Relax-and-Recover: Open-Source Backup Ledger 2026

Part of the Open-Source Backup Ledger (edition 2026-10-02). How the scores work: methodology.

Snapshot

Kind: Backup tool
Licence: GPLv3
Backer: Maintainers from IT3 Consultants, SUSE and Red Hat; shipped in RHEL and SLES
Paid edition or support: Supported inside RHEL and SLES subscriptions; IT3 consulting
Latest release: 2.9, 2025-02-13
Next signal: ReaR 3.0: systemd-boot, Btrfs layouts, Secure Boot automation
Archetype: Distro-backed recovery framework
Evidence grade: A. Release dates verified against tags; 2.9 uses the GitHub release date.

Scope of the scores: A bare-metal disaster recovery framework, not a backup scheduler. It recreates Linux systems and hands file backup to tar or another backup product.

Scorecard

Dimension	Score	Direction
Capability today	47.6 / 100	higher is better
Momentum since end of 2022	+0.0 points	higher is better
Credibility	18.0 / 25	higher is better
Sustainability risk	8.0 / 25	lower is better
Technical lock-in	3.0 / 25	lower is better
Support and ecosystem	14.5 / 20	higher is better
AI leverage	0.5 / 20	higher is better
Ledger Index	54.2 / 100	balanced weights

Capability by domain

Scores 0 to 5 against fixed anchors; total is weighted to 100.

Domain (weight)	2016	2019	2022	Today
Virtual and physical servers (12)	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Databases and applications (12)	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Recovery (14)	3.5	4	4	4
Cyber resilience (14)	1.5	1.5	2	2
Storage efficiency and targets (10)	2	2	2	2
Long-term retention and tape (6)	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Replication and DR (10)	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5
Security and compliance (8)	2	2	2.5	2.5
New-platform support (VMware exit) (8)	2	2	2	2
Management at scale and automation (6)	2	2	3	3
Total / 100	42.8	44.2	47.6	47.6

Year by year: 2016: 42.8 · 2017: 42.8 · 2018: 42.8 · 2019: 44.2 · 2020: 44.2 · 2021: 44.2 · 2022: 47.6 · 2023: 47.6 · 2024: 47.6 · 2025: 47.6 · 2026: 47.6

What moved the score

Year	Domain	Change	Points	Trigger
2019	Recovery	3.5 → 4	+1.4	Recovery onto different hardware; unattended mode
2022	Cyber resilience	1.5 → 2	+1.4	LUKS2 and Secure Boot during recovery
2022	Management at scale and automation	2 → 3	+1.2	Red Hat system role for Ansible
2022	Security and compliance	2 → 2.5	+0.8	Secure Boot signing, LUKS2

Direction, 2023 to 2026

Each item carries one theme and one driver (V vision, C customer need, M market window, U upstream, P portfolio).

Date	Item	Theme	Driver
2024-12	2.8 maintenance release	D12 Packaging and licensing	C
2024-12	2.8: automated partition resizing during migration	D3 Recovery	C
2025-02	2.9 release	D12 Packaging and licensing	C

Centre of gravity: Packaging and licensing (2), Recovery (1)
Driver mix: Vision 0%, Customer need 100%, Market window 0%, Upstream 0%, Portfolio 0%

Credibility: 18.0 / 25

Criterion	Score	Basis
Cadence	3	About one release a year
Roadmap transparency	4	Public milestones and issues
Say-do	3.5	5 of 5 shipped; 2.8 arrived about 19 months after planned
Velocity	3	Moderate
Lifecycle stability	4.5	Shipped and maintained in RHEL and SLES

Say-do record, 2023 to 2026: 5 items since 2023, all shipped; the 2.8 release came about 19 months after first planned.

Sustainability risk: 8 / 25 (lower is better)

Criterion	Score	Basis
Maintainer concentration	3	A handful of maintainers
Backer health	1	Red Hat and SUSE ship and fund it
Licence-change risk	1	GPLv3, distributed copyright
Abandonment signs	1	Active, but no release since February 2025
Security response	2	Through distribution security teams

Project health: Last release 2025-02-13. 1,118 stars; 63 open issues (median 297 days), 21 open PRs (324 days). 8 to 15 distinct authors in recent years.

Technical lock-in: 3.0 / 25 (lower is better)

Criterion	Score	Basis
Formats	0.5	ISO images and tar archives
Export path	0.5	Plain-text layout files
Stack coupling	0.5	Bash scripts and standard tools
Hardware / cloud coupling	0	x86, Arm, POWER, s390x
Skills and tooling coupling	1.5	Linux recovery skills

Support and ecosystem: 14.5 / 20

Criterion	Score	Basis
Paid support	4	Supported in RHEL and SLES
Consultants and partners	3.5	Built into Bareos, Bacula and SEP
Documentation	3	Adequate
Community and packaging	4	Packaged in major enterprise distributions

AI leverage: 0.5 / 20

Strand	Today	Latest step
AI for protection / protecting AI	0	none
AI platform stack	0	none
AI-assisted operations	0	none
Agent openness	0.5	2016: CLI only

No AI features.

Reading

ReaR is the standard way to rebuild a failed Linux server or move it to new hardware, and it ships with RHEL and SLES. It is a component, not a backup system: pair it with Bareos, Bacula or another product for the data itself.

Open questions and evidence caveats

Linux only; no Windows bare-metal recovery.