Creating Backups using rsync with Examples
Contents
Create Backups using rsync with examples
What does rsync stand for?
Rsync stands for remote sync
Rsync is used to perfrom backup operation in Linux and UNIX
It syncs files from one location to another location, Host computer to a Remote computer or a Remote Computer to a Host computer. It can even be used on a single server.
Important Features of rsync
- Speed: The first time you use rsync it does entire directory, next time it only sends what has been changed, which makes the transfer quick.
- Security: You can use ssh when using rsync between computers
- Less Bandwidth: rsync uses compression and decompression of data block by block at the sending an receiving end respectively.
Basic rsync Syntax
rsync options source destination
Source and destination could be either local or remote. When using remote, just specify the login name and remote server name/location
Examples
Local to Local
Local rsync of your html directory to a backup directory on the local computer.
rsync -zvr /var/www/html/ /root/backup
- -z is to enable compression
- -v is to enable verbose
- -r is to enable recursive, all directors below
Local to Local Preserving Timestamps
rysnc -zvra /var/www/html/ /root/backup
- -a is to enable archive mode, saving timestamps
Syncronize Files from Local Server to Remote Server
rsync -avzr /var/www/html/ brian@remoteserver:/backup/
This will make a backup of the html directory and all files under the html directory to remote backup server
Syncronize Files from Remote Server to Local Server
rsync -avzr brian@remoteserver:/backup /var/www/html
This will do a restore from the backup server to your local server
Example using SSH with rsync
rsync -avzr -e ssh brian@remoteserver:/backup /var/www/html
or
rsync -avzr -e ssh /var/www/html brian@remoteserver:/backup
Use rsync -e ssh to specify which remote shell to use. In this case, rsync will use ssh.
To learn more about rsync you view the man page
man rsync
