Gitback

Gitback allows you to version arbitrary files and/or directories in a git repository. You just need to include the gem and write a brief ruby script that indicates the files/directories you'd like to backup. Then, run the script via cron. Gitback will take care of a adding/commiting/pushing whenever your files are modified.

The typical usage for this is backing up config files.

Requirements

git (http://git-scm.com) tested with 1.6.0.4
grit (http://github.com/mojombo/grit) 2.0.0 or higher

Install

$ gem install gitback -s http://gemcutter.org

Usage

Here's a basic example of a script using gitback:

require 'rubygems'
require 'gitback'

Gitback::Repository.new '/var/config-backup/' do |repo|
  repo.backup '/opt/nginx/conf/nginx.conf'
end

This will check /opt/nginx/conf/nginx.conf for changes. If the file has changed, gitback will commit a new version.

This nginx config file would be saved to the following location:

/var/config-backup/opt/nginx/conf/nginx.conf

Everything starts with instantiating a new Gitback::Repository object. The first parameter is the path to the git repository you'd like to backup to. The second parameter is a block indicating the files/directories you'd like to backup.

Directory support

In addition to basic files, directory paths can also be backed up:

Gitback::Repository.new '/var/config-backup/' do |repo|
  repo.backup '/opt/nginx/conf/nginx.conf'
  repo.backup '/etc/mysql/'
end

Notice that '/etc/mysql' is a directory. Gitback will copy everything within that directory into the git repository.

Namespaces

Namespaces are also supported. If you'd like to use the same repository for multiple servers you can specify a namespace like this:

Gitback::Repository.new '/var/config-backup/' do |repo|
  repo.namespace 'server1.domain.com' do
    repo.backup '/opt/nginx/conf/nginx.conf'
  end
end

This will save the file to the following location:

/var/config-backup/server1.domain.com/opt/nginx/conf/nginx.conf

Remote Git Repositories

Gitback is intended to be used with remote git repositories. If your git repository is tracking a remote branch, gitback will push changes to the remote after each commit.

Running Via Cron

There's nothing special about a gitback script. In order for it to backup your files you'll need to run it via the command line. I suggest setting up a cron job to do this for you at regular intervals.