As far as I know, whenever you write something to the file that you are editing, and the backup is enabled (writebackup, and backup I believe are the settings, you will have to check with the documentation) and the backupdir is set, it will write to that directory.
And the /etc folder is a system directory, and you might want to keep these folders clean/clear of backups. You could create a ~/.backup folder in your home directory, or maybe you can use /tmp/.backup, or you could use /var/run/.backup (as per the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard). /etc is used for host system specific configuration (if you care about the FHS). But again there is nothing that says you can not change the permissions of the /etc directory and use that for your own purposes. Regards On Sun, Mar 8, 2026 at 3:58 PM Christopher <[email protected]> wrote: > It's possible I should be asking, how does it backup.In other words, must > I start vim and write something and it will backup to the folder in this > case ".backup" ? Or regardless what file it open, it will backup to this > folder. Otherwise so it's clear if it's a permissions issue. Currently the > /etc/.backup directories both can read and write for the user. > > On Saturday, March 7, 2026 at 10:28:21 PM UTC-5 Riza Dindir wrote: > >> Hello Christopher, >> >> As Eric Marceau pointed out, the double forward slash (//) in the path ( >> "backupdir"=//etc/.backup) might be a problem. >> >> Also the double quotes in "backupdir"=//etc/.backup might be a problem. I >> would use "set backupdir=/etc/.backup" (without the double quotes) in the >> ~/.vimrc file or wherever your rc file is. I have something similar in my >> settings file: "set bakupdir=/tmp" (without the double quotes). >> >> The other thing might be that you have to create the /etc/.backup >> directory, and you might need write permissions to that directory. It is >> odd to use the /etc directory for this IMHO. It might be a good idea to >> move this to the home folder of your choosing (as Badli al Rashid has >> suggested). This can be something like ~/tmp/.backup or something else... >> >> Regards >> >> On Sun, Mar 8, 2026 at 5:00 AM Christopher <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Why don't I see any backup files, no matter what file I work with ? >>> >>> On Saturday, March 7, 2026 at 12:49:30 PM UTC-5 badli al rashid wrote: >>> >>>> hi crestchristopher, >>>> >>>> try with your home folder. >>>> >>>> Sent from Gmail >>>> >>>> On Sat, Mar 7, 2026, 20:45 Christopher <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I'm trying to setup a backup directory; "backupdir"=//etc/.backup >>>>> within my vimrc although; no file is being written to this directory ? >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message from the "vim_use" maillist. >>>>> Do not top-post! 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Type your reply below the text you are replying to. >>> For more information, visit http://www.vim.org/maillist.php >>> >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "vim_use" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> >> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vim_use/c55613d7-5478-4cc6-8702-8fb47b0b70c2n%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vim_use/c55613d7-5478-4cc6-8702-8fb47b0b70c2n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- > -- > You received this message from the "vim_use" maillist. > Do not top-post! Type your reply below the text you are replying to. > For more information, visit http://www.vim.org/maillist.php > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "vim_use" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vim_use/088c8263-467c-45b2-974d-dc424c964a5fn%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vim_use/088c8263-467c-45b2-974d-dc424c964a5fn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message from the "vim_use" maillist. Do not top-post! Type your reply below the text you are replying to. For more information, visit http://www.vim.org/maillist.php --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "vim_use" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vim_use/CA%2Bek4BGz7Hm_7nnpj_Mye%3D-PC%3Dgy5NL-ajhV1qMGt1pOV7Zh8w%40mail.gmail.com.
