Review, reword and polish unreleased changelog entries

changelog/unreleased/issue-1106

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 Bugfix: Never lock repository for `list locks`
 
 The `list locks` command previously locked to the repository by default. This
-has the problem that it won't work for an exclusively locked repository and
+had the problem that it wouldn't work for an exclusively locked repository and
-that the command will also display its own lock file which can be confusing.
+that the command would also display its own lock file which can be confusing.
 
 Now, the `list locks` command never locks the repository.
 

changelog/unreleased/issue-1542

@@ -1,15 +1,14 @@
-Enhancement: Add --dry-run/-n option to backup command
+Enhancement: Add `--dry-run`/`-n` option to `backup` command
 
-Testing exclude filters and other configuration options required running a
+Testing exclude filters and other configuration options was error prone as
-normal backup. Wrong filters could then cause files to be uploaded
+wrong filters could cause files to be uploaded unintentionally. It was also
-unexpectedly. It was also not possible to approximately determine beforehand
+not possible to estimate beforehand how much data would be uploaded.
-how much data has to be uploaded.
 
-We added a new --dry-run/-n option to the backup command, which performs
+The `backup` command now has a `--dry-run`/`-n` option, which performs all the
-all the normal steps of a backup without actually writing any changes to
+normal steps of a backup without actually writing anything to the repository.
-the repository. Passing -vv will log information about files that would
+
-be added, allowing verification of source and exclusion backup options
+Passing -vv will log information about files that would be added, allowing for
-without committing changes to the repository.
+verification of source and exclusion options before running the real backup.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/1542
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/2308

changelog/unreleased/issue-2202

@@ -1,15 +1,13 @@
-Enhancement: Add upload checksum for azure, gs, s3 and swift backends
+Enhancement: Add upload checksum for Azure, GS, S3 and Swift backends
 
-Up to now only the B2 backend and partially the Swift backend verified the
+Previously only the B2 and partially the Swift backends verified the integrity
-integrity of uploaded (encrypted) files. The verification works by informing
+of uploaded (encrypted) files. The verification works by informing the backend
-the backend about the expected hash of the uploaded file. This allows the
+about the expected hash of the uploaded file. The backend then verifies the
-backend to verify the upload and thereby rules out any data corruption during
+upload and thereby rules out any data corruption during upload.
-upload.
 
-We have added upload checksums for the azure, gs, s3 and swift backends.
+We have now added upload checksums for the Azure, GS, S3 and Swift backends,
-
+which besides integrity checking for uploads also means that restic can now be
-Restic can now be used to store backups in S3 buckets which have Object Lock
+used to store backups in S3 buckets which have Object Lock enabled.
-enabled.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2202
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2700

changelog/unreleased/issue-233

@@ -1,15 +1,13 @@
-Enhancement: Add negative patterns for include/exclude
+Enhancement: Support negative include/exclude patterns
 
-If a pattern starts with an exclamation mark and it matches a file that
+If a pattern starts with an exclamation mark and it matches a file that was
-was previously matched by a regular pattern, the match is cancelled.
+previously matched by a regular pattern, the match is cancelled. Notably,
-Notably, this can be used with `--exclude-file` to cancel the
+this can be used with `--exclude-file` to cancel the exclusion of some files.
-exclusion of some files.
 
-It works similarly to `gitignore`, with the same limitation: once a
+It works similarly to `.gitignore`, with the same limitation; Once a directory
-directory is excluded, it is not possible to include files inside the
+is excluded, it is not possible to include files inside the directory.
-directory.
 
-Example of use (as an exclude pattern for backup):
+Example of use as an exclude pattern for the `backup` command:
 
     $HOME/**/*
     !$HOME/Documents

changelog/unreleased/issue-2345

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 Bugfix: Make cache crash-resistant and usable by multiple concurrent processes
 
-The restic cache directory ($RESTIC_CACHE_DIR) could end up in a broken state
+The restic cache directory (`RESTIC_CACHE_DIR`) could end up in a broken state
 in the event of restic (or the OS) crashing. This is now less likely to occur
-as files are downloaded to a temporary location before being moved in place.
+as files are downloaded to a temporary location before being moved to their
+proper location.
 
