2.2.4. Options (Simple)
Keywords: fwbackups, user guide, help, documentation, configuration

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### ⁠2.2.4. Options (Simple)

The Options (Simple) tab allows you to set the parameters for your backup. In addition, the options tabs allow you to select the backup format and the number of old backups to keep at any given time.

⁠Backup Format
  Your backup will be stored differently depending on the backup format selected (this option replaces the Backup Engine selection in versions 1.43.2 and earlier).
  An Archive backup packs all of the files into a single (often large) "tar" archive file. Archive backups do not support incremental backups; a full snapshot must be created each time. Archive backups support both gzip and bzip2 on-the-fly compression. This backup format was formerly called the "tar" backup engine (".gz" or ".bz2" was appended if gzip or bzip2 compression was enabled, respectively).

  Reducing backup size with compression

  Enabling compression will utilize more system resources during the backup, but results in smaller file sizes. gzip is a relatively lightweight compression with a good compression ratio. If you would like to further reduce the size of your backups, consider switching to bzip2 compression. Although it is much slower than gzip, bzip2 is able to achieve smaller file sizes.
  A Direct copy backup will simply copy your files and folder structure as-is (similar to a drag-and-drop copy in your file browser). Although this backup type does not support compression, incremental backups are available. This backup format was formerly called the "rsync" backup engine.

  Increasing backup speed

  Enabling the Backups are incremental option will run an incremental backup instead of a full one, copying only the changes since your last backup. Currently, the incremental backups are only available for set backups on Unix-like platforms (such as Linux and OS X) and cannot be used when backing up to a remote host.
  Additionally, running an incremental backup will update the backup folder in-place so no old backups will be kept if you choose to enable incremental backups.
⁠Set is enabled
  If deselected, the set will be unscheduled for automated backups (not available in one-time backups).
⁠Include subfolders
  If selected, subfolders will be included in the backup (recommended). If unchecked, fwbackups will only backup files immediately inside any folders supplied in the Section 2.2.1, “Paths” tab and will not backup any files in subfolders.
⁠Include hidden files
  If selected, Unix-style hidden files (files and folders starting with a period character "`.`") are included in the backup.

  Hidden files on the Windows platform are always backed up

  Support for detecting Windows-style hidden files will be added in the future. Until then, hidden files and folders on all Windows operating systems will be included in the backup regardless of the state of this checkbutton.
⁠Follow links
  If selected, the backup will follow symbolic links and copy their targets rather than copying the link into the backup. Be wary of link recursion!
⁠Print disk geometry information to a file
  If selected, disk geometry (including partition layout) will be saved to a file that will be added to the backup.
⁠Print installed packages to a text file
  If selected, a list of installed package names and versions will be saved to a text file that will be added to the backup. This option can be used to ease system re-installation in the unfortunate event of a crash or data loss.
  Currently, the RPM, dpkg and pacman package managers are supported.
⁠Handle sparse files efficiently
  If selected, sparse files on the disk will be handled more efficiently.

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