Rsync Guide

Using Rsync to sync a folder between two hosts

I was using github to sync my notebook with my website. But that introduces some extra steps that rsync can easily eliminate.

Install rsync

apt install rsync

To upload files from your local computer to your server

rsync -rtvzP /path/to/file root@example.org:/path/on/the/server

Turn the above script into an alias

We will be adding an alias so you do not have to type the entire command above every time. Add the following to ~/.bashrc

alias rsyncp='rsync -rtvzP ~/Documents/PerfectDarkMode_html/ root@perfectdarkmode.com:/var/www/PerfectDarkMode_html'

Update the source for the new alias to take effect:

$ source ~/.bashrc

Now simply type “rsyncp” to run the command.

Options

• -r - Recursive
• -t - tranfer modification times (lets you skip files that have not been modified)
• -v - visual
• -z - with file compression
• -p - pick up where you left off if a file fails during transfer

Download files from another host

rsync -rtvzP root@example.org:/path/to/file /path/to/file