Creates TWRP compatible backups over USB using ADB without any files ever touching your SD card.

twrp.sh

#!/bin/bash
# 
# Version 1.4
#
# twrp.sh -- a TWRP compatible backup script for your computer
# Brought to you by inhies
#
# This script creates TWRP compatible backups over usb using adb and magikz
# By default it makes a folder in the standard TWRP date--time format (I think)
# To restore these backups, place the folder in /sdcard/TWRP/BACKUPS/<serialnumber>/
#
# If you can figure out a better way to run the two netcat downloads in parallel 
# I would be forever grateful
#
# USAGE: Boot your phone in to TWRP, then run this script
#
# Currently only backs up /data, /system, and /boot which mactches TWRPs default.
# It will also ignore /data/media files (like TWRP does)
#
# This might not work so well on anything other than a Nexus 4 ¯(°_o)/¯

# Specify your boot partition below:

BOOT_PARTITION="/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot" #Nexus 4
BOOT_NOTE="Nexus 4" # This isn't required, it's just for logging
                    # You can change it if you have multiple copies of this file 

# To find your boot partition, reboot in to twrp, then run 
# adb shell cat /etc/recovery.fstab | grep /boot
# The last line on the right is (should be?) your boot partition

SYSTEM_START_MESSAGE="Backing up /system..."
SYSTEM_DONE_MESSAGE="/system backup complete!"
DATA_START_MESSAGE="Backing up /data..."
DATA_DONE_MESSAGE="/data backup complete!"
BOOT_START_MESSAGE="Backing up /boot for a $BOOT_NOTE from $BOOT_PARTITION..."
BOOT_DONE_MESSAGE="/boot backup complete!"

adb shell mount -r /system

FOLDER=`date '+%Y-%m-%d--%H-%M-%S'`
mkdir $FOLDER; cd $FOLDER

echo "Backup started in $FOLDER"

# Setup 
adb forward tcp:5550 tcp:5550
adb shell "rm -rf /tmp/sys_fifo && mkfifo /tmp/sys_fifo && cd /system/ && tar -cz -f /tmp/sys_fifo * & nc -l -p 5550 -e cat /tmp/sys_fifo" &
adb forward tcp:5551 tcp:5551
adb shell "rm -rf /tmp/data_fifo && mkfifo /tmp/data_fifo && cd /data/ && tar -cz --exclude='media*' -f /tmp/data_fifo * & nc -l -p 5551 -e cat /tmp/data_fifo" &
adb forward tcp:5552 tcp:5552
adb shell "rm -rf /tmp/boot_fifo && mkfifo /tmp/boot_fifo && dd if=$BOOT_PARTITION of=/tmp/boot_fifo  & nc -l -p 5552 -e cat /tmp/boot_fifo" &

sleep 1

# Backup /system
(
  nc 127.0.0.1 5550 > system.ext4.win
  md5sum system.ext4.win > system.ext4.win.md5
  echo $SYSTEM_DONE_MESSAGE
) | tee -a recovery.log &
SYS_PID=$!
echo $SYSTEM_START_MESSAGE | tee -a recovery.log

# Backup /data
(
  nc 127.0.0.1 5551 > data.ext4.win 
  md5sum data.ext4.win > data.ext4.win.md5
  echo $DATA_DONE_MESSAGE
) | tee -a recovery.log &
DATA_PID=$!
echo $DATA_START_MESSAGE | tee -a recovery.log

# Backup /boot
(
  nc 127.0.0.1 5552 > boot.emmc.win 
  md5sum boot.emmc.win > boot.emmc.win.md5
  echo $BOOT_DONE_MESSAGE
) | tee -a recovery.log &
BOOT_PID=$!
echo $BOOT_START_MESSAGE | tee -a recovery.log

wait $SYS_PID $DATA_PID $BOOT_PID

echo "Done!" | tee -a recovery.log

adb shell umount /system

Hey inhies!
Nice work so far. But is it possible to get this script working with Nexus7 (2012) running 4.3?

Thanks!

Buy ya a beer

If you want this working with your own phones, you should just have to change BOOT_PARTITION to point to where your boot partition is:

# To find your boot partition, reboot in to twrp, then run
# adb shell cat /etc/recovery.fstab | grep /boot
# The last line on the right is (should be?) your boot partition

I would advise against using this script especially in versions of android after 4.3.
This script may not preserve the SELinux context of the files in the tars, which I believe is necessary for post-Jellybean systems to work properly.
The tar binary included in the TWRP version I'm using is not aware of SELinux, so there's probably no easy fix for this, either.
The TWRP backup code proper does use an selinux-aware libtar.

@joaormatos, newer versions of busybox tar have the -p option, which preserves the SELinux context.

http://lists.busybox.net/pipermail/busybox/2014-May/080910.html

Motivated in part by this Gist, I created a tool that will make nandroid-style or TWRP-style backups over TWRP adb: https://github.com/dlenski/tetherback

It's a work in progress, but it already works on my Nexus 5, and it attempts to probe the correct partition map for the device… so it might actually work on other devices too 👍. Please test if you're interested!

Hi
Great script. I am new to android and linux the script works perfect. Now, How to restore?

Thank you for your help

@jlmonroyhdez Restore by putting files on your SD card and using the TWRP UI on device. The files must go in a folder called /TWRP/Backups//YYYY-MM-DD--HH-mm-SS. The value of serialno is what you get from typing 'adb devices'.