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RsyncX - Details

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RsyncX Script Generator Details

Here are just a few possible uses for RsyncX:

- copy a single file to another location

- copy a single folder to another location

- copy an entire volume to another location

- Push a copy of the booted volume to another location

- Push a copy of any volume to another location

- Make any suitable destination volume bootable into OSX or OS9

- Update another location with the source machine's version of rsync

As you can see, the RsyncX Script Generator gives you a variety of options that can be used for many different purposes. In each of the examples from above, the destination location can be local, or it can be a volume on another machine connected to the network. Details of each of the options follow.

 


The Source path field is where you specify which file or folder you would like to rsync. If the name contains spaces, just type in the spaces. You should not use quotes, or backslashes. RsyncX takes care of these when they are needed. If you would like to make a backup of your entire boot volume, just place a forward slash in this field, and then click the "Push Source As Boot Volume" button.


The Source Machine IP Address field is needed when the source is located somewhere else on the network. In the world of networking, this is usually referred to as 'pulling down' or just 'pulling' a file or folder from the source. This entry can either be an IP address like 123.456.789.012, or a DNS entry like my.machine.school.edu. If the source is local, this can be left blank.


The Destination path field is where you specify the name of the file or folder you would like to place the source into. If the name contains spaces, just type in the spaces. You should not use quotes, or backslashes. RsyncX takes care of these when they are needed.



The Destination Machine IP Address field is needed when the destination is located somewhere else on the network. In the world of networking, this is usually referred to as 'pushing' a file or folder to a destination. This entry can either be an IP address like 123.456.789.012, or a DNS entry like my.machine.school.edu. If the source is local, this can be left blank.


The Alt. Source tmpdir field is useful in situations where you cannot write to the normal /tmp/ directory where rsync stores its temporary file information. For example, if you were to try using RsyncXCD to push a volume on the machine booted from the RsyncXCD, this would be a good place to specify an alternat source tempfile directory. In almost any other scenario, this field can be left blank.


The Alt. Dest. tmpdir field is useful in situations where you would like the destination volume to create its temporary files in a single location, instead of in the folder where the final file will be stored. Since writing to the final destination will occur in either case, this field is usually left blank.


The Network Transport field is used to specify what type of TCP/IP remote shell will be invoked on the destination machine. This is only used for network transfers. This field is ssh by default.


The Save Script As field allows you to save your RsyncX session as a double-clickable '.command' file. This script will be saved when you press the 'Synchronize' button. The script will not be run until you double click on it. The default save location is your home directory.


The Login To Source As field allows you to log in to a remote machine using an alternate uniqname than your own. For best results with System files, you may want to try an admin account on the remote machine first, and then try logging on as root. If this field is left blank, your login will be the same as the one used to gain access to the machine currently running RsyncX that you are sitting in front of. So, if you would like to run as root everywhere, and not type in the login name root, then log into the RsyncX machine as root.


The Login To Dest. As field allows you to log in to a remote machine using an alternate uniqname than your own. For best results with System files, you may want to try an admin account on the remote machine first, and then try logging on as root. If this field is left blank, your login will be the same as the one used to gain access to the machine currently running RsyncX that you are sitting in front of. So, if you would like to run as root everywhere, and not type in the login name root, then log into the RsyncX machine as root.


There are even more options for running rsync scripts than those presented here by RsyncX. If you're an rsync veteran, feel free to add them here, separated by spaces. The archival option '-a' is the default.


This checkbox will enable some commands that do not need to run as root all of the time to run as root. This is helpful in situations where your script may generate permission errors. This option is enabled by default.


This checkbox adds the 'time' command to the rsync process. This allows you to start your script, and then take a look when it finishes and see how much time the rsync activity consumed. This option is enabled by default.


The Destination Boot Options drop-down allows you to bless, or make bootable, a suitable destination volume. If the volume will contain OS X, OS 9, or both, then choose the option that best fits your needs.


This checkbox, in combination with choosing to bless the destination volume, allows you to select this volume as the boot volume upon next reboot.


This checkbox will reboot the destination machine after the rest of the RsyncX script has run.


By default, RsyncX makes sure that only the files from the source will be in the folder specified on the volume on the destination. By checking this box, rsync will not remove any other files that already exist in the destination folder.


The checkbox is useful in situations where network bandwidth is limited, or you have CPU cycles to spare. In general, this should be enabled whenever you decide to run RsyncX across a network.


This checkbox forces the sender to checksum all files using
a 128-bit MD4 checksum before transfer. The checksum is then explicitly checked on the receiver and any files of the same name which already exist and have the same checksum and size on the receiver are skipped.


This checkbox disables the collection and syncing of Directory Metadata. This is useful for situations like Log In/Out Hooks, where checking for this info is not always required. In general, this will make your Login In/Out Hooks faster. It is also useful when using rsync to set permissions on a local volume, based on a remote volume's permissions.


This checkbox disables the creation of files with full HFS+ support. This is useful in situations where you are receiving files using rsync that are not located on a source HFS+ volume.


This checkbox tells RsyncX to generate a script that will treat the source folder as the booted volume of the source machine. This allows you to move the contents of the booted volume to another location. If the destination is the root level of another volume, say another partition, or an external drive, then that destination volume can be made into a bootable volume as well.


This checkbox allows you to update the destination machine with the version of rsync located on the source machine before initiating the rsync file transfer. This is useful in situations where you are unsure which version of rsync exists on the destination machine.


This drop-down allows you to choose what type of progress you would like RsyncX to show you during its file transfer stage, if any. By default, this option is set to display the number of files remaining to rsync, and the percentage of the file transfer that is complete. The other option is to display the progress of each file in terms of its transfer speed across the network.


This slider allows you to either increase the amount of onscreen reporting RsyncX gives you during file transfers, or make the process entirely silent. By default, the slider is set to report only the progress as indicated in the 'During Rsync Show' drop-down.


This button will either: Start the RsyncX script, or save your RsyncX script, depending on whether or not you supplied a script name in the 'Save Script As' field. If there is no name given, then the script will start immediately. If a name is given, then this script will be saved into the given file name and location. This saved script can be started by double-clicking its icon.


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[Introduction] [Requirements] [Configuration]
[Details] [Links] [FAQs]