Lightroom backup - the same folder

[Reinhardt0101]

I am looking for a way to set up the Lightroom backup so that the catalogue is always backed up to the same folder.
The background is that I can then set up the cloud backup incrementally at bit level.
Is this possible?

[dj_paige]

What do you mean "backed up to the same folder"? Explain in more detail.

Also, the Lightroom Classic catalog cannot be backed up incrementally.

[Reinhardt0101]

Lightroom automatically creates a folder with the date in which the backup is then saved.

e.g. \Lightroom Backup\2021-06-21 1530\*.lrcat
In this folder the *. Ircat file is stored in this folder.

With each new backup, a new folder is opened with the current date.
However, I want the *.Ircat file to be copied to the same folder each time (e.g. \Lightroom Backup), so that I only ever get one backup file.

I have a cloud backup provider that can then incrementally backup this saved file.

[richardplondon]

If each LR backup (to local storage) could overwrite the previous one you'd lose much of the benefit of backing up repeatedly... unless your local storage could still separate different versioning when required. Reason being, say you backup locally daily. And say on Tuesday you underwent a Catalog corruption or unintended bulk edit, but you didn't realise this had happened until Thursday. So you'd ideally go back to the Catalog as it had been on Monday evening, load in subsequent edits from external metadata. But Tuesday's, and then Wednesday's, backups have happened since and those both included the corruption / unwanted operations. This is why backups happen discretely dated, and don't overwrite each other.

But necessarily, it is then for you to manage the accumulation of these on disk.

Maybe when a week has passed without discovering anything amiss, you decide it's now safe to delete all but one of the dailies from the previous week (so that now becomes a weekly). And at the end of the month, to delete all, or all but one, of the 'weeklies' from the previous month; whatever regime gives you sufficient comfort. But the option of going back three weeks, or three months, from cloud gets progressively less and less useful IMO.  So we tend to keep frequent recent backups available locally, for a limited time window only, for redundancy - and much fewer for archive purposes, indefinitely. 

The other aspect of this is backup as disaster recovery, wherein Something Fatal has happened out of the blue to your local live Catalog and also all your locally held recent backups, requiring you to restore something from cloud (also the image files of course). For this purpose the very latest Catalog version will almost certainly be the most desirable: as current at the moment of your latest Cloud backup, not dating from days or weeks prior.

So why not (rather than syncing local backups to cloud) cloud-backup the live Catalog itself - periodically, always at a time when LrC is properly closed - doing so as a versioned backup such that earlier instances are still also retrievable for a period. I'd exclude folders of previews etc, just selecting the database file itself...  the same content as provided in a LrC backup zip. That regime would be self limiting so far as the cloud data accumulating with respect to your Catalog - image files, presets etc being separately dealt with.

[Reinhardt0101]

Thank you for your comments.
The backup is at bit level and can be restored every day with pinpoint accuracy.
Since only the changes are saved, the backup size can be kept moderate.

[DdeGannes]

If you wish to make a new feature request then you will need to make that request at, https://feedback.photoshop.com/categories/products/5f5f2090785c1f1e6cc40864

where Adobe engineering team can consider the necessity of the proposal.

[DS256]

I think there are a couple of questions here:

• When you ask "I am looking for a way to set up the Lightroom backup so that the catalogue is always backed up to the same folder" it uses the same folder unless you change it in the Backup dialogue pop-up box when you exit. However, this is to backup to a specific folder managed by the OS.
• "The background is that I can then set up the cloud backup incrementally at bit level." That has nothing to do with LR. It has to do with how your cloud backup deals with existing files in the OS.

So, LR backup is independant from your cloud backup.

You should also ensure you are backing up all the files your need and not just the catalogue. See https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom/catalogs/backups/

[Reinhardt0101]

I have a good grasp of the securing system and also understand it.
I don't really care where the data is saved. My question is actually quite simple.
Can I make the Lightroom backup not create a folder with the date?

[dj_paige]

You could write a simple script to copy the backup from wherever Lightroom Classic puts it to the (unchanging) folder where you want it. Run the script every day (or every week, or whatever suits your needs).

[DS256]

"My question is actually quite simple. Can I make the Lightroom backup not create a folder with the date?

I think the answer is no because LrC creates multiple date/time named folders so you have more than one reovery point. The created ZIP file is always named in relation to the catalogue but the folder indicates date/time the backup was performed.

It's conceivable that for some reason the latest backup cannot be used to do a recovery. With multiple older backups, you at least have a starting point. This is not a bad reflection on Lrc but on the fact it uses a DB for the catalogue. Good DB management dictates multiple backups.

Don't forget, there are also other files, such as your photos, which need to be backup up, which are not part of the catalogue backup.

If you are looking for different behavior, as someone suggested, that would be a feature enhancement request.

[DdeGannes]

I am not aware of any option to allow a user to alter how Lightroom Classic creates the backup within a dated and time naming folder. However, you can select where the backups are saved.

In addition, the actual copy of the Catalog file is in a zip.

[Reinhardt0101]

Yes, then I'll have to solve it with 3rd manufacturers.
Thanks for the support

[dj_paige]

I would still advise you use the built-in Lightroom Classic catalog backup feature, because it both compresses the catalog and also tests the integrity of your catalog (and you should turn both those options on). A solution that bypasses this is not using these two important features, and increases the risk that your catalog may lose its internal integrity.

[Reinhardt0101]

I agree with you. However, the solution would have to be provided by Adobe for exactly the reasons you mentioned.

The catalogue is >1.2 GB which accumulates enormously with all the individual Lightroom backups.
I can't back up this large amount of data to the cloud, so I need a backup that overwrites the previous one.

[TheDigitalDog]

Coming into this late: no, there is no option from LR itself to do as you desire. 

My two cents; forget this silly backup schema from LR, it only backs up your catalog which is better than a poke in the eye but a piss-poor backup schema. Turn the option OFF. Get a good backup product that will clone/backup all the important LR data (and more) above and beyond just the catalog. 

I store all the LR data I wish to backup on a dedicated external drive then use a software product to back up this data every night while I'm sleeping. And I can clone that external drive to one that lives in my fireproof safe and to the cloud. The 'system' LR provides is kind of half baked. There are better tools to get the job done. And you can decide what, where and when to backup this data and more. 

[Reinhardt0101]

Thank you for the comment.
It confirms my suspicions.
I will solve it with the Synology Drive Backup, although I would rather have a proper solution within Lightroom.

[DS256]

I just re-read your original question "I am looking for a way to set up the Lightroom backup so that the catalogue is always backed up to the same folder".

What you can do is backup the actual  .LRCAT catalogue instead of a backup. It doesn't sound like you are interested in having multiple backups as per Adobe's LrC backup policy so you could likely just backup the real catalogue. Just make sure you've exited from LrC before starting the backup.

I'd advise testing this since you would be implementing your own backup/restore procedure.

[dj_paige]

I just re-read your original question "I am looking for a way to set up the Lightroom backup so that the catalogue is always backed up to the same folder".

What you can do is backup the actual  .LRCAT catalogue instead of a backup. It doesn't sound like you are interested in having multiple backups as per Adobe's LrC backup policy so you could likely just backup the real catalogue. Just make sure you've exited from LrC before starting the backup.

I'd advise testing this since you would be implementing your own backup/restore procedure.

By @DS256

I would advise against this, for reasons in my earlier message 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic/lightroom-backup-the-same-folder/m-p/12130137#M2349...