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rdiff-backup

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description rdiff-backup Overview

rdiff-backup is a command-line backup utility that creates incremental backups by comparing files and only transferring changes, offering efficient storage usage and rapid restore capabilities for data protection.

help rdiff-backup FAQ

How is rdiff-backup different from a simple mirror?

The destination looks like a current mirror of the source, but rdiff-backup also stores reverse diffs in an rdiff-backup-data directory. Those diffs let you recover older versions after a file was changed or deleted. [rdiff-backup features](https://rdiff-backup.nongnu.org/features.html)

How does rdiff-backup transfer only changes over a network?

rdiff-backup compares files and sends only the differences, using a bandwidth-efficient method similar to rsync. It can operate over a pipe such as SSH when rdiff-backup is installed on both systems. [Debian rdiff-backup manual](https://manpages.debian.org/unstable/rdiff-backup/rdiff-backup.1.en.html)

What file information does rdiff-backup preserve?

The program is designed to preserve symlinks, special files, hard links, permissions, user and group ownership, and modification times. That makes it more suitable for system files than a basic drag-and-drop copy. [rdiff-backup features](https://rdiff-backup.nongnu.org/features.html)

What happens if I delete a file from the source directory?

The current mirror can reflect the deletion, but rdiff-backup keeps the earlier state in its reverse-diff history until that increment is removed. You can then restore the file from an earlier backup point instead of losing it immediately. [rdiff-backup features](https://rdiff-backup.nongnu.org/features.html)

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