(''xdev:'' //0//) a great many snapshots can live in a single ''bank''. The layout may resemble the following:

<code>
/snapshot/host.example.com
/snapshot/other.example.com
/snapshot/mybox.example.com
</code>

The above is more likely to be a common deployment scenario and is what the author recommends.

===== Assembling Your Configuration =====

Now we can create an actual ''master.conf''. We will use a single ''bank'' and ''vault'' for each system.

<code>
bank:
	/snapshot/current

image-default: %Y%m%d
log: gzip
index: gzip

exclude:
	/var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb
	/usr/src/**/*.o
	lost+found/

Runall:
	host.example.com
	other.example.com

expire-default: +2 months
</code>

The above configuration defines a ''bank'' called ''/snapshot/current''. An ''image-default'' in the style of four digit year, two digit month and and is followed by both the //Dirvish// log for the image and the image ''index'' being compressed with **''gzip''**. An ''exclude'' list includes some useful exclusions. Finally, ''Runall'' lists two vaults for dirvish-runall to operate on. The ''expire-default'' is a lengthy two months. 

The configuration above will inspire a directory structure on the filesystem of each bank similar to that shown below.

<code>
/snapshot/current/host.example.com/dirvish/default.conf
/snapshot/current/other.example.com/dirvish/default.conf
</code>

By using ''/snapshot/current'', it's possible to have another directory, ''/snapshot/attic'', where vaults can be moved without **''dirvish-expire''** being able to see and remove them.  If you remove a vault from the ''Runall'' directive, **''dirvish-expire''** will still probe your snapshot directory for any directories with a ''dirvish/'' subdirectory for image expiration.  You have been warned.

Now we're almost ready to do some backups. First, however, we need to delve deeper into ''default.conf'' and tell //Dirvish// what we need it to do.

===== Defining default.conf =====

The rest of //Dirvish//'s magic takes place in the configuration file for each individual vault, named ''default.conf''. A vault exists, from the perspective of //Dirvish//, based on whether ''default.conf'' exists in a directory called ''dirvish/'' in a directory in a bank. 

For example, for a ''vault'' named //other.example.com// to exist, the following directory structure would need to exist under a bank in ''/snapshot''. 

<code>
/snapshot/other.example.com/dirvish/default.conf
</code>

Inside our ''default.conf'', we must define two key directives. First we will discuss ''client'' and then ''tree''. Other directives discussed for ''master.conf'' can be redefined to override the global values when it makes sense to do so. (You wouldn't want to redefine ''Runall'' in ''default.conf'' for example.) 

First, the ''client'' specifies the host target. ''client'' is the hostname, and possibly username, necessary to access the filesystem on the target machine specified by ''tree''. 

<code>
client: root@some.example.com
</code>

For example, the above client directive instructs //Dirvish// to use the system named //some// as the target and connect as the ''root'' user. If you omit the user, //Dirvish// will connect as the user running the dirvish binary, generally the ''root'' user. 

<code>
client: 192.168.25.1
</code>

As demonstrated above, you can also specify the IP address of the target system. 

Last, you must specify which path you want to backup with the ''tree'' directive. Generally this will be aligned with a filesystem boundary, but you can backup any path you wish. 

<code>
client: root@sarah.example.com
tree: /
xdev: 0
index: gzip
</code>

The configuration above will backup the entire system, transcending mount points. Additionally, the ''index'' directive is specified whi