How to setup a rsync server and client?

Question

I have worked on rsync for the whole afternoon. I have set a rsync server,but I don't know how to use it.

I have two machines:66 and 12. 66 is the server,I want to back 66's data to 12,so I use rsync.

I have done the following:

In 66:

sudo apt-get install xinetd 

sudo vim /etc/xinetd.d/rsync 
service rsync 
    { 
        disable         = no 
        socket_type     = stream 
        wait            = no 
        user            = root 
        server          = /usr/bin/rsync 
        server_args     = --daemon 
        log_on_failure  += USERID 
    } 

sudo nano  /etc/rsyncd.conf 

max connections = 2 
log file = /var/log/rsync.log 
timeout = 300 

  [wwwroot] 
  comment = Public Share 
  path = /home/wwwroot 
  read only = no 
  list = yes 
  uid = nobody 
  gid = nogroup 
  auth userusers = user 
  secrets file = /home/rsync.secrets

sudo /etc/init.d/xinetd restart  

in 12:

rsync -v  user@192.168.1.100::wwwroot  /home/young001/backup --password-file=/home/rsync.pass 

and it tells:

skipping directory .

sent 4 bytes  received 6 bytes  2.86 bytes/sec
total size is 0  speedup is 0.00

the log is:

2013/06/12 03:18:18 [30477] name lookup failed for 125.221.225.12: Name or service not known
2013/06/12 03:18:18 [30477] connect from UNKNOWN (125.221.225.12)
2013/06/12 10:18:18 [30477] rsync on ctp/ from young001@UNKNOWN (125.221.225.12)
2013/06/12 10:18:18 [30477] building file list
2013/06/12 10:18:18 [30477] skipping directory .
2013/06/12 10:18:18 [30477] sent 98 bytes  received 54 bytes  total size 0
2013/06/12 03:19:59 [30484] name lookup failed for 125.221.225.12: Name or service not known
2013/06/12 03:19:59 [30484] connect from UNKNOWN (125.221.225.12)
2013/06/12 10:19:59 [30484] rsync on ctp/ from young001@UNKNOWN (125.221.225.12)
2013/06/12 10:19:59 [30484] building file list
2013/06/12 10:19:59 [30484] skipping directory .
2013/06/12 10:19:59 [30484] sent 98 bytes  received 54 bytes  total size 0

it seems to tell that the directory is empty,but I don't know which directory is empty.

/home/young001/backup is a empty directory,and /home/wwwroot is not a empty directory.

I want to sync wwwroot to backup,so where did I do wrong?

Answer 1

On the 12 box ( the one that is pulling the backup from the server) use this command instead:

rsync -av  user@192.168.1.100::wwwroot  /home/young001/backup --password-file=/home/rsync.pass 

The -a option is the rsync archive mode : is designed to do recursion into directory and to preserve almost everything. Check rsync man.

Rsync do not copy directories recursively by defaul, you have to use -a or -r option.

Answer 2

1.This will sync remote directory to local directory

sudo rsync -r -a -v root@xx.xx.xx.xx:/path/to/remote/directory/ /path/to/local/directory/ 2>&1

2.this will sync local directory to remote directory

sudo rsync -r -a -v /path/to/local/directory/ root@xx.xx.xx.xx:/path/to/remote/directory/ 2>&1 

In 2>&1, 1 denotes standard output (stdout). The 2 denotes standard error (stderr).

So 2>&1 says to send standard error to where ever standard output is being redirected as well. Which since it's being sent to /dev/null is asking to ignoring any output at all.So that you can see what is the error if there is an error.

--delete : delete files that don't exist on sender (system)
-v : Verbose (try -vv for more detailed information)
-e "ssh options" : specify the ssh as remote shell
-a : archive mode
-r : recurse into directories
-z : compress file data

For more informations about rsync use this.