Rsync

Store backups on a remote server via rsync over SSH. Ideal for efficient incremental transfers and Unix/Linux servers.

Prerequisites

• rsync must be installed on both the DBackup server and the remote target
• SSH access to the remote server

Docker Users

The default DBackup Docker image includes rsync. If you're running DBackup outside Docker, ensure rsync is installed: which rsync

Configuration

Credential Profile required

Rsync requires a Credential Profile of type SSH_KEY. Create one in Vault → Credentials before saving the destination.

Field	Description	Default	Required
Name	Friendly name for this destination	-	✅
Host	Hostname or IP of the remote server	-	✅
Port	SSH port	22	❌
Login	SSH_KEY credential profile (username + key or password)	-	✅
Folder	Remote directory for backups. The folder button beside it browses the server from its top once the connection and its login are filled in	-	✅
Options	Additional rsync flags (e.g. --bwlimit=1000)	-	❌

Authentication Methods (via SSH_KEY profile)

Auth Type	Description
password	Username + password via sshpass
privateKey	SSH private key (PEM format)
agent	Use the host's SSH agent (keys loaded via ssh-add)

Setup Guide

1. Create an SSH_KEY credential profile in Vault → Credentials (guide)
2. Ensure the target server has rsync and SSH installed
3. Create a dedicated user with write access to the backup directory:

   sudo useradd -m dbackup
   sudo mkdir -p /backups/dbackup
   sudo chown dbackup: /backups/dbackup

4. Go to Connections → Destinations → New destination → Rsync
5. Enter Host and pick the credential profile under Login
6. Set the Folder in the Location part to the remote directory (e.g. /backups/dbackup), or pick it with the folder button (📂)
7. (Optional) Add custom Options for bandwidth limiting or other flags
8. Click Test connection to verify the connection

How It Works

• DBackup invokes rsync -az over SSH to transfer backup files
• All transfers are encrypted in transit via SSH
• Custom options are appended to the rsync command
• All credentials (passwords, private keys) are stored AES-256-GCM encrypted in the database

Troubleshooting

rsync: command not found

rsync: command not found

Solution: Install rsync on both servers. On Debian/Ubuntu: apt install rsync. On the remote server, rsync must be in the default PATH.

Connection Refused

ssh: connect to host ... port 22: Connection refused

Solution: Verify the host and port. Ensure SSH is running and the firewall allows the connection.

Permission Denied

rsync: mkstemp failed: Permission denied (13)

Solution: Ensure the SSH user has write access to the folder on the remote server.

Listing a Very Large Folder

The server answered with more than 256 MB. Back up its subfolders as separate sources.

DBackup lists a folder with one find over SSH before it copies it, and that list may run for 10 minutes and hold up to 256 MB, enough for millions of files.

Solution: Split the folder into several directory sources, one per subfolder. A message that the server did not finish within 600 seconds means the same, often on a server whose find lacks -printf, like macOS, where each file costs a stat of its own.

Bandwidth Limiting

To limit transfer speed, add --bwlimit=1000 (KB/s) in the Options field. Useful for avoiding bandwidth saturation on shared connections.

Next Steps

• Enable Encryption
• Configure Retention
• Backups