Merge pull request #313 from anarcat/docs

various docs fixes

README.rst

@@ -102,8 +102,7 @@ Now doing another backup, just to show off the great deduplication::
     This archive:          57.16 MB           46.78 MB            151.67 kB  <--- !
     All archives:         114.02 MB           93.46 MB             44.81 MB
 
-For a graphical frontend refer to our complementary project
+For a graphical frontend refer to our complementary project `BorgWeb`_.
-`BorgWeb <https://github.com/borgbackup/borgweb>`_.
 
 Links
 =====

docs/changes.rst

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-Borg Changelog
+Changelog
-==============
+=========
 
 Version 0.27.0
 --------------
@@ -345,20 +345,20 @@ Other changes:
 
 
 Attic Changelog
-===============
+---------------
 
 Here you can see the full list of changes between each Attic release until Borg
 forked from Attic:
 
 Version 0.17
-------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (bugfix release, released on X)
 - Fix hashindex ARM memory alignment issue (#309)
 - Improve hashindex error messages (#298)
 
 Version 0.16
-------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (bugfix release, released on May 16, 2015)
 - Fix typo preventing the security confirmation prompt from working (#303)
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ Version 0.16
 - Fix parsing of iso 8601 timestamps with zero microseconds (#282)
 
 Version 0.15
-------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (bugfix release, released on Apr 15, 2015)
 - xattr: Be less strict about unknown/unsupported platforms (#239)
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ Version 0.15
 - Include missing pyx files in dist files (#168)
 
 Version 0.14
-------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (feature release, released on Dec 17, 2014)
 
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ Version 0.14
 - Fix issue with empty xattr values (#106)
 
 Version 0.13
-------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (feature release, released on Jun 29, 2014)
 
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ Version 0.13
 - Fix Python 3.2 specific lockf issue (EDEADLK)
 
 Version 0.12
-------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (feature release, released on April 7, 2014)
 
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ Version 0.12
 - Switch to SI units (Power of 1000 instead 1024) when printing file sizes
 
 Version 0.11
-------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (feature release, released on March 7, 2014)
 
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@ Version 0.11
 - Ignore xattr errors during "extract" if not supported by the filesystem. (#46)
 
 Version 0.10
-------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (bugfix release, released on Jan 30, 2014)
 
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ Version 0.10
 - Make source code endianness agnostic (#1)
 
 Version 0.9
------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (feature release, released on Jan 23, 2014)
 
@@ -467,14 +467,14 @@ Version 0.9
 - Improved libcrypto path detection (#23).
 
 Version 0.8.1
--------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (bugfix release, released on Oct 4, 2013)
 
 - Fix segmentation fault issue.
 
 Version 0.8
------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (feature release, released on Oct 3, 2013)
 
@@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ Version 0.8
 
 
 Version 0.7
------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (feature release, released on Aug 5, 2013)
 
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ Version 0.7
 
 
 Version 0.6.1
--------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 (bugfix release, released on July 19, 2013)
 
@@ -506,6 +506,6 @@ Version 0.6.1
 
 
 Version 0.6
------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 First public release on July 9, 2013

docs/conf.py

@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ html_logo = '_static/favicon.ico'
 # The name of an image file (within the static path) to use as favicon of the
 # docs.  This file should be a Windows icon file (.ico) being 16x16 or 32x32
 # pixels large.
-html_favicon = 'favicon.ico'
+html_favicon = '_static/favicon.ico'
 
 # Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
 # relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,

docs/development.rst

@@ -136,11 +136,11 @@ Checklist:
     python setup.py register sdist upload --identity="Thomas Waldmann" --sign
 
 - close release milestone on Github
-- announce on::
+- announce on:
 
  - `mailing list <mailto:borgbackup@librelist.org>`_
  - Twitter (follow @ThomasJWaldmann for these tweets)
- - `IRC channel <irc://irc.freenode.net/borgbackup>`_ (change ``/topic``
+ - `IRC channel <irc://irc.freenode.net/borgbackup>`_ (change ``/topic``)
 
