Automatic Backups with cron + rsync

What this is

This guide shows how to create automatic backups using rsync (file copy with sync) and cron (scheduler).

What it is for

Daily backups of important folders (websites, configs)
Quick recovery after mistakes
Better discipline than manual backups

Prerequisites

SSH + sudo
A backup destination (recommended: another server or mounted storage)
Enough disk space for backups

Step-by-step

Step 1) Install rsync (if needed)

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y rsync

RHEL-based:

sudo dnf install -y rsync

Step 2) Create a local backup folder

sudo mkdir -p /var/backups/rsync
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/backups/rsync

Step 3) Create a backup script

mkdir -p ~/scripts ~/logs
nano ~/scripts/backup_rsync.sh

Example script (backup /etc and /var/www):

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

TS=$(date +%F)
DEST=/var/backups/rsync/$TS

mkdir -p "$DEST"

rsync -aH --delete /etc/ "$DEST/etc/"
rsync -aH --delete /var/www/ "$DEST/var_www/"

echo "Backup completed: $DEST"

What each rsync flag does:

-a: archive mode (preserves permissions, times, symlinks)
-H: preserve hard links (useful for some layouts)
--delete: removes files in destination that no longer exist in source (keeps mirror)

Warning: --delete is powerful. Make sure source/destination paths are correct.

Step 4) Make the script executable

chmod +x ~/scripts/backup_rsync.sh

Step 5) Test it manually (before cron)

~/scripts/backup_rsync.sh

Expected output: A line like Backup completed: /var/backups/rsync/2026-02-08.

Step 6) Add cron job (daily at 2:30 AM)

crontab -e

Add this line:

30 2 * * * /usr/bin/bash /home/USERNAME/scripts/backup_rsync.sh >> /home/USERNAME/logs/backup_rsync.log 2>&1

What it does: Runs the script daily and logs output.

Final verification

crontab -l
ls -la /var/backups/rsync
tail -n 50 ~/logs/backup_rsync.log

Conclusion

You now have automated backups. Next step: copy backups off-server (recommended) and test restores.