Recipe: Version control based backup with GIT

Setup and initiate remote backup directory
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$ mkdir -p /home/backups/slynux.git

$ cd /home/backups/backup.git
$ git init --bare



Initiating the backup directory
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$ git init
# Initialize git repository

$ git commit -am "Init"


Add user details to git (Optional)
$ git config --global slynux  "Sarath Lakshman"
#Set nick name and full name

$ git config --global slynux@slynux.com
# Set email


$ git add remote origin user@remotehost:/home/backups/backup.git
$ git push origin master


Add/Remove files for git tracking
$ git add *
# Adds all files and folders in the current directory to backup list. 
or we can conditionally add certain files only to backup list as follows
$ git add *.txt
$ git add *.py

#Remove files
$ git rm file  
# It can be a folder or even wildcard
$ git rm *.txt



Check-pointing or marking backup points
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$ git commit -m "Commit Message"

We need to update the backup at remote location at regular intervals. Hence, setup a crontab scheduling. (Say, backup every 5 hours )
Create a file crontab.entry with lines: 
0 */5 * * *  /home/data/backup.sh

Create a script /home/data/backup.sh:

#!/bin/ bash
cd /home/data/source
git add .
git commit -am "Commit - @ $(date)"
git push



Restoring data with git
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To view all backup versions,
$ git log



To revert back to any previous state/ version. Look into commit ID, which is a 32 character hex string. Use commit ID with git checkout.
For commit ID  3131f9661ec1739f72c213ec5769bc0abefa85a9,
$ git checkout 3131f9661ec1739f72c213ec5769bc0abefa85a9

$ git commit -am "Restore @ $(date) commit ID: 3131f9661ec1739f72c213ec5769bc0abefa85a9"
$ git push


Recreating backuped directory with git
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$ git clone user@remotehost:/home/backups/backup.git