Client Manual v8.14 by Dominic Raferd

• variable definitions and
• a comma-separated list of source-directories and destination-directories.

When specified, a command line switch overrides any conflicting setting in ConfigFile:

• /a [yn] : skip rdiff-backup if source has not changed (default y)
• /b name : specify basearchive as name
• /c : compare rather than backup (--compare)
• /d : force deletion of pre-existing volume shadow sets
• /e file : specify the excludelist file
• /f conf : specify the ConfigFile (default %APPDATA%\TimeDicer\TimeDicer.txt) - this switch, if used, should be put first after /g
• /g : run with debug messages (and pause before backup actually begins) - this switch, if used, should be put first
• /h /? : see these instructions (html)
• /i [yn] : specify whether vss mode is to be used (default y)
• /j : skip initial testing for presence of rdiff-backup on server
• /k key : specify the private key file (default %APPDATA%\TimeDicer\privatekey.ppk)
• /l log : specify the html log file (default %APPDATA%\TimeDicer\timedicer-log.html)
• /o option: specify any options for rdiff-backup (default "--noacls -v5"; use quotes for multiple options)
• /n "SourceDirectory1,DestinationRepo1[|Source2,Dest2...]": specify pairs of source drives/directories and destination repositories, source and destination to be separated by a comma and pairs to be separated by a vertical stroke|
• /p number: specify the TimeDicer Server connection port (default 22)
• /q : reduce output messages (quiet)
• /s ip : specify the address (ip) of the TimeDicer Server
• /t : test - do everything except call rdiff-backup
• /u name : specify the user name (default lower case %USERNAME%-%USERDOMAIN%)
• /v : show version of TimeDicer
• /x : if error occurs, exit immediately at end instead of pausing

# TimeDicer.txt file - example/template config file

# Lines that are blank or any text after # on a line are ignored, lines
# beginning with SET are processed, all other lines are assumed to be part
# of the list of sources and destinations. The file must terminate with
# an end-of-line.

# The only required lines are one beginning SET server= (specifying the address
# of the TimeDicer Server), and at least one comma-separated line specifying a
# source folder and destination archive. Even these can be avoided by
# specifying them on the command line (see above), in which case a
# configuration file is not needed at all.

# 'server' is the DNS name or IP address of the TimeDicer Server
SET server=192.168.100.125

# 'excludelist' optionally identifies a file which lists (in Windows format,
# case insensitive) files/paths to be excluded from backup e.g. thumbs.db.
# Each file/path should appear on a separate line in the file. Do not begin
# or end an entry in the list with * as this is prefixed/suffixed
# anyway, and do not use quotes. So a line:
#   "C:\Documents And Settings\Fred\My Documents\thumbs.*"
# should instead be written as:
#   C:\Documents And Settings\Fred\My Documents\thumbs.
# or even:
#   thumbs.
# (which will exclude all files or paths which contain the text 'thumbs.')
#SET excludelist=c:\exclfolders.txt

# Backups:a comma-separated list of source directories and their
# destination archive names, with an optional third field holding extra
# parameters to be added to the rdiff-backup command line (these appear before
# any 'excludelist' and 'options' parameters and thus are processed after
# them). Environment variables can be used as shown below. Source
# directories should not have surrounding quotes, nor a terminating backslash.
%USERPROFILE%\My Documents,mydocs,--exclude "**/*.accd?" --exclude **/*.md?
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop,desktop
c:\Utils,utils
c:\Bas,bas

You will not normally need to use these more advanced options:

# 'user' is the login name of the user on the TimeDicer Server, it is
# optional and defaults to lower-case %USERNAME%-%USERDOMAIN% with 
# any spaces stripped. 'user' must not contain spaces
SET user=fred

# 'key' is ppk file (created with Puttygen and containing private key - the
# corresponding public key must be saved on the TimeDicer Server in
# ~/.ssh/authorized_keys). For TimeDicer to run unattended, the public key
# must be saved without passphrase. 'key' is optional; if not supplied it
# defaults to %APPDATA%\TimeDicer\privatekey.ppk, or if this is not found
# then %USERPROFILE%\privatekey.ppk.
SET key=C:\Documents and Settings\Fred\mykey.ppk

# 'port' is the ssh port to reach the TimeDicer Server, default 22.
SET port=21

# 'basearchive' is optional, all archive destinations will have this prefix.
# Unless 'basearchive' starts with / it will be defined in relation to the home
# directory of the user on the TimeDicer Server; if it is undefined, archives
# will be directly located in that home directory. If using ecryptfs under
# Ubuntu then 'basearchive=Private' should provide good protection against data
# theft resulting from physical theft of the TimeDicer Server, but it does not
# prevent the administrator of the TimeDicer Server (superuser) getting access
# to your data. 'basearchive' is case sensitive.
SET basearchive=archives/

# 'options' is optional and contains additional command-line options for
# rdiff-backup, it appears before 'excludelist' and thus is processed after it.
# Default is '--noacls -v5'. Do not add --remote-schema!
SET options=-v5

# 'vss' is optionally y or n (default: y) -  set to n to disable Volume Shadow
# Services. You need to do this is if the source drive is formatted with FAT32
# (or FAT), uses EFS, or is a not a local drive.
SET vss=n

# 'skip_on_no_change' is optionally y or n (default: y) - set to n to disable
# skipping of backup if the source data has not changed since last time. After
# each run TimeDicer records the date of each successful backup and if 
# 'skip_on_no_change' is 'y' then it looks for changes in the source data
# (using xcopy) since [and including] that date. Backup is skipped if there
# are no changes. This can avoid bloating of backups on the TimeDicer Server
# especially with sources that rarely change.
SET skip_on_no_change=n

# 'skip-rdiff-backup-test' is optionally y (default: n) - this forces TimeDicer
# to skip initial testing for ssh access to the server, for /home/tmp and for
# a valid version of rdiff-backup on the server. This can be helpful if you
# restrict access rights to the server, for instance if you permit the user
# only to run 'rdiff-backup --server', and no other commands,
# by adding a suitable line to their .ssh/authorized_keys file.
SET skip-rdiff-backup-test=y

# 'log' optionally defines the location for TimeDicer's log file and it defaults to
# %APPDATA%\TimeDicer\timedicer-log.html. If you do not want a log set it to NUL.
SET log=J:\mylog.htm

# 'rdiffbackup_on_client' (default: rdiff-backup.exe) optionally defines the 
# name of the rdiff-backup program to be run on this client
SET rdiffbackup_on_client=rdiff-backup-1.3.3.exe

# 'rdiffbackup_on_server' (default: rdiff-backup) optionally defines the
# name of the rdiff-backup program to be run on the server
SET rdiffbackup_on_server=rdiff-backup-1