The openmediavault-usbbackup plugin is designed to automate the process of backing up data from an OMV server to an external USB drive. Unlike scheduled rsync jobs that run over a network, this plugin is event-driven. It is ideal for "Rotation Backup" schemes where an administrator physically connects a drive, waits for the backup to complete, and swaps the drive for off-site storage.
| Field | Value | Explanation | |-------|-------|-------------| | | ✅ Checked | Activates the job | | UUID | auto-generated | Unique identifier | | Shared Folder | shared_docs | The folder to back up | | USB Device | Select your USB drive's filesystem (e.g., /dev/sdb1 ) | Target backup disk | | Backup Mode | mirror | See table below | | Create Archive | Unchecked (optional) | Compresses backup as .tar.gz | | Email Notify | Your email | Requires mail config in OMV | | Dry Run | ❌ Unchecked | Simulates without copying |
: Use mirror for versionless backup, incremental for space-saving backups. omv usb backup
| Mode | Action | |------|--------| | | Makes USB identical to source – deletes extra files on USB | | incremental | Copies only new/modified files since last backup | | differential | Copies all changes since the last full backup |
This plugin supports several methods, including dd (full disk image), rsync (file-level), and BorgBackup . : Add to /etc/fstab (via OMV Storage →
This plugin is ideal for "cold storage" backups where you only connect the drive occasionally.
: Add to /etc/fstab (via OMV Storage → File Systems → Edit → Enable "Mount automatically") including dd (full disk image)
: The USB drive will be formatted and its data will be erased during setup.
# One-liner backup rsync -av --delete /srv/source-shared/ /srv/usb-target/