restic/doc/010_introduction.rst

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############
Introduction
############

Restic is a fast and secure backup program. In the following sections, we will
present typical workflows, starting with installing, preparing a new
repository, and making the first backup.

Quickstart Guide
****************

To get started with a local repository, first define some environment variables:

.. code-block:: console

    export RESTIC_REPOSITORY=/srv/restic-repo
    export RESTIC_PASSWORD=some-strong-password

Initialize the repository (first time only):

.. code-block:: console

    restic init

Create your first backup:

.. code-block:: console

    restic backup ~/work

You can list all the snapshots you created with:

.. code-block:: console

    restic snapshots

You can restore a backup by noting the snapshot ID you want and running:

.. code-block:: console

    restic restore --target /tmp/restore-work your-snapshot-ID

It is a good idea to periodically check your repository's metadata:

.. code-block:: console

    restic check
    # or full data:
    restic check --read-data

For more details continue reading the next sections.