restic v0.19.0 released on 09-06-2026
restic v0.19.0 is out now. Sysadmins and backup operators get tightened CLI behaviour and clearer exit codes, plus a range of reliability fixes across backends, mounts and Windows filesystems.
See the release notes on the restic GitHub repository for full details and links to changelogs, binaries and source.
What’s in this release
- Tighter CLI behaviour: restic now returns exit code 3 when a top-level backup source path is missing or when snapshot removal fails, and returns 130 on SIGINT; several environment variables (RESTIC_COMPRESSION, RESTIC_PACK_SIZE, RESTIC_READ_CONCURRENCY) are validated and cause an error if unparseable unless overridden on the command line.
- Backend, mount and Windows fixes: serving a restic mount of a Windows backup via Samba is supported; mount now includes the repository ID in the filesystem name and validates mount points earlier; SFTP uses mode 0700 for repository directories and marks files read-only where supported.
- Performance and resource improvements: significantly faster index loading and lower memory usage for check, copy, diff and stats; mount loads the index once at startup; Azure uploads are optimised to reduce transaction costs.
Upgrade notes
- Build requirement: dependencies updated and building restic now requires Go 1.25 or newer — upgrade your Go toolchain before compiling.
- Prune behaviour changed: pruning now repacks small packfiles more aggressively and the old –repack-small option is deprecated; use –repack-smaller-than to control thresholds. If you need to revert, keep a known-good binary from an earlier release until you can test the upgrade.
If you try v0.19.0, share any rough edges or success stories — comments on your experience help everyone who runs backups in production.
