Backup Iphone Photos/Videos to Unraid Share & Download back to iphone if needed

[chip]

Looking for some thoughts/ideas on the following

 

Phase 1

 

-          Backup Iphone pics/videos to unraid server over wireless / cellular

-          Folder structure – Year, month, day

-          Sync to Spare PC

-          1st of each month back up to External USB Drive

-          Once items are sync’d to Unraid server and verified delete off of iphone (Manually, or delete after so many days)

-          Which IOS app would work best for this? Free first if available or lifetime subscription. Resilio Sync, Photosync, Synthing, Nextcloud, etc

-          Security is important

-          Each iphone would have it’s own backup folder \\member1\backup\iphone\year\month\day

-          Upload in original quality

  

 

Phase 2

-          Be able to download photos if needed back to iphone.

-          Any way to download by folder? Vs selecting each single photo

-          Would like to use same IOS app as in Phase 1 if possible

 

[TimTheSettler]

I took a different approach.  This is pretty easy to do.

• All phones are synchronized to unRAID using Syncthing.
  • When you take a picture on your phone then syncthing copies that to unRAID.
• I then use Vorta (Borg) to back up those folders.
  • Vorta runs each day and uses incremental backups so if nothing changes then nothing happens.
  • If something changes then only the changes are backed up.
  • If files move around then the new locations are noted as changes but the contents don't change (it uses deduplication).

 

What to do:

• Install one of the Syncthing dockers in unRAID.
  • Create one (or more) folder(s) in unRAID that Syncthing can see.  This is where your pictures will be synchronized to.
• Install Syncthing on the phones.
  • Link Syncthing in the phone to the unRAID Syncthing (as a device).
  • Using Syncthing on the phone and on unRAID, link the camera folder on the phone with the folder you created in unRAID.
• Install the Vorta docker in unRAID.
  • Set up an archive (another folder in unRAID).
  • Tell Vorta when to run, where the source files are (the picture folder in unRAID) and where the archive will be (your new archive folder).

Benefits:

• If the picture folder gets too big you can move files out of the folder to a backup or other folder.  This will delete the files on the phone.  You can also tell Vorta to use the picture folder as a source AND the other backup folder as a source.  When you move files from one folder to the other one then Vorta simply notes the change but the archive remains the same size.
• If you accidentally delete a picture then you can recover it from the archive.

[TimTheSettler]

Syncthing uses encryption when syncing files.

 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/möbius-sync/id1539203216

[Michael_P]

On 8/3/2023 at 2:12 PM, chip said:

Nextcloud, etc

 

I use Nextcloud, sync from and to any device with very little setup wizardry

 

To backup, I use this script and you can set it up to automatically run when a USB drive is plugged in to the server

 

 

[MrGrey]

I use Nextcloud.

 

I wish Home Assistant could do it, but it can't (yet). Even Nextcloud sucks for photos, but they're backed up.

 

MrGrey.

[ConnerVT]

I've wanted a solution for this for several years.  The biggest issue is on the iPhone side - It really does have no good way to handle these transfers in the background with a third party application.  Even Nextcloud (which I do have set up) is a frustrating experience which requires active monitoring and actions.

[chip]

I have been playing with Nextcloud. Biggest downfall is you have to be in the app for it to run and it looks like when the phone screen locks it stops working. These apps should just work in the background.

[Michael_P]

42 minutes ago, chip said:

These apps should just work in the background.

 

It used to, there appears to be a bug in the ap for IOS

[ConnerVT]

2 hours ago, Michael_P said:

2 hours ago, chip said:

These apps should just work in the background.

 

It used to, there appears to be a bug in the ap for IOS

 

I believe the Apple term for this is Feature.

Edited August 24, 2023 by ConnerVT

[kri kri]

I sync my photos to both iCloud and onedrive. I then use rclone to copy from onedrive to my unraid server. 

[MrGrey]

On 8/24/2023 at 6:42 AM, chip said:

Biggest downfall is you have to be in the app for it to run

Not true... (proven on multiple Android and IOS apps and desktop).

 

You *do* have to give it *permission* to run... For "stupid" people; this is a good thing.

 

MrGrey.