Note

The complete list of all configuration options can be found on Configuration Files

Note

All good ASCII art is courtesy of Joan Stark, all bad ASCII art is me changing her work for the worse.

Example 1

The easiest possible setup: a single source and only one store:

                   .----.
       .---------. | == |
       |.-"""""-.| |----|
       ||       || | == |
       ||       || |----|
       |'-.....-'| |::::|
       `"")---(""` |___.|
      /:::::::::::\" _  "
     /:::=======:::\`\`\
jgs `"""""""""""""`  '-'

         1 Source
         1 Store

The file sources.config will contain something like:

[ entireHomeDirectory ]
Include[] = /home/ives
Exclude[] = *.bak
Exclude[] = *~
ExecuteAt = every wednesday at 21:00h

The file stores.config will contain something like:

[ externalStore ]
Location = /media/usbDrive/backup

This will backup all files in /home/ives, except for those matching *.bak or *~ on every Wednesday at 8 p.m. It will store backups for them in /media/usbDrive/backup.

Example 2

A setup where there is one “server” and one “workstation”. All backups for the workstation will be stored on the server. The server itself does not have any backup sources.

       WORKSTATION                    SERVER
                   .----.            _________
       .---------. | == |           | _______o|
       |.-"""""-.| |----|           ||_______||
       ||       || | == |           | _______ |
       ||       || |----| ========= ||_______||
       |'-.....-'| |::::|           |---------|
       `"")---(""` |___.|           |       O |
      /:::::::::::\" _  "           |       | |
     /:::=======:::\`\`\            |       | |
jgs `"""""""""""""`  '-'            |:::::::::|

         1 Source                    0 Sources
         0 Store                     1 Store

On the Workstation

The file sources.config will contain something like:

[ entireHomeDirectory ]
Include[] = /home/ives
Include[] = /home/naomi/importantFile
Exclude[] = /home/ives/movies
ExecuteAt = every 6 hours

No stores.config is present on the workstation.

On the Server

The file stores.config will contain something like:

[ externalStore ]
Location = /media/bigdrive/

Conclusion

This setup will backup all files and directories in /home/ives, except for those in /home/ives/movies. It will also backup the file /home/naomi/importantFile. The backup will run every six hours. The workstation and server obviously have to be connected to the same LAN.