backdown remote

backdown remote [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

backdown remote add#

Add a machine whose BackDown index is read over ssh (with your keys; never a password)

backdown remote add [OPTIONS] <NAME> <URL>

Arguments#

<NAME>

What to call it, like nas or office-pc.

<URL>

ssh://[user@]host[:port] (a host alias from ~/.ssh/config works too).

Options#

--remote-db <PATH> next preview

Its index there, if not its default (or the one its BackDown service uses). (The global --db is this machine's index).

--backdown <PATH>

Where backdown is there, if not on the PATH ssh sessions get.

--no-test next preview

Don't try to reach it now.

backdown remote list#

The machines, their drives, and when they were last synced.

backdown remote list [OPTIONS]

Options#

--json

Print it as JSON, for scripts.

backdown remote remove#

Forget a machine and what was cached about it (nothing there is touched)

backdown remote remove [OPTIONS] <NAME>

Arguments#

<NAME>

A machine's name from backdown remote list.

backdown remote sync#

Fetch what changed in a machine's index (all of them without NAME); files there whose size matches a file here are hashed there, so copies can be proved.

backdown remote sync [OPTIONS] [NAME]

Arguments#

[NAME]

A machine's name from backdown remote list. Without it, every machine.

backdown remote test#

Try reaching a machine: ssh, BackDown there, its index.

backdown remote test [OPTIONS] <NAME>

Arguments#

<NAME>

A machine's name from backdown remote list.

backdown remote fetch#

Bring one of a machine's indexed files here: by its path there (as remote sync saw it) or its id in that machine's index. Read there only if it's still as scanned, and checked against its SHA-256 when that machine has one.

backdown remote fetch [OPTIONS] <NAME> <WHAT>

Arguments#

<NAME>

 

<WHAT>

The file's path on that machine, or its index id there.

Options#

-o, --out <PATH>

Where to save it (its own name in the current folder unless said).

backdown remote settings#

How long a copy on another machine counts as proof after it was last confirmed there, and how often machines are synced.

backdown remote settings [OPTIONS]

Options#

--proof-days <PROOF_DAYS>

Days (1–90; 7 unless changed).

--sync-hours <SYNC_HOURS> next preview

Hours between syncs (6 unless changed).

All of them also take the global options --db and --local.

Good to know#

The other machine needs BackDown installed and an index. BackDown runs your system's ssh as you, with BatchMode=yes (never a password) and your known hosts, and starts backdown serve-stdio there, which only reads its index and hashes a file only when asked; nothing listens on the network, and no file's contents are sent. A copy there counts only by SHA-256, and only when confirmed there within the proof window (7 days unless changed). The background service syncs each machine every 6 hours. add, test and sync need Pro (unlocked in pre-release versions); list and remove don't. Windows machines can't be the other end yet.

Examples#

backdown remote add nas ssh://you@nas.example.org
# BackDown isn't on the PATH ssh sessions get there
backdown remote add office ssh://office-pc --backdown /opt/backdown/backdown
backdown remote test nas
backdown remote sync
backdown remote list
# copies there count for 14 days after they were last confirmed there
backdown remote settings --proof-days 14
backdown remote remove nas

See also#

• Several machines