Back up your files with rsync and a VPS

Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12, AlmaLinux 9 and Rocky Linux 9

rsync copies only the changes since the last run, which makes it ideal for regular backups from your computer or server to a VPS. This guide works on Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12, AlmaLinux 9 and Rocky Linux 9 and macOS (as the source).

1. Prepare the backup VPS

1. Create a user for backups: useradd -m backup.
2. On the source machine, create a key and copy it: ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/backup_key and ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/backup_key.pub backup@VPS-IP.
3. Test: ssh -i ~/.ssh/backup_key backup@VPS-IP.

2. Run a backup

rsync -az --delete -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/backup_key" /home/me/Documents/ backup@VPS-IP:backups/documents/

Without --delete, files you delete locally stay in the backup. With it, the backup is an exact mirror, so a deleted file also disappears from the backup at the next run.

3. Keep daily versions (snapshots)

With --link-dest, each day gets its own folder, but unchanged files are stored only once (as hard links):

TODAY=$(date +%F)
rsync -az --delete -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/backup_key" \
  --link-dest=../latest /home/me/Documents/ backup@VPS-IP:backups/$TODAY/
ssh -i ~/.ssh/backup_key backup@VPS-IP "ln -sfn $TODAY backups/latest"

Delete old day folders on the VPS from time to time, for example those older than 30 days.

4. Automate

# crontab -e
30 2 * * * /home/me/bin/backup.sh >> /home/me/backup.log 2>&1

5. Restore

rsync -az -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/backup_key" backup@VPS-IP:backups/latest/ /home/me/Documents-restored/

Tip: Test a restore now and then. Keep at least one copy in a different location, and back up databases as dumps (mariadb-dump), not as raw files.