Rsync External Drive Backup with Automated Reminders

Rsync External Drive Backup System

Overview

This guide documents a reliable, efficient backup system that mirrors critical folders from your Linux Mint laptop to an external SSD using rsync. The system includes automated weekly reminders and comprehensive logging.

What This System Does

• Syncs specific folders from your home directory to an external drive
• Mirrors changes only - fast and efficient (only changed files are transferred)
• Maintains exact copies - external drive matches internal drive exactly
• Logs all operations - timestamped records of every backup
• Protects external-only data - prevents accidental deletion of folders that exist only on the external drive
• Provides weekly reminders - automated notifications to run backups

Use Case

Perfect for backing up personal files, documents, scripts, and configurations to an external drive that you can:

• Use for disaster recovery
• Transfer to a new laptop
• Access from another machine
• Store offsite for safety

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Prerequisites

Required Software

• rsync - Usually pre-installed on Linux systems
• notify-send - For desktop notifications (part of libnotify-bin)
• cron - For scheduling reminders (pre-installed)

Check if rsync is installed:

rsync --version

Install if needed:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install rsync

Hardware Requirements

• External drive (USB SSD, HDD, etc.)
• Sufficient space on external drive for your backed-up folders

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Initial Setup

Step 1: Identify Your External Drive

1. Connect your external drive

2. Find the mount point:

   lsblk -f
   

Look for your external drive. It will likely be mounted at something like:

• /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp (Samsung T7 SSD)
• /media/mark/My_Passport (WD Passport)
• /media/username/drive-label

1. Note the exact path - you’ll need this for the script

Step 2: Create the Backup Script

1. Create a Scripts’ directory if you don’t have one:

   mkdir -p ~/Scripts
   

2. Create the backup script:

   nano ~/Scripts/sync-to-external.sh
   

3. Paste the following script:

#!/bin/bash

# ============================
#  Backup Sync Script (Safe Version)
#  From: Your Laptop
#  To:   External Drive
# ============================

SRC_ROOT="$HOME"
DEST_ROOT="/media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp"  # CHANGE THIS TO YOUR DRIVE PATH

# Check if external drive is mounted
if [ ! -d "$DEST_ROOT" ]; then
    echo "❌ Backup drive not found at $DEST_ROOT. Please mount it and try again."
    exit 1
fi

# Define folders to sync (source relative to $HOME)
# NOTE: Folders that exist ONLY on external drive should be commented out
#       to avoid accidental deletion via --delete
declare -A FOLDERS=(
    ["Desktop"]="Desktop"
    ["Downloads"]="Downloads"
    ["Documents"]="Documents"
    ["Scripts"]="Scripts"
    # ["timeshift"]="timeshift"                # Currently only exists on external SSD
    # ["Website-Backups"]="Website-Backups"    # Currently only exists on external SSD
)

# Create log directory
mkdir -p "$DEST_ROOT/logs"
LOGFILE="$DEST_ROOT/logs/backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).log"

echo "🚀 Starting backup sync at $(date)" | tee -a "$LOGFILE"

for key in "${!FOLDERS[@]}"; do
    SRC_PATH="$SRC_ROOT/${FOLDERS[$key]}"
    DEST_PATH="$DEST_ROOT/${FOLDERS[$key]}"

    echo "📂 Syncing: $SRC_PATH -> $DEST_PATH" | tee -a "$LOGFILE"

    if [ -d "$SRC_PATH" ]; then
        mkdir -p "$DEST_PATH"
        rsync -avh --delete "$SRC_PATH/" "$DEST_PATH/" >> "$LOGFILE" 2>&1
    else
        echo "⚠️ Warning: Source folder not found: $SRC_PATH" | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
    fi
done

echo "✅ Backup completed at $(date)" | tee -a "$LOGFILE"

1. Save and exit (Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter)

Step 3: Customize the Script

IMPORTANT: Edit these two sections for your setup:

1. Change the destination path:

   DEST_ROOT="/media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp"  # Change to YOUR external drive path
   

2. Modify the folders to back up:

   declare -A FOLDERS=(
    ["Desktop"]="Desktop"           # Add or remove folders as needed
    ["Downloads"]="Downloads"
    ["Documents"]="Documents"
    ["Scripts"]="Scripts"
    # Add more folders like:
    # ["Pictures"]="Pictures"
    # ["Videos"]="Videos"
    # ["Music"]="Music"
   )
   

