05.-Backup-pruning.md

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# pruning your backups
+Over time, borg will continue to simply add to your backups without ever deleting anything.  This is not the goal for most people and that's why *pruning* exists.  Borg will remove old backups as per the schedule you define so that you aren't buying an endless amount of backup storage but you still have enough to stay protected.  You should consult the borg documentation for more information on this feature.
+
+## where to set it
+Your pruning options are in the *seafbackup.details* file in the setting *borgPruneSettings*.  By default, it looks like this:
+
+```ini
+borgPruneSettings="--keep-within=7d --keep-daily=30 --keep-weekly=12 --keep-monthly=-1"
+```
+
+This is what I use and I find it's a nice balance for most SOHO setups.  It tells borg the following:
+
+- Keep ALL backups no matter if they are automated or manual or made for any conceivable reason as long as they occurred in the last 7 days
+- Keep 30 days worth of daily (i.e. once-per-day) backups
+- Keep 12 weeks of end-of-week backups
+- Keep an infinite amount of end-of-month backups
+
+Feel free to customize this to your needs, but I think this is a safe starting point for lots of implementations.
+
+## disable pruning
+If you want to use a different backup management solution or want to do things manually, you can easily disable backup pruning altogether.  In your *seafbackup.details* file, simply set the *borgPruneSettings* variable to be empty like any of these options:
+
+```ini
+# option 1
+borgPruneSettings=
+
+# option 2
+borgPruneSettings=""
+```