gnome-rsync-idle-backup

This repository installs a user-level backup service that mirrors one folder to another with rsync.

The intended setup is simple:

1. Clone the repo.
2. Edit one config file for your own source folder, backup destination, and preferred behavior.
3. Run the installer once and forget about it.

The service runs inside your user session. In auto mode it stays quiet while you are active, then speeds up after you have been idle for a while. If you prefer, you can also force slow or fast mode manually.

Requirements

• Linux with systemd --user
• rsync
• A GNOME graphical session
• A source folder and destination folder that are both mounted and writable for your user

1. Clone The Repo

git clone <your-repo-url> gnome-rsync-idle-backup
cd gnome-rsync-idle-backup

2. Customize The Config

Edit config/config.env.

For most people, these are the only values that matter:

• SOURCE: the folder you want to back up
• TARGET: where the backup should be written
• IDLE_THRESHOLD_SECONDS: how long to wait before auto mode becomes fast
• CHECK_INTERVAL_SECONDS: how often to run another backup pass

If you want to skip extra folders or file types on your machine, add patterns to config/excludes.local.txt.

Examples:

SOURCE="/home/alex/Documents"
TARGET="/run/media/alex/BackupDrive/documents-backup"
IDLE_THRESHOLD_SECONDS=300
CHECK_INTERVAL_SECONDS=120

3. Install And Forget It

Run:

bash install.sh

The installer:

• copies the scripts into ~/.local/bin
• installs the user service into ~/.config/systemd/user
• creates config files in ~/.config/gnome-rsync-idle-backup if they do not already exist
• starts and enables the service

After that, the service should keep running in the background for your user session.

Useful Commands

gnome-rsync-idle-backupctl status
gnome-rsync-idle-backupctl watch
gnome-rsync-idle-backupctl logs
gnome-rsync-idle-backupctl mode auto
gnome-rsync-idle-backupctl mode slow
gnome-rsync-idle-backupctl mode fast
gnome-rsync-idle-backupctl compare-size
gnome-rsync-idle-backupctl audit-permissions

Notes

• The backup uses exclude rules, so the destination can be much smaller than the source when your source contains node_modules, virtual environments, caches, or build output.
• gnome-rsync-idle-backupctl compare-size compares the destination with the effective source size after applying the same exclude rules as the backup service.
• If rsync cannot read a few source paths or the destination filesystem rejects a few filenames, the service now treats that as a partial pass rather than a full service failure.