As more people run their own homelab, Docker stacks, and self-hosted services, having a reliable, automated, and simple backup system becomes essential. Zerobyte was created precisely to solve that problem.

Zerobyte is a lightweight backup automation framework designed specifically for self-hosters. It focuses on:

Automated backup workflows
Easy integration with Docker and bare-metal setups
Snapshot-style versioned backups
Compatibility with Linux servers and cloud storage
A built-in terminal-based UI for monitoring backups

Built using POSIX-compatible shell scripts, Zerobyte runs virtually anywhere.

🎯 1. Purpose of Zerobyte

Zerobyte aims to provide a backup solution that is:

Lightweight – just shell scripts, with minimal dependencies
Fast – optimized for quick backup and restore operations
Secure – supports versioning and snapshot integrity
Automated – cron-ready with built-in scheduling commands
Extendable – anyone can write plugins for new apps or services

For homelab enthusiasts and self-hosted environments, it is a clean, practical solution.

⚙️ 2. Installation

Installing Zerobyte is straightforward:

git clone https://github.com/nicotsx/zerobyte.git
cd zerobyte
./install.sh

After installation, you gain access to:

zb – the main command-line tool
Plugin directory structure
Configuration templates
Automation scripts

📦 3. How Zerobyte Works

Zerobyte operates using a plugin-based architecture.
Each backup target (e.g., MySQL, folders, Docker volumes) is represented as a plugin:

backup.sh
restore.sh
config

This architecture allows Zerobyte to support:

Application backups
File system backups
Databases
Docker data folders
Directory-level snapshots
Cloud upload targets

Additional features include:

Versioning – keep multiple versions per backup
Retention policies – auto cleanup of older snapshots
Scheduling – via cron or Zerobyte scheduler

🧩 4. Creating New Backup Plugins

Creating plugins is extremely simple.

Generate a new plugin:

zb plugin new myapp

A minimal plugin example:

backup.sh

backup() {
    tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/myapp.tar.gz" /var/lib/myapp
}

restore.sh

restore() {
    tar -xzf "$1" -C /
}

Because everything is pure bash, customizing behavior is effortless.

🖥️ 5. Terminal UI – Monitoring Your Backups

Zerobyte includes a TUI (Terminal User Interface) allowing users to:

Browse all available backups
Check each plugin’s status
View timestamped snapshots
Trigger manual backups
Inspect logs

A typical TUI view may show:

Name: MySQL
Status: OK
Backup versions:
 - 2025-11-15
 - 2025-11-16

This makes management convenient even without a web interface.

🧪 6. Backup Verification

One of Zerobyte’s strengths is built-in verification:

zb verify mysql

Verification includes:

File integrity checks
CRC testing
Ensuring restore scripts run properly
Content extraction validation

This guarantees that backups are not only created but reliable.

🔁 7. Automated Scheduling with Cron

Scheduling backup jobs is simple.

Built-in scheduler:

zb schedule daily mysql
zb schedule hourly nextcloud

Or add custom jobs manually:

0 3 * * * zb backup all

🚀 8. Creating a New Backup Job

You can create structured backup jobs:

zb job new

Example configuration:

name: mysql-nightly
plugins:
  - mysql
schedule: daily
retention: 14 versions

Zerobyte handles:

Running the schedule
Versioning
Automatic old-backup pruning

🌐 9. Cloud & Remote Backup Support

Zerobyte supports various remote targets:

S3-compatible storage
Wasabi
Backblaze B2
FTP / SFTP
SSH + rsync

Example:

zb remote add myb2 s3 b2://bucket-name
zb backup mysql --upload myb2

This allows safe off-site backups following the 3-2-1 backup rule.

🧰 10. Render Plugin – Creating Backup Reports

Zerobyte can generate human-readable reports:

zb render html > report.html

Useful for:

Email summaries
Backup dashboards
Archiving status reports

📃 11. License & Contribution

Zerobyte is open-source (MIT License).
Users are encouraged to:

Fork the project
Submit pull requests
Create new plugins
Report issues or improvements

The project is community-friendly and fully transparent.

✅ Conclusion

Zerobyte is an impressive, flexible, and lightweight backup automation framework for self-hosters:

✨ Lightweight shell-based design
✨ Easy plugin-based architecture
✨ Versioned backups
✨ Cloud upload support
✨ Cron scheduling
✨ Built-in terminal UI
✨ Verification for trustworthy restores

If you're running a homelab, Docker stack, or VPS, Zerobyte is an excellent tool to ensure your data remains safe, recoverable, and well-organized.

If you want, I can also create:

📌 A shorter social-media post
📌 A more technical documentation-style article
📌 A comparison with other backup tools (Duplicati, Restic, Borg)
📌 A beginner-friendly guide with step-by-step examples

Would you like any of these?

David Nguyen