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Android backup with adb

Prepare

Export installed (3rd-party) packages:

adb shell 'pm list packages -3' | sed 's/.*://g' | sort > ~/tmp/packages.md

Sort packages into these categories:

  1. Seedvault: Include in Seedvault backup
  2. Native: Packages that block being backed up (i.e. Signal ?)
  3. Cloud: Packages that sync data to the cloud (i.e. Nextcloud / DavX)
  4. No-Backup: don't persist any important data
  5. Uninstall: Don't imstall app on new device

Get a list of packages you want to restore, excluding those in exclude.list:

sort packages.list | sed 's/.*=//' | grep -Fvxf exclude.list | tr '\n' ' '

Warning: Restore process stalls at some apps, i.e. Bitmask client, so remove it before backup up!

Dump all apps into a single archive:

adb backup -apk -nosystem -noshared -all -f all-userapps.ab

Unpack/decrypt archive with android-backup-extractor:

abe unpack all-userapps.ab all-userapps.tar
tar -xf all-userapps.tar

Install all apks:

find . -name \*.apk -exec adb install {} \;

Then restore the backup:

adb restore all-apps.ab

Tested on migration from S5-G900T to S5-G900F.

Issues

These apps couldn't successfully restore their settings:

  • davdroid doesn't have an export fucntion see ~/.vdirsyncer/config for URLs and config options
  • nextcloud (check automatic upload of pictures)

These apps couldn't get backed up:

  • signal

    sh adb pull /mnt/sdcard/Signal/Backups/signal-2018-09-14-18-46-08.backup adb push signal-2018-09-14-18-46-08.backup /mnt/sdcard/Signal/Backups wipe -q signal-2018-09-14-18-46-08.backup

  • antennapod: gopass www/gpodder.net, downloads are at /sdcard/Android/data/de.danoeh.antennapod/files/media/ (simply coping over podcasts from other device doesn't work)
  • audinaut
  • ultrasonic
  • cythara

  • k9 import/export settings

    sh adb pull /sdcard/k9_settings_export_2018-09-14.k9s adb push k9_settings_export_2018-09-14.k9s /sdcard/ rm k9_settings_export_2018-09-14.k9s

    pw: gopass server/bitrigger.de/shelluser/varac, gopass www/webmail.immerda.ch/varac@varac.net

  • keepass

    ```sh adb pull /storage/emulated/0/keepass/mobile.kdbxi adb push keepass/mobile.kdbxi /sdcard/

    ```

  • pixart messenger gopass im/xmpp/varac@jabber.systemli.org
  • osmand + contour