BTRFS-BACKUP-NG-TRANSFER(1)

💖 btrfs-backup-ng-transfer(1) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the User Commands section of the manual, and this one is literally the "I already have snapshots, I just need them over there" page. it's btrfs-backup-ng-transfer, and it's about to eat, no cap. 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

btrfs-backup-ng-transfer — transfer existing snapshots to targets 💅

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

btrfs-backup-ng transfer [OPTIONS]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so here's the vibe: this command takes snapshots you already have and moves them over to your configured targets. it does not make new snapshots — that's somebody else's job, this one is purely the delivery girlie. 📦✨

and the way it's efficient?? when it can, it uses incremental transfers, which is giving "we only send the diff, we're not re-sending the whole thing like an amateur." iconic behaviour honestly.

⚠️ ok important, bestie, real talk: target paths must already exist and are not created for you — on any transport. like, this command will not build the folder for you. it is not your mom. go look at PATHS in btrfs-backup-ng(1) for the full deets. 🫶

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• --dry-run — the "let me just see it in my head first" option. shows you what would happen without actually changing anything. zero commitment, all the information. 🙈
• --volume PATH — only transfer the volume(s) you name. wanna name more than one? go off, specify this flag multiple times. 👑
• --compress METHOD — picks the compression method for the transfers, and it overrides whatever per-target config you had going on. the valid methods are: none, zstd, gzip, lz4, pigz, lzop. yes those are the only ones, don't get creative. ✨
• --rate-limit RATE — caps the bandwidth for transfers so you don't just devour the whole connection. examples: 10M, 1G, 500K. 🐢
• --progress — shows progress bars during transfers. we love a little visual confirmation that things are happening. 📊
• --no-progress — turns the progress bars off. for when you want the transfers silent and mysterious. 🤫
• --force — proceeds with the transfers even if the space check fails. bold. reckless. main character energy. 💀
• --no-check-space — disables the pre-flight space availability check entirely. no vibe check on your disk space, we just go. 🔥
• --safety-margin PERCENT — the safety margin percentage used for the space check. default is 10%. 🌈

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⭐ EXAMPLES ⭐

transfer all pending snapshots — the classic, the standard, the moment:

btrfs-backup-ng transfer

transfer with compression, because smaller is cuter:

btrfs-backup-ng transfer --compress zstd

transfer a specific volume with rate limiting, for when you want /home and you want it calmly:

btrfs-backup-ng transfer --volume /home --rate-limit 50M

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

btrfs-backup-ng(1), btrfs-backup-ng-run(1), btrfs-send(8)

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this little baddie is from the btrfs-backup-ng source, dated January 2026 — go forth and transfer responsibly. mwah. 💖✨🎀🦋