Backup under Windows 10

Requirements

The ssh client must be enabled, see Settings -> "Manage Optional Features" -> "Add a feature" -> "OpenSSH Client" -> "Install". For earlier Windows versions, install OpenSSH for Windows.

Setup

  1. Create the directory restic-backup in your home directory.

  2. Download the restic backup program from https://github.com/restic/restic/releases/latest. (Scroll down to the very bottom of the page.) Extract the restic_*.exe file from the zip archive and store it in the restic-backup folder.

  3. Rename the restic_*.exe file to restic.exe.

  4. Download the script restic_backup.bat and store it in the folder restic-backup.

  5. Run the script from the command line, i.e., open a Windows Command Shell, and at the command line type the two commands cd restic-backup and restic_backup yourTUusername. You will be asked to confirm a connection, answer with "yes", not only "y". You need to type your upTUdate password. The latter is the password that is accepted by the web mail interface.

  6. To test, again type restic_backup. This should create your first backup and take a while, about 4 minutes per 10 GB of data.

  7. Under the Windows System Control, open the Task Scheduler (Aufgabenplanung) and create a task, to run the command %HOMEPATH%\restic-backup\restic_backup yourusername once a day. Replace %HOMEPATH% by the actual path to restic_backup.bat.

Optionally, edit the file exclude.txt in the folder restic-backup. This file contains patterns for files that are to be excluded from backup.
The batch file restic_backup.bat is amply commented.
Help for the restic program is available on the command line by typing restic help or at https://restic.readthedocs.io.

Troubleshooting

At setup, if an error message regarding permissions of .ssh/config appears, make .ssh/config readable only by the user.