Automatic file backup script that copies important files from a source directory to a backup folder with timestamps. This script helps protect your important data by creating regular backups with configurable settings.

• Automated Backup: Copies files from source to backup directory
• Timestamp-based Naming: Each backup is stored with a unique timestamp
• Configurable File Types: Specify which file extensions to backup
• Folder Exclusion: Exclude specific folders from backup (e.g., temp, cache)
• Automatic Cleanup: Removes old backups based on configurable retention policy
• Logging: Detailed logging of all backup operations
• JSON Configuration: Easy-to-edit configuration file

python auto_file_backup.py <source_directory> <backup_directory>

python auto_file_backup.py /home/user/Documents /home/user/Backups

python auto_file_backup.py /home/user/Documents /home/user/Backups --config my_config.json

The script uses a backup_config.json file with the following structure:

{
    "file_extensions": [".txt", ".pdf", ".doc", ".docx", ".xlsx"],
    "exclude_folders": ["temp", "cache"],
    "max_backups": 7
}

• file_extensions: List of file extensions to include in backup
• exclude_folders: Folders to skip during backup
• max_backups: Maximum number of backup folders to keep (older ones are deleted)

• Python 3.6 or higher
• Standard library only (no external dependencies)

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add this line for daily backup at 2 AM
0 2 * * * /usr/bin/python3 /path/to/auto_file_backup.py /source /backup

1. Open Task Scheduler
2. Create Basic Task
3. Set trigger to Daily
4. Set action to run Python script with arguments

This script addresses issue #753 - Auto File Backup

Contributed to 100LinesOfPythonCode repository