Performing Backups

Whether you're responsible for a Linux system in a business environment or just using it at home, the loss of data can be catastrophic. To help prevent bad things from happening, it's always a good idea to perform regular backups.

However, what's a good idea and what's practical are often two separate things. Trying to arrange a backup schedule to store important files can be a challenge. This is another place where shell scripts often come to the rescue.

This section demonstrates two different methods for using shell scripts to back up data on your Linux system.

Archiving Data Files

If you're using your Linux system to work on an important project, you can create a shell script that automatically takes snapshots of specific directories. Designating these directories in a configuration file will allow you to change them when a particular project changes. This will help avoid a time-consuming restore process from your main archive files.