[SOLVED] Has anyone figured out how to schedule exact time of Timeshift Backups?

Lucko666 · 10-07-2018, 11:21 AM

I searched forums, couldn't find this addressed. Has anyone figured out how to schedule the exact time of Timeshift backups? I would like to do it in the middle of the night, but all it allows in its scheduling tab is frequency (month, week, day, hour, etc.) not what time of day. I searched on web and found suggestions but none that actually worked...

frankbell · 10-07-2018, 09:11 PM

This thread from the Ubuntu forums might help: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2382953

I understand that timeshift is a frontend for rsync. If you can't find what you want, you could use rsync and schedule a cron job to run at a time of your choice.

Lucko666 · 10-07-2018, 10:19 PM

rsync would be an option but I am trying to make Timeshift work since it is the "preferred" method in Mint now... Also, I tried everything from the Ubuntu forum you showed yesterday, to no avail.

ondoho · 10-08-2018, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucko666

I tried everything from the Ubuntu forum you showed yesterday, to no avail.

that's a bit thin.
i had a look at that thread, and before i even finished reading the first page, there were 2 or 3 things i'd like you to show detailed reports on.

esp. where it says in timeshift documentation that it can be used via cron.

Lucko666 · 10-08-2018, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

that's a bit thin.
i had a look at that thread, and before i even finished reading the first page, there were 2 or 3 things i'd like you to show detailed reports on.

esp. where it says in timeshift documentation that it can be used via cron.

You are probably right, I looked at all the cron setup files I could find in etc/cron.d, cron.daily, hourly, monthly, weekly. All I found was a file called timeshift-hourly under etc/cron.d containing:

SHELL=/bin/bash
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
MAILTO=""

0 * * * * root timeshift --check --scripted

But timeshift is running daily, not hourly. None of the files under cron.daily have any reference to timeshift.

Does this make any sense?

syg00 · 10-08-2018, 05:24 PM

How is this response not sufficient ?.

Lucko666 · 10-08-2018, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

How is this response not sufficient ?.

That looks like my best answer, thanks. I have done that and will see what it does next day or so. I was confused because it was under "hourly" - apparently timeshift runs hourly but only backs up according to internal settings. Running it just once a day will I hope force it to backup at that point in time.

As for your tagline, I know it's all-purpose, but I just gotta add, "I know, I was TRYING to B-A-C-K-U-P!"

ondoho · 10-09-2018, 12:11 AM

^ again, there's MANY possible solutions in that link (and further links).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucko666

0 * * * * root timeshift --check --scripted

But timeshift is running daily, not hourly. None of the files under cron.daily have any reference to timeshift.

Does this make any sense?

yes, it is CHECKING hourly. probably checking if it's time for the next backup already.

Lucko666 · 10-10-2018, 06:03 PM

OK, by using the link kindly offered by syg00 [https://github.com/teejee2008/timeshift/issues/64] I was able to solve this. I now get my updates at 3AM as desired. Apparently, timeshift by default uses an hourly cron job to start itself, and checks then to see if the scheduled backup has been done. It must have been deciding it needed to do so at 9 am each day. By removing the cron job for hourly and adding a daily one to be run at 3am, I get what I wanted.

Thanks for the help!