Important Notes:

• Only include folders that exist on your laptop
• Comment out (add # at start of line) any folders that exist ONLY on the external drive
• This prevents accidentally deleting external-only data

Step 4: Make the Script Executable

chmod +x ~/Scripts/sync-to-external.sh

Step 5: Test the Script

1. Connect your external drive

2. Run the script manually:

   bash ~/Scripts/sync-to-external.sh
   

3. Check the output - you should see:
   • “🚀 Starting backup sync at…”
   • Progress for each folder
   • “✅ Backup completed at…”
4. Verify the backup:

   ls /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/
   

You should see your backed-up folders and a new logs directory.

1. Check the log file:

   ls -lh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/
   cat /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/backup_*.log
   

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Setting Up Automated Reminders

Why Weekly Reminders Instead of Automatic Backups?

This system uses reminders rather than automatic execution because:

• Ensures the external drive is connected when backup runs
• Gives you control over when backups occur
• Prevents errors when drive isn’t mounted
• Allows you to verify backup completion
• You can postpone if you’re in the middle of something

Step 1: Determine Your Shell

echo $SHELL

Result will be something like:

• /usr/bin/fish (Fish shell - your setup)
• /bin/bash (Bash shell)
• /usr/bin/zsh (Zsh shell)

Step 2: Open Crontab Editor

crontab -e

If this is your first time, it will ask you to choose an editor. Select nano (usually option 1).

Step 3: Add the Reminder Entry

For Fish Shell (your current setup):

# Backup reminder every Wednesday at 8:00 AM
0 8 * * 3 DISPLAY=:0 DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus /usr/bin/env fish -c 'notify-send "Backup Reminder" "Time to run your external sync script."'

For Bash Shell:

# Backup reminder every Wednesday at 8:00 AM
0 8 * * 3 DISPLAY=:0 DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus notify-send "Backup Reminder" "Time to run your external sync script."

Step 4: Customize the Schedule

The cron format is: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week

Examples:

# Every Monday at 9:00 AM
0 9 * * 1 DISPLAY=:0 DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus /usr/bin/env fish -c 'notify-send "Backup Reminder" "Time to run your external sync script."'

# Every day at 6:00 PM
0 18 * * * DISPLAY=:0 DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus /usr/bin/env fish -c 'notify-send "Backup Reminder" "Time to run your external sync script."'

# First day of every month at 8:00 AM
0 8 1 * * DISPLAY=:0 DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus /usr/bin/env fish -c 'notify-send "Backup Reminder" "Time to run your external sync script."'

# Every Friday at 5:00 PM (end of work week)
0 17 * * 5 DISPLAY=:0 DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus /usr/bin/env fish -c 'notify-send "Backup Reminder" "Time to run your external sync script."'

Day of week codes:

• 0 or 7 = Sunday
• 1 = Monday
• 2 = Tuesday
• 3 = Wednesday
• 4 = Thursday
• 5 = Friday
• 6 = Saturday

Step 5: Save and Exit

• Press Ctrl+X
• Press Y to confirm
• Press Enter to save

Step 6: Verify Cron Job

crontab -l

You should see your reminder entry in the output.

Step 7: Test the Notification (Optional)

Don’t wait until Wednesday! Test it now:

DISPLAY=:0 DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus /usr/bin/env fish -c 'notify-send "Backup Reminder" "Time to run your external sync script."'

You should see a desktop notification appear.

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Daily Workflow

When You Get the Reminder

1. Connect your external drive (if not already connected)

2. Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T)

3. Run the backup script:

   bash ~/Scripts/sync-to-external.sh
   

4. Watch the output - it will show you what’s being synced

5. Wait for completion - you’ll see “✅ Backup completed at…”

6. Optional: Check the log:

   cat /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/backup_$(date +%Y%m%d)*.log
   

What Gets Backed Up?

On every backup run, rsync:

• ✅ Copies new files from laptop → external drive
• ✅ Updates changed files on external drive
• ✅ Deletes files from external drive that you deleted from laptop
• ✅ Skips unchanged files (very fast!)
• ✅ Preserves file permissions and timestamps

The result: Your external drive is an exact mirror of your selected folders.

