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Restore a Backup

Locate snapshots

# List all snapshots
vykar list

# List the 5 most recent snapshots
vykar list --last 5

# List snapshots for a specific source
vykar list --source docs

Inspect snapshot contents

Snapshot-oriented commands take an exact snapshot ID, or latest.

# List files inside a snapshot
vykar snapshot list a1b2c3d4

# List with details (type, permissions, size, mtime)
vykar snapshot list a1b2c3d4 --long

# Limit listing to a subtree
vykar snapshot list a1b2c3d4 --path src

# Sort listing by size (name, size, mtime)
vykar snapshot list a1b2c3d4 --sort size

Inspect snapshot metadata

vykar snapshot info a1b2c3d4

Find files across snapshots

Use snapshot find to locate files before choosing which snapshot to restore from.

# Find PDFs modified in the last 14 days
vykar snapshot find --name '*.pdf' --since 14d

# Limit search to one source and recent snapshots
vykar snapshot find --source docs --last 10 --name '*.docx'

# Search under a subtree with case-insensitive name matching
vykar snapshot find sub --iname 'report*' --since 7d

# Combine type and size filters
vykar snapshot find --type f --larger 1M --smaller 20M --since 30d
  • --last must be >= 1.
  • --since accepts positive spans with suffix h, d, w, m (months), or y (for example: 24h, 7d, 2w, 6m, 1y).
  • --larger means at least this size, and --smaller means at most this size.

Restore to a directory

# Restore all files from a snapshot
vykar restore a1b2c3d4 /tmp/restored

# Restore the most recent snapshot
vykar restore latest /tmp/restored

Restore applies extended attributes (xattrs) by default. Control this with the top-level xattrs.enabled config setting.

Restore part of a snapshot

--pattern takes a single glob, matched against paths as they are stored in the snapshot — exactly what vykar snapshot list prints. Check that form before writing a pattern.

# See the stored path form first
vykar snapshot list a1b2c3d4 | head

# Restore one subtree (the directory and everything under it)
vykar restore a1b2c3d4 /tmp/restored --pattern 'reports*'

# Multi-source snapshot: paths carry the source prefix
vykar restore a1b2c3d4 /tmp/restored --pattern 'home/user/documents/reports*'

# Every PDF, at any depth
vykar restore a1b2c3d4 /tmp/restored --pattern '*.pdf'
  • Stored paths never begin with /. Backing up the single source /home/user/documents stores reports/q1.pdf; with several sources each path is prefixed with the source’s absolute path minus the leading /, giving home/user/documents/reports/q1.pdf.
  • * spans /, so reports* already selects the whole subtree — no ** needed, and *.pdf matches at any depth. This differs from snapshot find --name, where * stops at a path separator.
  • The glob must match the whole path. --pattern 'reports' restores only the directory itself, empty; use reports* to include its contents.
  • Quote the pattern, or your shell expands * against the current directory before vykar sees it.
  • Files land under the destination at their full stored path: restoring home/user/documents/reports* into /tmp/restored gives /tmp/restored/home/user/documents/reports/.
  • A pattern that matches nothing is not an error — restore reports Restored: 0 files, 0 dirs, 0 symlinks. If you see that, re-check the paths with vykar snapshot list.

Important: patterns are matched against snapshot-relative paths, not absolute filesystem paths. --pattern '/home/user/documents/reports/*' silently matches nothing. Drop the leading / and use the form vykar snapshot list shows.

Browse via WebDAV and browser UI (mount)

Browse snapshot contents via a local read-only WebDAV server. The same endpoint also serves a built-in HTML browser UI.

# Serve all snapshots (default: http://127.0.0.1:8080)
vykar mount

# Serve a single snapshot
vykar mount --snapshot a1b2c3d4

# Only snapshots from a specific source
vykar mount --source docs

# Custom listen address
vykar mount --address 127.0.0.1:9090