After just permanently losing all my SMSs and contacts, I've become super paranoid about the prospect of this happening again.

Does anyone know of a way to initiate the built-in backup from the commandline? I think it must be possible, because the PR1.2 and PR1.3 updates kicked off an auto-backup before they installed.

I'm hoping I can script it so cron/ProfileMatic kicks off a backup at 3am every morning...

Interesting idea. When you invoke backup, ps shows these processes starting:
Maybe a script could be made that uses this...

I'd found /usr/bin/backup-framework, but without any arguments, it simply brings up the initiate backup interface.

Since I couldn't find any other binaries that alluded towards backup, I'm under the assumption that backup-framework probably takes an argument (e.g. something that specifies the name of the backup) to kick off an automated one.

The scripts in /usr/share/backup-framework/scripts is interesting. I'll have a dig and see what I can find.

For SMS-backup, have a look at this thread: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=83166

For contacts-backup i sync with Outlook / Nokia Suite regularly, so when they are gone, i just connect my phone to my PC and they are back again.

You can also export contacts in a vcard file and import it back when you lose them. No PC needed. But that does not fit the OP's requirement. At best it changes the question from "how to run X in a cron job" to "how to run Y in a cron job".

Well, it does not answer his exact question, but maybe it solves his problem until he has found an answer to his question...

You can command/trigger backup-engine with dbus messages. Or you can just do script that uses the backup UI with xresponse-command. If I remember correctly you can install xresponse with apt-get install xresponse.

I might release my commandline backup/restore script someday.

I did find the Harmattan SDK page about hooking into backup-framework via dbus when writing an app (http://harmattan-dev.nokia.com/docs/...Framework.html), but I couldn't find anything about triggering backup-framework itself from dbus.

i dont use the thick backup tool because:
1) its not configurable
2) you cant tell what it does so you dont know whats safely backed up
3) it backs up to a thick binary you cant read without the phone
4) its slow because it does the whole shebang every time {as opposed to incremental, where it only takes time if you added a lot of stuff}
5) theres no easy way to have it copy the backup over to your computer via wifi {because you dont get notified programmatically when its done}


instead, i invoke a series of scripts from my computer that backs data up efficiently in a human-readable format, and backs up the binary files i would cry if i lost {pictures, videos} with rsync.

it fires at 5am, and backs up DCIM, SMS, calls, contacts, qtodo notes, and my swype dictionary. it also syncs my pidgin logs, mydocs, and music, which i only change on my computer but like to have up-to-date on my phone.

as for installed programs, desktop background, camera sound file, gconf settings, terminal vkb, home icon positions, etc, i have an interesting model for making sure these are always backed up. i NEVER change these with the phone interfaces, and instead modify a set of config scripts stored in my git repo, and then re-run them.
{e.g.: when installing coderus' new qml firefox ui, i add 'qmlmozbrowser' to my package.pl script and invoke it from my laptop. it installs it, and then i commit my script.}

so if my phone got bricked and i had to reflash {or if it drowned in a hurricane}, i would just run my installation scripts, then run my backup-restore scripts, and have the precise same phone, except the **** that happened since 5am, like taking awesome pics of a hurricane drowning my house in seawater.

if you run linux, i can probably assist you in backing SMS, call log, and contacts in human-readable form on your laptop overnight via wifi.