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A source is the origin of files during a backup. Cloudstic supports multiple source types, allowing you to back up data from local filesystems, remote servers, and cloud storage providers.

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Available Sources

Cloudstic supports the following source types:

Local Directory

Back up files from your local filesystem

SFTP Server

Back up files from a remote SFTP server

Google Drive

Back up files from Google Drive (My Drive or Shared Drives)

OneDrive

Back up files from Microsoft OneDrive

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How Sources Work

All sources implement a common interface that provides:
  • File enumeration — Walk through all files and folders
  • File streaming — Read file content for backup
  • Metadata — Collect file attributes (size, modified time, owner)
  • Incremental support — Some sources support delta-based backups

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Full vs. Incremental Backups

Full scan sources enumerate all files on every backup:
  • local — Local filesystem
  • sftp — SFTP server
  • gdrive — Google Drive
  • onedrive — OneDrive
Incremental sources use provider APIs to fetch only changed files:
  • gdrive-changes — Google Drive with Changes API (recommended)
  • onedrive-changes — OneDrive with Delta API
Incremental sources are significantly faster for subsequent backups because they only fetch changes since the last backup, rather than scanning the entire source.

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Common Configuration

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Exclude Patterns

All sources support exclude patterns using gitignore syntax: 
cloudstic backup -source local -source-path ./documents \
  -exclude "*.tmp" \
  -exclude ".git/" \
  -exclude "node_modules/"
You can also load patterns from a file: 
cloudstic backup -source local -source-path ./documents \
  -exclude-file .backupignore
Example .backupignore file: 
# Temporary files
*.tmp
*.log
*.cache

# System files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Development
node_modules/
.git/
__pycache__/
*.pyc

# Build artifacts
dist/
build/
target/

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Environment Variables

Common source-related environment variables:
VariableDescription
CLOUDSTIC_SOURCEDefault source type
CLOUDSTIC_SOURCE_PATHDefault source path (for local/SFTP)
CLOUDSTIC_DRIVE_IDGoogle Drive shared drive ID
CLOUDSTIC_ROOT_FOLDERGoogle Drive root folder ID

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Source Information

Each backup snapshot stores source metadata that identifies where the data came from:
  • Type — Source type (e.g., local, gdrive, onedrive)
  • Account — Account identifier (hostname, email, user@host)
  • Path — Source-specific path or location
This information is used to:
  • Find the previous snapshot from the same source for incremental comparison
  • Group snapshots in retention policies
  • Display backup history

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Choosing a Source Type

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Use Local when:

  • Backing up files on the same machine as Cloudstic
  • You want the fastest backup performance
  • Files are on directly mounted storage

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Use SFTP when:

  • Backing up files from a remote server
  • You have SSH access to the server
  • You want to avoid installing Cloudstic on the remote machine

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Use Google Drive when:

  • Backing up cloud files from Google Drive
  • You want to preserve Google Drive’s folder structure
  • You need to back up Shared Drives
  • Use gdrive-changes for faster incremental backups

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Use OneDrive when:

  • Backing up cloud files from Microsoft OneDrive
  • You want to preserve OneDrive’s folder structure
  • Use onedrive-changes for faster incremental backups

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Next Steps

Local Source

Learn about backing up local directories

SFTP Source

Learn about backing up remote servers

Google Drive

Learn about backing up Google Drive

OneDrive

Learn about backing up OneDrive