Terminal.skills
Skills/restic
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restic

Back up and restore data with Restic. Use when a user asks to set up backups, create encrypted backups, back up to S3 or cloud storage, implement a backup strategy, restore files from backup, deduplicate backup storage, schedule automated backups, back up databases or servers, or set up offsite backups. Covers repository initialization, backup/restore operations, snapshot management, pruning, encryption, and multiple storage backends (local, S3, SFTP, B2, Azure, GCS).

#restic#backup#restore#encryption#deduplication#s3
terminal-skillsv1.0.0
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
Source

Usage

$
✓ Installed restic v1.0.0

Getting Started

  1. Install the skill using the command above
  2. Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
  3. Reference the skill in your prompt
  4. The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically

Example Prompts

  • "Deploy the latest build to the staging environment and run smoke tests"
  • "Check the CI pipeline status and summarize any recent failures"

Documentation

Overview

Restic is a fast, secure, and efficient backup program. Every backup is encrypted (AES-256) and deduplicated at the block level, meaning only changed data is stored on subsequent runs. It supports multiple storage backends: local disk, SFTP, S3-compatible storage (AWS, MinIO, Backblaze B2), Azure Blob, Google Cloud Storage, and more. This skill covers repository setup, backup and restore operations, snapshot management, retention policies, and automation.

Instructions

Step 1: Installation

bash
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install restic

# macOS
brew install restic

# Binary (any Linux)
curl -L https://github.com/restic/restic/releases/latest/download/restic_0.17.3_linux_amd64.bz2 | bunzip2 > /usr/local/bin/restic
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/restic

# Verify
restic version

Step 2: Initialize Repository

bash
# Local repository
restic init --repo /backups/myrepo

# S3 (AWS or S3-compatible like MinIO)
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-key
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret
restic init --repo s3:s3.amazonaws.com/my-bucket/restic-repo

# MinIO (self-hosted S3)
restic init --repo s3:http://minio.local:9000/backups/restic-repo

# SFTP
restic init --repo sftp:user@backup-server:/data/restic-repo

# Backblaze B2
export B2_ACCOUNT_ID=your-account
export B2_ACCOUNT_KEY=your-key
restic init --repo b2:my-bucket:restic-repo

# The init command generates a repository password — store it securely!
# Or set it explicitly:
export RESTIC_PASSWORD="your-encryption-password"
restic init --repo /backups/myrepo

Step 3: Create Backups

bash
# Back up a directory
restic -r /backups/myrepo backup /home/user/documents

# Back up multiple paths
restic -r /backups/myrepo backup /home/user/documents /var/www /etc

# Exclude patterns
restic -r /backups/myrepo backup /home/user \
  --exclude="*.tmp" \
  --exclude=".cache" \
  --exclude="node_modules" \
  --exclude=".git"

# Exclude from file
cat > /etc/restic/excludes.txt << 'EOF'
*.tmp
*.log
.cache
node_modules
__pycache__
.git
EOF
restic -r /backups/myrepo backup /home/user --exclude-file=/etc/restic/excludes.txt

# Back up with tags (for organization)
restic -r /backups/myrepo backup /var/www --tag web --tag production

# Back up stdin (database dumps)
pg_dump mydb | restic -r /backups/myrepo backup --stdin --stdin-filename db_dump.sql
mysqldump mydb | restic -r /backups/myrepo backup --stdin --stdin-filename mysql_dump.sql

Step 4: List and Browse Snapshots

bash
# List all snapshots
restic -r /backups/myrepo snapshots

# Filter by tag
restic -r /backups/myrepo snapshots --tag web

# Filter by host
restic -r /backups/myrepo snapshots --host production-server

# Browse files in a snapshot
restic -r /backups/myrepo ls latest
restic -r /backups/myrepo ls abc123de --path /var/www

# Compare snapshots
restic -r /backups/myrepo diff abc123 def456

Step 5: Restore Data

bash
# Restore entire snapshot to a directory
restic -r /backups/myrepo restore latest --target /restore

