Local drive
Back up to a folder on a drive: an external USB drive, a second internal disk or a drive in a dock. Everything is encrypted the same as with any other storage, so a lost drive doesn't give your files away.
#In setup
Run frost init, choose Local drive, and type the full path of a folder on a drive that's connected.
| System | Example |
|---|---|
| macOS | /Volumes/Backup/frost |
| Linux | /mnt/backup/frost or /media/<you>/Backup/frost |
| Windows | E:\frost |
Setup creates the last folder of the path if it's missing. The folder it goes in, usually the drive itself, has to be there.
#When the drive isn't connected
Frost only creates the folder during setup. If the drive isn't connected when a backup runs, the folder is missing, and the backup fails with a message to connect the drive. It never writes your backups to whatever else is at that path. A scheduled backup waits about 5 minutes for the drive first, in case it's still being mounted.
On Windows, a drive can get a different letter when you plug it in again. Give it back its old letter in Disk Management, or run frost init and type the new path.
#Keep a copy somewhere else
A drive next to your computer can be lost, stolen or damaged along with it. Keep another copy of anything irreplaceable somewhere else, like a drive you store away from home or a self-hosted server in another place. Moving your backups shows how to copy a repository.
#Network shares
For a NAS, Self-hosted storage is usually the better choice. A network share mounted on your computer works only where its filesystem can create files safely, which setup checks when it connects. On Windows, use the share's \\server\share path rather than a mapped drive letter, because scheduled backups may not see mapped letters.
#Good to know
- Frost doesn't follow links or junctions inside the folder. On Windows it also refuses a folder reached through one. Use the folder's real path.
- On macOS, scheduled backups need permission to use removable and network drives. See macOS permissions.
frost statusshows how full the drive is, andfrost backupwarns when it's nearly full.- Drives formatted as NTFS, APFS, ext4, Btrfs or XFS work. exFAT and FAT drives work where setup's check passes.