Linux Shell Script: backup and restore files while maintaining directory location

Question

I am looking to write a Linux shell script in order to perform a backup and restore of all of the source code in my project folder (.c, .cpp, .java, etc)

My script deletes all of these source code files and I want to be able to easily restore the files as well if need be.

Here is what I am doing now:

#copy the entire directory to a backup folder
cp -r $CLEANUP_PATH $BACKUP_PATH

#delete the project and copy from backup to restore source code
rm -rf $CLEANUP_PATH
cp -r $BACKUP_PATH $CLEANUP_PATH

The project is around 600MB, so it takes a long time when I perform these actions.

How would I be able to restore only the source code (rather than the entire directory) from a backup and ensure that each file is restored to the specific directories that each file belongs in?

@Carl - The intent here is to remove source code to protect intellectual property. The backup/restore functionality would mostly be for internal testing purposes. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe that using source control would be a considerably slower approach for this. — THE DOCTOR
– THE DOCTOR, Commented May 20, 2011 at 18:52
@shellter - One of the things that I tried was: find $CLEANUP_PATH -iname "*.c" -exec cp {} {}.bkup \; However, this does not maintain the directory that the files came from when I go to restore from the backup. cp -r copies a directory recursively including every single file in the root directory and all subdirectories. — THE DOCTOR
– THE DOCTOR, Commented May 20, 2011 at 18:55
Why are you copying and then removing? If the destination and the source are on the same physical device, using mv will be a lot faster. — William Pursell
– William Pursell, Commented May 22, 2011 at 7:56

lhf · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-20 18:43:06Z

4

Consider using tar: it remembers everything about the files, including paths, permissions, and dates. If you source code is inside a few directories, you can extract those directiories by name from the tar file.

answered May 20, 2011 at 18:43

lhf

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4 Comments

THE DOCTOR Over a year ago

What would the syntax look like if I want to locate and backup all .c files from /home/username/PROJECT_FOLDER for example?

lhf Over a year ago

tar zcvf /tmp/mybackup.tar.gz /home/username/PROJECT_FOLDER/*.c

THE DOCTOR Over a year ago

Thanks, but this ended up being the syntax that I needed: tar -zcvf ${BACKUP_PATH}/c_backup.tar find ${CLEANUP_PATH} -name "*.c" How do I extract these files to restore them to the directories they came from without overwriting other existing files in those directories?

THE DOCTOR Over a year ago

Nevermind, I figured it out. tar -xzvf c_backup.tar -C ${CLEANUP_PATH}

Seth Robertson · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-20 20:32:15Z

2

Consider using version control. It remembers everything about the files, including paths, permissions, dates, and previous revisions. This will not only prevent disaster recovery, but it will make you a better developer (for any number of reasons).

git init .
git add `find . -type f | egrep '\.(cpp|c|java)$'`
git commit -m "initial version"

The of course assumes you have stuff in the directory you do not want committed/saved. If you want to save everything (no binaries/library/other generated or generatable files please!) then you can git add .

After you do some work, check in the changes

git status
git commit -a -m "Descriptive comment about changes"

You can also make clones of the git repository in case you delete the directory. Offsystem clones in case you delete the machine.

git clone ssh://hostname/path/to/repository

answered May 20, 2011 at 20:32

Seth Robertson

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2 Comments

THE DOCTOR Over a year ago

We use TortoiseSVN where I work. I'm not sure if it has the same capabilities as git that you mention, but I'll look into it. Thanks.

Seth Robertson Over a year ago

While I promote git over svn, either is so far in advanced of "tar" and "cp" to be indistinguishable. The subversion commands will vary and you might need help getting a new repository set up for your project.

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