Restic diff command ignores differences in file timestamps

Getting Help
1

Comparing two snapshots whose files only differ by their (modification) timestamps shows no differences:

restic init -r repo
touch thing.txt && restic -r repo backup thing.txt
touch thing.txt && restic -r repo backup thing.txt
restic -r repo diff 9c2a58ee 0a5ddce8

The final cmd gives:

repository 358a1f67 opened successfully, password is correct
comparing snapshot 9c2a58ee to 0a5ddce8:


Files:           0 new,     0 removed,     0 changed
Dirs:            0 new,     0 removed
Others:          0 new,     0 removed
Data Blobs:      0 new,     0 removed
Tree Blobs:      0 new,     0 removed
  Added:   0 B  
  Removed: 0 B

I am wondering whether this could be considered a bug? I was recently comparing backups from before/after a significant system change and thought all was well but in fact some files had their timestamps altered by mistake.

Thanks

2

Welcome to the forum!

Can you please elaborate on what you think is a bug and what you expect to see instead of what you are seeing? You’re expecting the file to be listed as changed due to the change in metadata?

3

By default, the diff command does not print files for which just metadata has changed. You can enable this with the --metadata flag. For me, the output of restic diff then looks like this:

$ restic diff -r repo --metadata b5572e20 5f235627
comparing snapshot b5572e20 to 5f235627:

U    /thing.txt

Files:           0 new,     0 removed,     0 changed
Dirs:            0 new,     0 removed
Others:          0 new,     0 removed
Data Blobs:      0 new,     0 removed
Tree Blobs:      0 new,     0 removed
  Added:   0 B  
  Removed: 0 B

The stats at the bottom count the tree blobs wrong for metadata-only changes in the top-level directory of the snapshot (it works for metadata changes in a subdir), that’s a bug you’ve just discovered. But restic indeed saw the changed modification time. :slight_smile:

4

Thanks, appreciate the fast response! I should have read the manual :man_facepalming: - would you like me to raise the bug for the smaller top-level issue in the repo?

1 Like
5

Please do, I haven’t seen @fd0 create anything like that yet, so go ahead so we can track it.

6

No prob: #3092. Thanks again for the help :slight_smile:

1 Like