Just a Theory

Just a few quick notes on how I set up launchd to run rsnapshot to backup my new iMac. The configurations I made are based on Kenn Christ’s blog entry.

1. Installed the rsnapshot port:

   sudo port install rsnapshot

2. Changed /opt/local/etc/rsnapshot.conf as follows:

   snapshot_root	/Volumes/Demiterra/Backup/
   #interval	hourly	6
   rsync_long_args	—delete —numeric-ids —relative —delete-excluded -extended-attributes
   exclude	*.cpan*
   link_dest	1
   #backup	/home/		localhost/
   #backup	/etc/		localhost/
   #backup	/usr/local/	localhost/
   backup	/Users/		
   

   Note that I’ve commented out hourly backups and the default backup directories. I’m using the Backups subdirectory on a My Book half terrabyte drive that I picked up at Costco for $220. Your configuration may of course differ.

3. Tested it by manually running:

   sudo /opt/local/bin/rsnapshot daily

4. Created hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly launchd plist files for rsnapshot. The hourly one runs every six hours and I threw it in just for completeness. You can download them all from here. Just put them into /Library/LaunchDaemons and run:

   sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.rsnapshot.periodic-*.plist

And that’s it. Enjoy!