# Restore specific path from snapshot
restic -r /backups/myrepo restore latest --target /restore --include /var/www

# Restore specific file
restic -r /backups/myrepo restore latest --target /restore --include /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

# Restore stdin backup (database)
restic -r /backups/myrepo dump latest db_dump.sql | psql mydb

# Mount snapshots as filesystem (browse interactively)
mkdir /mnt/restic
restic -r /backups/myrepo mount /mnt/restic
# Now browse /mnt/restic/snapshots/ like a normal filesystem

Step 6: Retention Policies (Pruning)

bash
# Remove old snapshots by policy
restic -r /backups/myrepo forget \
  --keep-daily 7 \        # keep 1 snapshot per day for 7 days
  --keep-weekly 4 \       # keep 1 per week for 4 weeks
  --keep-monthly 12 \     # keep 1 per month for 12 months
  --keep-yearly 3 \       # keep 1 per year for 3 years
  --prune                  # also remove unreferenced data blobs

# Dry run first (see what would be removed)
restic -r /backups/myrepo forget --keep-daily 7 --keep-weekly 4 --dry-run

# Remove specific snapshot
restic -r /backups/myrepo forget abc123de --prune

Step 7: Automation Script

bash
#!/bin/bash
# backup.sh — Automated backup script for cron
# Run daily: 0 2 * * * /opt/scripts/backup.sh >> /var/log/backup.log 2>&1

export RESTIC_REPOSITORY="s3:http://minio.local:9000/backups/server1"
export RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE="/etc/restic/password"
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="minio-access-key"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="minio-secret-key"

echo "=== Backup started: $(date) ==="

# Back up application data
restic backup /var/www /home --exclude-file=/etc/restic/excludes.txt --tag app

# Back up databases
pg_dump -h localhost production_db | restic backup --stdin --stdin-filename production_db.sql --tag database

# Apply retention policy
restic forget --keep-daily 7 --keep-weekly 4 --keep-monthly 12 --prune

# Verify backup integrity (run weekly, not every time)
if [ "$(date +%u)" = "1" ]; then
  restic check
fi

echo "=== Backup completed: $(date) ==="

Examples

Example 1: Set up encrypted daily backups to S3

User prompt: "Back up my production server to S3 every night. Include /var/www, /home, and PostgreSQL dumps. Keep 7 daily, 4 weekly, and 12 monthly snapshots."

The agent will:

  1. Install restic and initialize an S3 repository with a strong password.
  2. Create an exclude file for temporary/cache files.
  3. Write a backup script that backs up directories + database dump via stdin.
  4. Add retention policy with forget/prune.
  5. Set up cron for 2 AM daily execution.
  6. Add a weekly integrity check with restic check.

Example 2: Restore a deleted file from yesterday's backup

User prompt: "I accidentally deleted /var/www/config/production.env. Restore it from the most recent backup."

The agent will:

  1. List recent snapshots with restic snapshots.
  2. Find the file: restic ls latest --path /var/www/config/.
  3. Restore just that file: restic restore latest --target /tmp/restore --include /var/www/config/production.env.
  4. Copy the restored file back to its original location.

Guidelines

  • Store the repository password in a secure location (password manager, secrets manager, or encrypted file). If you lose the password, the backup data is unrecoverable — there is no recovery mechanism.
  • Always run restic check periodically (weekly) to verify backup integrity. Catch corruption early, before you need to restore.
  • Use --exclude-file for consistent exclusions across manual and automated runs. Common excludes: node_modules, .git, pycache, *.tmp, .cache.
  • For database backups, pipe dumps through stdin (pg_dump | restic backup --stdin) instead of dumping to a file first — it saves disk space and is atomic.
  • Deduplication is automatic — running the same backup twice only stores changed blocks. Daily full backups are efficient because restic deduplicates at the block level.
  • Test restores regularly. A backup you've never tested restoring from is not a backup — it's a hope.

Information

Version
1.0.0
Author
terminal-skills
Category
DevOps
License
Apache-2.0

Use Cases

→Set Up Self-Hosted Backup Infrastructure