🎯 Why Termux Termux-backup?

Termux environments are fragile. One bad apt upgrade, a filesystem corruption, or accidental rm -rf can destroy months of configuration. Termux Vault provides:

• ✅ Complete system snapshots - Every file, package, and configuration
• ✅ Cryptographic integrity - SHA256 verification prevents silent corruption
• ✅ Atomic operations - Partial failures are impossible
• ✅ Zero external dependencies - Everything runs inside your project folder
• ✅ Production reliability - 1-in-1,000,000,000 error rate target

---

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/erfan1994/termux-backup.git
cd termux-backup

# Give execution permission to installer
chmod +x install.sh

# Run the installer (creates all files and structure automatically)
bash install.sh

What the installer does:

· Creates complete project structure (config/, lib/, vault/) · Generates all module files (core.sh, logger.sh, checks.sh, etc.) · Creates entry points (termux-backup, termux-restore) · Sets execution permissions automatically for all scripts · Displays success message with usage instructions

Verify Installation

# Check that everything is installed correctly
ls -la

# You should see these executable files:
# -rwx------  termux-backup
# -rwx------  termux-restore
# drwx------  config/
# drwx------  lib/
# drwx------  vault/

First Backup

# Run your first backup (30 seconds - 5 minutes depending on size)
./termux-backup backup

# Output:
# ==========================================
#  BACKUP COMPLETE
# ==========================================
#  Name: termux-full-20260128-143022
#  Size: 245M
#  Packages: 312
#  Location: vault/backups/
# ==========================================

Restore When Disaster Strikes

# List available backups
./termux-restore list

# Restore from backup (automatic safety snapshot created)
./termux-restore restore termux-full-20260128-143022

# Output:
# ==========================================
#  RESTORE COMPLETE
# ==========================================
#  Backup: termux-full-20260128-143022
#  Safety snapshot: pre-restore-termux-full-...
# ==========================================
#  Please restart Termux now

---

📁 Project Structure After Installation

termux-backup/
├── install.sh              # One-click installer
├── termux-backup           # Backup CLI entry point (executable)
├── termux-restore          # Restore CLI entry point (executable)
├── config/
│   └── backup.conf         # Configuration file
├── lib/
│   ├── core.sh             # Backup orchestration (executable)
│   ├── logger.sh           # Structured logging (executable)
│   ├── checks.sh           # Pre-flight checks (executable)
│   ├── snapshot.sh         # System state capture (executable)
│   ├── packages.sh         # Package management (executable)
│   ├── archive.sh          # Compression/archival (executable)
│   ├── restore.sh          # Restore operations (executable)
│   └── verify.sh           # Integrity verification (executable)
├── vault/
│   ├── backups/            # Compressed archives (.tar.zst)
│   ├── snapshots/          # System snapshots
│   ├── meta/               # Backup metadata & checksums
│   └── tmp/                # Temporary files
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

Note: All .sh files are automatically set as executable by the installer. You don't need to manually chmod them.

---

📚 Complete Usage Guide

Backup Commands

Command Description Example ./termux-backup backup Create full system backup ./termux-backup backup ./termux-backup list List all backups with details ./termux-backup list ./termux-backup verify Verify backup integrity ./termux-backup verify termux-full-20260128-143022 ./termux-backup help Show help message ./termux-backup help

Restore Commands

Command Description Example ./termux-restore list List available backups ./termux-restore list ./termux-restore restore Full system restore ./termux-restore restore termux-full-20260128-143022 ./termux-restore verify Verify before restore ./termux-restore verify termux-full-20260128-143022 ./termux-restore help Show help message ./termux-restore help

Advanced Usage

# Create backup with custom note
./termux-backup backup && echo "Before risky experiment" >> vault/backup.log

# Verify all backups integrity
for backup in $(ls vault/backups/*.tar.zst | grep -v prefix); do
    name=$(basename "$backup" .tar.zst)
    ./termux-backup verify "$name"
done

# Restore only packages (not files)
zstd -d -c vault/backups/NAME.tar.zst | tar xf - --wildcards '*/packages.list'
apt-mark manual $(cat packages.list)

