Bandit Design

HowTo: Automatic Custom Daily Backup on OSX

Just wrote an OSX script to automate my daily backups on OSX. I simply backup all of the important files and settings that I have at 11am and 4pm each day to a folder called Backup, which I then back up to S3 using the epic Arq;

1. Open a Terminal window - don’t worry if you’re not used to it, neither am I!
2. Create and edit a file called osx-backup-script.sh somewhere; sudo nano ~/osx-backup-script.sh
3. Add the following code to it (be sure to change USER to your OSX username!):
   

   
   #!/bin/sh
   
   # otherwise mysqldump won't work
   export PATH=/usr/local/mysql/bin:$PATH
   
   # YOUR USERNAME
   USER=bandit
   DATE=`date "+%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M"`
   
   # PHOTOSHOP
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* "/Users/$USER/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop CS5 Settings/WorkSpaces/" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Adobe Photoshop/"
   
   # APACHE
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* "/etc/apache2/" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Apache/"
   sudo cat /etc/hosts > "/Users/$USER/Backup/Webstack/hosts.txt"
   
   # CODA
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* "/Applications/Coda.app" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Coda/"
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* --include="*panic.Coda*.plist" --exclude=* "/Users/$USER/Library/Preferences/" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Coda/Library/Preferences/"
   
   # GOOGLE CHROME
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* "/Applications/Google Chrome.app" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Google Chrome/"
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* --include="*google.Chrome*.plist" --exclude=* "/Users/$USER/Library/Preferences/" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Google Chrome/Library/Preferences/"
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* "/Users/$USER/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Google Chrome/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/"
   
   # LAUNCHBAR
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* "/Applications/LaunchBar.app" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Launch Bar/"
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* "/Users/$USER/Library/Application Support/LaunchBar/" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Launch Bar/Library/"
   
   # ARQ
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* "/Users/$USER/Library/Arq/" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Arq/"
   
   # KEYCHAIN
   sudo rsync -axS --delete $* "/Users/$USER/Library/Keychains/" "/Users/$USER/Backup/Keychains/"
   
   # MYSQL Dump
   mysqldump --user=root --all-databases > /Users/$USER/Backup/MySQL/mysql_dump_$DATE.sql 2> /tmp/mycronerrorfile
   sudo gzip -f "/Users/$USER/Backup/MySQL/mysql_dump_$DATE.sql"
   
   # Delete all dumps older than 3 days
   sudo find /Users/$USER/Backup/MySQL -name *.* -mtime +3 -delete
   
   # CREATE LAST UPDATE FLAG
   sudo echo "Last updated: $DATE" > "/Users/$USER/Backup/.last_updated"
   
   

4. I assume that everything should be stored in a folder called Backup in your home directory - you can change this easily by editing each line.
5. I also assume that the MySQL database allows access using root with no password.
6. Feel free to add more stuff to backup - that’s just what I use
7. Change its access permissions; chmod u+x ~/osx-backup-script.sh;
8. Time to automate! Type export EDITOR=nano; (to use a easier crontab editor)
9. Enter sudo crontab -e; (you can use crontab -e; if your user is in the sudoers file)
10. Once the crontab loads up, type in: 0   11,16   *   *   *   sudo sh /Users/bandit/osx-backup-script.sh on its own line, and don’t forget to put in your own username instead of “bandit”!
11. You’re done! Your files should now backup at 11am and 4pm each day to a folder called Backup in your home folder :-)
12. Now you can use Arq to back that folder up to S3 (which will cost you like $1.50/month!)