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Cron Systemd and Locking

Automation turns Restic from "something you run" into "something you can rely on".

Quick Summary

Your goal is a job that:

  • runs on a schedule
  • logs output somewhere you can read later
  • does not overlap with itself
  • fails loudly when backups fail

If you already schedule rsync/rclone with cron, the same idea applies here.

Prefer a Dedicated Script​

Put all required environment variables in one place and keep the job itself short.

Script Pattern​

/usr/local/bin/restic-backup.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

source /etc/default/restic-app01

restic backup /srv/app --tag daily --host app-01
restic forget --tag daily --keep-daily 7 --keep-weekly 4 --prune
tip

Before scheduling, run the script manually once and confirm a restore works.

Cron Example​

crontab
# run at 02:15 daily
15 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/restic-backup.sh

Lock Handling​

restic unlock

Why Locks Happen​

Locks usually happen when:

  • a previous job is still running
  • a job crashed or was killed
  • the machine rebooted during backup
warning

Only run restic unlock after confirming no active backup process is running.