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restic version

restic version prints the version of the Restic binary currently in your PATH. This is useful for troubleshooting, checking for updates, or ensuring your scripts are running on a version that supports specific features (like compression in 0.14+).

Basic Syntax​

restic version

Practical Examples​

1. Simple Version Check​

Check which version you are running.

restic version

2. Checking for Updates​

While Restic doesn't have an "auto-update" command for all packages, modern releases often include a self-update flag.

restic self-update

Why Version Matters​

VersionKey Feature Added
0.14.xRepo V2 & Compression (Critical for space saving)
0.12.xMajor performance improvements for large repos
0.9.xAdded S3 and Azure backends natively
stay updated

If you are running a version older than 0.14.0, you are missing out on Zstandard compression, which can significantly reduce your storage billing for text-heavy data (logs, code, config).

Examples with Output​

1. Standard Version Check​

Command:

restic version

Output:

restic 0.16.2 compiled with go1.21.3 on linux/amd64

2. Self-Update (Successful)​

Command:

sudo restic self-update

Output:

writing restic to /usr/local/bin/restic
find latest release of restic at GitHub
latest version is 0.16.2
successfully updated restic to version 0.16.2

3. Self-Update (Already Latest)​

Command:

sudo restic self-update

Output:

find latest release of restic at GitHub
latest version is 0.16.2
restic is up to date

4. Check capabilities (Help)​

Command:

restic version --help

Output:

The "version" command prints the version of the restic binary.

Usage:
  restic version [flags]

Flags:
  -h, --help   help for version

5. Scripting Version Check​

Command:

restic version | awk '{print $2}'

Output:

0.16.2