Timeshift isn't autostarting or making scheduled snapshots

Desktop Environments Plasma
10

I figured out a way to make it work for anyone else who may need it:

Step 1: Create the timeshift.timer File

  1. Open a terminal and create a new file for the timer:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/timeshift.timer

  1. Paste the following content into the file:

[Unit]
Description=Timeshift - systemd snapshot timer

[Timer]
OnCalendar=hourly
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

This will run the timer every hour. You can adjust the OnCalendar value if you’d like a different schedule (e.g., daily or weekly).

  1. Save and exit.

Step 2: Create the timeshift.service File

  1. Now, create a service file to run Timeshift automatically:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/timeshift.service

  1. Paste the following content into the file:

[Unit]
Description=Timeshift - systemd snapshot service
Wants=timeshift.timer

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/timeshift --check --scripted

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

  1. Save and exit.

Step 3: Enable and Start the Timer

  1. Reload systemd to recognize the new service and timer files:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

  1. Enable and start the timer:

sudo systemctl enable --now timeshift.timer

  1. Verify that the timer is active:

systemctl status timeshift.timer

I don’t know if it’s the best way, but it works and I made sure to test that it works after rebooting it and it does.

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