arq_restore

An open-source command-line utility for restoring from backups created by Arq

Download a binary version here.

Get the source code here.

The data format is documented here.

Usage

First set 3 environment variables:

ARQ_ACCESS_KEY: your S3 access key ID
ARQ_SECRET_KEY: your S3 secret key
ARQ_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD: the password you used to encrypt your backups

List Backed-Up Folders

Type arq_restore with no arguments to list all backed-up folders.

Example output:


S3 bucket: akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq    Stefan's MacBook Pro (stefan) UUID 32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570
        /Volumes/Spinning Disk/stefan/Virtual Machines
            UUID:            04587920-BF71-49B4-B4D0-B2E63CA64F88
            reflog command:  arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/04587920-BF71-49B4-B4D0-B2E63CA64F88 reflog
            restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/04587920-BF71-49B4-B4D0-B2E63CA64F88

        /Users/stefan/src
            UUID:            1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E
            reflog command:  arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E reflog
            restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E

        /Users/stefan/Dropbox
            UUID:            496803FB-AFCB-4102-ACCA-0A96018D32A4
            reflog command:  arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/496803FB-AFCB-4102-ACCA-0A96018D32A4 reflog
            restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/496803FB-AFCB-4102-ACCA-0A96018D32A4

        /Users/stefan/Library
            UUID:            4F86F72A-7D70-4C55-A59A-038B96852C47
            reflog command:  arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/4F86F72A-7D70-4C55-A59A-038B96852C47 reflog
            restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/4F86F72A-7D70-4C55-A59A-038B96852C47

        /Users/stefan/bin
            UUID:            50451320-3BD4-47EC-B9DC-215633AE61FC
            reflog command:  arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/50451320-3BD4-47EC-B9DC-215633AE61FC reflog
            restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/50451320-3BD4-47EC-B9DC-215633AE61FC

        /Volumes/Spinning Disk/stefan/Music
            UUID:            7C554E65-4324-4B81-9675-4D6EA686B0DD
            reflog command:  arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/7C554E65-4324-4B81-9675-4D6EA686B0DD reflog
            restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/7C554E65-4324-4B81-9675-4D6EA686B0DD

        /Volumes/Spinning Disk/stefan/Pictures/iPhoto Library
            UUID:            A556654E-BCBC-4CF6-A5A9-AA4E6FF7E1DD
            reflog command:  arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/A556654E-BCBC-4CF6-A5A9-AA4E6FF7E1DD reflog
            restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/A556654E-BCBC-4CF6-A5A9-AA4E6FF7E1DD

        /Users/stefan/.ssh
            UUID:            AF6073E2-36F4-44AE-AC86-7014CA736EC7
            reflog command:  arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/AF6073E2-36F4-44AE-AC86-7014CA736EC7 reflog
            restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/AF6073E2-36F4-44AE-AC86-7014CA736EC7

        /Users/stefan/Desktop
            UUID:            B5547B68-832A-4C5C-96F1-5DA8CBF3F645
            reflog command:  arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/B5547B68-832A-4C5C-96F1-5DA8CBF3F645 reflog
            restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/B5547B68-832A-4C5C-96F1-5DA8CBF3F645

The s3 path value is of the form /<s3 bucket name>/<computer uuid>/buckets/<folder uuid>.

(The word "buckets" in the path should be "folders", but it's not for historical reasons).

Restore from a Backup

To restore the latest version of one of the folders, type the restore command listed.

For example, to restore the "src" folder from "Stefan's MacBook Pro" above, type:

arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E

Print Reflog

Each time Arq stores a new "commit" (backup), it writes a "reflog entry" containing the commit's key. You can print this reflog (it prints in reverse-chronological order) and then restore a specific commit instead of restoring the latest commit. The command is the same as the restore command for a folder, but with the "reflog" argument at the end. For example:

arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E reflog

produces output like this:


printing reflog for src
reflog /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/bucketdata/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E/refs/logs/master/343577367
	blobkey: <BlobKey d4adc50a482663a50bdcae3327e0f3c10f4bd015,stretchedkey=YES>
	author: stefan
	date: 2011-11-21 14:09:24 +0000
	location: file://Stefan's%20MacBook%20Pro/Users/stefan/src
	restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E d4adc50a482663a50bdcae3327e0f3c10f4bd015
reflog /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/bucketdata/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E/refs/logs/master/343577118
	blobkey: <BlobKey 63e47aa0d84e47c9eb5721c4d675f75cca1af897,stretchedkey=YES>
	author: stefan
	date: 2011-11-21 14:05:15 +0000
	location: file://Stefan's%20MacBook%20Pro/Users/stefan/src
	restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E 63e47aa0d84e47c9eb5721c4d675f75cca1af897
reflog /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/bucketdata/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E/refs/logs/master/343573520
	blobkey: <BlobKey 4f1efe4d3a65edf3ab59741583e47027cc2da3b9,stretchedkey=YES>
	author: stefan
	date: 2011-11-21 13:05:19 +0000
	location: file://Stefan's%20MacBook%20Pro/Users/stefan/src
	restore command: arq_restore /akiaiyuk3n3tme6l4hfa.com.haystacksoftware.arq/32D9D7A2-3B3E-4BE7-B85B-0605AF24F570/buckets/1D142EAB-3218-48BD-BF5B-4EAEF504783E 4f1efe4d3a65edf3ab59741583e47027cc2da3b9

You can execute the command listed as "restore command" under each reflog entry to restore that specific "commit".

License

Copyright (c) 2009-2011, Stefan Reitshamer http://www.haystacksoftware.com

All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

* Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

* Neither the names of PhotoMinds LLC or Haystack Software, nor the names of 
their contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.