Create Timestamped Directory Backups

#!/bin/bash

# Configuration variables
SOURCE_DIR="/var/www/html/mywebsite"   # Directory to be backed up
BACKUP_DIR="/backups/mywebsite_data"   # Directory where backups will be stored
TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)       # Generates a timestamp (e.g., 20231027_143000)
BACKUP_FILENAME="mywebsite_backup_$TIMESTAMP.tar.gz" # Full backup filename
RETENTION_DAYS=7                       # Number of days to keep old backups

# Create the backup directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

echo "Starting backup of $SOURCE_DIR to $BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_FILENAME..."

# Create the compressed tar archive
# -c: create archive
# -z: compress with gzip
# -f: specify archive filename
# -C: change to directory before adding files (important for relative paths within archive)
# "$(basename "$SOURCE_DIR")": adds the directory name itself, not its parent
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_FILENAME" -C "$(dirname "$SOURCE_DIR")" "$(basename "$SOURCE_DIR")"

# Check the exit status of tar
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Backup completed successfully: $BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_FILENAME"
    
    echo "Cleaning up old backups (older than $RETENTION_DAYS days)..."
    # Find and delete backups older than RETENTION_DAYS
    find "$BACKUP_DIR" -type f -name "mywebsite_backup_*.tar.gz" -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -delete
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "Old backups cleaned up successfully."
    else
        echo "Warning: Failed to clean up old backups."
    fi
else
    echo "Backup failed. Please check permissions or path."
    exit 1
fi