Tag: rsync

Using Linux rsync to back up files.

I am a great believer in having multiple backups of my data. I’ve been trying out the rsync facility available on Linux (and other Unix platforms). I think of rsync as remote synchronise with my current files.

My shell script

it="--itemize-changes"
dest="/media/colin/ADCD110/rsync/"
rsync $it -a /home/colin $dest  --exclude-from='exclude-file.txt'

Where

  • –itemize-changes lists the files being backed up
  • -a This is equivalent to -rlptgoD. It is a quick way of saying you want recursion and want to preserve almost everything (with -H being a notable omission)
    • -r recursive
    • -l When symlinks are encountered, recreate the symlink on the destination.
    • -t preserve modification times
    • -g preserve group information
  • /home/colin from this directory
  • copied to /media/colin/ADCD110/rsync/, this external disk drive and directory
  • –exclude-from=’exclude-file.txt’ exclude files from the file

and exclude-file.txt contains

colin/.docker/*
colin/Downloads/*
colin/snap/*
colin/.cache/*
colin/grafana-enterprise_13.0*
colin/snap/*
colin/snap
colin/.config/Code/logs/*
: Especially this one
colin/.docker/desktop/vms/0/data/Docker.raw

The output

When I ran the command I got output like

>f.st...... colin/.local/share/gnome-shell/application_state
.d..t...... colin/.local/share/nautilus/tags/

Where

  • > means that a file is being transferred
  • f this is a file
  • d this is a directory
  • s the file size is different
  • t the modification time is different

which explains why the file was copied.

A new file (not in the backup) has

>f+++++++++ colin/new

What happens if I rerun it?

Usually no, of few files are copied. Once I start working, then the next time it runs it will backup any changed files, which are not on the exlude-files list.