Duplicity

Overview of Duplicity

Duplicity is a sophisticated encrypted backup solution that creates encrypted, bandwidth-efficient archives using the rsync algorithm. This powerful tool protects your data by generating encrypted tar-format volumes and securely uploading them to remote or local file servers. By leveraging librsync technology, Duplicity ensures incremental backups are space-efficient, capturing only the modified portions of files since the last backup. The integration with GnuPG provides robust encryption and digital signing, safeguarding archives against unauthorized access and tampering while maintaining data integrity.

This mature backup software supports a wide range of storage destinations including Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, SSH/SCP, and FTP. Duplicity handles complex file system elements like directories, symbolic links, and device files while preserving Unix permissions. The package includes rdiffdir utility for efficient signature and delta operations on directories. As part of major Linux distributions, it serves both personal users and corporate environments requiring reliable encrypted backup solutions across various storage platforms.

How to Use Duplicity

Using Duplicity involves configuring backup parameters through the command-line interface, specifying source directories, destination locations, and encryption settings. Begin by setting up GnuPG keys for encryption, then define backup targets such as cloud storage services or remote servers. Schedule regular incremental backups to automatically detect and archive only changed file segments, reducing storage requirements and transfer times. The tool allows flexible restoration options, enabling recovery of individual files or complete directories from specific backup points while maintaining version history and data integrity.

Core Features of Duplicity

1. Encrypted Backup Volumes – Secures data using GnuPG encryption and signing for complete protection
2. Incremental Backup Efficiency – Uses rsync algorithm to backup only changed file segments
3. Multi-Protocol Support – Connects to various storage services including cloud and remote servers
4. Bandwidth Optimization – Minimizes data transfer through efficient delta encoding
5. File System Compatibility – Handles complex Unix file types and permissions accurately

Use Cases for Duplicity

• Automated server backup to cloud storage with encryption
• Incremental website data protection with version history
• Secure offsite backup for sensitive business documents
• Personal computer backup to remote servers via SSH
• Database backup automation with compression
• Disaster recovery planning with encrypted archives
• Cross-platform backup solutions for mixed environments

Support and Contact

For technical support and community assistance, visit the official Duplicity project page. The development team maintains active communication through repositories and forums. Email support: contact@gitlab.com.

Company Info

Duplicity is an open-source project developed and maintained by a dedicated community of contributors. As free software released under GPL license, it represents collaborative efforts to improve capabilities and ensure compatibility with evolving storage technologies. Learn more at the project website.

Login and Signup

Duplicity requires no registration or account creation as it operates as a standalone command-line tool. Installation is available through package managers like snap, pip3, and distribution repositories. For download and setup, refer to the installation instructions.