lsyncd: Is it possible to sync individual files from a list?

Question

I want to sync certain files from one linux system to another using lsyncd. The files are not confined to one directory, neither do I want all files from a directory.

Specifically I'm trying to make sure certain mail server files are kept in sync with a standby server. Here is a list:

/etc/postfix/master.cf /etc/postfix/main.cf /etc/postfix/blocked_senders /etc/postfix/relay_recipients /etc/mail/spamassassin/local.cf

Can I specify all these files in a single sync stanza via some kind of list or will I need to configure each individual file in separate sync stanzas?

Answer 1

I suggest

--[[
The _extra= hack allows synchronization of individual files. Use one sync {}
stanza per source directory. Use additional --include= lines to handle multiple
files within a single source directory.
]]

sync {
  default.rsync,
  delay = 0,
  source = "/etc/postfix/",
  target = "standby.example.com:/etc/postfix/",
  rsync = {
    _extra = {
      "--include=master.cf",
      "--include=main.cf",
      "--include=blocked_senders",
      "--include=relay_recipients",
      "--exclude=*",
    }
  }
}

sync {
  default.rsync,
  delay = 0,
  source = "/etc/mail/spamassassin/",
  target = "standby.example.com:/etc/mail/spamassassin/",
  rsync = {
    _extra = {
      "--include=local.cf",
      "--exclude=*",
    }
  }
}

I think a sync {} stanza is needed for each source directory because lsyncd detects changes efficiently via triggers established at the directory level.

Answer 2

Though this is an old one I would like put David's response into an "lsyncd" context. A sample configuration could look like this (tested and confirmed on one of my systems):

sync {
   default.rsyncssh,
   source = "/tmp",
   host = "gw2",
   targetdir = "/tmp",
   delete = false,
   rsync = { _extra = { "--files-from=/etc/lsyncd/files.list" } }
}

With the file /etc/lsyncd/files.list containing the files you want to sync with paths relative to "destination" (/tmp here).

Answer 3

Save them to a file file_list

rsync -a --files-from=file_list /source /dest

If only these 5 files, then I think you can also use -c (checksum check) and -z (compression) options.