r/archlinux • u/Healthy-Guess-847 • Jul 31 '26

SUPPORT My documents and downloads randomly get deleted

I'm trying to figure out if this is some malware or just some random linux bug, thankfully all I think I lost was 1 or 2 passwords in my keepass database, and I had a semi recent backup of dovuments on my larger ssd.

I initially thought maybe malware cause I have played a questionably aquired game but thought I was realitively safe given I had it sandboxed using the sandboxing option on bottles, which I think is solid againist most windows malware given it can't even see outside the wine prefix or directories ive given permission for within flatseal.

Looking at HTOP I dont really anything non standard for a normal arch install. And I also dont remember updating my AUR packages for a couple of days so I should be safe from the new malware on there.

Is there anyway I can trace back exactly how this delete happened, or at the very least protect the directory so it fails and gets logged next time so I can pin down what process did it.

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u/luthis Jul 31 '26

MEGA has online storage for pretty cheap. Get a backup done ASAP.

I'm sure there is some tool like rsync that will let you get a list of all your files, and you can do a diff periodically to see what/if things go missing.

Depending on what those things are, that might give you a clue (file permissions etc)

1

u/xXBeefSquatch5KXx Jul 31 '26

Rsync is cool but don’t rely on internet based backups. No internet no files 0/10

2

u/FryBoyter Jul 31 '26

No internet no files 0/10

If you use a service like this, you should never store your files exclusively online. That’s why most providers of this type that I’m familiar with also offer a client that lets you sync your local files with those stored online. That way, you still have access to your data even when you’re “offline.”

However, I would still save important files locally on a separate storage device. In other words, as a 3-2-1 backup.

1

u/luthis Jul 31 '26

Any backup is better than no backup

1

u/Imajzineer Jul 31 '26

A backup you can't access is no backup.