 This also allows multiple concurrent restic processes to operate on a single
 repository without conflicts. Previously, concurrent operations could cause

changelog/unreleased/issue-2388

@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 Enhancement: Add warning for S3 if partial credentials are provided
 
-Check if both the AWS key ID and secret environment variables are set
+Previously restic did not notify about incomplete credentials when using the
-before connecting to the remote server and report an error if not.
+S3 backend, instead just reporting access denied.
+
+Restic now checks that both the AWS key ID and secret environment variables are
+set before connecting to the remote server, and reports an error if not.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2388
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3532

changelog/unreleased/issue-2452

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 Bugfix: Improve error handling of repository locking
 
-When the lock refresh failed to delete the old lock file, it forgot about the
+Previously, when the lock refresh failed to delete the old lock file, it forgot
-newly created one. Instead it continued trying to delete the old (usually no
+about the newly created one. Instead it continued trying to delete the old
-longer existing) lock file and thus over time lots of lock files accumulated.
+(usually no longer existing) lock file and thus over time lots of lock files
-This has been fixed.
+accumulated. This has now been fixed.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2452
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2473

changelog/unreleased/issue-2508

@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
-Enhancement: Support JSON output and quiet mode for diff
+Enhancement: Support JSON output and quiet mode for the `diff` command
 
-We've added support for getting machine-readable output for snapshot diff, just pass the
+The `diff` command now supports outputting machine-readable output in JSON
-flag `--json` for `restic diff` and restic will output a JSON-encoded diff stats and change
+format. To enable this, pass the `--json` option to the command. To only print
-list.
+the summary and suppress detailed output, pass the `--quiet` option.
-
-Passing the `--quiet` flag to the `diff` command will only print the summary
-and suppress the detailed output.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2508
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3592

changelog/unreleased/issue-2656

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 Enhancement: Add flag to disable TLS verification for self-signed certificates
 
-We've added a flag, `--insecure-tls`, to allow disabling
+There is now an `--insecure-tls` global option in restic, which disables TLS
-TLS verification for self-signed certificates in order to support
+verification for self-signed certificates in order to support some development
-some development workflows.
+workflows.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2656
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/2657

changelog/unreleased/issue-2738

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 Bugfix: Don't print progress for `backup --json --quiet`
 
-Unlike the text output, the json output format still printed progress
+Unlike the text output, the `--json` output format still printed progress
-information even in quiet mode. This has been fixed by always disabling the
+information even in `--quiet` mode. This has now been fixed by always
-progress output in quiet mode.
+disabling the progress output in quiet mode.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2738
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3264

changelog/unreleased/issue-3003

@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
-Enhancement: Atomic uploads for SFTP
+Enhancement: Atomic uploads for the SFTP backend
 
 The SFTP backend did not upload files atomically. An interrupted upload could
 leave an incomplete file behind which could prevent restic from accessing the
-repository.
+repository. This has now been fixed and uploads in the SFTP backend are done
-
+atomically.
-Uploads in the SFTP backend are now done atomically.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3003
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3524

changelog/unreleased/issue-3127

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-Enhancement: Add xattr support for Solaris
+Enhancement: Add xattr (extended attributes) support for Solaris
 
-We added xattr support for the Solaris operating system. This enables restic
+Restic now supports xattr for the Solaris operating system.
-to support xattrs on Solaris.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3127
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3628

changelog/unreleased/issue-3382

@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
-Change: honor RESTIC_CACHE_DIR environment variable in the check command
+Bugfix: Make `check` command honor `RESTIC_CACHE_DIR` environment variable
 
---cache-dir option doesn't honor the RESTIC_CACHE_DIR environment variable by
+Previously, the `check` command didn't honor the `RESTIC_CACHE_DIR` environment
-default. This fixes an issue with the restic check command that doesn't obey the
+variable, which caused problems in certain system/usage configurations. This
-RESTIC_CACHE_DIR environment variable. Extend the behavior of cache command to
+has now been fixed.
-manage directories created by restic check.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3382
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3474

changelog/unreleased/issue-3464

@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-Enhancement: Skip lock creation on forget if --no-lock and --dry-run
+Enhancement: Skip lock creation on `forget` if `--no-lock` and `--dry-run`
 
-Restic used to silently ignore --no-lock option of forget. It now skips
+Restic used to silently ignore the `--no-lock` option of the `forget` command.
-creation of lock file in case of both --dry-run and --no-lock are specified. If
+
---no-lock option is specified without --dry-run then restic prints a warning
+It now skips creation of lock file in case both `--dry-run` and `--no-lock`
-message to stderr.
+are specified. If `--no-lock` option is specified without `--dry-run`, restic
+prints a warning message to stderr.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3464
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3623

changelog/unreleased/issue-3518

@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
-Bugfix: Make copy command honor `--no-lock` for source repository
+Bugfix: Make `copy` command honor `--no-lock` for source repository
 
-When passing the `--no-lock` flag to the copy command, restic still attempted
+The `copy` command previously did not respect the `--no-lock` option for the
-to lock the source repository, causing failures on read-only storage backends.
+source repository, causing failures with read-only storage backends. This has
-`--no-lock` is now respected and copy then no longer creates a lock in the
+now been fixed such that the option is now respected.
-source repository.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3518
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3589

changelog/unreleased/issue-3541

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-Bugfix: Improve handling of temporary B2 delete errors
+Enhancement: Improve handling of temporary B2 delete errors
 
