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--- tutorials:rsync [2012/06/15 01:06] – created chkuo
+++ tutorials:rsync [2012/06/15 01:18] (current) – chkuo
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== rsync ======
-''rsync'' is a powerful tools for syncing files, either locally on the same machine or remotely between different machines. Use ''man rsync'' to read the manual pages to learn more.
+''rsync'' is a powerful tool for syncing files, either locally on the same machine or remotely between different machines. Use ''man rsync'' to read the manual pages to learn more.
-For example, if I want to sync (i.e., update all files that have been newly created or modified and remove all files that have been deleted) the ''~/active_project'' directory on my local workstation up to the server (oak.local in this example), the process can be completed in one command:
+===== Examples =====
+If I want to sync (i.e., update all files that have been newly created or modified and remove all files that have been deleted) the ''~/active_project'' directory on my local workstation up to the server (oak.local in this example), the process can be completed in one command:
 <code bash>
 rsync -av --delete ~/active_project oak.local:~
-</bash>
+</code>
 Alternatively, if I want to copy only the files that have been changed in ''/scratch/chkuo/spiro1.02'' directory on the server (oak.local again) back to my local workstation, I can use:
 <code bash>
 rsync -av --delete oak.local:/scratch/chkuo/spiro1.02 /scratch/chkuo
-</bash>
+</code>
-This better than ''scp -pr'' because ''rsync'' can skip files that already exist in the destination and have not been updated in the source.
+This is better than using ''scp'' because ''rsync'' can skip files that already exist in the destination and have not been updated in the source.
+It is **important** to note that the absence or presence of the trailing slash at the end of the source directory (i.e., ''~/active_project'' versus ''~/active_project/'') have different effects, so be careful.
+===== Advanced uses =====
+If we need to sync some directories quite often (like the ''~/active_project'' example above), it is easier to save the command in a schell script and place the script somewhere in the search path (''~/bin'' or ''~/script'' for example, see [[tutorials:bash|.bashrc]] for more info).