BORG-REPO-CREATE(1) borg backup tool BORG-REPO-CREATE(1)

borg-repo-create - Create a new, empty repository

borg [common options] repo-create [options]

This command creates a new, empty repository. A repository is a borgstore store containing the deduplicated data from zero or more archives.

Repository creation can be quite slow for some kinds of stores (e.g. for sftp:) - this is due to borgstore pre-creating all directories needed, making usage of the store faster.

The encryption mode can only be configured when creating a new repository - you can neither configure it on a per-archive basis nor change the mode of an existing repository. This example will likely NOT give optimum performance on your machine (performance tips will come below):

borg repo-create --encryption repokey-aes-ocb


Borg will:

1.
Ask you to come up with a passphrase.
2.
Create a borg key (which contains some random secrets. See key_files).
3.
Derive a "key encryption key" from your passphrase
4.
Encrypt and sign the key with the key encryption key
5.
Store the encrypted borg key inside the repository directory (in the repo config). This is why it is essential to use a secure passphrase.
6.
Encrypt and sign your backups to prevent anyone from reading or forging them unless they have the key and know the passphrase. Make sure to keep a backup of your key outside the repository - do not lock yourself out by "leaving your keys inside your car" (see borg_key_export). The encryption is done locally - if you use a remote repository, the remote machine never sees your passphrase, your unencrypted key or your unencrypted files. Chunking and id generation are also based on your key to improve your privacy.
7.
Use the key when extracting files to decrypt them and to verify that the contents of the backups have not been accidentally or maliciously altered.

Make sure you use a good passphrase. Not too short, not too simple. The real encryption / decryption key is encrypted with / locked by your passphrase. If an attacker gets your key, he can't unlock and use it without knowing the passphrase.

Be careful with special or non-ascii characters in your passphrase:

  • Borg processes the passphrase as unicode (and encodes it as utf-8), so it does not have problems dealing with even the strangest characters.
  • BUT: that does not necessarily apply to your OS / VM / keyboard configuration.

So better use a long passphrase made from simple ascii chars than one that includes non-ascii stuff or characters that are hard/impossible to enter on a different keyboard layout.

You can change your passphrase for existing repos at any time, it won't affect the encryption/decryption key or other secrets.

Depending on your hardware, hashing and crypto performance may vary widely. The easiest way to find out about what's fastest is to run borg benchmark cpu.

repokey modes: if you want ease-of-use and "passphrase" security is good enough - the key will be stored in the repository (in repo_dir/config).

keyfile modes: if you want "passphrase and having-the-key" security - the key will be stored in your home directory (in ~/.config/borg/keys).

The following table is roughly sorted in order of preference, the better ones are in the upper part of the table, in the lower part is the old and/or unsafe(r) stuff:

Mode (K = keyfile or repokey) ID-Hash Encryption Authentication
K-blake2-chacha20-poly1305 BLAKE2b CHACHA20 POLY1305
K-chacha20-poly1305 HMAC-SHA-256 CHACHA20 POLY1305
K-blake2-aes-ocb BLAKE2b AES256-OCB AES256-OCB
K-aes-ocb HMAC-SHA-256 AES256-OCB AES256-OCB
authenticated-blake2 BLAKE2b none BLAKE2b
authenticated HMAC-SHA-256 none HMAC-SHA256
none SHA-256 none none

none mode uses no encryption and no authentication. You're advised NOT to use this mode as it would expose you to all sorts of issues (DoS, confidentiality, tampering, ...) in case of malicious activity in the repository.

If you do not want to encrypt the contents of your backups, but still want to detect malicious tampering use an authenticated mode. It's like repokey minus encryption. To normally work with authenticated repos, you will need the passphrase, but there is an emergency workaround, see BORG_WORKAROUNDS=authenticated_no_key docs.

You can use borg repo-create --other-repo ORIG_REPO ... to create a related repository that uses the same secret key material as the given other/original repository.

By default, only the ID key and chunker secret will be the same (these are important for deduplication) and the AE crypto keys will be newly generated random keys.

Optionally, if you use --copy-crypt-key you can also keep the same crypt_key (used for authenticated encryption). Might be desired e.g. if you want to have less keys to manage.

Creating related repositories is useful e.g. if you want to use borg transfer later.

You can use borg repo-create --other-repo ORIG_REPO --from-borg1 ... to create a related repository that uses the same secret key material as the given other/original repository.

Then use borg transfer --other-repo ORIG_REPO --from-borg1 ... to transfer the archives.

See borg-common(1) for common options of Borg commands.

reuse the key material from the other repository
other repository is borg 1.x
select encryption key mode (required)
create an append-only mode repository. Note that this only affects the low level structure of the repository, and running delete or prune will still be allowed. See append_only_mode in Additional Notes for more details.
Set storage quota of the new repository (e.g. 5G, 1.5T). Default: no quota.
create the parent directories of the repository directory, if they are missing.
copy the crypt_key (used for authenticated encryption) from the key of the other repo (default: new random key).

# Local repository
$ export BORG_REPO=/path/to/repo
# recommended repokey AEAD crypto modes
$ borg repo-create --encryption=repokey-aes-ocb
$ borg repo-create --encryption=repokey-chacha20-poly1305
$ borg repo-create --encryption=repokey-blake2-aes-ocb
$ borg repo-create --encryption=repokey-blake2-chacha20-poly1305
# no encryption, not recommended
$ borg repo-create --encryption=authenticated
$ borg repo-create --encryption=authenticated-blake2
$ borg repo-create --encryption=none
# Remote repository (accesses a remote borg via ssh)
$ export BORG_REPO=ssh://user@hostname/~/backup
# repokey: stores the (encrypted) key into <REPO_DIR>/config
$ borg repo-create --encryption=repokey-aes-ocb
# keyfile: stores the (encrypted) key into ~/.config/borg/keys/
$ borg repo-create --encryption=keyfile-aes-ocb


borg-common(1), borg-repo-delete(1), borg-repo-list(1), borg-check(1), borg-benchmark-cpu(1), borg-key-import(1), borg-key-export(1), borg-key-change-passphrase(1)

The Borg Collective

2025-01-07