Power Backup

SSH + rsync backups, from your menu bar.

A tiny macOS app that takes scheduled snapshots of your servers — with pre-backup hooks, retention, and readable logs.

Download for macOS See features

Free · macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Universal (Apple Silicon & Intel)

What it does

Menu-bar first

Lives in the system menu bar. One click to run, check status, or open logs. No dock clutter.

rsync over SSH

Standard, boring, reliable. Uses your existing SSH keys or ssh-agent. Per-server port, user, key.

Pre-backup hooks

Run a remote command before each path — dump Postgres, snapshot SQLite, flush a cache — then rsync the output.

Schedules via launchd

Per-server daily time, installed as a user LaunchAgent. Missed runs fire on next login.

Retention

Keep the last N date-stamped backups per server. Older folders are pruned automatically after a successful run.

Readable logs

Every run writes a human-readable log. Errors are highlighted, progress is preserved, and you can copy it in one click.

A tour

Four screens, no surprises.

Dashboard with a list of servers, last-run status, and schedules
Dashboard — every server, its last result, and its next scheduled run.
Server detail with SSH settings, paths, schedule, and retention
Server detail — SSH connection, paths with pre-backup commands, schedule, and retention.
Backup run view showing live progress and log output
Run view — live progress, file counts, and transfer rates. Red lines flag anything that went sideways.
Log viewer with the full history of a recent run
Log viewer — the full output of any past run, selectable and copyable end-to-end.

Download

Version 0.0.1 · macOS 14 or later

Apple Silicon
M1 · M2 · M3 · M4
Power-Backup-0.0.1-arm64.dmg
Intel Mac
x86_64
Power-Backup-0.0.1-x86_64.dmg
First-run instructions
  1. Open the .dmg and drag Power Backup into Applications.
  2. If macOS says the app is "damaged" or can't be opened, right-click it and choose Open once — Gatekeeper remembers the choice.
  3. As a fallback, run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Power Backup.app" in Terminal.