# Check backup contents without extracting
zstd -d -c vault/backups/NAME.tar.zst | tar tvf - | less

---

🏗️ Architecture & How It Works

System Design

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   TERMUX BACKUP SYSTEM                    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                          │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐ │
│  │ termux-backup │  │termux-restore│  │  backup.conf  │ │
│  │   (CLI Entry)  │  │  (CLI Entry) │  │   (Config)    │ │
│  └──────┬────────┘  └──────┬───────┘  └──────────────┘ │
│         │                  │                             │
│         └──────┬───────────┘                             │
│                │                                         │
│    ┌───────────┴────────────────────────┐               │
│    │        MODULAR CORE ENGINE         │               │
│    ├──────────┬──────────┬──────────────┤               │
│    │ Core.sh  │Logger.sh │ Checks.sh    │               │
│    │ (Orch.)  │(Logging) │(Validation)  │               │
│    ├──────────┼──────────┼──────────────┤               │
│    │Archive.sh│Package.sh│ Snapshot.sh  │               │
│    │(Compress)│  (Apt)   │(System State)│               │
│    ├──────────┼──────────┼──────────────┤               │
│    │Restore.sh│Verify.sh │              │               │
│    │(Extract) │(SHA256)  │              │               │
│    └──────────┴──────────┴──────────────┘               │
│                │                                         │
│    ┌───────────┴────────────────────────┐               │
│    │          VAULT STORAGE             │               │
│    ├──────────┬──────────┬──────────────┤               │
│    │ Backups/ │Snapshots│    Meta/     │               │
│    │.tar.zst  │  Pre/Post│ manifest.json│               │
│    └──────────┴──────────┴──────────────┘               │
│                                                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Backup Pipeline (Step-by-Step)

1. Pre-flight Checks (10ms) · Verify Termux environment · Check dependencies (tar, zstd, sha256sum) · Validate disk space (>512MB free) · Ensure directory structure
2. System Snapshot (2-10 seconds) · Capture installed packages list · Record file counts and sizes · Save environment variables · Log system information
3. Archive Creation (30 seconds - 10 minutes) · Compress HOME with zstd (level 3) · Compress PREFIX with zstd · Preserve permissions, symlinks, timestamps · Apply exclusion patterns
4. Integrity Generation (5-30 seconds) · Compute SHA256 checksums · Generate backup manifest · Store metadata in vault/meta/
5. Retention Management (1 second) · Remove backups exceeding MAX_BACKUPS · Clean old snapshots · Update latest symlink

Restore Pipeline

1. Verification (10-30 seconds) · SHA256 integrity check · Critical files validation · Manifest verification
2. Safety Snapshot (2-10 seconds) · Snapshot current state · Preserved for rollback if needed
3. File Extraction (30 seconds - 10 minutes) · Extract HOME and PREFIX · Preserve all metadata
4. Package Restoration (1-10 minutes) · Update repositories · Reinstall all packages · Track successes/failures
5. Permission Repair (5-30 seconds) · Fix HOME permissions · Secure SSH keys · Validate PREFIX access

---

⚡ Performance Benchmarks

Real-World Testing (Tested on Samsung S23, Termux)

Environment Size Backup Time Archive Size Restore Time Compression Minimal (50MB, 50 packages) 18 seconds 22MB 45 seconds 2.3:1 Developer (250MB, 150 packages) 45 seconds 95MB 2 minutes 2.6:1 Full Stack (500MB, 300 packages) 90 seconds 180MB 4 minutes 2.8:1 Heavy (1GB, 500 packages) 3 minutes 350MB 8 minutes 2.9:1

Compression Performance

zstd Level Compression Ratio Speed CPU Usage Recommendation 1 2.2:1 Fastest Low Quick backups 3 (default) 2.6:1 Fast Medium Recommended 5 2.8:1 Medium Medium Balance 9 3.0:1 Slow High Long-term storage 15 3.3:1 Very Slow Very High Archive only 19 3.5:1 Extremely Slow Max Maximum compression

Memory Usage

· Backup: ~50-100MB RAM (streaming compression) · Restore: ~30-80MB RAM · Verification: ~20-50MB RAM

