What is restic?

restic is a modern, open-source backup program that backs up files from Linux, BSD, Mac, and Windows to many different storage types, including self-hosted and online services. It runs as a single executable with no server or complex setup, transfers only the parts of files that actually changed, encrypts data throughout the process, and lets you verify that backups can be restored. It is entirely free to use and completely open source.

What restic does

restic is a command-line backup tool. You point it at files and a storage destination, and it creates encrypted, deduplicated snapshots that you can restore later. According to the project, it is designed to be:

• Easy — a single executable you can run without a server or complex setup.
• Fast — only the parts that actually changed in your files are transferred.
• Secure — cryptography is used carefully in every part of the process.
• Verifiable — you can make sure your files can be restored when needed.
• Free — entirely free to use and completely open source.

Where it runs and where it stores data

restic backs up files from Linux, BSD, Mac, and Windows to many different storage types, including self-hosted and online services. The site does not enumerate every supported backend on this page; the manual covers installation and configuration details.

Compatibility and versioning

Backward compatibility matters for backups, because you need to be able to restore saved data later. restic follows Semantic Versioning, and the repository plus the data structures inside it are treated as the "Public API" in that sense.

• Once version 1.0.0 is released, all repositories within one major version are guaranteed backward compatible: as long as the major version is not incremented, data can be read and restored.
• The project strives to be fully backward compatible with all prior versions.
• During initial development (versions before 1.0.0), maintainers do their utmost to keep backward compatibility and stability, but breaking changes are possible without a major version increase.

Getting started

The site's Quickstart section includes a short recorded demo. For step-by-step use, the project points to the user manual, available in two versions:

• Manual for the released version
• Manual for the latest development version

To install, follow the Installation Instructions page in the manual, or download the latest native binary from the GitHub Download Page.

Getting help and contributing

• Usage or support questions → post in the forum.
• Bug reports or feature suggestions → open a GitHub issue, and fill out the issue template you are presented with.
• Contributions → see the restic contribution guidelines; the design document describes restic's design and the data structures stored on disk.

Quick reference