New computer – setting up Duplicacy CLI

[fronesis]

I think I know the answer, but I haven’t seen this answer explicitly in all of my searches, so just to make sure.

I’m setting up a new computer. I don’t need to restore from my duplicacy storage; rather, I just want to continue backing up the same directory on the new computer (to the same storage) as I was before on the old computer.

I assume all I need to do is initialize a new repository from that same directory, using the same repository ID. Right?

I’m less clear about what it will read from the config file already on the storage, and what I need to designate myself when I initialize the new repository. For example, the previous repository ID was set up with encryption. Do I need to designate -e when I initialize and give it a new encryption password?

[saspus]

I’m setting up a new computer.

New computer as in replacement for your current one, where you migrate all of your stuff and continue from where you left off on the old one, or a new computer that you setup from scratch and will continue using the old one or maybe just want to reorganize everything and start from blank slate but still take advantage of deduplication of your backup?

In the former case you have likely already copied your .duplciacy folder as part of migration and that’s it. You effectively just swapped hardware but otherwise it’s the same machine, so you just continue the same backup history with no changes.

In the latter – it might make sense to create a new repository ID to track this new computers history separately. Your data will still be deduplciated, just tracked under different snapshot id (or repository ID? can never remember which is which)

For example, the previous repository ID was set up with encryption. Do I need to designate -e when I initialize and give it a new encryption password?

Init command details

The -e option controls whether or not encryption will be enabled for the storage. If encryption is enabled, you will be prompted to enter a storage password. The storage password is used to encrypt the config file, and snapshot files are encrypted by a key derived from the snapshot ID and the revision number. If you have already created an encrypted storage to which you are now connecting, you will have to add the -e flag, so that you are asked to enter the encryption password.

[fronesis]

Thanks a lot, saspus.

I’m category 2b. Entirely new computer, old one being sold, but taking this opportunity to reorganize and clean up, so I skipped the MacOS migration assistant this time (and got a lot of space back).

Once I copied over the .duplicacy folder, then it was totally straightforward. I needed to re-enter the password and one drive storage token path and re-save them to keychain, but that was it.

Thanks for the help.