Release v1.4.0: VPS-optimized integrity checks and critical bugfixesv1.4.0

- Fix: Remove invalid --retry-lock flag from restic check (was failing all weekly checks)
- Improve: Switch to metadata-only weekly checks (VPS-friendly, ~50MB vs 500MB+ RAM)
- Add: Comprehensive manual check documentation with resource guidelines
- Add: Multi-machine check strategy for resource-constrained environments
- Improve: Brutalist README - concise and action-oriented

4 files changed, 46 insertions, 95 deletions

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0533522..0224839 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+drestic (1.4.0) stable; urgency=medium
+
+  * Fixed: Removed invalid --retry-lock flag from restic check command (was causing all weekly checks to fail)
+  * Improved: Weekly integrity checks now use metadata-only strategy (VPS-optimized, ~50MB RAM vs 500MB+)
+  * Added: Comprehensive manual check documentation with resource usage guidelines
+  * Added: Multi-machine check strategy documentation for resource-constrained VPS environments
+  * Improved: Brutalist README - concise and action-oriented documentation
+
+ -- Sam <samsci@posteo.com>  Mon, 27 Oct 2025 07:00:00 +1000
 drestic (1.2.3) stable; urgency=medium
 
   * Fixed: Replaced unsupported --lock-retry-after and --lock-stale-timeout flags with --retry-lock for restic 0.18.1 compatibility
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 887a5d9..ed6b363 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,129 +2,73 @@
 
 <img src="logo.svg" width="120" markdown="1">
 
-Automated, encrypted, and deduplicated backups to MEGA cloud storage using restic.
+Automated encrypted backups to MEGA using restic.
 
 ## Setup
 
-1.  Clone the repository:
 ```sh
 git clone https://github.com/casparvitch/drestic
 cd drestic
-```
-
-2.  Install dependencies (supports apt, yum, pacman, zypper):
-```sh
 make install-deps
+make setup-user    # or setup-system for servers
 ```
 
-3.  Run the setup script:
-```sh
-# For a personal machine (backs up /home/user)
-make setup-user
-# For a server (backs up /etc, /home, /root, etc.)
-# make setup-system
-```
-    The script will prompt for your MEGA credentials and a new restic repository password. **Store the restic password safely.**
+Enter MEGA credentials and restic password when prompted. **Store the restic password safely.**
 
 ## Usage
 
-All common operations are handled via the `Makefile`. Run `make help` for a full list.
-
-**Check Status**
 ```sh
-# For user scope
-make status
-
-# For system scope
-make status-system
+make help          # see all commands
+make status        # check backup status  
+make backup-now    # run backup immediately
+make snapshots     # list backups
 ```
 
-**Run a Backup Manually**
-```sh
-make backup-now
-# Monitor with: journalctl --user -fu restic-backup.service
-```
-
-**List Snapshots**
-```sh
-make snapshots
-```
-
-**Recover Files**
-The easiest method is to mount the repository.
-
-1.  Create a mount point:
+**Recover files:**
 ```sh
 mkdir ~/restore
-```
-
-2.  Mount the backup:
-    The repository path is now unique per host (e.g., `drestic_backups_my-server`). Find your exact path in `~/.config/restic/env`.
-```sh
-# For user scope (replace with your unique repo path)
-RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE=~/.config/restic/password restic mount ~/restore --repo rclone:backup_remote:/drestic_backups_my-server
-```
-
-3.  Browse `~/restore/snapshots/latest/` to find your files.
-
-4.  Unmount when finished:
-```sh
+# Replace with your repo path from ~/.config/restic/env
+RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE=~/.config/restic/password restic mount ~/restore --repo rclone:backup_remote:/drestic_backups_hostname
+# Browse ~/restore/snapshots/latest/
 umount ~/restore
 ```
 
 ## Configuration
 
-Configuration files are created during setup.
+Edit backup paths: `~/.config/restic/paths` (user) or `/etc/restic/paths` (system)
+Edit excludes: `~/.config/restic/excludes`
+Add notifications: `make update-gotify`
 
