# RIBS - Rod's Incremental Backup System

## Description

With RIBS you can run automated incremental backups of one or more Linux systems to local or remote storage.

## Who RIBS is for

RIBS is intended for a system administrator who wants to have easily accessible snapshots of the state
of a specified part of a system at any point in time.

## Dependencies

Before using RIBS, ensure you have:

* Python3
* rsync

These can be installed using the package manager of your Linux distribution.

## Instructions for using RIBS

### Install RIBS

1. Download RIBS

    The easiest way is to run `wget https://gitserver.thermionic.net/rod.wright/RIBS/releases/download/2.0/RIBS-2.0.tar.gz`

    or visit https://gitserver.thermionic.net/rod.wright/RIBS/releases to download the specific package version you'd like to use.

2. Extract the package

    `tar -zxvf RIBS-2.0.tar.gz`

3. Change to the extracted package directory

    `cd RIBS-2.0`

4. Run the installer as superuser

    `sudo ./install.sh`


### Configure RIBS

RIBS operates through the use of configuration files. The format of the file is documented in the sample file, 
[/etc/ribs/conf-available/ribs.conf.sample](dist/etc/ribs/conf-available/ribs.conf.sample)

* Superuser configuration files are located in `/etc/ribs/conf-available`. If RIBS is run by a 
superuser, those files will be used. A sample configuration file is provided.  
* Standard user configuration files are located in the user's home directory in `.ribs/conf-available`. 
* To enable automated usage of RIBS, the configuration file must be enabled
by creating a symbolic link in `/etc/ribs/conf-enabled` or `.ribs/conf-enabled` to the configuration file in `/etc/ribs/conf-available` or `.ribs/conf-available`.

### Run RIBS
```
usage: ribs [-h] [-s] [-c | -l | -e CONF_FILE | -d CONF_FILE | conf_file]

Rod's Incremental Backup System, version 2.0

positional arguments:
  conf_file             Run RIBS using the specified config file. If none
                        specified, run all enabled config files, looking in
                        '~/.ribs/conf-enabled' for standard users, or in
                        '/etc/ribs/conf-enabled' for superusers.

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -s, --simulate        simulate operations to be performed
  -c, --config          interactively create, remove, modify, enable, or 
                        disable config files
  -l, --list-configs    list all config files
  -e CONF_FILE, --enable-config CONF_FILE
                        enable a config file
  -d CONF_FILE, --disable-config CONF_FILE
                        disable a config file
```

A script called `run_ribs_backups` is located in /usr/local/bin.
This script is intended to facilitate running ribs backups using cron.
To run system configs, either create a link to this script in one or
more of the /etc/cron.* directories or add a line calling this script
to the /etc/crontab file. That will run all enabled system configs.
To run user configs, the user should add a line calling this script 
to their personal crontab. That will run all enabled user configs for
that user.

## How to report problems

To report an issue with RIBS, email me at software@rodsplace.net.

## Terms of use

RIBS is licensed under the [GNU General Public License v2](LICENSE)