BTRFS-BACKUP-NG-INSTALL(1)

💖 btrfs-backup-ng-install(1) — the install-your-timers era 💖

okay bestie, so this is the page for btrfs-backup-ng-install, which lives in the User Commands section of the manual. it's the one that sets up your automatic backups so you can stop doing it by hand like it's 2009. 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

btrfs-backup-ng-install — install systemd timer/service. that's it, that's the whole job, and it does it flawlessly. 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

btrfs-backup-ng install [OPTIONS]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so what this actually does: it generates and installs systemd units for automated backups. not one unit — two. it creates both a service unit and a timer unit, and the timer unit is the one that runs your backups on a schedule. it's giving "set it and forget it" main character energy. 🔥

by default it installs system-wide services, which means it needs root privileges. yeah. sudo. you know the drill.

but if you don't wanna do the root thing, use --user for user-level services instead. no cap. 💜

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

• --timer PRESET — use a preset timer interval instead of hand-rolling your own. valid presets are: hourly, daily, weekly. pick one and go, bestie.
• --oncalendar SPEC — a custom OnCalendar specification, for when you want scheduling that's flexible and very much your own vibe.
• --user — install as a user service instead of a system service. does not require root privileges, and it runs in the user's session. lowkey the move if it's your own machine. 🙈

⭐ OnCalendar examples, since these go hard ⭐

• *:0/15 — Every 15 minutes
• *:0/5 — Every 5 minutes
• *-*-* 02:00:00 — Daily at 2 AM
• Mon *-*-* 03:00:00 — Every Monday at 3 AM

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🎀 GENERATED FILES 🎀

these are the files it drops. remember them, because you'll be poking at them when you want to know what's going on. 👑

💖 System Installation

• /etc/systemd/system/btrfs-backup-ng.service — Service unit file.
• /etc/systemd/system/btrfs-backup-ng.timer — Timer unit file.

💜 User Installation

• ~/.config/systemd/user/btrfs-backup-ng.service — User service unit file.
• ~/.config/systemd/user/btrfs-backup-ng.timer — User timer unit file.

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

install an hourly timer, system-wide:

sudo btrfs-backup-ng install --timer hourly

install a daily timer at 2 AM:

sudo btrfs-backup-ng install --oncalendar *-*-* 02:00:00

install one that fires every 15 minutes:

sudo btrfs-backup-ng install --oncalendar *:0/15

install it as a user service instead:

btrfs-backup-ng install --timer hourly --user

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🫶 POST-INSTALLATION 🫶

once it's installed, the timer is automatically enabled and started. you don't have to do anything else. it just. goes. ✨

to check status:

systemctl status btrfs-backup-ng.timer
systemctl list-timers btrfs-backup-ng.timer

and for user services specifically:

systemctl --user status btrfs-backup-ng.timer

ngl, the --user flag in that last command is doing a lot of heavy lifting. don't forget it or you'll be staring at a system timer that does not exist and feeling unwell. 😭

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💀 SEE ALSO 💀

btrfs-backup-ng(1), btrfs-backup-ng-uninstall(1), systemd.timer(5), systemd.time(7)

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and that's the page, bestie. slay, you're scheduled now. 🦋

this whole thing is from btrfs-backup-ng, dated January 2026, and it lives at BTRFS-BACKUP-NG-INSTALL(1) in the manual. periodt. 👑💖