Re: [rdiff-backup-users] file-by-file changes from one backup to the next

[Robert Nichols]

On 06/14/2011 09:08 AM, Henrik wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I've just recently switched backup system from rsnapshot
> to rdiff-backup for a part of my data. Mostly because
> of the space saved when large files have small changes,
> and thus the ability to retain more backups (possibly
> going back all the way to the original version of a file
> when it first entered the system).
>
> All in all I am happy with rdiff-backup. However I don't
> have the same level of confidence that I quickly developed
> when starting with rsnapshot.
>
> The main reason is (as I perceive it) the lack of status
> output, or maybe the wrong kind of status output.
> Or maybe I just haven't found the right combination of
> options to get what I need. I am after all pretty new
> to rdiff-backup.
[big snip]

You can get a little of that from the file_statistics.{timestamp}.data.gz
file that is created for each backup.  For each file or directory there is
a flag that indicates a change, plus the sizes of the source file, the file
in the mirror, and the increment.  Because of the format and the
possibility of file names with spaces, it gets a bit messy to parse that
file, but the following will show all of the lines with the "change" flag
set:

  zgrep -E '(# F)|(1 [^ ]+ [^ ]+ [^ ]+$)' \
       file_statistcs.{timestamp}.data.gz | less

Alas, if you were using the "--null-separator" option for your backup,
that gets even worse:

  zcat file_statistcs.{timestamp}.data.gz | tr '\0' '\n' | \
       egrep '(# F)|(1 [^ ]+ [^ ]+ [^ ]+$)' | less

Also, you can always see what versions of a file exist in the backup:

  rdiff-backup -l /backup_dir/path/to/some/filename




That's nothing like what you're used to, but at least it's something.

--
Bob Nichols     "NOSPAM" is really part of my email address.
                Do NOT delete it.