Configuring urBackup client on Linux is done via the shell (surprise!) but it is quick and easy once you know where to start.
To avoid diving into urBackup’s dense administration manual, these are my quick tips for configuring urBackup client in Linux. All the examples below were tested using urBackup client v2.5.26.0 running on Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS.
Where to start?
Outside of installation and removal, urBackup client is managed through the command line utility urbackupclientctl. Through this utility you may get configure backup paths, get the current status, start (not recommended) and restore from backups.
View Available Commands
To view available commands, simply enter urbackupclientctrl in shell. The output will be something like this:
USAGE:
urbackupclientctl [--help] [--version] <command> [<args>]
Get specific command help with urbackupclientctl <command> --help
urbackupclientctl start
Start an incremental/full image/file backup
urbackupclientctl status
Get current backup status
urbackupclientctl browse
Browse backups and files/folders in backups
urbackupclientctl restore-start
Restore files/folders from backup
urbackupclientctl set-settings
Set backup settings
urbackupclientctl reset-keep
Reset keeping files during incremental backups
urbackupclientctl add-backupdir
Add new directory to backup set
urbackupclientctl list-backupdirs
List directories that are being backed up
urbackupclientctl remove-backupdir
Remove directory from backup set
Current Client Status
To get the current status of the client, use urbackupclient status.
This will return the current status in JSON format. The most useful information is at the end, namely whether the client is connected to the server (property = internet_connected ), the current connection status (property internet_status) and the configured backup server (property = name).
In the example below, the client is successfully connected to the urBackup server found at the address urbackup.server.address
{
"capability_bits": 69696,
"finished_processes": [{
"process_id": 21,
"success": true
}
...
,{
"process_id": 40,
"success": true
}
],
"internet_connected": true,
"internet_status": "connected",
"last_backup_time": 1761566072,
"running_processes": [],
"servers": [{
"internet_connection": true,
"name": "urbackup.server.address"
}
],
"time_since_last_lan_connection": 3089540882
}
List Backup Directories
To view the current list of directories marked for backup use urbackupclientctrl list-backupdir. In the example below, the directories /etc and /srv will be backed up.
PATH NAME FLAGS
---------- ----- ----------------------------------------------
/srv srv follow_symlinks,symlinks_optional,share_hashes
/etc etc follow_symlinks,symlinks_optional,share_hashes
Adding a Directory
To add a directory, use urbackupclientctl add-backupdir -d /path/to/directory
To add the directory /home/myuser directory to backups, the command is:
urbackupclientctl add-backupdir -d /home/myuser
CAUTION: At the time of writing, urbackupclientctl does not check if the target directory exists. If you enter an non-existent path, you are likely to get backup errors.
Removing a Directory
Removing a directory is simple: rbackupclientctl remove-backupdir -d /path/to/directory
To remove the directory /home/myuser from backups, the command is:
urbackupclientctl remove-backupdir -d /home/myuser
Starting a Backup
Top Tip: I strongly recommend always starting manual backups via the urBackup Server web administration.
To manually start a backup from the client, use urbackupclientctl start