BACKUPD(8)

📦
version 3.10.4 · 4 versions
, in fedora 43

💖 BACKUPD(8) — Cyrus IMAP 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this is backupd from the Cyrus IMAP documentation and she's a whole situation 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

backupd — the Cyrus Backups server process, fr fr 🦋

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

backupd [ -C config-file ] [ -U uses ] [ -T timeout ] [ -D ]
    [ -s ] [ -N ] [ -p ssf ]

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

⚠️ NOTE: Cyrus Backups are experimental, incomplete, and deprecated as of 3.10. not me warning you first, but like, I'm warning you first 😭

So. backupd is the Cyrus Backups server. She takes Cyrus replication protocol commands on her standard input and responds on her standard output. Standard input, standard output, that's the whole vibe check.

She MUST be invoked by master(8) with those descriptors attached to a replication client connection, typically sync_client(8). Like, must must. Capital-M Must. no cap 🔥

backupd reads her config options out of the imapd.conf(5) file, unless you say otherwise with -C 👑

backupd is generally configured to run on a dedicated backup server, one that contains backup storage, but no IMAP service and no mailbox storage. Just vibes and backups, basically 💜

You must configure at least one backuppartition. User backups get distributed among the configured partitions. And listen — there is no relationship between mailbox partitions and backuppartitions. None. Zero. They don't know each other, they've never met 🙈

If the directory log/user exists under the directory specified in the configdirectory configuration option, then backupd will create protocol telemetry logs for sessions authenticating as user. Those telemetry logs get stored in the log/user directory with a filename of the backupd process-id. cute, organised, iconic ✨

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -C config-file — use the config file config-file instead of the default imapd.conf(5). yes, you can have a different one, live your truth 💖
  • -U uses — the max number of times the process should be used for new connections before shutting down. the default is 250.
  • -T timeout — how many seconds the process will wait for a new connection before shutting down. note that a value of 0 (zero) will disable the timeout. the default is 60. ⏰
  • -D — run the external debugger specified in debug_command. detective mode 🕵️‍♀️
  • -p ssf — tell backupd that an external layer exists. an SSF (security strength factor) of 1 means an integrity protection layer exists. any higher SSF implies some form of privacy protection. 🔐
🫶 psst — the synopsis also shows -s and -N, and I'm keeping them there exactly as written, bestie. the page just doesn't spell out what they do, so neither will I. iykyk.

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

backupd is commonly included in the SERVICES section of cyrus.conf(5) like so:

SERVICES {
    backupd        cmd="backupd" listen="csync" prefork=0
}

look at her go ⭐

🦋 HISTORY 🦋

(this section is empty in the original — she said nothing and left, and honestly? respect 💀)

🧚 FILES 🧚

(also empty, also mysterious, also on brand ✨)

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

👑 AUTHOR 👑

The Cyrus Team

1993–2026, The Cyrus Team

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this version is 3.10.4, dated Sep 09, 2026, brought to you by the Cyrus Team — go forth, configure your backuppartition, and slay 💅💖🫶

📦 where this page comes from