Backrest is a backup solution that uses a restic backend and features a easy-to-use WebUI.

docs: https://garethgeorge.github.io/backrest/
repo: https://github.com/garethgeorge/backrest?tab=readme-ov-file

Install

  1. Copy link to latest release backrest_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz from git repo.
  2. Download release to server.
wget https://github.com/garethgeorge/backrest/releases/download/v1.10.1/backrest_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
  1. Install Backrest.
mkdir backrest && tar -xzvf backrest_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz -C backrest
cd backrest && ./install.sh
  1. Edit Backrest systemd file to enable remote connections.
sudo systemctl edit backrest

# add these two lines after the gap in the first comment
[Service]
Environment="BACKREST_PORT=0.0.0.0:9898"
  1. Open Backrest http://<local-server-ip>:9898.
  2. Enter a unique instance id then click Ok.

Setup Repository

  1. Add remote server to .ssh/config
Host <remote-server-name>
	HostName <remote-server-hostname>
	User <remote-server-username>
	Port 23
  • port is not needed, defaults to 22
  1. Create new SSH key (if needed) and copy it to remote server.
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "user@machine"
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 <remote-server-name>

# for hetzner storage box use -s to specify sftp
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -s <remote-server-name>
  1. Open Backrest http://<local-server-ip>:9898.
  2. Select Add Repo.
  3. Enter repository name as remote server name.
  4. Enter repository url as sftp path on remote server.
sftp://<remote-server-name>:/<remote-repo-path>

#ex. sftp://hetzner:/proxmox-backup
  1. Click Generate for password. Do Not Loose, it is needed to decrypt data.
  2. Click Test Configuration then Submit.

Setup Plan

  1. Open Backrest http://<local-server-ip>:9898.
  2. Select Add Plan.
  3. Enter plan name, something like <local-folder-name>-to-<remote-server-name.
  4. Select appropriate repository.
  5. Select Add Path and enter path to local directory to be backed up. This could be a remote NFS or SMB share.
  6. Set backup schedule as Cron: UTC: Every Day at 12:00 and set retention policy as By Count: 30. Free to change as needed.
  7. Click Submit then Backup Now to run initial backup.

Restore Backup

  1. Select the plan and backup snapshot to restore from.
  2. Expand Snapshot Browser dropdown.
  3. Press Download (for new directory) or Restore to Path (for original directory) on the desired file or folder that needs to be restored.