---
name: "bbackupd"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "boxbackup-client"
version: "0.13~~git20231028.g3dd5194+ds-4"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/bbackupd"
---

# bbackupd(8)

Box Backup client daemon

## NAME

bbackupd - Box Backup client daemon

## SYNOPSIS

**bbackupd** \[-DFkqvVT\] \[-c config-file\] \[-t tag\]

## DESCRIPTION

**bbackupd** runs on client computers in the background, finding new files to back up. When it is time for a backup, **bbackupd** will connect to the server (**bbstored**) to upload the files.

A running **bbackupd** daemon can be controlled with the **bbackupctl** command, to make it shut down, reload its configuration, or start an immediate backup.

**bbackupd** needs to be configured to tell it which files to back up, how often, and to which server (running **bbstored**). See the Client Configuration page for more information. For this, you must write a configuration file. You must either place it in the default location, or tell **bbackupd** where to find it.

You can check the default location with the **-h** option. The default on Unix systems is usually */etc/box/bbackupd.conf*. On Windows systems, it is *bbackupd.conf* in the same directory where **bbackupd.exe** is located. If bbackupd cannot find or read the configuration file, it will log an error message and exit.

**bbackupd** usually writes log messages to the system logs, using the facility **local5**, which you can use to filter them to send them to a separate file. It can also write them to the console, see options below. If **bbackupd** is not doing what you expect, please check the logs first of all.

### Options

- **-c** config-file

  Use the specified configuration file. If **-c** is omitted, the last argument is the configuration file. If none is specified, the default is used (see above).

- **-D**

  Debugging mode. Do not fork into the background (do not run as a daemon). Not available on Windows.

- **-F**

  No-fork mode. Same as **-D** for bbackupd. Not available on Windows.

- **-k**

  Keep console open after fork, keep writing log messages to it. Not available on Windows.

- **-q**

  Run more quietly. Reduce verbosity level by one. Available levels are *NOTHING*, *FATAL*, *ERROR*, *WARNING*, *NOTICE*, *INFO*, *TRACE*, *EVERYTHING*. Default level is *NOTICE* in non-debugging builds. Use once to drop to *WARNING* level, twice for *ERROR* level, four times for no logging at all.

- \-v

  Run more verbosely. Increase verbosity level by one. Use once to raise to *INFO* level, twice for *TRACE* level, three times for *EVERYTHING* (currently the same as *TRACE*).

- **-V**

  Run at maximum verbosity (*EVERYTHING* level).

- **-t** tag

  Tag each console message with specified marker. Mainly useful in testing when running multiple daemons on the same console.

- **-T**

  Timestamp each line of console output.

## FILES

*/etc/box/bbackupd.conf*

## SEE ALSO

[**bbackupd.conf**(5)](/bbackupd.conf/5.md), [**bbackupd-config**(8)](/bbackupd-config/8.md), [**bbackupctl**(8)](/bbackupctl/8.md)

## AUTHORS

Ben Summers

Per Thomsen

James O'Gorman