New in v2.6.1.dev54+gc1385e6 (2025-06-15)

Changes

• CHG: the compatibility plug --no-compression-regexp for
  --not-compressed-regexp has been removed
• DOC: Add development note for MacOS, Closes #995
• DOC: Fixes some asciidoc bad formatting, closes #1057
• DOC: add API v300 document
• DOC: update info on FAQ about regress that now is an official
  command, closes #1054
• FIX: Try to avoid seldom deadlocks by making repo unlocking non
  blocking
• FIX: command line completion failed on TypeError unsupported operand
  type for nargs
• FIX: copy file when Cross-Device link error is wrongly raised during
  move/rename e.g. on ZFS, closes #1024
• FIX: corrected comparaison of sub-directories under Windows
  (regression due to Windows ACL implementation)
• FIX: inefficient regular expression, could slightly improve
  performance and address potential vulnerability
• FIX: issue with OSError.errno discrepancies when the source and
  destination are on different platforms, closes #1027
• FIX: issue with OSError.errno discrepancies when the source and
  destination are on different platforms, closes #1027
• FIX: the info action wasn't returning the parsed values
• FIX: use python3 instead of python in all scripts, as it seems more
  common, closes #973
• NEW: --include & --exclude may start with "*:/" to replace windows
  disk letter, Closes #1031
• NEW: add sample script to back-up user's dir to script's location
  under Windows
• NEW: add virtualenv creation script for Windows
  tools/win_create_venv.bat
• NEW: log messages are now kept on one line if parsable output is set,
  closes #987

Authors

• Allan Daemon
• Eric L
• Eric L.
• Patrik Dufresne
• dependabot[bot]

Main changes

Documentation refresh for Windows, few fixes especially when using API 201, clarify the error message when using the client/server mode, and, last but not least, the introduction of a fully automated weekly release for easier testing by users.

Detailed release notes are at the top of the changelog. As always, consider especially the changes marked with CHG as they might impact your workflow.

Install

The installation, described in details in the read me, has the quick version:

• Linux, trust on your distro to provide the latest version of rdiff-backup "soon-ish" (or copr/PPA)
• Windows, download the asset rdiff-backup-2.2.6.win32/64exe.zip from the tagged release and unpack it somewhere in your PATH (or trust Chocolatey).
• Any supported Platform, and a few unsupported like BSD and MacOSX, use pip install rdiff-backup (or download and install the proper asset from the tagged release).
• in all cases, you might want to have a look at the migration guide.

Known issues

1. rdiff-backup in API version 200 (the default) warns about calling rdiff-backup in server mode with the deprecated CLI, even if you don't use the server mode, see #922 for details

Help!

If you encounter issues, contact us on the rdiff-backup-users mailing list and/or report an issue.

We could also use some help, so don't hesitate to raise your hand on the mailing list if you'd like to help your favorite backup tool!

Main changes

Some more fixes of the docs and the code, a cross-version issue with 2.0.5 and a better handling of failed connections.

Detailed release notes are at the top of the changelog. As always, consider especially the changes marked with CHG as they might impact your workflow.

Install

The installation, described in details in the read me, has the quick version:

• Linux, trust on your distro to provide the latest version of rdiff-backup "soon-ish" (or copr/PPA)
• Windows, download the asset rdiff-backup-2.2.5.win32/64exe.zip from the tagged release and unpack it somewhere in your PATH.
• Any supported Platform, and a few unsupported like BSD and MacOSX, use pip install rdiff-backup (or download and install the proper asset from the tagged release).
• in all cases, you might want to have a look at the migration guide.

Help!

If you encounter issues, contact us on the rdiff-backup-users mailing list and/or report an issue.

We could also use some help, so don't hesitate to raise your hand on the mailing list if you'd like to help your favorite backup tool!

Main changes

Only very small code and documentation fixes, hopefully really the last fix release of the stable branch 2.2, before the development effort for v2.4 starts.

Detailed release notes are at the top of the changelog. As always, consider especially the changes marked with CHG as they might impact your workflow.

Install

The installation, described in details in the read me, has the quick version:

• Linux, trust on your distro to provide the latest version of rdiff-backup "soon-ish" (or copr/PPA)
• Windows, download the asset rdiff-backup-2.2.4.win32/64exe.zip from the tagged release and unpack it somewhere in your PATH.
• Any supported Platform, and a few unsupported like BSD and MacOSX, use pip install rdiff-backup (or download and install the proper asset from the tagged release).
• in all cases, you might want to have a look at the migration guide.

Help!

If you encounter issues, contact us on the rdiff-backup-users mailing list and/or report an issue.

We could also use some help, so don't hesitate to raise your hand on the mailing list if you'd like to help your favorite backup tool!

Main changes

Only small code and documentation fixes and additions, probably the last fix release of the stable branch 2.2, before the development effort for v2.4 starts.

Detailed release notes are at the top of the changelog. As always, consider especially the changes marked with CHG as they might impact your workflow.

Install

The installation, described in details in the read me, has the quick version:

• Linux, trust on your distro to provide the latest version of rdiff-backup "soon-ish" (or copr/PPA)
• Windows, download the asset rdiff-backup-2.2.3.win32/64exe.zip from the tagged release and unpack it somewhere in your PATH.
• Any supported Platform, and a few unsupported like BSD and MacOSX, use pip install rdiff-backup (or download and install the proper asset from the tagged release).
• in all cases, you might want to have a look at the migration guide.

