import os, time
# specifies the files to be backed up in a list
source = ['/home/surgy']
# the directory to save the backup
target_directory = '/storage/backup'
#the backup is stored as a zip file with the current date as its name
target = target_directory + time.strftime ('%Y%m%d_%H%M%S') + '.zip'
#put the backup into a zip archive
zip_command = "zip -qr %s' %s" % (target, " ".join(source))
print zip_command
#run the backupt
if os.system(zip_command) == 0:
print "congratulations, you have succesfully made a backup to ", target
else:
print "BACKUP FAILED!!!!"