How to Send Backups of Your Raspberry Pi Files to Your Email
Raspberry Pi is a marvel of low-cost, compact-sized computing. Its users often run critical projects or store valuable data on their devices. However, like any other computer system, Raspberry Pis are not immune to hardware failures, data losses, and other issues.
Therefore, making regular backups is essential to protect your files and data. But what if you could automate this process and, in addition, send the backups directly to your email? This article will guide you from creating a backup to installing and configuring the necessary software, scheduling the task, and finally, sending the email with the backup.
All you need is a command line email client and, of course, a Raspberry Pi board.
Create a Raspberry Pi Backup
The first step in this process is to create a backup of the files you want to protect. On Raspberry Pi, this can easily be done with thetarcommand. For instance, to back up the folder/home/pi/my_data, you would use the following command:
In themy_datafolder, you might find documents, images, text files, etc. Be sure to set the correct file path both for the my_data folder and the backup archive.
Install the Necessary Software
Once you have created your backup, you will need a way to send it via email. For this, useMutt, a command-line email client. To install Mutt on your Raspberry Pi, enter:
Seehow to use Mutt with Gmail on Linuxif you’re interested in more info on this tool.
Configure the Mutt Software
After installing Mutt, you will need to configure it to send emails. Create and edit the file~/.muttrcwith the nano text editor:
Add the following content to it:
PressCtrl + X,thenYandEnterto save the changes.
Now let’s test check that Mutt is able to send and receive emails with this account.
If the command has worked, you should check that the test message you sent has arrived.
If the command comes up with an error, “SASL Authentication Failed”, you will need to generate anapp password in Gmail.
Generating an App Password in Gmail
Gmail is preconfigured to refuse connections from applications like mutt that don’t provide the second step of authentication. While this is an important security measure that is designed to restrict unauthorized users from accessing your account, it hinders sending mail through some SMTP clients as you’re doing here.
Follow these steps to configure Gmail to create a mutt-specific password:
Schedule the Backup Task and Send via Email
You can use Mutt to send the backup via email. Here is the command you will need:
Ensure you input your own email address where specified.
At this point, we already know how to schedule a task and how to send our email with our backup file, but it is still not fully automatic, we still need to automate these processes.
Write a Backup Script
First, we will write a Bash script to create the backup file and then email it. Create and edit thebackup.shfile with the nano text editor:
Add the following lines to the file:
PressCtrl + X,thenYandEnterto save the changes. To check it works correctly, enter:
It should compress the backup folder into a .gz file and then email it to your address.
Automate Process With Cron
To make sure your files are backed up regularly, you can schedule the backup task to run automatically on a set schedule. This can be done withcron, the built-in task scheduler in Linux. To open the cron editor, use thecrontab -ecommand. Add the following line to schedule the backup task to run every day at 2 a.m.:
You can learn how to handle this type of expression atCrontab Guru.
Keep in mind that everything has a limit. Usually, themaximum size of attachments you can send through gmailis 25MB.
Enjoy the Process of Automating Your Backups
Ensuring the integrity and safety of your data is crucial, especially when working on significant projects or storing important information on your Raspberry Pi. Although making regular and manual backups is a good habit, automating this process and sending those backups to your email not only saves time but also provides you with an additional layer of security.
While it may seem like a complicated process at first, the benefits far outweigh the initial effort. You can never predict when a system failure or data loss will occur, so having a regular and accessible backup can be a real lifesaver.
Which Raspberry Pi project should you start with? Here’s our roundup of the best Raspberry Pi uses and projects around!
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