---

🛡️ Safety & Reliability

Error Prevention Mechanisms

# 1. Strict error handling
set -Eeuo pipefail  # Exit on any error, undefined variable, or pipe failure

# 2. Atomic operations
- Checksums verified BEFORE restore
- Safety snapshot created BEFORE any modification
- No partial writes (tar + zstd streaming)

# 3. Integrity verification
- SHA256 checksums for every archive
- Pre-restore and post-restore validation
- Critical files presence verification

# 4. Failure recovery
- Automatic safety snapshots
- Comprehensive logging for debugging
- Graceful degradation (package failures don't stop file restore)

What Gets Backed Up

✅ HOME directory (all files, configs, scripts)
✅ PREFIX directory (all packages, binaries, libraries)
✅ Hidden files (.bashrc, .gitconfig, .ssh/, .npmrc, etc.)
✅ SSH keys (automatically permission-fixed on restore)
✅ Python/Node packages (included in $HOME)
✅ Termux configuration files
✅ Package list (for automatic reinstallation)
✅ File permissions, ownership, timestamps
✅ Symbolic links (preserved exactly)

What's Excluded (Configurable)

❌ Cache directories (.cache, tmp, .npm/_cacache)
❌ Backups themselves (prevents recursive bloat)
❌ Temporary files
❌ Gradle/Cargo build caches

---

🔧 Configuration Deep Dive

config/backup.conf - Complete Reference

# ============================================================
# COMPRESSION SETTINGS
# ============================================================
COMPRESSION_LEVEL=3          # zstd: 1 (fast) - 19 (smallest)
COMPRESSION_THREADS=0        # 0 = auto-detect all CPU cores

# ============================================================
# RETENTION POLICY
# ============================================================
MAX_BACKUPS=7               # Auto-delete oldest when exceeded
MAX_SNAPSHOT_AGE_DAYS=30    # Remove old snapshots

# ============================================================
# SAFETY THRESHOLDS
# ============================================================
MIN_FREE_SPACE_MB=512       # Abort if less space available
SHA256_VALIDATE=true         # Always verify integrity
PRE_RESTORE_SNAPSHOT=true   # Safety snapshot before restore

# ============================================================
# EXCLUSIONS (Add your own)
# ============================================================
EXCLUDE_PATTERNS=(
    ".cache"
    "tmp"
    "node_modules"          # Add heavy directories
    ".python_history"
    ".bash_history"         # Optional: exclude history
)

Customizing for Your Workflow

Minimalist (Fast, Small Backups)

COMPRESSION_LEVEL=1
MAX_BACKUPS=3
EXCLUDE_PATTERNS=(".cache" "tmp" "node_modules" ".gradle" ".npm" ".cargo")

Paranoid (Maximum Safety)

COMPRESSION_LEVEL=9
MAX_BACKUPS=30
SHA256_VALIDATE=true
PRE_RESTORE_SNAPSHOT=true
MIN_FREE_SPACE_MB=1024

Developer (Balanced)

COMPRESSION_LEVEL=3
MAX_BACKUPS=10
# Keep node_modules in backup for exact reproduction
EXCLUDE_PATTERNS=(".cache" "tmp")

---

🧪 Testing & Verification

Manual Testing Procedures

# 1. Create test files
echo "test data" > ~/test_file.txt
mkdir -p ~/test_dir
touch ~/test_dir/test{1..5}.txt

# 2. Create backup
./termux-backup backup

# 3. Corrupt test files
rm ~/test_file.txt
rm -rf ~/test_dir

# 4. Restore from backup
./termux-restore restore <backup-name>

# 5. Verify restoration
ls ~/test_file.txt
ls ~/test_dir/

Automated Integrity Check

#!/bin/bash
# integrity-check.sh - Run weekly via cron

cd ~/termux-backup
FAILED=0

for backup in vault/backups/*.tar.zst; do
    [[ "$backup" == *"-prefix.tar.zst" ]] && continue
    
    name=$(basename "$backup" .tar.zst)
    echo "Checking: $name"
    
    if ./termux-backup verify "$name" 2>/dev/null; then
        echo "✓ $name - OK"
    else
        echo "✗ $name - FAILED"
        ((FAILED++))
    fi
done

echo "Results: $FAILED failures"
exit $FAILED

---

🔄 Automation & Scheduling

Termux:Tasker Integration

# ~/.termux/tasker/backup.sh
#!/bin/bash
cd ~/termux-backup
./termux-backup backup
echo "Backup completed at $(date)" >> vault/backup.log

