How to use the command 'borg' (with examples)

Borg is a deduplicating backup tool that creates local or remote backups, which can be mounted as filesystems. It is a reliable and efficient solution for managing backups and ensuring data integrity.

Use case 1: Initialize a (local) repository

Code:

borg init path/to/repo_directory

Motivation: You want to start using Borg for backups and need to create a repository to store the backup data.

Explanation:

• borg init: Initializes a Borg repository.
• path/to/repo_directory: Specifies the directory where the repository will be created.

Example output:

Initialized empty repository at path/to/repo_directory.

Use case 2: Backup a directory into the repository

Code:

borg create --progress path/to/repo_directory::Monday path/to/source_directory

Motivation: You want to create a backup of a directory and store it in the repository with a specific name (e.g., “Monday”).

Explanation:

• borg create: Creates a new archive.
• --progress: Displays progress information during the backup process.
• path/to/repo_directory::Monday: Specifies the repository and archive name.
• path/to/source_directory: Specifies the directory to be backed up.

Example output:

Archive name: Monday
Created archive path/to/repo_directory::Monday

Use case 3: List all archives in a repository

Code:

borg list path/to/repo_directory

Motivation: You want to see a list of all archives stored in the repository.

Explanation:

• borg list: Lists all archives in a repository.
• path/to/repo_directory: Specifies the repository to be listed.

Example output:

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

Use case 4: Extract a specific directory from an archive

Code:

borg extract user@host:path/to/repo_directory::Monday path/to/target_directory --exclude '*.ext'

Motivation: You need to extract a specific directory from a remote repository’s archive, excluding files with a specific file extension.

Explanation:

• borg extract: Extracts files from an archive.
• user@host:path/to/repo_directory::Monday: Specifies the remote repository, archive name, and directory to be extracted.
• path/to/target_directory: Specifies the directory where the extracted files will be stored.
• --exclude '*.ext': Excludes files with the “*.ext” file extension from the extraction.

Example output:

Extracting files from archive: Monday
Extracted directory path/to/source_directory to path/to/target_directory

Use case 5: Prune a repository

Code:

borg prune --keep-within 7d --list path/to/repo_directory

Motivation: You want to remove old archives from a repository while maintaining a specific retention period (e.g., deleting archives older than 7 days).

Explanation:

• borg prune: Prunes (deletes) archives from a repository.
• --keep-within 7d: Specifies the retention period, keeping only archives within the specified time frame (7 days in this example).
• --list: Displays a list of archives that will be pruned.
• path/to/repo_directory: Specifies the repository to be pruned.

Example output:

The following archives will be deleted:
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
Deleted 3 archives from path/to/repo_directory

Use case 6: Mount a repository as a FUSE filesystem

Code:

borg mount path/to/repo_directory::Monday path/to/mountpoint

Motivation: You want to access the content of an archive in the repository as if it were a filesystem to browse and retrieve specific files.

Explanation:

• borg mount: Mounts a repository as a FUSE filesystem.
• path/to/repo_directory::Monday: Specifies the repository and archive name to be mounted.
• path/to/mountpoint: Specifies the directory where the mounted filesystem will be accessible.

Example output:

Mounted archive Monday as FUSE filesystem at path/to/mountpoint

Use case 7: Display help on creating archives

Code:

borg create --help

Motivation: You need information on the available options and usage of the borg create command.

Explanation:

• borg create: The target command for which help information is requested.
• --help: Displays detailed help documentation for the specific command.

Example output:

Help documentation for the "borg create" command.
(Displays usage options, available arguments, and examples)

Conclusion:

In this article, we explored various use cases of the borg command, a deduplicating backup tool. We learned how to initialize a repository, create backups, list archives, extract specific directories, prune old archives, mount repositories as filesystems, and access help documentation. Borg provides a versatile and efficient solution for managing backups, ensuring data integrity, and simplifying data recovery.