Directory Backup with Rotation

The script will create timestamped backup folders and copy all the files from the specified directory into the backup folder.

Additionally, the script will implement a rotation mechanism to keep only the last 3 backups.

#!/bin/bash

#This script will take backup with 3 days rotation

if [[ "$#" -eq 0 ]];
then
    echo "Usage: $0 /path/to/dir"
    exit 1
fi

source_dir=$1

# Check if the provided argument is a directory

if [[ ! -d "$source_dir" ]];
then
    echo "Error: '$source_dir' is not a directory."
    exit 1
fi

timestamp=$(date +%d-%m-%y_%H:%M:%S)
backup_dir="/home/backup/backup_$timestamp"

# Create the backup directory
sudo mkdir -p "$backup_dir"
echo "Directory Created: $backup_dir"

# Function to perform the backup
function backup {
       sudo  zip -r "$backup_dir/$timestamp.zip" "$source_dir" >/dev/null
}

# Perform the backup
backup

if [[ $? -eq 0 ]];
then
        echo "Backup Created: $backup_dir"
else
        echo "Backup Unsuccessful"
        exit 1
fi

# Count the number of backups
backup_count=$(ls -d /home/backup/backup_* 2>/dev/null | wc -l)

echo "Number of backups: ${backup_count[@]}"

# Remove oldest backups, keeping the last 3
if [[ "$backup_count" -gt 3 ]];
then
        ls -d /home/backup/backup_* | head -n -3 | sudo xargs rm -rf
        echo "Old backups removed, only the last 3 are kept."
fi

exit 0

Cron Job:

If you'd like to automate the backup process using cron, add it to your crontab :

crontab -e

Example crontab entry to run the backup every 1 minute:

*/1 * * * * bash /home/backup/backup_with_rotation.sh /home/ubuntu/

This will automate the backup process while ensuring only the last 3 backups are retained.

See the process go into /home/backup

watch ls
#ctrt + c to exit

Happy Learning:)