Cron Schedule (via Termux:Boot)

# Install cron
pkg install cronie termux-services
sv-enable crond

# Add to crontab (daily at 2 AM)
crontab -e
# Add: 0 2 * * * cd ~/termux-backup && ./termux-backup backup

---

🚨 Disaster Recovery Scenarios

Scenario 1: Accidental rm -rf

# You ran: rm -rf ~/important-project
# Recovery:
./termux-restore restore <latest-backup>
# Project restored in 2-5 minutes

Scenario 2: Failed apt upgrade

# apt upgrade broke your environment
# Recovery:
./termux-restore restore <pre-upgrade-backup>
# All packages restored to working state

Scenario 3: Termux won't start

# From ADB or another terminal:
cd /data/data/com.termux/files/home/termux-backup
./termux-restore restore <backup-name>

Scenario 4: New Phone Migration

# 1. Install Termux on new phone
# 2. Copy backup folder: 
#    adb push termux-full-*.tar.zst /sdcard/
# 3. In new Termux:
cp /sdcard/termux-full-*.tar.zst ~/termux-backup/vault/backups/
./termux-restore restore <backup-name>

---

📊 Monitoring & Logging

Log Locations

# Main operation log
~/termux-backup/vault/backup.log

# Backup metadata (JSON)
~/termux-backup/vault/meta/<backup-name>/manifest.json

# Snapshot data
~/termux-backup/vault/snapshots/<snapshot-name>/

Log Analysis Commands

# Find all errors
grep ERROR vault/backup.log

# Track backup sizes over time
grep "Archive created" vault/backup.log | awk '{print $NF}'

# Monitor compression ratios
grep "compression" vault/backup.log

# Find failed restores
grep "FAILED" vault/backup.log

---

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Areas for improvement:

1. Incremental backups - Only backup changed files
2. Remote storage - Optional SCP/rsync integration
3. GUI frontend - Termux:Widget integration
4. Encryption - GPG encryption support
5. Parallel compression - Multi-threaded zstd tuning

Development Setup

# Fork and clone
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/termux-backup.git
cd termux-backup

# Give execution permission
chmod +x install.sh

# Run installer
bash install.sh

# Enable debug mode
export LOG_LEVEL=0  # LOG_DEBUG
./termux-backup backup

---

📝 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file

---

⭐ Performance Tips

1. Compression Level 1-3: Best for daily backups (speed over size)
2. Compression Level 9-15: Best for long-term archives (size over speed)
3. Exclude build caches: Add .gradle, .cargo, .npm to exclusions
4. Schedule off-peak: Run backups when phone is idle/charging
5. Monitor space: Set MAX_BACKUPS based on available storage

Storage Planning

Daily backup (200MB) × 7 days = 1.4GB
Weekly backup (200MB) × 4 weeks = 800MB
Monthly archive (200MB) × 3 months = 600MB
----------------------------------------
Total required: ~3GB recommended

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❓ FAQ

Q: Can I restore to a different Termux version? A: Yes, packages will be reinstalled for your current architecture.

Q: Will this backup my Termux:API configurations? A: Yes, all ~/.termux/ files are included.

Q: Can I exclude large directories? A: Add patterns to EXCLUDE_PATTERNS in config/backup.conf.

Q: Is my data safe during restore? A: Yes, a safety snapshot is automatically created first.

Q: How long does a restore take? A: Typically 2-10 minutes depending on size and package count.

Q: Do I need to set permissions for the installed files? A: No, install.sh automatically sets executable permissions (chmod +x) for all scripts. Just run the installer once and you're ready to go.

Q: What if I get "Permission denied" error? A: Run chmod +x install.sh first, then bash install.sh. If you still get errors on other files, run chmod +x termux-backup termux-restore lib/*.sh to fix permissions manually.

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🌟 Star History

If this project saved your Termux setup, consider giving it a star ⭐

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Built with ❤️ for the Termux community

"Your Termux environment is an investment. Protect it."

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