 - create a Github release, include:
   * standalone binaries (see above for how to create them)

docs/faq.rst

@@ -5,24 +5,30 @@ Frequently asked questions
 ==========================
 
 Can I backup VM disk images?
-    Yes, the :ref:`deduplication <deduplication_def>` technique used by
+----------------------------
-    |project_name| makes sure only the modified parts of the file are stored.
+
-    Also, we have optional simple sparse file support for extract.
+Yes, the `deduplication`_ technique used by
+|project_name| makes sure only the modified parts of the file are stored.
+Also, we have optional simple sparse file support for extract.
 
 Can I backup from multiple servers into a single repository?
-    Yes, but in order for the deduplication used by |project_name| to work, it
+------------------------------------------------------------
-    needs to keep a local cache containing checksums of all file
-    chunks already stored in the repository. This cache is stored in
-    ``~/.cache/borg/``.  If |project_name| detects that a repository has been
-    modified since the local cache was updated it will need to rebuild
-    the cache. This rebuild can be quite time consuming.
 
-    So, yes it's possible. But it will be most efficient if a single
+Yes, but in order for the deduplication used by |project_name| to work, it
-    repository is only modified from one place. Also keep in mind that
+needs to keep a local cache containing checksums of all file
-    |project_name| will keep an exclusive lock on the repository while creating
+chunks already stored in the repository. This cache is stored in
-    or deleting archives, which may make *simultaneous* backups fail.
+``~/.cache/borg/``.  If |project_name| detects that a repository has been
+modified since the local cache was updated it will need to rebuild
+the cache. This rebuild can be quite time consuming.
+
+So, yes it's possible. But it will be most efficient if a single
+repository is only modified from one place. Also keep in mind that
+|project_name| will keep an exclusive lock on the repository while creating
+or deleting archives, which may make *simultaneous* backups fail.
 
 Which file types, attributes, etc. are preserved?
+-------------------------------------------------
+
     * Directories
     * Regular files
     * Hardlinks (considering all files in the same archive)
@@ -40,6 +46,8 @@ Which file types, attributes, etc. are preserved?
     * BSD flags on OS X and FreeBSD
 
 Which file types, attributes, etc. are *not* preserved?
+-------------------------------------------------------
+
     * UNIX domain sockets (because it does not make sense - they are
       meaningless without the running process that created them and the process
       needs to recreate them in any case). So, don't panic if your backup
@@ -50,102 +58,138 @@ Which file types, attributes, etc. are *not* preserved?
       Archive extraction has optional support to extract all-zero chunks as
       holes in a sparse file.
 
-Why is my backup bigger than with attic?
+Why is my backup bigger than with attic? Why doesn't |project_name| do compression by default?
-Why doesn't |project_name| do compression by default?
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    * attic was rather unflexible when it comes to compression, it always
+
-      compressed using zlib level 6 (no way to switch compression off or
+Attic was rather unflexible when it comes to compression, it always
-      adjust the level or algorithm)
+compressed using zlib level 6 (no way to switch compression off or
-    * |project_name| offers a lot of different compression algorithms and
+adjust the level or algorithm).
-      levels. Which of them is the best for you pretty much depends on your use
+
-      case, your data, your hardware - so you need to do an informed decision
+|project_name| offers a lot of different compression algorithms and
-      about whether you want to use compression, which algorithm and which
+levels. Which of them is the best for you pretty much depends on your
-      level you want to use. This is why compression defaults to none.
+use case, your data, your hardware - so you need to do an informed
+decision about whether you want to use compression, which algorithm
+and which level you want to use. This is why compression defaults to
+none.
 
