Optimized iPhone Backup + Parallel Cleanup Script (DCIM only)

Summary

This script mounts an iPhone, copies the DCIM folder into a dated backup, optionally calculates file hashes, deletes old photos from the device (based on a cutoff date), removes empty DCIM directories, and generates an HTML report + log. It supports a dry-run mode to preview deletions.

Prerequisites

• bash (the script is a bash script)
• ifuse (to mount the iPhone)
• rsync (for copying files)
• sha256sum (recommended; used to update the hash DB)
• exiftool (optional; used to read EXIF dates for better precision)
• google-chrome or google-chrome-stable (optional; used to auto-open the HTML report)
• sudo access for mount/unmount and deletion operations

CLI Options

You can now pass options directly via command line:

• --dry-run — preview changes without deleting files or creating archive.
• --cores N — set number of parallel workers (default: 4).
• --help — show usage help.

Configuration (edit at top of iphone_backup.sh)

For settings not exposed as CLI flags, edit the script directly:

• MOUNT_POINT — where the phone is mounted (e.g. /media/pete/New Volume/iphone).
• BACKUP_ROOT — root path where backups, reports, logs, and temporary dirs are stored.
• CUTOFF_DATE_IPHONE — numeric epoch cutoff used to select files to delete (script sets to 12 months ago by default).
• HASH_DB, TMP_BACKUP_DIR, ARCHIVE_NAME, REPORT_FILE, DELETED_FILES_LIST, LOG_FILE — paths derived from BACKUP_ROOT.

Usage

1. Make the script executable (if not already):

chmod +x iphone_backup.sh

2. Run the script with optional flags (you will be prompted for sudo where needed):

./iphone_backup.sh

3. Test with a dry run:

./iphone_backup.sh --dry-run

4. Run with custom parallelism:

./iphone_backup.sh --cores 3

5. Combine flags:

./iphone_backup.sh --dry-run --cores 3

Tips

• To change deletion age, edit the CUTOFF_DATE_IPHONE assignment (e.g. use date -d "6 months ago" +%s).
• Use --cores N to adjust parallelism based on your CPU (e.g. --cores 4 for faster hashing/deletions).
• If you want EXIF-based timestamps for deletion, install exiftool; the script auto-detects it.
• The script appends logs to LOG_FILE and records deleted/dry-run items in DELETED_FILES_LIST.
• The script will automatically unmount the iPhone on exit (normal or interrupted).
• If required dependencies are missing, the script will report them and exit with code 1.

Safety & Troubleshooting

• Always run a dry run first (--dry-run flag) to verify which files would be deleted.
• Ensure MOUNT_POINT and BACKUP_ROOT are accessible and have sufficient free space.
• If the DCIM folder is not found, check that ifuse mounted the device successfully and that the phone is unlocked/trusted.
• If Chrome doesn't open automatically, open the generated HTML report at the path printed in the log.
• If you press Ctrl+C during execution, the script will gracefully unmount the iPhone before exiting.

Examples

• Full backup + cleanup (interactive sudo prompts as needed):

./iphone_backup.sh

• Dry run (preview deletions, no archive):

./iphone_backup.sh --dry-run

• Dry run with increased parallelism:

./iphone_backup.sh --dry-run --cores 4

• Run with custom core count (for faster performance on high-CPU systems):

./iphone_backup.sh --cores 16

• Show help:

./iphone_backup.sh --help

License

See the project LICENSE file for licensing details.

Contact

For bug reports or feature requests, open an issue in your project tracker.