Homelab backup check

Purpose

Confirm that scheduled backups exist, are recent, and can restore at least one known file.

Requirements

• Access to the backup host.
• Name of the repository or backup target.
• A small file path suitable for a restore test.

Commands

systemctl list-timers
systemctl status backup.timer
journalctl -u backup.service --since yesterday --no-pager

Config files

Track the service and timer units under /etc/systemd/system/ or the documented backup tool configuration path.

Checks

ls -lah /srv/backups
find /srv/backups -maxdepth 2 -type f -mtime -2

Rollback

Do not delete existing snapshots during a failed check. Disable only the failing timer with sudo systemctl disable --now backup.timer and keep the last known-good backup target mounted read-only if possible.

Related notes

• journalctl service triage