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<div class="section" id="program-description">
<h1>Program Description<a class="headerlink" href="#program-description" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p><strong>AutoArchive</strong> is a simple utility to help create backups more easily. The idea of the program is that all essential
information for creating a single backup—such as list of directories that should be archived, the archive name,
etc.—is stored in a single file – the <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-archive-specification-file"><em class="xref std std-term">archive specification file</em></a>. It can use <strong class="command">tar</strong> for creating archives, it
has a command line interface and supports incremental backups.</p>
<p>Archive specification files, also called ”.aa files” are normally stored in a predefined location from where they are
processed by the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">aa</span></tt> command which results to creating of a corresponding <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-backup"><em class="xref std std-term">backup</em></a> for each.</p>
<p>Command <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">autoarchive</span></tt> is alias for <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">aa</span></tt>; these commands are equivalent.</p>
<div class="section" id="usage">
<span id="id1"></span><h2>Usage<a class="headerlink" href="#usage" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>aa</strong> [<em>options</em>] [<em>command</em>] [<em>AA_SPEC</em>]...</div>
<div class="line"><strong>autoarchive</strong> [<em>options</em>] [<em>command</em>] [<em>AA_SPEC</em>]...</div>
</div>
<p>Most of the options can be specified also in <em>configuration files</em> and in the <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-archive-specification-file"><em class="xref std std-term">archive specification file</em></a> (by using
the long option form and leaving out leading dashes) – see <a class="reference internal" href="config_file.html#config-file"><em>Configuration File</em></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="arch_spec.html#arch-spec"><em>Archive Specification File</em></a> for complete list of options that
can be specified there. Command line options has higher priority than options in configuration files but lower
priority than the ones in the archive specification file. <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--force-*</span></tt> options are available for the purpose of
overriding some of the options specified in the <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-aa-file"><em class="xref std std-term">.aa file</em></a>.</p>
<p>Boolean options can also have a negation form defined. It has the “no-” prefix before the option name. For example:
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--incremental</span></tt> vs. <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--no-incremental</span></tt>. The negation form has always higher priority than the normal form.</p>
<p><strong>List of command line options</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<div><p><strong>Commands:</strong></p>
<p>Commands for program’s operations. The default operation is the <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-backup"><em class="xref std std-term">backup</em></a> creation if no command is specified.</p>
<table class="docutils option-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="option" />
<col class="description" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="option-group">
<kbd><span class="option">--list</span></kbd></td>
<td>Show all <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-configured-archive"><em class="xref std std-term">configured</em></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-orphaned-archive"><em class="xref std std-term">orphaned archives</em></a>.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group">
<kbd><span class="option">--purge</span></kbd></td>
<td>Purge stored data for an orphaned archive.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group">
<kbd><span class="option">--version</span></kbd></td>
<td>Show program’s version number and exit.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group">
<kbd><span class="option">-h</span>, <span class="option">--help</span></kbd></td>
<td>Show this help message and exit.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Archiving options:</strong></p>
<table class="docutils option-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="option" />
<col class="description" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">-a <var>ARCHIVER</var></span>, <span class="option">--archiver=<var>ARCHIVER</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Specify archiver type. Supported types are: ‘tar’, ‘targz’, ‘tarbz2’, ‘tarxz’, ‘tar_internal’,
‘targz_internal’, ‘tarbz2_internal’ (default: targz).</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">-c <var>NUM</var></span>, <span class="option">--compression-level=<var>NUM</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Compression strength level. If not specified, default behaviour of underlying compression program will be used.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">-d <var>DIR_PATH</var></span>, <span class="option">--dest-dir=<var>DIR_PATH</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Directory where the <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-backup"><em class="xref std std-term">backup</em></a> will be created (default: <current directory>).</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Incremental archiving options:</strong></p>
<table class="docutils option-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="option" />
<col class="description" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">-i</span>, <span class="option">--incremental</span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Perform incremental backup.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">-l <var>LEVEL</var></span>, <span class="option">--level=<var>LEVEL</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Specify backup level which should be created. All information about higher levels—if any exists—will be
erased. If not present, the next level in a row will be created.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group">
<kbd><span class="option">--restarting</span></kbd></td>
<td>Turns on backup level restarting. See other <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">*restart-*</span></tt> options to configure the restarting behaviour.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--restart-after-level=<var>LEVEL</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Maximal backup level. If reached, it will be restarted back to a lower level (which is typically level 1 but it
depends on <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--max-restart-level-size</span></tt>) (default: 10).</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--restart-after-age=<var>DAYS</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Number of days after which the backup level is restarted. Similarly to <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--restart-after-level</span></tt> it will be
restarted to level 1 or higher.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--full-restart-after-count=<var>COUNT</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Number of backup level restarts after which the level is restarted to 0.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--full-restart-after-age=<var>DAYS</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Number of days after which the backup level is restarted to 0.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--max-restart-level-size=<var>PERCENTAGE</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Maximal percentage size of a <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-backup"><em class="xref std std-term">backup</em></a> (of level > 0) to which level is allowed restart to. The size is
