/etc Backup Shell Script Linux

Before you change Nginx, SSH, or firewall rules, snapshot /etc. This lightweight script complements full backup tools — it is fast, diff-friendly, and easy to store off-server next to your database dumps.

What this script does

Creates etc_YYYY-MM-DD.tar.gz under a backup directory
Excludes volatile paths like /etc/ld.so.cache if present
Deletes archives older than a configurable retention window
Logs archive size and path for audit trails
Documents one-line restore into /tmp/etc-restore for inspection

Prerequisites

Root or sudo (read all of /etc)
Enough disk for compressed /etc (usually a few MB–GB)
tar and gzip installed

Step 1: Save the script

sudo nano /usr/local/bin/etc-backup.sh
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/etc-backup.sh

Step 2: Full script (scroll to read)

etc-backup.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/etc"
RETENTION_DAYS=14
DATE=$(date +%F)
ARCHIVE="${BACKUP_DIR}/etc_${DATE}.tar.gz"
LOG="/var/log/etc-backup.log"

log(){ echo "[$(date '+%F %T')] $*" | tee -a "$LOG"; }
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

log "Archiving /etc to $ARCHIVE"
tar -czf "$ARCHIVE" \
  --exclude='etc/ld.so.cache' \
  -C / etc

log "Saved: $ARCHIVE ($(du -h "$ARCHIVE" | awk '{print $1}'))"
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -type f -name 'etc_*.tar.gz' -mtime +"$RETENTION_DAYS" -delete
log "Pruned archives older than ${RETENTION_DAYS} days"
log "Inspect restore: mkdir -p /tmp/etc-restore && tar -xzf $ARCHIVE -C /tmp/etc-restore"

Scroll inside the box to read the full script.

Step 3: Configure settings

BACKUP_DIR — destination for archives
RETENTION_DAYS — prune older tarballs
Do not rely on this alone — pair with remote backup scripts

Linux etc configuration backup shell script creating tar.gz archive

Step 4: Test manually

sudo /usr/local/bin/etc-backup.sh

ls -lah /var/backups/etc/

Schedule with cron

sudo crontab -e

Add:

15 3 * * 0 /usr/local/bin/etc-backup.sh >> /var/log/etc-backup.log 2>&1

/etc Configuration Backup Shell Script for Linux (tar, Retention, Restore Hint)