Configuration

Note

This section shows how to customize Klipper-Backup according to your needs. Certain things like adding the token are already queried by the installation script and automatically inserted if necessary!

Warning

Only edit the content of the .env file with the following parameters, never edit script.sh manually!

Minimalistic .env overview (mandatory parameters!)

Now you need your GitHub token. This should already be done by the installation script. The following steps are for implementing the token, username and repository name. These three parameters are mandatory.

1. Open the .env file inside your repository (for example with vi, vim or nano)
2. Copy the new token into the .env file at github_token
3. Add your username in github_username
4. Change the github_repository to your backup repository name in GitHub (which was called repository-name)

Optional Paramaters

1. commit_username

You can change the commit username for the commit history here, for example commit_username="backup user", if it is left empty, the script will use whoami output for the current user.

Parameter	Possible values	Default value	Example
commit_username	anything	whoami output	commit_username="backup user"

2. commit_email

You can change the commit email for the commit history here, if it is left empty the script will use whoami@hostname --short-unique_id. The unique_id is generated by hashing the output of date +%s%N (current unix timestamp in nanoseconds).

Parameter	Possible values	Default value	Example
commit_email	anything	whoami@hostname --short-unique_id output	commit_email="backup@hostname"

3. allow_empty_commits

You can choose whether you want to push empty commits or not (this serves to permanently check whether the service is running correctly in the background). The value can be true or false (default value if nothing is defined: true).

Parameter	Possible values	Default value	Example
allow_empty_commits	true, false	true	allow_empty_commits="false"

4. git_protocol

You can use the values http, https or ssh here (default value: https). This enables, for example, the local use of git if https is not supported.

Parameter	Possible values	Default value	Example
git_protocol	https, http, ssh	https	git_protocol="http"

5. git_host

If you are using a different host ex.) gitea, bitbucket, devops, etc... you can add git_host with the corresponding entity to .env, for example git_host="bitbucket.org". Be sure to read the requirements for how to push changes to your host ex.) bitbucket requires a specific commit email and token format to push commits. If you have deployed the git instance locally and assigned a port, you can also pass it directly here, for example gitea:222. When using a host other than github.com you may run into errors or issues that we cannot currently support. If you do find a resolution feel free to create a pull request or feature request.

Parameter	Possible values	Default value	Example
git_host	gitea, bitbucket, devops, *	github.com	git_host="bitbucket.com"
			git_host="localhost:222"

* List is not complete, there are numerous other (unknown) supported hosters

6. ssh_user

If you want to push the backup via ssh and have assigned an individual ssh user, you can adjust it here. This is particularly relevant if you have deployed a git instance locally.

Parameter	Possible values	Default value	Example
ssh_user	anything	git	ssh_user="sshuser"

Paths

Adjust the remaining paths in the .env file where your files are located, or add even more file. All files defined here (note the pattern! which is explained inside the .env file) are considered in the backup.

Basically, you can break it down to the following three things:

Back up a whole directories instead of single files:

backupPaths=( \
"printer_data/config/*" \
)

Back up a single file instead a whole directory:

backupPaths=( \
"printer_data/config/printer.cfg" \
)

Back up directories and single files whatever you feel like:

backupPaths=( \
"printer_data/config/my-files/*" \
"printer_data/config/my-other-files/*" \
"printer_data/config/single-file_a.cfg" \
"printer_data/config/another-directory/single-file_b.cfg" \
)

.gitignore (do not upload certain files)

To edit the .gitignore file, which is responsible for preventing certain files from being uploaded, you have to name the corresponding files in the .env file. This is important because you do not want to have sensitive data like passwords, tokens, etc. in a public backup. This also means that this file prevents your token from being revoked. By default, the .env file and the secrets.conf are included in the .gitignore and can be extended accordingly. Basically it's an Array of strings in .gitignore pattern git format. New additions must be enclosed in double quotes and should follow the pattern format as noted in the mentioned link:

exclude=( \
"*.swp" \
"*.tmp" \
"printer-[0-9]*_[0-9]*.cfg" \
"*.bak" \
"*.bkp" \
"*.csv" \
"*.zip" \
)

Create own README.md

If there is a need to adapt the README.md files, this can be done at any time. To do this, the script must be run at least once, after which the README.md can be edited manually in the ~/config_backup folder. This is then taken into account during the next upload and adjusted accordingly.

How can I edit files in terminal?

So let's say you want to use nano as your editor of choice (you can use whatever editor you want, for example vi, nvim, emacs, etc) to edit the .env file with your personal information:

1. Move into the klipper-backup directory: cd ~/klipper-backup
2. Check if there is a hidden .env file inside this directory: ls -la
3. Edit .env content with nano: nano .env
4. Move with your arrow keys ↑ ← ↓ → to the important lines and copy/paste the important content inside (often the right mouse button is used to paste in ssh terminals)
5. Save content and exit nano with Ctrl+x -> (Y)ES -> [Enter]

A small nano YouTube tutorial can be found here.

Important Note

In case you get an error message like -sh: nano: not found you should install nano: sudo apt install nano

If you have installed Klipper-Backup with the install.sh script, you should be finished with everything at this point. Reminder: You can install features at anytime automatically by running install.sh again, so there is no need to do it manually!

In case you want to do it manually for some reason: Next: The update section