BURP - BackUp and Restore Program
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Q. Why?

A. Please go to the WHY page.


Q. What operating systems do I need to be running?

The burp server (where the backups are stored) needs to run on a Linux-style operating system. Personally, I use Debian. The burp client (from which backups are taken) can run on Linux or Windows.

Q. What are the main features? What works?

A. At the time of writing, the following features work:

  • Server mode runs on Unix-based systems.
  • Client mode runs on Windows and Unix-based systems.
  • Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) support (Windows XP R2 and newer).
  • Windows 32bit and 64bit support.
  • Delta differencing with librsync.
  • Network backups.
  • Backs up and restores files, directories, symlinks, hardlinks, fifos and nodes.
  • Storage and network compression using zlib.
  • Ability to continue interrupted backups.


Q. What is on the roadmap? What doesn't work?

A. The following items are on my TODO list:

  • Add SSL on the sockets.
  • Add ability to schedule.
  • Add a richer set of commands for backup file selection.
  • Add more file types - nodes, devices, etc.
  • Add clever restore code to fix directory permissions.
  • Add encryption on the client side - using this feature will mean that librsync will not work, unless the server knows the encryption secrets.
  • Make the configure script only do stuff related to burp.
  • Appears to be a timeout/async problem on the select (already fixed?)
  • Make some documentation.


Q. What are the main dependencies?

A. They are:

  • librsync
  • openssl
  • zlib


Q. How do I build the Windows client?

This is slightly complicated. You might want to go to the DOWNLOAD page and get a prebuilt binary. If you really want to build it yourself, follow the instructions in the README file in the src/win32 directory of the burp source.


Q. What licence does Burp use?

A. It is open source free software (where 'free' means both that you do not have to pay for it, and that you have freedom to do what you want with it) released under the AGPLv3 licence. Refer to the Burp LICENCE file for more details.


Burp is open and free software. I work on it in my spare time. If you would like this work to continue, please consider making a small donation.


Late updated: February 2011