[NBLUG/talk] fear of rsync

Osiris Pedroso opedroso at swoptimizer.com
Wed May 3 12:37:12 PDT 2006


Hi Bob,

Two things:

1) rsync has the same semantics of "cp [from] [to]", so for that to happen,
you would need to swap the [from] and the [to] in the command itself. Plus
it would only delete things if "-delete" is specified on the command line.

2) write a script that uses rsync, test it with the "-n" option which will
tell you what it would have done, but not do it, and then, always use your
script when you want to update your backup location.

I have been using rsync for my backup for over 1.5yrs now and couldn't be
happier. I do use option #2 though.

Cheers,
Osiris

--
Optimizer Consulting
369-B 3RD ST # 369
San Rafael, CA 94901-3581
Phone: 1.415.259.5760
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Blick [mailto:bblick at sonic.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 12:52 PM
To: talk at nblug.org
Subject: [NBLUG/talk] fear of rsync

I fear rsync. I know everyone says it's the thing to use for backups, but
that's exactly why I fear it. I'm afraid that when I use it to backup an
important directory onto an empty external drive, it will sync in the
wrong direction and make both directories equally empty.

Can this happen if I type things wrong? What else can go wrong? What's the
correct magic spell?

>From paranoia-land,

Bob









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