Alexander Geis

This one’s asked alot, and I’m rather surprised that more people don’t find simple straightforward walkthroughs. The classic example of an automated rsync backup of a file or folder from machine 1 to machine 2, utilizing a script folder in case of future expansion and other scripts:

Notes:
- Replace “user” with your account
- Replace “local” with your local machine hostname or IP
- Replace “remote” with your remote machine hostname or IP
- Use an admin account to create the scripts folder and edit crontab
- Parentheses are for notes only and not part of the command

# Step 1 – Create a Script Folder on Local Machine

ssh user@local
sudo mkdir -p /Scripts/
sudo touch /Scripts/autosync.sh
sudo chown -R root /Scripts/

# Step 2 – Create SSH Key Pair on Local Machine

ssh user@local
cd ~user
mkdir -p .ssh
cd .ssh
ssh-keygen -d ( hit enter multiple times to use blanks )
cat id_dsa.pub ( copy the contents of this file )

# Step 3 – Put SSH Public Key on Remote Machine

ssh user@remote
cd ~user
mkdir -p .ssh
cd .ssh
touch authorized_keys
nano authorized_keys ( paste the id_dsa.pub content into here and save )
chmod 750 ~user

# Step 4 – Create the Script on the Local Machine

sudo nano /Scripts/autosync.sh

( add the following 1 line, replace /path/localfile and /path/destfile accordingly for file backup )
/usr/bin/rsync -ah –progress –size-only /path/localfile user@remote:/path/destfile

( add the following 1 line, replace /path/localfolder and /path/destfolder accordingly for folder backup )
/usr/bin/rsync -ah –progress –size-only /path/localfolder/ user@remote:/path/destfolder/

# Step 5 – Edit the Crontab File on the Local Machine to Run the Script Automatically

sudo nano /etc/crontab

( add the following line at the end of that file for hourly backup )
0 * * * * root /Scripts/autosync.sh

( add the following line at the end of that file for daily backup )
0 0 * * * root /Scripts/autosync.sh

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Having recently worked within a subversion tree on the Speak With Me VoiceDJ project, I find it’s time to get in gear with 21systems and take it to the next level.

The requirement? A highly flexible programming + SVN software solution for OS X, as Adobe Dreamweaver is unfortunately missing the mark as of recently with constant crashes in CS5. The result:

Panic Coda
An extremely fast code editor that supports not only web languages, but also includes markups for several others including C, Unix Shell, Apache conf and more. It has a wicked fast search engine that even supports flexible climbing of the filesystem, as well as regex powered searches. It also includes light subversion support for quick publishing and maintenance. This is finally something native that I can use to quickly move back and forth between PHP, Ajax and Unix shell while working on 21systems.

Sofa Versions
Versions is perfect for SVN. As of now, I’ve used it on multiple shares on multiple OS SVN servers, without a hitch. Versions is specifically powerful in taking care of obstructions, conflicts and keeping the tree clean, and is extremely fast, even on patchy Wi-Fi.

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