Scripting

This is a list of how certain tasks may be accomplished when you use restic via scripts.

Check if a repository is already initialized

You may find a need to check if a repository is already initialized, perhaps to prevent your script from initializing a repository multiple times. The command cat config may be used for this purpose:

$ restic -r /srv/restic-repo cat config
Fatal: unable to open config file: stat /srv/restic-repo/config: no such file or directory
Is there a repository at the following location?
/srv/restic-repo

If a repository does not exist, restic will return a non-zero exit code and print an error message. Note that restic will also return a non-zero exit code if a different error is encountered (e.g.: incorrect password to cat config) and it may print a different error message. If there are no errors, restic will return a zero exit code and print the repository metadata.

JSON output

Restic outputs JSON data to stdout if requested with the --json flag. The structure of that data varies depending on the circumstance. The JSON output of most restic commands are documented here.

Note

Not all commands support JSON output. If a command does not support JSON output, feel free to submit a pull request!

Warning

We try to keep the JSON output backwards compatible. However, new message types or fields may be added at any time. Similarly, enum-like fields for which a fixed list of allowed values is documented may be extended at any time.

Output formats

Currently only the output on stdout is JSON formatted. Errors printed on stderr are still printed as plain text messages. The generated JSON output uses one of the following two formats.

Single JSON document

Several commands output a single JSON document that can be parsed in its entirety. Depending on the command, the output consists of either a single or multiple lines.

JSON lines

Several commands, in particular long running ones or those that generate a large output, use a format also known as JSON lines. It consists of a stream of new-line separated JSON messages. You can determine the nature of the message using the message_type field.

backup

The backup command uses the JSON lines format with the following message types.

Status

`message_type`	Always “status”
`seconds_elapsed`	Time since backup started
`seconds_remaining`	Estimated time remaining
`percent_done`	Percentage of data backed up (bytes_done/total_bytes)
`total_files`	Total number of files detected
`files_done`	Files completed (backed up to repo)
`total_bytes`	Total number of bytes in backup set
`bytes_done`	Number of bytes completed (backed up to repo)
`error_count`	Number of errors
`current_files`	List of files currently being backed up

Error

`message_type`	Always “error”
`error`	Error message
`during`	What restic was trying to do
`item`	Usually, the path of the problematic file

Verbose Status

Verbose status provides details about the progress, including details about backed up files.

`message_type`	Always “verbose_status”
`action`	Either “new”, “unchanged”, “modified” or “scan_finished”
`item`	The item in question
`duration`	How long it took, in seconds
`data_size`	How big the item is
`metadata_size`	How big the metadata is
`total_files`	Total number of files

Summary

Summary is the last output line in a successful backup.

`message_type`	Always “summary”
`files_new`	Number of new files
`files_changed`	Number of files that changed
`files_unmodified`	Number of files that did not change
`dirs_new`	Number of new directories
`dirs_changed`	Number of directories that changed
`dirs_unmodified`	Number of directories that did not change
`data_blobs`	Number of data blobs
`tree_blobs`	Number of tree blobs
`data_added`	Amount of (uncompressed) data added, in bytes
`data_added_packed`	Amount of data added (after compression), in bytes
`total_files_processed`	Total number of files processed
`total_bytes_processed`	Total number of bytes processed
`total_duration`	Total time it took for the operation to complete
`snapshot_id`	ID of the new snapshot

cat

The cat command returns data about various objects in the repository, which are stored in JSON form. Specifying --json or --quiet will suppress any non-JSON messages the command generates.

diff

The diff command uses the JSON lines format with the following message types.

change

`message_type`	Always “change”
`path`	Path that has changed
`modifier`	Type of change, a concatenation of the following characters: “+” = added, “-” = removed, “T” = entry type changed, “M” = file content changed, “U” = metadata changed, “?” = bitrot detected

statistics

`message_type`	Always “statistics”
`source_snapshot`	ID of first snapshot
`target_snapshot`	ID of second snapshot
`changed_files`	Number of changed files
`added`	DiffStat object, see below
`removed`	DiffStat object, see below

DiffStat object

`files`	Number of changed files
`dirs`	Number of changed directories
`others`	Number of changed other directory entries
`data_blobs`	Number of data blobs
`tree_blobs`	Number of tree blobs
`bytes`	Number of bytes

find

The find command outputs a single JSON document containing an array of JSON objects with matches for your search term. These matches are organized by snapshot.

If the --blob or --tree option is passed, then the output is an array of Blob objects.

`hits`	Number of matches in the snapshot
`snapshot`	ID of the snapshot
`matches`	Array of Match objects detailing a match

Match object

`path`	Object path
`permissions`	UNIX permissions
`type`	Object type e.g. file, dir, etc…
`atime`	Access time
`mtime`	Modification time
`ctime`	Change time
`name`	Object name
`user`	Name of owner
`group`	Name of group
`inode`	Inode number
`mode`	UNIX file mode, shorthand of `permissions`
`device_id`	OS specific device identifier
`links`	Number of hardlinks
`uid`	ID of owner
`gid`	ID of group
`size`	Size of object in bytes

Blob object

`object_type`	Either “blob” or “tree”
`id`	ID of found blob
`path`	Path in snapshot
`parent_tree`	Parent tree blob, only set for type “blob”
`snapshot`	Snapshot ID
`time`	Snapshot timestamp

forget

The forget command prints a single JSON document containing an array of ForgetGroups. If specific snapshot IDs are specified, then no output is generated.

