Restoring using tkrestore

To restore your files, you will need to use the tkrestore command, which looks like the following. You should open this using VLab (don't try to open it in VSCode or over SSH).

The tkrestore command

This will open up the tkrestore interface, which is divided into three panels:

The tkrestore interface

You will need to load the backups that CSE has saved for you. You can do this by clicking on your zID in the center panel. This will cause the text on the left to disappear, and a message will appear in the bottom left saying "Added N nodes". You must wait until all the nodes have been added before you will see any files. This may take a while if you have many files.

Loading files

Once all the files have been loaded, you will see them listed in the left hand panel. Reading across each line, you will see:

An ID for each file
The size of the file (or "DIR" if it is a directory)
The time the backup was created
"f" for "full backup" and "i" for "incremental backup"
The name of the file

There are two types of backups:

Full Backups are completed once a month. They can sometimes be slow to get restored; and aren't always the most recent copy of a file.
Incremental Backups are taken every night, and are kept so they can be quickly accessed. Only files that have been changed are backed up incrementally.

Listing Files

To restore a file, select it in the left hand side, then press "Add" in the center panel.

The file will appear in the list on the right hand panel. This list indicated the files you wish to restore.

Adding Files

Press the "Restore" button in the bottom right to restore your files. This may take a short while (and may take up to a day if the files are very old).

Restore button

Important Note: If you are attempting to restore an "Incremental Backup" as shown in the image below, you will not be able to restore a directory: try to restore inc directory

If you attempt to restore an incrementally backed up directory you will get the following error message:

inc directories give errors

Instead, you should double click the folder. Then you will see every backup taken of that folder. After the most recent backup, each file will be listed, as shown below:

Listing Files

You can then select those individual files and press "Add" to select them for restoration.

Add files

Finally, when you press the "Restore" button, all your files will be in the folder called ~/Restored_Backups. They will be arranged into folders that indicate when a backup was taken (i.e. if it was a full backup taken on the 10th of December 2020 it will be f-20.12.10). Inside those folders you will find your lost files. File Tree

COMP1511 Additional Instructions

If you're in COMP1511 and you've lost some files; there is an additional backup that may have more recent files.

Go to https://web.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1511/21T1/student/ and then select "Student History" next to the activity you need to restore.

The list of activities

Then, you will be able to see a list of all your previous submissions. If any of them are the correct file, use the "Copy" button to copy the file to your clipboard.

Copy an activity

COMP2041 Additional Instructions

If you're in COMP2041 and you've lost some files; there is an additional backup that may have more recent files.

Go to https://web.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs2041/21T1/student/ and then select "Last Autotest" next to the activity you need to restore.

Terminal Issues

If all your files have been wiped, make sure you also run the 1511 setup and 1511 colors commands; which will give you access to a better terminal interface and nicer terminal.