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Local Backup Setup: Obsidian Backup Strategy

Detailed configuration of the Local Backup plugin in Obsidian to protect vaults.

Purpose

đź”™ Main Context: This guide is part of the extensive architecture detailed in the Infrastructure MOC.

Establish a local and cloud-based “containment wall” against accidental deletions, file corruption, or cascading synchronization errors (e.g., Syncthing or Dropbox failures). This system takes “snapshots” of the vault in automatic .zip format.

Tool Used

  • Community Plugin: Local Backup

Storage Paths

  • Output Path (macOS/Hackintosh): /Users/jd/My Drive/99 Archive/Obsidian Backups
  • Justification of the route:
    1. It’s outside the main vault, avoiding infinite synchronization loops.
    2. Directly point to the local unit of Google Drive, achieving automatic conversion of the local backup into an “off-site” backup (in the cloud) without manual intervention.
  • Reference Base Weight: ~45 MB (February 2026).

Exact Configuration of the Plugin (Settings)

To replicate this configuration in a new installation, adjust the following parameters:

When executed

  • Backup once on startup: ON (Backs up when the app opens).
  • Backup once on quit: ON (Saves upon closing the app).
  • Interval backups: ON (Background silent backup).
    • Backup frequency: 240 minutes (Every 4 hours).

Retention (Avoid disk saturation)

  • Backup history length: 15 days (Maximum time that a ZIP file is stored before being purged).
  • Daily Backups: 3 or 4 (Zip Limit Per Day).

Format and Output

  • Linux/MacOS output path: /Users/jd/My Drive/99 Archive/Obsidian Backups
  • File name: {vaultName}-Backup-{Year}_{Month}_{Day}-{Hour}_{Minute}_{Second} (Chronological order).
  • Excluded directories: .git, .trash, node_modules

Interface and Alerts

  • Show ribbon icon: ON (Allows forcing a manual backup from the sidebar).
  • Show notifications: ON (Visual notification when the ZIP is created successfully).
  • Show console logs: Off.
  • External File Archiver Backup: OFF (Use the internal engine of the plugin).

Automated translation (technical mode).

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