How to Backup Your Synology NAS Using Rsync?

Intro:

Synology NAS provides several types of backup solutions, however, Rsync is still one of the most preferable solutions to synchronise data over a network.

Rsync is a powerful tool used for backup and sync data between directories, locally and remotely.

In this example, I will be using Synology NAS as the source and a linux server that runs Rsync and the destination Rsync server

How to Setup Rsync for Synology NAS?

Step – 1 – Setup Rsync Server:

I will be using Ubuntu Linux as the Rsync server.

1) Install Rsync on Ubuntu:

sudo apt update sudo apt install rsync -y

2) Make directory to store the backed up files:

sudo mkdir -p /rsync

3) Create user for remote rsync:

sudo adduser rsync

4) Set the Directory permissions:

sudo chown rsync:rsync /rsync sudo chmod 700 /rsync

Step – 2 – Configure Hyper Backup on Synology NAS:

1) Install Hyper Backup Application if not installed:

Open Package Center on synology and Search for hyper backup, then click “install”:

Keep the default setting then click “done”, then wait until it finishes downloading and installing.

2) Create Hyper Backup Job:

Open Hyper Backup Application, then click on the plus sign to add a new Job:

Select the Backup Job as “Folder and Packages”:

For the backup Destination, scroll down and choose “rsync”:

Here you can choose “Multiple versions” or “Single Version”, choose according to your needs:

I will choose “Multiple Versions”.

For the Backup Destination settings, enter the settings as bellow:

Server type: rsync-compatible server

Server name ot IP address: [your Ubuntu IP Address]

Transfer encryption: On

Port: 22

Username: [your rsync username created earlier]

Password: [rsync user password]

Backup module: [rsync directory created earlier]

Directory: [choose a name for the directory inside the rsync directory]

Next, choose which shared folder on your NAS you want to backup:

Next,  if you want to backup any application, you can choose here:

For the backup settings, you can configure your Backup Job as desired:

Here you can choose to enable the Backup Rotation, and choose how many versions of the backup you would like to keep:

Review your settings and click “done”:

You can choose to “Backup Now”, once you finish creating the Job.

Step – 3 – Review and check the backup:

On Hyper Backup Application, select the Backup Job and click on “Backup Explorer” Icon:

Here you can explore the backup files and folder, and select any file to restore it or download it:

Step – 4 – Restore the backup on the new NAS:

If you have a backup job already on an Rsync server, and you want to restore it to a new Synology NAS, or if you whipped your NAS and you want to restore the file from server, you can do that with Hyper Backup.

Open the Hyper Backup application on the new NAS, and click on restore Icon:

Choose the restoration type:

Choose the option as below:

Choose Rsync server:

Here enter the information as previously mentioned in step 2:

Then continue the steps to choose what to restore.

Conclusion: 

Using Rsync with Synology NAS offers a reliable way to back up and restore data efficiently. By setting up an Rsync server and configuring Hyper Backup, you can secure your files and easily restore them when needed, ensuring data safety and flexibility.