A simple backup script.

backup.sh

#!/bin/bash

# The MIT License (MIT)
# 
# Copyright (c) 2013 Thomas Gohard
# 
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
# of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
# in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
# to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
# copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
# furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
# 
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
# copies or substantial portions of the Software.
# 
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
# AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.

#
# Customize the following variables to match your system and preferences
#
BACKUP_DIR=/media/backups/MachineBackups/Files/
BACKUP_FILE=backup-$(hostname)-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz
BACKUP_TARGET=/etc\ ~
EXCLUDE=Music,Pictures,Videos,Downloads,VirtualBox\ VMs,Dropbox,git
DOT_EXCLUDE=gvfs,cache,thumbnails,dropbox

sudo tar -pczf $BACKUP_DIR$BACKUP_FILE --exclude={$EXCLUDE} --exclude=.{$DOT_EXCLUDE} $BACKUP_TARGET
sudo chmod 775 $BACKUP_DIR$BACKUP_FILE
sudo chown $(id -nu):$(id -ng) $BACKUP_DIR$BACKUP_FILE