db files (case-insensitive):
```bash
rbackup copy /source /dest --log backup.log --exclude '*.dmg' --exclude 'Thumbs.db' --ignore-case
```
- Exclude the Windows Recycle Bin directory by basename and hidden files starting with a dot:
```bash
rbackup copy /source /dest --exclude '$RECYCLE.BIN' --exclude '.*'
```
> Tip: In `zsh`/`bash` wrap patterns that contain `$` or other special characters in single quotes: `'\$RECYCLE.BIN'` or better `'$RECYCLE.BIN'`.
Absolute vs relative matching
- Relative match (default): `--exclude 'temp/**'` will skip anything under `source/temp/`.
- Absolute match: `--absolute-exclude` with `--exclude '/home/me/project/temp/**'` will match only that absolute path.
Dry-run and logging
- Combine `--dry-run` with `--log` to generate a report of what would be copied or skipped — but without changing the destination:
```bash
rbackup copy /source /dest --exclude '*.tmp' --dry-run --log dryrun.log
```
- The log file contains both `Copied` and `Skipped` entries. Skipped entries include the exclude pattern that caused the skip when applicable, which helps debugging complex exclude sets.
Use-cases
- Backup only source code files, ignoring build artifacts:
```bash
rbackup copy /home/dev/project /backup/project --exclude 'target/**' --exclude '*.o' --exclude '*.class'
```
- Mirror a user's Documents folder but exclude large media files and the Recycle Bin:
```bash
rbackup copy ~/Documents /mnt/backup/Documents --exclude '*.mp4' --exclude '$RECYCLE.BIN' --exclude 'Thumbs.db' --ignore-case
```
- Debug why a file is skipped: run a dry-run with logging and inspect the log — each skipped line shows the pattern that caused the skip.
---
## 📝 Example
```sh
rbackup /home/alex/Projects /mnt/usb-backup --log backup.log --timestamp
```
## 🧪 Build from source
To compile rbackup yourself:
```sh
git clone https://github.com/your-username/rbackup.git
cd rbackup
cargo build --release
```
For Windows, rbackup.rc will be embedded automatically in the executable.
---
## 🔒 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
© 2025 Alessandro Maestri
---
## 💡 Contributing
Pull requests are welcome! If you’d like to add support for more languages, improve performance, or fix bugs, feel free to fork the repo and contribute.