percentage of size of the level 0 backup file. If a backup of particular level has its size bigger than
defined percentage, restart to that level will not be allowed.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--remove-obsolete-backups</span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Turns on removing backups of levels that are no longer valid due to the backup level restart. All backups of
the backup level higher than the one currently being created will be removed.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>General options:</strong></p>
<table class="docutils option-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="option" />
<col class="description" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="option-group">
<kbd><span class="option">-v</span>, <span class="option">--verbose</span></kbd></td>
<td>Turns on verbose output.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group">
<kbd><span class="option">-q</span>, <span class="option">--quiet</span></kbd></td>
<td>Turns on quiet output. Only errors will be shown. If <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--quiet</span></tt> is turned on at the same level as
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--verbose</span></tt> (e. g. both are specified on the command line) then <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--quiet</span></tt> has higher priority than
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--verbose</span></tt>.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group">
<kbd><span class="option">--all</span></kbd></td>
<td>Operate on all <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-configured-archive"><em class="xref std std-term">configured archives</em></a>. See also <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--archive-specs-dir</span></tt>.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--archive-specs-dir=<var>DIR_PATH</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Directory where <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-archive-specification-file"><em class="xref std std-term">archive specification files</em></a> will be searched for (default:
~/.config/aa/archive_specs).</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--user-config-file=<var>FILE_PATH</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Alternate user configuration file (default: ~/.config/aa/aa.conf).</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--user-config-dir=<var>DIR_PATH</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Alternate user configuration directory (default: ~/.config/aa).</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Force options:</strong></p>
<p>Options to override standard options defined in archive specification files.</p>
<table class="docutils option-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="option" />
<col class="description" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--force-archiver=<var>ARCHIVER</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Force archiver type. Supported types are: ‘tar’, ‘targz’, ‘tarbz2’, ‘tarxz’, ‘tar_internal’,
‘targz_internal’, ‘tarbz2_internal’.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--force-incremental</span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Force incremental backup.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--force-restarting</span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Force backup level restarting.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--force-compression-level=<var>NUM</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Force compression strength level.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--force-dest-dir=<var>DIR_PATH</var></span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Force the directory where the backup will be created.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Negation options:</strong></p>
<p>Negative variants of standard boolean options.</p>
<table class="docutils option-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="option" />
<col class="description" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--no-incremental</span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Disable incremental backup.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group" colspan="2">
<kbd><span class="option">--no-restarting</span></kbd></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td><td>Disable backup level restarting.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="option-group">
<kbd><span class="option">--no-all</span></kbd></td>
<td>Do not operate on all <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-configured-archive"><em class="xref std std-term">configured archives</em></a>.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div></blockquote>
<p><em>AA_SPEC</em> is the <em>archive specification file argument</em>. It determines the <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-archive-specification-file"><em class="xref std std-term">archive specification file</em></a> that shall be
processed. None, single or multiple <em>AA_SPEC</em> arguments are allowed. If option <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--all</span></tt> or command <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--list</span></tt> is
specified then no <em>AA_SPEC</em> argument is required. Otherwise at least single <em>AA_SPEC</em> argument is required. If it
contains the ”.aa” extension then it is taken as the path to an archive specification file. Otherwise, if specified
without the extension, the corresponding <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-aa-file"><em class="xref std std-term">.aa file</em></a> is searched in the <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-archive-specifications-directory"><em class="xref std std-term">archive specifications directory</em></a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="exit-codes">
<h2>Exit Codes<a class="headerlink" href="#exit-codes" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>AutoArchive can return following exit codes:</p>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li>0: The operation finished successfully.</li>
<li>1: The operation finished with minor (warnings) or major (errors) issues.</li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="section" id="files">
<h2>Files<a class="headerlink" href="#files" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt><em>~/.config/aa/aa.conf</em></dt>
<dd>User configuration file. See <a class="reference internal" href="config_file.html#config-file"><em>Configuration File</em></a> for its description.</dd>
<dt><em>~/.config/aa/archive_specs/</em></dt>
<dd>Default directory that contains <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-archive-specification-file"><em class="xref std std-term">archive specification files</em></a>. See <a class="reference internal" href="arch_spec.html#arch-spec"><em>Archive Specification File</em></a> for
description of the <a class="reference internal" href="glossary.html#term-aa-file"><em class="xref std std-term">.aa file</em></a> format.</dd>
<dt><em>~/.config/aa/snapshots/*.snar</em></dt>
<dd>Files that stores information about incremental backup. They are created by <strong>GNU tar</strong> archiver.</dd>
<dt><em>~/.config/aa/storage/*.realm</em></dt>
<dd>Application internal persistent storage. It stores various data needed to be preserved between program runs. For
example: last backup level restart, number of backup level restart, etc.</dd>
<dt><em>/etc/aa/aa.conf</em></dt>
<dd>System configuration file. See <a class="reference internal" href="config_file.html#config-file"><em>Configuration File</em></a> for its description.</dd>
</dl>
</div>
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