-Deleting files on B2 can sometimes fail temporarily, which requires restic to
+Deleting files on B2 could sometimes fail temporarily, which required restic to
-retry the delete operation. In some cases the file was deleted nevertheless
+retry the delete operation. In some cases the file was deleted nevertheless,
-causing the retries and ultimately the restic command to fail. This has been
+causing the retries and ultimately the restic command to fail. This has now been
 fixed.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3541

changelog/unreleased/issue-3542

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Enhancement: Add file mode in symbolic notation to `ls --json`
 
-Now `restic ls --json` provides mode in symbolic notation aligned
+The `ls --json` command now provides the file mode in symbolic notation (using
-with `restic find --json`.
+the `permissions` key), aligned with `find --json`.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3542
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3573

changelog/unreleased/issue-3556

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-Bugfix: Fix hang with Backblaze B2 if SSL certificate authority error
+Bugfix: Fix hang with Backblaze B2 on SSL certificate authority error
 
-If a request failed with an SSL unknown certificate authority error, the
+Previously, if a request failed with an SSL unknown certificate authority
-B2 backend retried indefinitely and restic would appear to hang.
+error, the B2 backend retried indefinitely and restic would appear to hang.
-It now returns the error and restic fails with an error message.
+
+This has now been fixed and restic instead fails with an error message.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3556
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2355

changelog/unreleased/issue-3601

@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 Bugfix: Fix rclone backend prematurely exiting when receiving SIGINT on Windows
 
-On Windows, Restic now start the rclone process detached from the
+Previously, pressing Ctrl+C in a Windows console where restic was running with
-restic console (similar to starting processes on a new process
+rclone as the backend would cause rclone to exit prematurely due to getting a
-group on Linux). Therefore, when Ctrl+C is pressed on the console
+`SIGINT` signal at the same time as restic. Restic would then wait for a long
-where restic runs, restic could gracefully clean up using clone,
+time for time with "unexpected EOF" and "rclone stdio connection already closed"
-and rclone won't exit prematurely leading to restic hanging up with
+errors.
-"stdio pipes closed" errors.
 
-https://github.com/restic/restic/issue/3601
+This has now been fixed by restic starting the rclone process detached from the
-https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3602
+console restic runs in (similar to starting processes in a new process group on
+Linux), which enables restic to gracefully clean up rclone (which now never gets
+the `SIGINT`).
+
+https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3601
+https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3602

changelog/unreleased/issue-3641

@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
-Change: Backups from stdin no longer have a parent
+Change: Ignore parent snapshot for `backup --stdin`
 
-Snapshots made with `restic backup --stdin` no longer have a parent snapshot.
+Restic uses a parent snapshot to speed up directory scanning when performing
-Since parent snapshots are only used to skip files in the scanning phase
+backups, but this only wasted time and memory when the backup source is stdin
-based on filename and timestamps, the parent snapshot of a `--stdin` snapshot
+(using the `--stdin` option of the `backup` command), since no directory scanning
-was meaningless to begin with. Not setting a parent allows `restic backup`
+is performed in this case.
-to skip some startup operations.
 
-The `--parent` option is still available for `restic backup --stdin`,
+Snapshots made with `backup --stdin` no longer have a parent snapshot, which allows
-but is now ignored.
+restic to skip some startup operations and saves a bit of resources.
+
+The `--parent` option is still available for `backup --stdin`, but is now ignored.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3641
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3645

changelog/unreleased/issue-3667

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-Bugfix: restic mount now reports symlinks sizes
+Bugfix: The `mount` command now reports symlinks sizes
 
 Symlinks used to have size zero in restic mountpoints, confusing some
 third-party tools. They now have a size equal to the byte length of their

changelog/unreleased/pull-2594

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-Enhancement: Speed up restic restore --verify
+Enhancement: Speed up the `restore --verify` command
 
-The --verify option lets restic restore verify the file content after it has
+The `--verify` option lets the `restore` command verify the file content
-restored a snapshot. We've sped up the verification by up to a factor of two.
+after it has restored a snapshot. The performance of this operation has
+now been improved by up to a factor of two.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/2594

changelog/unreleased/pull-2816

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-Enhancement: backup no longer updates file access times on Linux
+Enhancement: The `backup` command no longer updates file access times on Linux
 
-When reading files during backup, restic caused the operating system to update
+When reading files during backup, restic used to cause the operating system to
-the file access times. Note that this does not apply to filesystems with
+update the files' access times. Note that this did not apply to filesystems with
 disabled file access times.
 