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Understanding Rsync Options

The Command Breakdown

rsync -avh --delete "$SRC_PATH/" "$DEST_PATH/"

Flag explanations:

Flag	What It Does
-a	Archive mode - preserves permissions, timestamps, symlinks, etc. (equivalent to -rlptgoD)
-v	Verbose - shows you what’s being transferred
-h	Human-readable - displays file sizes in KB, MB, GB instead of bytes
--delete	Removes files from destination that don’t exist in source (makes it a true mirror)

Trailing slashes matter!

• "$SRC_PATH/" - syncs the contents of the folder
• "$SRC_PATH" - syncs the folder itself (creates nested directory)

Additional Useful Options

If you want to customize the rsync behavior, here are some options:

# Dry run - show what would be transferred without actually doing it
rsync -avh --delete --dry-run "$SRC_PATH/" "$DEST_PATH/"

# Exclude certain files or patterns
rsync -avh --delete --exclude='*.tmp' --exclude='.cache' "$SRC_PATH/" "$DEST_PATH/"

# Show progress during transfer
rsync -avh --delete --progress "$SRC_PATH/" "$DEST_PATH/"

# Compress data during transfer (slower but useful for network transfers)
rsync -avhz --delete "$SRC_PATH/" "$DEST_PATH/"

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Monitoring and Maintenance

Checking Backup Logs

View recent log files:

ls -lht /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/ | head -10

View a specific log:

cat /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/backup_20260121_080000.log

Search for warnings or errors:

grep -i "warning\|error" /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/backup_*.log

Check total backup size:

du -sh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Desktop
du -sh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Downloads
du -sh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Documents
du -sh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Scripts

Log Management

Logs accumulate over time. Clean up old logs periodically:

# Delete logs older than 90 days
find /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/ -name "backup_*.log" -mtime +90 -delete

# Or keep only the last 20 logs
cd /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/
ls -t backup_*.log | tail -n +21 | xargs rm -f

Automate log cleanup by adding this to the end of your backup script:

# Keep only last 30 backup logs
cd "$DEST_ROOT/logs"
ls -t backup_*.log 2>/dev/null | tail -n +31 | xargs rm -f 2>/dev/null

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Troubleshooting

Problem: “Backup drive not found” Error

Cause: External drive not mounted or wrong path

Solutions:

1. Check if drive is connected: lsblk -f
2. Verify mount point: ls /media/$USER/
3. Update DEST_ROOT in script to correct path
4. Manually mount if needed: udisksctl mount -b /dev/sdX1

Problem: Permission Denied Errors

Cause: Don’t have write permissions on external drive

Solutions:

1. Check ownership: ls -ld /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/
2. Fix permissions if needed:

   sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/
   

Problem: Rsync Very Slow

Possible causes and solutions:

1. USB 2.0 connection - Use USB 3.0 or higher port
2. Checking many unchanged files - This is normal on first run
3. Drive fragmentation (unlikely on SSD) - Run sudo fstrim -v /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/ for SSDs

Problem: Notification Doesn’t Appear

Solutions:

1. Test notification manually:

   DISPLAY=:0 DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus notify-send "Test" "This is a test"
   

2. Check if cron job exists:

   crontab -l
   

3. Check cron is running:

   systemctl status cron
   

4. Check your user ID (might not be 1000):

   id -u
   

   If it’s different, update the cron path: /run/user/YOUR_ID/bus

Problem: Accidental Data Loss

Prevention:

• Always do a dry run first: rsync -avh --delete --dry-run SOURCE/ DEST/
• Comment out folders in script that exist only on external drive
• Keep multiple backup drives (3-2-1 backup rule)

Recovery:

• If you have Timeshift snapshots, restore from there
• Check if files are in external drive’s trash: /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/.Trash-1000/

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Advanced Configurations

Adding Email Notifications

Install mail utilities:

sudo apt install mailutils

Add to end of script:

# Send email summary
mail -s "Backup Completed on $(hostname)" your-email@example.com < "$LOGFILE"

Creating Multiple Backup Profiles

Create different scripts for different backup scenarios:

~/Scripts/sync-to-external-work.sh      # Work-related folders
~/Scripts/sync-to-external-personal.sh  # Personal folders
~/Scripts/sync-to-external-media.sh     # Photos, videos, music

Each with different folder lists and schedules.