 How can I specify the encryption passphrase programmatically?
-    The encryption passphrase can be specified programmatically using the
+-------------------------------------------------------------
-    `BORG_PASSPHRASE` environment variable. This is convenient when setting up
+      
-    automated encrypted backups. Another option is to use
+The encryption passphrase can be specified programmatically using the
-    key file based encryption with a blank passphrase. See
+`BORG_PASSPHRASE` environment variable. This is convenient when setting up
-    :ref:`encrypted_repos` for more details.
+automated encrypted backups. Another option is to use
+key file based encryption with a blank passphrase. See
+:ref:`encrypted_repos` for more details.
+
+.. _password_env:
+.. note:: Be careful how you set the environment; using the ``env``
+          command, a ``system()`` call or using inline shell scripts
+          might expose the credentials in the process list directly
+          and they will be readable to all users on a system. Using
+          ``export`` in a shell script file should be safe, however, as
+          the environment of a process is `accessible only to that
+          user
+          <http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/14000/environment-variable-accessibility-in-linux/14009#14009>`_.
 
 When backing up to remote encrypted repos, is encryption done locally?
-    Yes, file and directory metadata and data is locally encrypted, before
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
-    leaving the local machine. We do not mean the transport layer encryption
+     
-    by that, but the data/metadata itself. Transport layer encryption (e.g.
+Yes, file and directory metadata and data is locally encrypted, before
-    when ssh is used as a transport) applies additionally.
+leaving the local machine. We do not mean the transport layer encryption
+by that, but the data/metadata itself. Transport layer encryption (e.g.
+when ssh is used as a transport) applies additionally.
 
 When backing up to remote servers, do I have to trust the remote server?
-    Yes and No.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    No, as far as data confidentiality is concerned - if you use encryption,
+
-    all your files/dirs data and metadata are stored in their encrypted form
+Yes and No.
-    into the repository.
+
-    Yes, as an attacker with access to the remote server could delete (or
+No, as far as data confidentiality is concerned - if you use encryption,
-    otherwise make unavailable) all your backups.
+all your files/dirs data and metadata are stored in their encrypted form
+into the repository.
+
+Yes, as an attacker with access to the remote server could delete (or
+otherwise make unavailable) all your backups.
 
 If a backup stops mid-way, does the already-backed-up data stay there?
-    Yes, |project_name| supports resuming backups.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
-    During a backup a special checkpoint archive named ``<archive-name>.checkpoint``
+
-    is saved every checkpoint interval (the default value for this is 5
+Yes, |project_name| supports resuming backups.
-    minutes) containing all the data backed-up until that point. This means
+
-    that at most <checkpoint interval> worth of data needs to be retransmitted
+During a backup a special checkpoint archive named ``<archive-name>.checkpoint``
-    if a backup needs to be restarted.
+is saved every checkpoint interval (the default value for this is 5
-    Once your backup has finished successfully, you can delete all ``*.checkpoint``
+minutes) containing all the data backed-up until that point. This means
-    archives.
+that at most <checkpoint interval> worth of data needs to be retransmitted
+if a backup needs to be restarted.
+
+Once your backup has finished successfully, you can delete all ``*.checkpoint``
+archives.
 
 If it crashes with a UnicodeError, what can I do?
-    Check if your encoding is set correctly. For most POSIX-like systems, try::
+-------------------------------------------------
 
-        export LANG=en_US.UTF-8  # or similar, important is correct charset
+Check if your encoding is set correctly. For most POSIX-like systems, try::
+
+  export LANG=en_US.UTF-8  # or similar, important is correct charset
 
 I can't extract non-ascii filenames by giving them on the commandline!?
-    This might be due to different ways to represent some characters in unicode
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-    or due to other non-ascii encoding issues.
-    If you run into that, try this:
 
-    - avoid the non-ascii characters on the commandline by e.g. extracting
+This might be due to different ways to represent some characters in unicode
-      the parent directory (or even everything)
+or due to other non-ascii encoding issues.
-    - mount the repo using FUSE and use some file manager
+
+If you run into that, try this:
+
+- avoid the non-ascii characters on the commandline by e.g. extracting
+  the parent directory (or even everything)
+- mount the repo using FUSE and use some file manager
 
 Can |project_name| add redundancy to the backup data to deal with hardware malfunction?
-    No, it can't. While that at first sounds like a good idea to defend against
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    some defect HDD sectors or SSD flash blocks, dealing with this in a
-    reliable way needs a lot of low-level storage layout information and
-    control which we do not have (and also can't get, even if we wanted).
 
