A simple Linux apt-based backup utility

This is a backup program designed for use on apt-based systems such as Ubuntu and Debian. It allows users to classify their apps into "classes", which can be installed and configured in groups.

For each program installed, one can assign configuration files that one wishes to be backed-up/restored.

For example, one could create a class "programming" which contained the apps "emacs" and "ipython", which backed-up and restored those programs along with their configuration files.

One would create a folder in ~/.frontdown/ called "programming". Within this folder, create a file called "programming.apps" and place within it a space- and/or newline-separated list of programs which will be fed to apt-get to install. In this case, the file would contain "emacs ipython".

Then create folders "ipython" and "emacs" within ~/.system/frontdown.d/programming/. It does not matter what you actually call these folders, so you can organize things so that you have, say, a "python" folder that takes care of all your python configs.

Create a file within the folder "python" called "python.yaml" which looks like this (your config may look slightly different depending on how you setup ipython):

files:

• source: programming/python/.ipython_history target: ~/.ipython_history

• source: programming/python/ipython target: ~/.config/ipython

This will tell frontdown that you want to backup your ipython history and configuration, and where to restore those files to. The source location is relative to ~/.system/frontdown.d/; you do not need to mix your configuration and backup files if that is your wish.

Similarly, create a file called "emacs.yaml" that contains:

files:

• source: programming/emacs/.emacs target: ~/.emacs

Now when running "frontdown --backup programming", frontdown will copy and paste the files/directories listed in the yaml config files to their source directories. Running "frontdown --restore programming" performs the inverse action. Finally, "frontdown --install programming" first installs emacs and ipython, and then restores their configurations.

There is also a "link" option in addition to "source" and "target". If present, it will create a symbolic link in the given location that points to the restored file.