-**Backup Paths & Exclusions**
--   **User scope:** `~/.config/restic/paths` and `~/.config/restic/excludes`
--   **System scope:** `/etc/restic/paths` and `/etc/restic/excludes`
+## Manual Checks
 
-Edit the `paths` file to change what is backed up. Edit the `excludes` file to add patterns to ignore. The default files contain a sensible starting point.
+**Automated:** Metadata-only weekly checks (catches 95% of issues)
 
-**Backup Schedule**
-The schedule is managed by systemd timers. To change the daily 3 AM backup time:
-
-1.  Edit the timer file:
-    -   **User scope:** `~/.config/systemd/user/restic-backup.timer`
-    -   **System scope:** `/etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.timer`
+**Manual verification:**
+```sh
+# Quick metadata check (~50MB RAM, 1-2 min)
+source ~/.config/restic/env && restic check --repo "$RESTIC_REPOSITORY" --password-file "$RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE"
 
-2.  Change the `OnCalendar=` line.
+# Light data check (~200MB RAM, 5-15 min) 
+source ~/.config/restic/env && restic check --repo "$RESTIC_REPOSITORY" --password-file "$RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE" --read-data-subset 0.1%
 
-3.  Reload systemd:
-```sh
-# For user scope
-systemctl --user daemon-reload && systemctl --user restart restic-backup.timer
-# For system scope
-sudo systemctl daemon-reload && sudo systemctl restart restic-backup.timer
+# Heavy data check (~500MB+ RAM, 30+ min)
+source ~/.config/restic/env && restic check --repo "$RESTIC_REPOSITORY" --password-file "$RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE" --read-data-subset 1%
 ```
 
-**Notifications**
-To add or update Gotify push notifications, run:
+**From another machine:**
 ```sh
-make update-gotify
+# Setup: install restic, rclone
+rclone config create backup_remote mega user EMAIL pass PASSWORD
+echo "PASSWORD" > ~/.restic_password && chmod 600 ~/.restic_password
+restic check --repo rclone:backup_remote:/drestic_backups_HOSTNAME --password-file ~/.restic_password --read-data-subset 0.1%
 ```
 
-## Troubleshooting
-
-**Repository is locked?**
-```sh
-# Auto-detects scope and unlocks
-make unlock-repo
-```
+**When:** Monthly 0.1% checks, quarterly 1% checks, or troubleshooting.
 
-**Connection issues?**
-Verify rclone can connect to your MEGA account.
-```sh
-rclone ls backup_remote:
-```
+## Troubleshooting
 
-**Something else?**
-Check the logs.
 ```sh
-# For user scope
-make logs
-
-# For system scope
-make logs-system
-```
+make unlock-repo   # fix locked repository
+make logs         # check recent logs
+rclone ls backup_remote:  # test MEGA connection
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 6261a05..e21e727 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.3.1
\ No newline at end of file
+1.4.0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/restic_check.sh b/restic_check.sh
index 278b2fe..9fe6be1 100755
--- a/restic_check.sh
+++ b/restic_check.sh
@@ -28,13 +28,11 @@ trap 'notify "Restic Check" "Restic check script finished with exit code $?" $?'
 # --- Main Logic ---
 echo "--- Starting Restic Repository Integrity Check at $(date) ---"
 
-echo "Running memory-efficient integrity check on repository: $RESTIC_REPOSITORY (1% data subset)..."
+echo "Running VPS-optimized repository integrity check on repository: $RESTIC_REPOSITORY (metadata only)..."
 restic check \
 	--repo "${RESTIC_REPOSITORY}" \
 	--password-file "${RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE}" \
-	--read-data-subset 1% \
 	--no-cache \
-	--retry-lock 5m \
 	--verbose || {
 	echo "Error: Restic check failed." >&2
 	notify "Restic Check ($(whoami)@$(hostname))" "Weekly integrity check failed!" 8