Python Script to backup a directory

Question

#Filename:backup_ver1

import os
import time

#1 Using list to specify the files and directory to be backed up
source = r'C:\Documents and Settings\rgolwalkar\Desktop\Desktop\Dr Py\Final_Py'

#2 define backup directory
destination = r'C:\Documents and Settings\rgolwalkar\Desktop\Desktop\PyDevResourse'

#3 Setting the backup name
targetBackup = destination + time.strftime('%Y%m%d%H%M%S') + '.rar'

rar_command = "rar.exe a -ag '%s' %s" % (targetBackup, ''.join(source))
##i am sure i am doing something wrong here - rar command please let me know

if os.system(rar_command) == 0:
    print 'Successful backup to', targetBackup
else:
    print 'Backup FAILED'

O/P:- Backup FAILED

winrar is added to Path and CLASSPATH under Environment variables as well - anyone else with a suggestion for backing up the directory is most welcome

ok i did that(imported the tarfile module) and it ran quietly -- i did not give any message as there was nothing added to produce a message - i checked the location destination=os.path.join(root,"Documents and Settings","rgolwalkar","Desktop","Desktop","PyDevResourse") But there was no backup found. second if i add:- if os.system(tar) == 0: print 'Successful backup to', targetBackup else: print 'Backup FAILED' --it comes up with an error if os.system(tar) == 1: TypeError: system() argument 1 must be string, not TarFile — rgolwalkar
– rgolwalkar, Commented Mar 13, 2010 at 14:27
Just curious, why are you using rar instead of something cross-platform such as zip, which is built into python? — Justin Ethier
– Justin Ethier, Commented Mar 13, 2010 at 14:51

gruszczy · Accepted Answer · 2010-03-13 11:53:04Z

2

Maybe instead of writing your own backup script you could use python tool called rdiff-backup, which can create incremental backups?

answered Mar 13, 2010 at 11:53

gruszczy

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sth · Accepted Answer · 2010-03-13 11:15:34Z

0

The source directory contains spaces, but you don't have quotes around it in the command line. This might be a reason for the backup to fail.

To avoid problems like this, use the subprocess module instead of os.system:

subprocess.call(['rar.exe', 'a', '-ag', targetBackup, source])

answered Mar 13, 2010 at 11:15

sth

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ghostdog74 · Accepted Answer · 2010-03-13 14:12:23Z

0

if the compression algorithm can be something else and its just to backup a directory, why not do it with python's own tar and gzip instead? eg

import os
import tarfile
import time
root="c:\\"
source=os.path.join(root,"Documents and Settings","rgolwalkar","Desktop","Desktop","Dr Py","Final_Py")
destination=os.path.join(root,"Documents and Settings","rgolwalkar","Desktop","Desktop","PyDevResourse")
targetBackup = destination + time.strftime('%Y%m%d%H%M%S') + 'tar.gz'    
tar = tarfile.open(targetBackup, "w:gz")
tar.add(source)
tar.close()

that way, you are not dependent on rar.exe on the system.

edited Mar 13, 2010 at 14:12

answered Mar 13, 2010 at 12:13

ghostdog74

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5 Comments

rgolwalkar Over a year ago

Thanks a lot ghostdog74-- let me check the code and execute it that way --- i will check and paste the O/P

rgolwalkar Over a year ago

ghostdog74 -- I get the error :- Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Documents and Settings\rgolwalkar\Desktop\Desktop\Dr Py\Final_Py\backup_ver1.py", line 16, in <module> tar = tarfile.open(targetBackup, "w:gz") NameError: name 'tarfile' is not defined

ghostdog74 Over a year ago

tarfile is a module, import it like import tarfile

rgolwalkar Over a year ago

ok i did that and it ran quietly -- i did not give any message as there was nothing added to produce a message - i checked the location destination=os.path.join(root,"Documents and Settings","rgolwalkar","Desktop","Desktop","PyDevResourse") But there was no backup found. second if i add:- if os.system(tar) == 0: print 'Successful backup to', targetBackup else: print 'Backup FAILED' --it comes up with an error if os.system(tar) == 1: TypeError: system() argument 1 must be string, not TarFile

ghostdog74 Over a year ago

why do you use os.system? tar is a unix command. if you do os.system(tar), you are actually calling the tar command. the tar in the Python script is just the instance of tarfile module, NOT the tar command. Put in some print statements and make sure your directories are correct path. It works fine for me on my *nix.

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