Restic restore: incorrect/different files count

Getting Help
1

The following commands init a new repository and performs a backup of a single file.
restic backup correctly counts files (1) and dirs (4).
restic restore counts 5 files.

export RESTIC_REPOSITORY=repo
export RESTIC_PASSWORD=test

mkdir {repo,restore}
mkdir -p data/foo/bar/baz
echo foo>data/foo/bar/baz/test

restic init

restic backup data
# Files:           1 new,     0 changed,     0 unmodified
# Dirs:            4 new,     0 changed,     0 unmodified
# Added to the repository: 2.379 KiB (1.931 KiB stored)
#
# processed 1 files, 4 B in 0:00

restic restore -t restore latest 
# Summary: Restored 5 Files (4 B) in 0:00

restic restore -t restore latest --json
# {"message_type":"summary","total_files":5,"files_restored":5,"total_bytes":4,"bytes_restored":4}

This is probably because restic treats directories like files, but it’s mildly confusing nevertheless.
Is this a bug or the desired behaviour introduced by #4315 which adjusted the way restic counts to match restic stats (which only shows total file count)?

2

Hmm, that’s rather a case of suboptimal naming: restored 5 items (objects?) would be more precise. The output is currently consistent with that of the stats command, that would also report that your test snapshot contains Total File Count: 5.

3

I see, would you accept a PR which changes the naming?

4

We can change the text output, the JSON field names should remain unchanged. The main question is what the proper replacement for “files” should be.

5

“objects” would seem to be a fitting replacement?

6

Coming from Linux where “everything is a file”, “files” sounds good for me. With “objects”, I rather think of internal blob files (like git objects)… so I’d personall still prefer “files”.

7

What about something like Summary: Restored 5 files/directories (4 B) in 0:00?

1 Like
8

It’s slightly verbose but definitely better than the current state. Could you open a PR for that?

9

Sure :slight_smile: Gave it a try in Tweak restore summary by lbausch · Pull Request #4487 · restic/restic · GitHub