Hi friends,
Using Ubuntu Budgie Backups app for a couple of weeks.
It worked until now, but this thursday I got this error message on Raven’s panel top right:
“Backups needs your password to follow up”.
I understand this an encryption password but I’m unable to get around this problem, (even by writing such a password in my Gnome user’s settings).
Thank You very much for your help.
Jeanmi2A
Salut, @jeanmi2A de Corse du sud! 
I don’t use Backups, and I’m not particularly keen on AI, but the one the forum has just adopted seems to me to provide relevant and credible explanations.
I asked it to clarify the message:
In the context of the Ubuntu Budgie Backups application, the message “Backups needs your password to follow up” indicates that the system is requesting your user account password to authorise a privileged operation, such as accessing a secure backup location or completing an automated encryption task. This is distinct from a custom encryption passphrase you might have set for the backup data itself; rather, it is the standard Linux authentication credential required for the backup daemon to gain the necessary system permissions to proceed with scheduled or pending backup jobs.
That’s more or less what I would have said to you.
Does that help?
Salut jlb,
Up like the morning star,
Thank you, the above AI text is exactly that I had in mind !!!
Remember,
I joined Ubuntu Budgie forum in August last year, when I was in trouble with the system permissions.
There are two levels, one for the usual user, like me, and the elevated privileges level.
bad times, after trying to replace the Numbat Noble wallpaper with a flower picture of my garden “passiflora”.
Today the user jeanmi2A has just one password and don’t give the Backups required password.
I ran a few tests with Backups. It appears that the AI made a mistake, and the only password in question is the encryption password, which is distinct from the user password — unless you have chosen the same one.
The application behind ‘Backups’ is called ‘deja-dup’.
One of its settings causes it to regularly prompt the user to enter his password to refresh his memory.
In your case, it’s probably too late — you should have written down your password as there’s no trace of it in the password manager.
I don’t see any other solution than to uninstall and reinstall deja-dup:
Run the following commands in terminal:
sudo apt purge deja-dup duplicity
reboot
sudo apt update && sudo apt install deja-dup
Then schedule a new backup and make sure to write down the new password — or don’t set a password in Backups. 
What version of Ubuntu are you using? If it’s 24.04 LTS, the version of “backups” is an older one and the dev has transitioned current builds to flatpak repos. I have mixed feelings about that (I guess I’m just old-school) but if you haven’t tried, you might want to reinstall the newer version of the utility and see if that’s more favorable to your scenario.
Hi evc,
Thank You for your help and info.
I’m using 24.04 LT and
just going to try after yesterday uninstall and reinstall the utility.
I will keep you informed.
A bientôt;
Jeanmi2A
Envoyé: dimanche 22 mars 2026 à 03:05
Hi Jlb,
I followed your advice (parag 4/6) as well as evc’s.
Since this app Deja-vu isn’t a Budgie built-in feature,
it is’nt in Budgie Control center/ apps list….
Would You please help me to launch it from a terminal command ?
Thank You very much,
Jeanmi2A
Salut Jean-Michel,
“deja-dup” — not “deja-vu” — is renamed “Sauvegardes” during installation.
Type “dej” or “sau” in the application search box in the main menu.
But if you really want to use the terminal, this command will run “Sauvegardes/Backups” (APT .deb version) without any complaints:
deja-dup 2> /dev/null
And this command will launch the Flatpak version:
flatpak run org.gnome.DejaDup 2> /dev/null
Hi jean,
For your daily renewed care, thank You !
I can’t go any further, neither with invoking SAuvegardes or Backups in main menu,
nor with running in the terminal one APT .deb version or Flatpak’s.
NOTHING HAPPENS !
Hi Jean-Michel!
What do you mean, exactly?
Hi Jean,
On SAUvegardes invoke, The Ubuntu Budgie GUI returns: “Désolé aucun résultat trouvé”
et voilà au terminal
jean-michel@jean-michel-Aspire-A517-52:~$ flatpak run org.gnome.Deja-Dup 2> /dev/null
jean-michel@jean-michel-Aspire-A517-52:~$
Um… Are you sure you installed the app in one format or the other? 
sudo apt update && sudo apt install deja-dup
flatpak install flathub org.gnome.DejaDup
sudo apt update && sudo apt install deja-dup
I just launched this command,
the app is working
with this message” le système a besoin de votre mot de passe de chiffrement”.
What should I do now ?
:
I checked on IT / and found out gnome encfs manager.
OK
Could you tell us a little more about that, please?
Does it work? And if so, how did you do it?
proteger-dossier-mot-de-passe-ubuntu-gnome-encfs
Keyword of the Malekal source, but I’ll prefer yours Jean !
Tnanks, but it’s just about protecting a folder with a password, not backup software.
Hi Jean-Michel!
As for the PPA, forget about it.
First, uninstall the application:
sudo apt purge gnome-encfs-manager
Then remove the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:gencfsm/ppa
sudo apt update
To fix the other errors, edit this file:
gedit admin:///etc/apt/sources.list
Comment out the second line by adding a hash symbol at the beginning and save the change:
Enter sudo apt update.
You shouldn’t see those messages anymore.