-Restic now instructs the operation system not to update the file access time,
+Restic now instructs the operating system not to update the file access time,
 if the user running restic is the file owner or has root permissions.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/2816

changelog/unreleased/pull-2880

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-Enhancement: Improve recover command
+Enhancement: Make `recover` collect only unreferenced trees
 
-Restic recover used to generate a snapshot that contains all root trees
+Previously, the `recover` command used to generate a snapshot containing *all*
-even those which are already referenced by a snapshot.
+root trees, even those which were already referenced by a snapshot.
-It now only processes trees not referenced at all.
+
+This has been improved such that it now only processes trees not already
+referenced by any snapshot.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/2880

changelog/unreleased/pull-3429

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-Enhancement: Verify that new or modified keys were stored correctly
+Enhancement: Verify that new or modified keys are stored correctly
 
-When adding a new key or changing the password of a key, restic just created the
+When adding a new key or changing the password of a key, restic used to just
-new key (and removed the old one, when changing the password). There was no
+create the new key (and remove the old one, when changing the password). There
-verification that the new key was stored correctly and that it work. As the
+was no verification that the new key was stored correctly and works properly.
-repository cannot be decrypted without a valid key file, this could in rare
+As the repository cannot be decrypted without a valid key file, this could in
-cases cause the repository to become inaccessible.
+rare cases cause the repository to become inaccessible.
 
-We have added a check that the new key actually works before continuing. This
+Restic now checks that new key files actually work before continuing. This
 can protect against some (rare) cases of hardware or storage problems.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3429

changelog/unreleased/pull-3488

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-Bugfix: rebuild-index failed if an index file was damaged
+Bugfix: `rebuild-index` failed if an index file was damaged
 
-The `rebuild-index` command failed with an error if an index file was damaged
+Previously, the `rebuild-index` command would fail with an error if an index
-or truncated. This has been fixed. A (slow) workaround is to use
+file was damaged or truncated. This has now been fixed.
+
+On older restic versions, a (slow) workaround is to use
 `rebuild-index --read-all-packs` or to manually delete the damaged index.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3488

changelog/unreleased/pull-3508

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-Enhancement: Cache blobs read by the dump command
+Enhancement: Cache blobs read by the `dump` command
 
-When dumping a file using the `restic dump` command, restic did not cache blobs
+When dumping a file using the `dump` command, restic did not cache blobs in any
-in any way, so even consecutive runs of the same blob did get loaded from the
+way, so even consecutive runs of the same blob were loaded from the repository
-repository again and again, slowing down the dump.
+again and again, slowing down the dump.
 
 Now, the caching mechanism already used by the `fuse` command is also used by
 the `dump` command. This makes dumping much faster, especially for sparse files.

changelog/unreleased/pull-3514

@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-Enhancement: Support timeout configurable for rclone backend
+Enhancement: Support configurable timeout for the rclone backend
 
-A slow rclone backend could cause restic to time out while waiting for the repository to open.
+A slow rclone backend could cause restic to time out while waiting for the
-Restic now offers an `-o rclone.timeout` option to make this timeout configurable.
+repository to open. Restic now offers an `-o rclone.timeout` option to make
+this timeout configurable.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/3511
-https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3514
+https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3514

changelog/unreleased/pull-3591

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Bugfix: Fix handling of `prune --max-repack-size=0`
 
 Restic ignored the `--max-repack-size` option when passing a value of 0. This
-has been fixed.
+has now been fixed.
 
 As a workaround, `--max-repack-size=1` can be used with older versions of restic.
 

changelog/unreleased/pull-3593

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-Enhancement: Improve restic copy performance by parallelizing IO
+Enhancement: Improve `copy` performance by parallelizing IO
 
 Restic copy previously only used a single thread for copying blobs between
 repositories, which resulted in limited performance when copying small blobs
 to/from a high latency backend (i.e. any remote backend, especially b2).
+
 Copying will now use 8 parallel threads to increase the throughput of the copy
 operation.
 

changelog/unreleased/pull-3619

@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
-Bugfix: Avoid choosing parent snapshots newer than time of current snapshot
+Bugfix: Avoid choosing parent snapshots newer than time of new snapshot
 
-`restic backup` (if a `--parent` is not provided)
+The `backup` command, when a `--parent` was not provided, previously chose the
-previously chose the most recent matching snapshot as the parent snapshot.
+most recent matching snapshot as the parent snapshot. However, this didn't make
-However, this didn't make sense when the user passed `--time`
+sense when the user passed `--time` to create a new snapshot older than the most
-to create a snapshot older than the most recent snapshot.
+recent snapshot.
 
-Instead, `restic backup` now chooses the most recent snapshot
+Instead, `backup` now chooses the most recent snapshot which is not newer than
-which is not newer than the snapshot-being-created's timestamp,
+the snapshot-being-created's timestamp, to avoid any time travel.
-to avoid any time travel.
 
 https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/3619