Client/server rsync- and hard-link-based snapshot backup system
Dirvish is a "Time-Machine-alike" for UNIX- and UNIX-like machines (e.g., FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X < 10.5) that allows for snapshot-style backups that preserve space by hard-linking to unchanged versions of files in a given backup tree. Like Time Machine, it allows each snapshot to present a full tree, even for incremental backups. However, because only OS X has fseventsd, and because among backup sysems only Time Machine actually uses it, other client systems have to do a traditional tree walk to find changed files. Dirvish transmits changed files (or portions of changed files) via rsync to the backup server, which in turn maintains the backup repository as a set of hard-linked trees, with databases to track what has changed, as well as an optional locate index to provide fast searching in the backup tree. There is no GUI; however, dirvish appears to be much more robust than other software of this type in its exclude processing. Using dirvish, your OS X Mac can become a snapshot backup server for your non-OS X (or your pre-Leopard OS X) UNIX- and UNIX-like machines.
Dirvish is a "Time-Machine-alike" for UNIX- and UNIX-like machines (e.g., FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X < 10.5) that allows for snapshot-style backups that preserve space by hard-linking to unchanged versions of files in a given backup tree. Like Time Machine, it allows each snapshot to present a full tree, even for incremental backups. However, because only OS X has fseventsd, and because among backup sysems only Time Machine actually uses it, other client systems have to do a traditional tree walk to find changed files. Dirvish transmits changed files (or portions of changed files) via rsync to the backup server, which in turn maintains the backup repository as a set of hard-linked trees, with databases to track what has changed, as well as an optional locate index to provide fast searching in the backup tree. There is no GUI; however, dirvish appears to be much more robust than other software of this type in its exclude processing. Using dirvish, your OS X Mac can become a snapshot backup server for your non-OS X (or your pre-Leopard OS X) UNIX- and UNIX-like machines.
To install dirvish, run the following command in macOS terminal (Applications->Utilities->Terminal)
sudo port install dirvish
To see what files were installed by dirvish, run:
port contents dirvish
To later upgrade dirvish, run:
sudo port selfupdate && sudo port upgrade dirvish
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