The prune command does not yet support JSON such that forget --prune results in a mix of JSON and text output.

ForgetGroup

`tags`	Tags identifying the snapshot group
`host`	Host identifying the snapshot group
`paths`	Paths identifying the snapshot group
`keep`	Array of Snapshot objects that are kept
`remove`	Array of Snapshot objects that were removed
`reasons`	Array of Reason objects describing why a snapshot is kept

Snapshot object

`time`	Timestamp of when the backup was started
`parent`	ID of the parent snapshot
`tree`	ID of the root tree blob
`paths`	List of paths included in the backup
`hostname`	Hostname of the backed up machine
`username`	Username the backup command was run as
`uid`	ID of owner
`gid`	ID of group
`excludes`	List of paths and globs excluded from the backup
`tags`	List of tags for the snapshot in question
`program_version`	restic version used to create snapshot
`id`	Snapshot ID
`short_id`	Snapshot ID, short form

Reason object

`snapshot`	Snapshot object, including `id` and `short_id` fields
`matches`	Array containing descriptions of the matching criteria
`counters`	Object containing counters used by the policies

init

The init command uses the JSON lines format, but only outputs a single message.

`message_type`	Always “initialized”
`id`	ID of the created repository
`repository`	URL of the repository

key list

The key list command returns an array of objects with the following structure.

`current`	Is currently used key?
`id`	Unique key ID
`userName`	User who created it
`hostName`	Name of machine it was created on
`created`	Timestamp when it was created

ls

The ls command uses the JSON lines format with the following message types. As an exception, the struct_type field is used to determine the message type.

snapshot

`message_type`	Always “snapshot”
`struct_type`	Always “snapshot” (deprecated)
`time`	Timestamp of when the backup was started
`parent`	ID of the parent snapshot
`tree`	ID of the root tree blob
`paths`	List of paths included in the backup
`hostname`	Hostname of the backed up machine
`username`	Username the backup command was run as
`uid`	ID of owner
`gid`	ID of group
`excludes`	List of paths and globs excluded from the backup
`tags`	List of tags for the snapshot in question
`id`	Snapshot ID
`short_id`	Snapshot ID, short form

node

`message_type`	Always “node”
`struct_type`	Always “node” (deprecated)
`name`	Node name
`type`	Node type
`path`	Node path
`uid`	UID of node
`gid`	GID of node
`size`	Size in bytes
`mode`	Node mode
`atime`	Node access time
`mtime`	Node modification time
`ctime`	Node creation time
`inode`	Inode number of node

restore

The restore command uses the JSON lines format with the following message types.

Status

`message_type`	Always “status”
`seconds_elapsed`	Time since restore started
`percent_done`	Percentage of data restored (bytes_restored/total_bytes)
`total_files`	Total number of files detected
`files_restored`	Files restored
`total_bytes`	Total number of bytes in restore set
`bytes_restored`	Number of bytes restored

Summary

`message_type`	Always “summary”
`seconds_elapsed`	Time since restore started
`total_files`	Total number of files detected
`files_restored`	Files restored
`total_bytes`	Total number of bytes in restore set
`bytes_restored`	Number of bytes restored

snapshots

The snapshots command returns a single JSON object, an array with objects of the structure outlined below.

`time`	Timestamp of when the backup was started
`parent`	ID of the parent snapshot
`tree`	ID of the root tree blob
`paths`	List of paths included in the backup
`hostname`	Hostname of the backed up machine
`username`	Username the backup command was run as
`uid`	ID of owner
`gid`	ID of group
`excludes`	List of paths and globs excluded from the backup
`tags`	List of tags for the snapshot in question
`program_version`	restic version used to create snapshot
`summary`	Snapshot statistics, see “Summary object”
`id`	Snapshot ID
`short_id`	Snapshot ID, short form

Summary object

The contained statistics reflect the information at the point in time when the snapshot was created.

`backup_start`	Time at which the backup was started
`backup_end`	Time at which the backup was completed
`files_new`	Number of new files
`files_changed`	Number of files that changed
`files_unmodified`	Number of files that did not change
`dirs_new`	Number of new directories
`dirs_changed`	Number of directories that changed
`dirs_unmodified`	Number of directories that did not change
`data_blobs`	Number of data blobs
`tree_blobs`	Number of tree blobs
`data_added`	Amount of (uncompressed) data added, in bytes
`data_added_packed`	Amount of data added (after compression), in bytes
`total_files_processed`	Total number of files processed
`total_bytes_processed`	Total number of bytes processed

stats

The stats command returns a single JSON object.

`total_size`	Repository size in bytes
`total_file_count`	Number of files backed up in the repository
`total_blob_count`	Number of blobs in the repository
`snapshots_count`	Number of processed snapshots
`total_uncompressed_size`	Repository size in bytes if blobs were uncompressed
`compression_ratio`	Factor by which the already compressed data has shrunk due to compression
`compression_progress`	Percentage of already compressed data
`compression_space_saving`	Overall space saving due to compression

version

The version command returns a single JSON object.

`version`	restic version
`go_version`	Go compile version
`go_os`	Go OS
`go_arch`	Go architecture