README.md

rsync2backup

A Docker-based, cross-platform backup sync solution. Synchronize local filesystem contents with a remote backup server over SSH, as the first step toward a complete, multi-stage backup strategy.

Quick start

1. Copy .env.example to .env in the client/ directory and edit to match your environment.
2. Run the client for the first time (generates SSH keys):

   cd client
   docker compose up

3. Copy the generated public key from client/sshkeys/public/ssh_key.pub to your backup server's authorized_keys for the transfer user.
4. Start the backup server (on your server machine):

   cd server
   docker compose up -d

5. Run the client again to sync your data:

   cd client
   docker compose up

For detailed information, see:

• Rsync-Backup.md — Project overview and intent
• Backup-overview.md — The full multi-stage backup strategy this is part of
• Code-review.md — Known issues and future improvements
• tests/integration/README.md — How to run the integration test suite

Features

• Cross-platform: Works on Windows, Linux, macOS via Docker
• SSH-based: Secure key-based authentication (no passwords)
• Automatic key generation: First run generates SSH keypair and server template
• Push/pull modes: Upload to server (push) or download from server (pull)
• Deletion sync: rsync --delete propagates removals to the backup destination
• Persistent host keys: Known hosts are saved between runs to detect MITM attacks

How it works

┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ Client (Windows/Linux/macOS) │
│  ┌─────────────────────┐    │
│  │  /upload directory  │    │
│  │  (files to backup)  │    │
│  └──────────┬──────────┘    │
│             │               │
│        docker container     │
│        (rsync + ssh)        │
│             │               │
└─────────────┼───────────────┘
              │ SSH key-based auth
              │ rsync over SSH
              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│  Server (Backup destination) │
│  ┌─────────────────────┐    │
│  │  /data directory    │    │
│  │  (live mirror)      │    │
│  └─────────────────────┘    │
│                             │
│  docker container           │
│  (openssh-server + rsync)   │
└─────────────────────────────┘

This is stage 1 of the backup pipeline. Stages 2–4 (snapshots, archival, verification) are handled by separate tools.

License

Licensed under the MIT License.

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome. Please see Code-review.md for known issues and planned improvements.