[Feature request] Auto backup when plugging external disk in

Very interesting feature, partly it sounds like Mac's TimeMachine ;) So we put it on the wishlist for later releases. Unfortenately, it is not so easy to implement - so be patient.

There is work on a similar system that you might be interested in:

(it's still in alpha)

https://launchpad.net/timevault/+download

Meanwhile, you may consider an alternative. You can put an 'autorun' script on the USB stick that launches the backup. I've done that on my external disk, but that one only runs the backup config, so I can push 'make backup now' (that was actually still using sbackup). Presumably, you could likewise start the whole backup process in the background.

(One caveat comes from Gnome's security features. You will *always* have to click 'yes' on two different notice windows to actually run the autorun script.)

As to TimeMachine, I've started using TimeVault that does similar things. It can write to an external disk, and IIRC it will gracefully stop and re-start when the volume is removed and re-inserted. It's still in beta phase (0.7.3 now), but already seems to work quite stably. It's in the Ubuntu repo.

(by the way, there isn't anything particular to notebooks about this feature...)

I've implemented this for my wife as an autorun script on the external
disk, which starts the backup. This works in Ubuntu (I don't know about
other distro's). The only drawbacks are that it pops up a window asking
the user if she want to execute this removable medium, and that you'll
be depending on a proper setup in the configuration file, that will not
be on the external disk. I do this with sbackup, but I'm sure it will
work with nssbackup as the only feature you need is a command to start
the backup.

It wouldn't be difficult for [ns]sbackup to have an option in the gui to
install itself onto a particular external disk.

You could get some level of authorization by setting a custom backup
path (possibly including a hash key in its name) that points to a
directory on the external disk, and cancel backup if it doesn't exist.
That way, any other USB drive with the same autorun script, would not
get the backup.

--
Groetjes,

Anton
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