# rdiff-backup/rdiff-backup

Reverse differential backup tool, over a network or locally.

Repository: https://github.com/rdiff-backup/rdiff-backup
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/rdiff-backup
Homepage: https://rdiff-backup.net/
Language: Python
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: backup, backup-solution, backup-script, backup-utility, rdiff-backup, rsync, rsync-backups, incremental-backups
Last push: 2026-08-23T22:49:20+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 67/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3855, "days_push": 10, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_readme
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1263, forks 98 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:10.426860+00:00)

## What it is
rdiff-backup is a Python-based command-line backup tool that mirrors one directory to another, locally or over SSH, while storing reverse diffs so older file versions can be recovered. It combines the simplicity of a mirror with incremental backup history and preserves metadata like permissions, ACLs, hard links, and ownership.

## Use cases
- back up a directory to an external or remote drive over ssh
- keep a mirror of a folder plus ability to restore old versions
- run scheduled incremental backups of a home directory
- efficiently back up only changed files over a slow network link
- restore a deleted or modified file from a previous backup
- back up Linux servers to remote storage preserving permissions and ACLs

## When to choose
- you want mirror-like backups with point-in-time recovery in one tool
- you need bandwidth-efficient remote backups over SSH
- you need a cross-platform (Linux/macOS/Windows) scriptable backup CLI
- you want to preserve Unix metadata like hard links, ACLs, and uid/gid

## When to avoid
- you need a GUI or web interface for backups
- you need deduplication, encryption, or cloud-object-storage targets out of the box
- you need block-level or full-disk imaging backups
- you prefer snapshot-based tools like borg, restic, or btrfs/zfs snapshots

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: backup, cli, file-system, compression
- domain: files, developer-tools, self-hosted
- platform: windows, cli, python, cross-platform
- tags: incremental-backup, reverse-diff, rsync-like, ssh-remote-backup, mirror-plus-history, automation, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- rdiff-backup/rdiff-backup (main) score 67

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:10.426860+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T05:04:09.918187+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - homepage: https://rdiff-backup.net/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.006797+00:00, sha 347883963dd1)
  - site_page: https://rdiff-backup.net/features.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.016316+00:00, sha 3e124365eea5)
  - site_page: https://rdiff-backup.net/DOCUMENTATION.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.028996+00:00, sha d844ff7ff6d6)
  - registry_pypi: https://pypi.org/pypi/rdiff-backup/json (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.032185+00:00, sha c4b820cae7e1)
  - site_page: https://rdiff-backup.net/FAQ.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.018561+00:00, sha a0189e5c2ad4)
  - site_page: https://rdiff-backup.net/Windows-README.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.021223+00:00, sha 6b370faf95b5)
  - site_page: https://rdiff-backup.net/DEVELOP.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.023076+00:00, sha 633d9ab7391e)
  - site_page: https://rdiff-backup.net/Windows-DEVELOP.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.025747+00:00, sha efc6da7f04c1)
  - site_page: https://rdiff-backup.net/MacOS-DEVELOP.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.027417+00:00, sha c87c86f7d934)
  - site_page: https://rdiff-backup.net/api (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:47.030488+00:00, sha bd898e2f9c08)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.