BackHub

 

BackHub is a simple GitHub repository backup tool that creates complete local mirrors of your repositories.

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Features

• Full repository mirroring including all branches, tags, and history
• Concurrent backup processing for multiple repositories defined in a YAML config file
• GitHub token-based authentication (to be used in an environment variable)
• Easy restoration capability due to it being local mirror
• Multi-arch and multi-OS binary for simple one-time usage
• A unique output provider with a fancy and detailed progress monitoring system

Installation

Binary

The easiest way to use Backhub is to download it from the project releases for your OS and architecture.

Development Build

go install github.com/tanq16/backhub@latest

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/tanq16/backhub.git && \
cd backhub && \
go build

Usage

Backhub uses an environment variable to authenticate to GitHub. To do this, set your GH_TOKEN variable. This can be done inline with:

GH_TOKEN=pat_jsdhksjdskhjdhkajshkdjh backhub

Alternatively, export it to your shell session with:

export GH_TOKEN=pat_jsdhksjdskhjdhkajshkdjh

With the environment variable exported, backhub can be directly executed multiple times from the command line like so:

# config file
backhub /path/to/config.yaml

# direct repo
backhub github.com/tanq16/backhub

YAML Config File

BackHub uses a simple YAML configuration file:

repos:
  - github.com/username/repo1
  - github.com/username/repo2
  - github.com/org/repo3

For Docker, put the config file in the mounted directory and name it config.yaml.

Using the Local Mirrors

To use a local mirror as a Git repository source (like when you need to restore from the backup), the following can be done:

1. Directly pull or clone from the mirror treating it as a backup remote in an existing repository:

   git remote add backup /path/to/your/mirror.git
   git pull backup main # or any other branch
   git clone /path/to/your/mirror.git new-repo
   

2. Serve the mirror via a local git server and use it :

   git daemon --base-path=/path/to/mirror --export-all
   git clone git://localhost/mirror.git # in a different path
   

3. Use the mirror as a git server by refering to it through the file protocol:

   git clone file:///path/to/mirror.git
   

Being a mirror, it contains all references (branches, tags, etc.), so cloning or pulling from it allows accessing everything as if it's the original. Use git branch -a to see all branches and git tag -l to see all tags in the mirror.