Backup Files to IPFS with Bash

Learn how to backup files to IPFS using Bash.

What is Bash?

Bash is a Unix command line and shell language that is part of the GNU free and open source software project. It is used as the default login shell for most Linux distributions.

Read below to learn how to backup files to IPFS using Bash.

Prerequisites:

• Sign up for a free Filebase account.

• Have your Filebase Access and Secret Keys. Learn how to view your access keys here.

• Create a Filebase IPFS Bucket. Learn how to create a bucket here.

Special thanks to Simon Bennett from SnapShooter for the original version of this tutorial.

1. Start by installing the S3cmd tool with the following commands:

apt-get install python3 python3-setuptools curl -y

curl -LO https://github.com/s3tools/s3cmd/releases/download/v2.2.0/s3cmd-2.2.0.tar.gz

tar -xvzf s3cmd-2.2.0.tar.gz

cd s3cmd-2.2.0

python3 setup.py install

2. Verify S3cmd was installed correctly using the following command to display the installed version:

s3cmd --version

3. Next, configure S3cmd for use with Filebase:

s3cmd --configure

You will be prompted to enter the following configuration details:

• Access Key: Filebase Access Key

• Secret Key: Filebase Secret Key

• Default Region: us-east-1

• S3 Endpoint: s3.filebase.com

Overall, your configuration output should resemble the following:

Enter new values or accept defaults in brackets with Enter.
Refer to user manual for detailed description of all options.
 
Access key and Secret key are your identifiers for Amazon S3. Leave them empty for using the env variables.
Access Key: 54203D2S91DA6F043A3D
Secret Key: JSo3sFt7vMF1v3iISArDwWvzSHsPlSsroaL1591A
Default Region [US]: us-east-1
 
Use "s3.amazonaws.com" for S3 Endpoint and not modify it to the target Amazon S3.
S3 Endpoint [s3.amazonaws.com]: s3.filebase.com
 
Use "%(bucket)s.s3.amazonaws.com" to the target Amazon S3. "%(bucket)s" and "%(location)s" vars can be used
if the target S3 system supports dns based buckets.
DNS-style bucket+hostname:port template for accessing a bucket [%(bucket)s.s3.amazonaws.com]: %(bucket)s.s3.filebase.com
 
Encryption password is used to protect your files from reading
by unauthorized persons while in transfer to S3
Encryption password:
Path to GPG program [/usr/bin/gpg]:
 
When using secure HTTPS protocol all communication with Amazon S3
servers is protected from 3rd party eavesdropping. This method is
slower than plain HTTP, and can only be proxied with Python 2.7 or newer
Use HTTPS protocol [Yes]:
 
On some networks all internet access must go through a HTTP proxy.
Try setting it here if you can't connect to S3 directly
HTTP Proxy server name:
 
New settings:
  Access Key: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Secret Key: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Default Region: us-east-1
  S3 Endpoint: s3.filebase.com
  DNS-style bucket+hostname:port template for accessing a bucket: %(bucket)s.s3.filebase.com
  Encryption password:
  Path to GPG program: /usr/bin/gpg
  Use HTTPS protocol: True
  HTTP Proxy server name:
  HTTP Proxy server port: 0
 
Test access with supplied credentials? [Y/n] Y
Please wait, attempting to list all buckets...
Success. Your access key and secret key worked fine :-)
 
Now verifying that encryption works...
Not configured. Never mind.
 
Save settings? [y/N] y

4. Test your configuration using the following command:

S3cmd info s3://filebase-bucket-name

Replace filebase-bucket-name with your Filebase bucket name. The output should resemble the following:

s3://filebase-bucket-name/ (bucket):
Location: us-east-1
Payer: none
Expiration Rule: none
Policy: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><ListBucketResult xmlns="<http://s3.amazonaws.com/doc/2006-03-01/>"><Name>filebase-bucket-name</Name><Prefix/><Marker/><MaxKeys>1000</MaxKeys><IsTruncated>false</IsTruncated></ListBucketResult>
CORS: none
ACL: [e-mail] : FULL_CONTROL5. 

5. Next, login to your file server, or navigate to the directory that contains the files you’d like to backup.

Compress the directory that you’d like to backup. This example uses the /etc directory.

tar -czvf - /etc | s3cmd put - s3://filebase-bucket-name/etc_backup.tar.gz

Replace filebase-bucket-name with your Filebase bucket name.

6. Then, repeat the process for any other directories you’d like to backup.

This example uses the /var/log directory.

tar -czvf - /var/log | s3cmd put - s3://file-backup-filebase/log_backup.tar.gz

Replace filebase-bucket-name with your Filebase bucket name.

7. Verify that your files have been uploaded correctly:

s3cmd ls s3://filebase-bucket-name

The output will resemble the following:

2022-08-08 05:31 10485760 s3://filebase-bucket-name/etc_backup.tar.gz

2022-08-08 05:31 21163636 s3://filebase-bucket-name/log_backup.tar.gz

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