Backing Up to Multiple Drives

Create a master script that calls the sync script for different drives:

#!/bin/bash
# backup-all-drives.sh

echo "Starting backup to all drives..."

# Backup to T7 SSD
DEST_ROOT="/media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp" ~/Scripts/sync-to-external.sh

# Backup to second drive
DEST_ROOT="/media/mark/Backup_Drive_2" ~/Scripts/sync-to-external.sh

echo "All backups completed!"

Syncing Over Network (SSH)

You can use rsync to back up to a remote server:

rsync -avh --delete -e ssh "$SRC_PATH/" user@remote-server:/backup/path/

Useful for backing up to a NAS or another computer on your network.

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Recovery Procedures

Restoring from Backup

If you need to restore files from your external drive:

Restore a single folder:

rsync -avh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Documents/ ~/Documents/

Restore everything:

rsync -avh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Desktop/ ~/Desktop/
rsync -avh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Downloads/ ~/Downloads/
rsync -avh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Documents/ ~/Documents/
rsync -avh /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Scripts/ ~/Scripts/

Restore to a new laptop:

1. Connect external drive to new laptop
2. Copy backup script to new laptop
3. Run restore commands above
4. Reinstall applications as needed

Verifying Backup Integrity

Compare source and destination:

rsync -avhn --delete ~/Documents/ /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Documents/

The -n flag does a dry run - it will show if there are any differences without making changes.

Check file counts:

find ~/Documents -type f | wc -l
find /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Documents -type f | wc -l

Both should return the same number.

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Best Practices

✅ Do This

• Run backups regularly - Weekly minimum, daily if critical data
• Verify backups occasionally - Check that files are actually there
• Keep drive disconnected - When not backing up, protect from power surges
• Store offsite - Keep a second backup in a different location
• Test restoration - Occasionally restore a file to verify process works
• Monitor drive health - SSDs: sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdX, HDDs: same command
• Update script - When you add important folders to your system

❌ Avoid This

• Don’t ignore warnings - Check logs if you see errors
• Don’t rely on one backup - Follow 3-2-1 rule (3 copies, 2 different media, 1 offsite)
• Don’t modify external drive manually - Let rsync manage it
• Don’t yank the drive - Always safely eject: udisksctl unmount -b /dev/sdX1
• Don’t back up to same drive as source - Defeats the purpose

3-2-1 Backup Strategy

A complete backup strategy for important data:

• 3 copies of your data (original + 2 backups)
• 2 different types of storage media (internal SSD + external SSD + cloud)
• 1 copy stored offsite (cloud storage or external drive at another location)

Example implementation:

1. Original data on laptop SSD
2. First backup on external T7 SSD (this script)
3. Second backup on Déjà Dup to different drive or cloud service

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Quick Reference

Common Commands

# Run backup
bash ~/Scripts/sync-to-external.sh

# Dry run (test without changing anything)
rsync -avh --delete --dry-run ~/Documents/ /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/Documents/

# Check external drive space
df -h /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp

# List recent backups
ls -lht /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/ | head -5

# View latest log
cat /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/backup_$(ls -t /media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/ | head -1)

# Check cron jobs
crontab -l

# Edit cron jobs
crontab -e

# Test notification
notify-send "Test" "This is a test notification"

Script Location

~/Scripts/sync-to-external.sh

Log Location

/media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/logs/backup_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.log

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Summary

You now have a robust, efficient backup system that:

• ✅ Mirrors critical folders to an external drive
• ✅ Only transfers changed files (fast and efficient)
• ✅ Maintains exact copies with deletion sync
• ✅ Logs all operations with timestamps
• ✅ Reminds you weekly to run backups
• ✅ Protects external-only data from deletion
• ✅ Provides full recovery capabilities

Remember: This is one part of a complete backup strategy. Consider also using:

• Timeshift - System snapshots
• Déjà Dup - Additional file backups
• Cloud backup - Offsite protection (Backblaze, OneDrive, etc.)

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Related Documentation

• Rsync Official Documentation
• Cron Tutorial
• Linux Backup Strategies

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Last updated: January 21, 2026.
Tested on: Linux Mint 22.2 with Fish shell
External Drive: Samsung T7 Portable SSD