---
name: "borg-placeholders"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "borg"
version: "1.4.5-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/borg-placeholders"
---

# borg-placeholders(1)

Details regarding placeholders

## Name

borg-placeholders - Details regarding placeholders

## DESCRIPTION

Repository (or Archive) URLs, **--prefix**, **--glob-archives**, **--comment** and **--remote-path** values support these placeholders:

- **{hostname}**

  The (short) hostname of the machine.

- **{fqdn}**

  The full name of the machine.

- **{reverse-fqdn}**

  The full name of the machine in reverse domain name notation.

- **{now}**

  The current local date and time, by default in ISO-8601 format. You can also supply your own format string \<https://docs.python.org/3.10/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-behavior\>, e.g. {now:%Y-%m-%d\_%H:%M:%S}

- **{utcnow}**

  The current UTC date and time, by default in ISO-8601 format. You can also supply your own format string \<https://docs.python.org/3.10/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-behavior\>, e.g. {utcnow:%Y-%m-%d\_%H:%M:%S}

- **{user}**

  The user name (or UID, if no name is available) of the user running borg.

- **{pid}**

  The current process ID.

- **{borgversion}**

  The version of borg, e.g.: 1.0.8rc1

- **{borgmajor}**

  The version of borg, only the major version, e.g.: 1

- **{borgminor}**

  The version of borg, only major and minor version, e.g.: 1.0

- **{borgpatch}**

  The version of borg, only major, minor and patch version, e.g.: 1.0.8

If literal curly braces need to be used, double them for escaping:

```
borg create /path/to/repo::{{literal_text}}
```

Examples:

```
borg create /path/to/repo::{hostname}-{user}-{utcnow} ...
borg create /path/to/repo::{hostname}-{now:%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M:%S} ...
borg prune --glob-archives '{hostname}-*' ...
```

**Note:**

systemd uses a difficult, non-standard syntax for command lines in unit files (refer to the *[systemd.unit(5)](/systemd.unit/5.md)* manual page).

When invoking borg from unit files, pay particular attention to escaping, especially when using the now/utcnow placeholders, since systemd performs its own %-based variable replacement even in quoted text. To avoid interference from systemd, double all percent signs (**{hostname}-{now:%Y-%m-%d\_%H:%M:%S}** becomes **{hostname}-{now:%%Y-%%m-%%d\_%%H:%%M:%%S}**).

## Author

The Borg Collective