Help!

If you encounter issues, contact us on the rdiff-backup-users mailing list and/or report an issue.

We could also use some help, so don't hesitate to raise your hand on the mailing list if you'd like to help your favorite backup tool!

Main changes

That's embarrassing but the last version still had a glitch and the sdist package rdiff-backup-2.2.2.tar.gz didn't contain the pre-rendered man-pages which some packagers requested.

Detailed release notes are at the top of the changelog. As always, consider especially the changes marked with CHG as they might impact your workflow.

Install

The installation, described in details in the read me, has the quick version:

• Linux, trust on your distro to provide the latest version of rdiff-backup "soon-ish" (or copr/PPA)
• Windows, download the asset rdiff-backup-2.2.2.win32/64exe.zip from the tagged release and unpack it somewhere in your PATH.
• Any supported Platform, and a few unsupported like BSD and MacOSX, use pip install rdiff-backup (or download and install the proper asset from the tagged release).
• in all cases, you might want to have a look at the migration guide.

Help!

If you encounter issues, contact us on the rdiff-backup-users mailing list and/or report an issue.

We could also use some help, so don't hesitate to raise your hand on the mailing list if you'd like to help your favorite backup tool!

Main changes

Nothing big, only a few bug fixes, some to simplify the life of friendly packagers, and one enhancement update from @pcanning to show the size of any removed increment.

Detailed release notes are at the top of the changelog. As always, consider especially the changes marked with CHG as they might impact your workflow.

Install

The installation, described in details in the read me, has the quick version:

• Linux, trust on your distro to provide the latest version of rdiff-backup "soon-ish" (or copr/PPA)
• Windows, download the asset rdiff-backup-2.2.1.win32/64exe.zip from the tagged release and unpack it somewhere in your PATH.
• Any supported Platform, and a few unsupported like BSD and MacOSX, use pip install rdiff-backup (or download and install the proper asset from the tagged release).
• in all cases, you might want to have a look at the migration guide.

Help!

If you encounter issues, contact us on the rdiff-backup-users mailing list and/or report an issue.

We could also use some help, so don't hesitate to raise your hand on the mailing list if you'd like to help your favorite backup tool!

Main changes

After 2 years of development, 48 fixed issues, 17 new features, we're releasing our next major version of rdiff-backup. At time of writing only one known (and obscure) bug is left to be fixed. Most of the time has been spent on modernizing the code with a clearer plug-in based structure, but we've also found the time to implement a few cool features:

• there is at last a --help parameter
• the CLI (Command Line Interface) has been refurbished and modernized (the old one is still present but deprecated)
• you can store your parameters in a file, one per line, and call rdiff-backup @myfile to use them
• verbosity levels and error codes have been standardized for clearer interaction with the tool
• Window wheels are now working, and rdiff-backup is available in 32 and 64 bits for Windows

And despite all these changes, rdiff-backup 2.2 remains compatible with rdiff-backup 2.0, but you can, and are encouraged to, use the new API using --api-version 201, enabling two additional features:

• the last backup can be regressed even if it isn't failed (I think, our oldest enhancement request)
• locking of repositories has been greatly improved (there wasn't much of a locking before)

Detailed release notes are at the top of the changelog. As always, consider especially the changes marked with CHG as they might impact your workflow.

And, last but not least, our website rdiff-backup.net has been revamped and merged with the docs folder, allowing for easier maintenance and up-to-date documentation, in alignment with the code evolution.

Install

The installation, described in details in the read me, has the quick version:

• Linux, trust on your distro to provide the latest version of rdiff-backup "soon-ish" (or copr/PPA)
• Windows, download the asset rdiff-backup-2.2.0.win32/64exe.zip from the tagged release and unpack it somewhere in your PATH.
• Any supported Platform, and a few unsupported like BSD and MacOSX, use pip install rdiff-backup (or download and install the proper asset from the tagged release).
• in all cases, you might want to have a look at the migration guide, especially if you want to use the new version side-by-side with the old one.

Help!

If you encounter issues, contact us on the rdiff-backup-users mailing list and/or report an issue.

We could also use some help, so don't hesitate to raise your hand on the mailing list if you'd like to help your favorite backup tool!

This is the end of the beta phase and the last step before the release of 2.2.0. Most of the work since last beta was spent on improving testing and documentation. Few corner case bugs were found and fixed, especially under Windows.

All changes are documented in the changelog. Check especially the changes (marked with CHG) which might impact your workflow.

how to install

• Standard installation procedure is available from the readme (beta packages might or might not be offered by the maintainers, in doubt install via pip install rdiff-backup==2.1.4rc0; or use the zip-assets for Windows if you don't have Python).
• You might want to use the side-by-side installation to safeguard your productive installation.
• and we've added instructions on how to install safely for test and development, using a virtualenv

This is a beta release so that many people can test before this becomes the next stable release. All changes are documented in the changelog. Check especially the changes (marked with CHG) which might impact your workflow. Since the last beta, few things are worth testing and reporting issues:

• bash completion works for new and old CLI
• few fixes regarding Windows and one regression bug (see details in the changelog)
• the Windows wheel should now work properly

The installation procedure hasn't changed much and is available from the readme (beta packages might or might not be offered by the maintainers, in doubt install via pip install rdiff-backup==2.1.3b3 under Linux and use the attached binaries under Windows). You might want to use the side-by-side installation to safeguard your productive installation.

If no more issue is found, this will become the release candidate.