-    So, if you need that, consider RAID or a filesystem that offers redundant
+No, it can't. While that at first sounds like a good idea to defend against
-    storage or just make backups to different locations / different hardware.
+some defect HDD sectors or SSD flash blocks, dealing with this in a
+reliable way needs a lot of low-level storage layout information and
+control which we do not have (and also can't get, even if we wanted).
 
-    See also `ticket 225 <https://github.com/borgbackup/borg/issues/225>`_.
+So, if you need that, consider RAID or a filesystem that offers redundant
+storage or just make backups to different locations / different hardware.
+
+See also `ticket 225 <https://github.com/borgbackup/borg/issues/225>`_.
 
 Can |project_name| verify data integrity of a backup archive?
-    Yes, if you want to detect accidental data damage (like bit rot), use the
+-------------------------------------------------------------
-    ``check`` operation. It will notice corruption using CRCs and hashes.
+
-    If you want to be able to detect malicious tampering also, use a encrypted
+Yes, if you want to detect accidental data damage (like bit rot), use the
-    repo. It will then be able to check using CRCs and HMACs.
+``check`` operation. It will notice corruption using CRCs and hashes.
+If you want to be able to detect malicious tampering also, use a encrypted
+repo. It will then be able to check using CRCs and HMACs.
 
 Why was Borg forked from Attic?
-    Borg was created in May 2015 in response to the difficulty of getting new
+-------------------------------
-    code or larger changes incorporated into Attic and establishing a bigger
-    developer community / more open development.
 
-    More details can be found in `ticket 217
+Borg was created in May 2015 in response to the difficulty of getting new
-    <https://github.com/jborg/attic/issues/217>`_ that led to the fork.
+code or larger changes incorporated into Attic and establishing a bigger
+developer community / more open development.
 
-    Borg intends to be:
+More details can be found in `ticket 217
+<https://github.com/jborg/attic/issues/217>`_ that led to the fork.
 
-    * simple:
+Borg intends to be:
 
-      * as simple as possible, but no simpler
+* simple:
-      * do the right thing by default, but offer options
-    * open:
 
-      * welcome feature requests
+  * as simple as possible, but no simpler
-      * accept pull requests of good quality and coding style
+  * do the right thing by default, but offer options
-      * give feedback on PRs that can't be accepted "as is"
+* open:
-      * discuss openly, don't work in the dark
-    * changing:
 
-      * Borg is not compatible with Attic
+  * welcome feature requests
-      * do not break compatibility accidentally, without a good reason
+  * accept pull requests of good quality and coding style
-        or without warning. allow compatibility breaking for other cases.
+  * give feedback on PRs that can't be accepted "as is"
-      * if major version number changes, it may have incompatible changes
+  * discuss openly, don't work in the dark
+* changing:
+
+  * Borg is not compatible with Attic
+  * do not break compatibility accidentally, without a good reason
+    or without warning. allow compatibility breaking for other cases.
+  * if major version number changes, it may have incompatible changes

docs/quickstart.rst

@@ -150,7 +150,11 @@ by providing the correct passphrase.
 For automated backups the passphrase can be specified using the
 `BORG_PASSPHRASE` environment variable.
 
-**The repository data is totally inaccessible without the key:**
+.. note:: Be careful about how you set that environment, see
+          :ref:`this note about password environments <password_env>`
+          for more information.
+
+.. important:: The repository data is totally inaccessible without the key:**
     Make a backup copy of the key file (``keyfile`` mode) or repo config
     file (``repokey`` mode) and keep it at a safe place, so you still have
     the key in case it gets corrupted or lost.