Live Sync with lsyncd
Productivity Sauce
rsync is an excellent and versatile backup tool, but it does have one drawback: you have to run it manually when you want to back up your data. Sure, you can use cron to create scheduled backups, but even this solution cannot provide seamless live synchronization. If this is what you want, then you need the lsyncd tool, a command-line utility which uses rsync to synchronize (or rather mirror) local directories with a remote machine in real time. To install lsyncd on your machine, download the latest .tar.gz archive from the project's Web site, unpack it, and use the terminal to switch to the resulted directory. Run then the ./configure command followed by make, and make install (the latter command requires root privileges). lsyncd is rather straightforward in use, as it features just one command and a handful of options. The lsyncd command requires only two parameters: the source and the target directory, for example:
lsyncd /path/to/source /path/to/target
This command syncs two local directories, but lsyncd can also mirror a local directory to a folder on a remote machine. For example, the following command syncs the source directory on the local machine with the target directory on a remote machine which has the 192.168.1.7 IP address, connecting to the remote server as the user "monkey":
lsyncd /path/to/source monkey@192.168.1.7:/path/to/target/
In most cases, you have to provide a password to successfully connect to a remote server, so to make the command above work, you have to use the --no-daemon option which prevents the process from running as a daemon:
lsyncd --no-daemon /path/to/source monkey@192.168.1.7:/path/to/target/
Another useful option is --exclude. As the name suggests, it allows you to specify files or directories that you don't want to sync.
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.
-
DebConf24 to be Held in South Korea
Busan will be the location of the latest DebConf running July 28 through August 4
Live Sync with lsyncd
be it sysadmins or home users. We use tar as a basis for our own backup script,
but I recognize the power of rsync as a basis.
Also, there's so many tools to choose from, and I guess rsync tools can mix,
e.g. you can have lsyncd running, while also having a tool like rsyncBackup or
Rdiff-backup ?
Don't forget to make backups for databases (MySQL for example) with their tools, though,
to keep databases consistent!
Anyway, I like tools based on proven and mature simple Un*x tools like tar and rsync,
cause you'll also have all other Un*x tools to mix with them, e.g. being able to keep a cron
job separate from your backup program itself keeps things manageable.
Mike