Vykar is a fast, encrypted, deduplicated backup tool written in Rust. It’s centered around a simple YAML config format and includes a desktop GUI and webDAV server to browse snapshots. More about design goals.
Do not use for production backups yet, but do test it along other backup tools.
Features
- Storage backends – local filesystem, S3 (any compatible provider), SFTP, dedicated REST server
- Encryption with AES-256-GCM or ChaCha20-Poly1305 (auto-selected) and Argon2id key derivation
- YAML-based configuration with multiple repositories, hooks, and command dumps for monitoring and database backups
- Deduplication via FastCDC content-defined chunking with a memory-optimized engine (tiered dedup index + mmap-backed pack assembly)
- Compression with LZ4 or Zstandard
- Built-in WebDAV and desktop GUI to browse and restore snapshots
- REST server with append-only enforcement, quotas, and server-side compaction
- Concurrent multi-client backups – multiple machines back up to the same repository simultaneously; only the brief commit phase is serialized
- Built-in scheduling via
vykar daemon– runs backup cycles on a configurable interval (no cron needed) - Rate limiting for CPU, disk I/O, and network bandwidth
- Cross-platform – Linux, macOS, and Windows
Benchmarks
Vykar is the fastest tool for both backup and restore, with the lowest CPU cost, while maintaining competitive memory usage.
All benchmarks were run 5x on the same idle Intel i7-6700 CPU @ 3.40GHz machine with 2x Samsung PM981 NVMe drives, with results averaged across all runs. Compression settings were chosen to keep resulting repository sizes comparable. The sample corpus is a mix of small and large files with varying compressibility. See detailed results or our benchmark script for full details.
Comparison
| Aspect | Borg | Restic | Rustic | Vykar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Configuration | CLI (YAML via Borgmatic) | CLI (YAML via ResticProfile) | TOML config file | YAML config with env-var expansion |
| Browse snapshots | FUSE mount | FUSE mount | FUSE mount | Built-in WebDAV + web UI |
| Command dumps | Via Borgmatic (database-specific) | None | None | Native (generic command capture) |
| Hooks | Via Borgmatic | Via ResticProfile | Native | Native (per-command before/after) |
| Rate limiting | None | Upload/download bandwidth | – | CPU, disk I/O, and network bandwidth |
| Dedicated server | SSH (borg serve) | rest-server (append-only) | rustic_server | REST server with append-only, quotas, server-side compaction |
| Desktop GUI | Vorta (third-party) | Third-party (Backrest) | None | Built-in |
| Scheduling | Via Borgmatic | Via ResticProfile | External (cron/systemd) | Built-in |
| Language | Python + Cython | Go | Rust | Rust |
| Chunker | Buzhash (custom) | Rabin | Rabin (Restic-compat) | FastCDC |
| Encryption | AES-CTR+HMAC / AES-OCB / ChaCha20 | AES-256-CTR + Poly1305-AES | AES-256-CTR + Poly1305-AES | AES-256-GCM / ChaCha20-Poly1305 (auto-select at init) |
| Key derivation | PBKDF2 or Argon2id | scrypt | scrypt | Argon2id |
| Serialization | msgpack | JSON + Protocol Buffers | JSON + Protocol Buffers | msgpack |
| Storage | borgstore + SSH RPC | Local, S3, SFTP, REST, rclone | Local, S3, SFTP, REST | Local, S3, SFTP, REST + vykar-server |
| Repo compatibility | Borg v1/v2/v3 | Restic format | Restic-compatible | Own format |
Inspired by
- BorgBackup: architecture, chunking strategy, repository concept, and overall backup pipeline.
- Borgmatic: YAML configuration approach, pipe-based database dumps.
- Rustic: pack file design and architectural references from a mature Rust backup tool.
- Name: From Latin vicarius (“substitute, stand-in”) — because a backup is literally a substitute for lost data.
Get Started
Follow the Quick Start guide to install Vykar, create a config, and run your first backup in under 5 minutes.
Once you’re up and running:
- Configure storage backends – connect S3, SFTP, or the REST server
- Set up hooks and command dumps – run scripts before/after backups, capture database dumps
- Browse and restore snapshots – list, search, and restore files
- Maintain your repository – prune old snapshots, check integrity, compact packs
- Explore backup recipes – common patterns for databases, containers, and filesystems