Windows PowerShell command on Get-command filesync

Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man filesync

User Commands filesync(1)

NAME

filesync - synchronize ordinary, directory or special files

SYNOPSIS

filesync [-aehmnqvy] [-o src | dst]

[-f src | dst | old | new] [-r directory]...

filesync [-aehmnqvy] -s source-dir -d dest-dir filename...

DESCRIPTION

The filesync utility synchronizes files between multiple

computer systems, typically a server and a portable com-

puter. filesync synchronizes ordinary, directory or special

files. Although intended for use on nomadic systems,

filesync is useful for backup and file replication on more

permanently connected systems. If files are synchronized between systems, the corresponding files on each of the systems are identical. Changing a file on one or both of the systems causes the files to become different (not synchronized). In order to make the files identical again, the differences between the files must be reconciled. See Reconciling and Synchronizing Files for

specific details about how filesync reconciles and synchron-

izes files.

There are two forms of the filesync command. The first form

of filesync is invoked without file arguments. This form of

filesync reconciles differences between the files and sys-

tems specified in the $HOME/.packingrules file.

$HOME/.packingrules is a packing rules list for filesync and

cachefspack, and contains a list of files to be kept syn-

chronized. See packingrules(4) and cachefspack(1M).

The second form of filesync copies specific files from a

directory on the source system to a directory on the desti-

nation system. In addition, this form of filesync adds the

file or files specified as arguments (filename) to

$HOME/.packingrules. See -s and -d for information about

specifying directories on source and destination systems. See OPERANDS for details about specifying file (filename) arguments.

Multiple filesync commands are cumulative (that is, the

specified files are added to the already existing packing

rules file list). See Multiple filesync Commands.

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User Commands filesync(1)

Reconciling and Synchronizing Files

filesync synchronizes files between computer systems by per-

forming the following two tasks:

1. filesync examines the directories and files speci-

fied in the packing rules file on both systems, and determines whether or not they are identical. Any file that differs requires reconciliation.

filesync also maintains a baseline summary in the

$HOME/.filesync-base file for all of the files that

are being monitored. This file lists the names,

types, and sizes of all files as of the last recon-

ciliation. 2. Based on the information contained in the baseline file and the specified options (see Resolving

filesync Conflicts), filesync determines which of

the various copies is the correct one, and makes the corresponding changes to the other system. Once this has been done, the two copies are, again, identical (synchronized). If a source file has changed and the destination file has not, the changes on the source system are

propagated to the destination system. If a destina-

tion file has changed and the corresponding source file has not, the changes on the destination file

are propagated to the source system. If both sys-

tems have changed (and the files are not still identical) a warning message will be printed out, asking the user to resolve the conflict manually.

See Resolving filesync Conflicts.

Resolving filesync Conflicts

In cases where files on both sides have changed, filesync

attempts to determine which version should be chosen. If

filesync cannot automatically determine which version should

be selected, it prints out a warning message and leaves the two incompatible versions of the file unreconciled. In these cases, you must either resolve the differences

manually, or tell filesync how to choose which file should

win. Use the -o and -f options to tell filesync how to

resolve conflicts (see OPTIONS). Alternatively, for each conflicting file, you can examine the two versions, determine which one should be kept, and manually bring the two versions into agreement (by copying, deleting, or changing the ownership or protection to be

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correct). You can then re-run filesync to see whether or

not any other conflicts remain. Packing Rules File

The packing rules file $HOME/.packingrules contains a list

of files to be kept synchronized. The syntax of this file is described in packingrules(4).

The $HOME/.packingrules file is automatically created if

users invoke filesync with filename arguments. By using

filesync options, users can augment the packing rules in

$HOME/.packingrules.

Many users choose to create the packing rules file manually

and edit it by hand. Users can edit $HOME/.packingrules

(using any editor) to permanently change the

$HOME/.packingrules file, or to gain access to more powerful

options that are not available from the command line (such as IGNORE commands). It is much easier to enter complex

wildcard expressions by editing the $HOME/.packingrules

file. Baseline File

$HOME/.filesync-base is the filesync baseline summary file.

filesync uses the information in $HOME/.filesync-base to

identify the differences between files during the reconcili-

ation and synchronization process. Users do not create or edit the baseline file. It is created automatically by

filesync and records the last known state of agreement

between all of the files being maintained.

Multiple filesync Commands

Over a period of time, the set of files you want to keep synchronized can change. It is common, for instance, to want to keep files pertaining to only a few active projects on your notebook. If you continue to keep files associated with every project you have ever worked on synchronized, your

notebook's disk will fill up with old files. Each filesync

command will waste a lot of time updating files you no longer care about.

If you delete the files from your notebook, filesync will

want to perform the corresponding deletes on the server, which would not be what you wanted. Rather, you would like a

way to tell filesync to stop synchronizing some of the

files. There are two ways to do this:

1. Edit $HOME/.packingrules. Delete the rules for the

files that you want to delete.

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User Commands filesync(1)

2. Delete $HOME/.packingrules. Use the filesync com-

mand to specify the files that you want synchron-

ized. Either way works, and you can choose the one that seems easiest to you. For minor changes, it is probably easier to

just edit $HOME/.packingrules. For major changes it is prob-

ably easier to start from scratch.

Once filesync is no longer synchronizing a set of files,

you can delete them from your notebook without having any effect on the server. Nomadic Machines

When using filesync to keep files synchronized between

nomadic machines and a server, store the packing rules and baseline files on the nomadic machines, not the server. If,

when logged into your notebook, the HOME environment vari-

able does not normally point to a directory on your note-

book, you can use the FILESYNC environment variable to specify an alternate location for the packing rules and baseline files. Each nomadic machine should carry its own packing rules and baseline file. Incorrect file synchronization can result if a server carries a baseline file and multiple nomadic machines attempt to reconcile against the server's baseline

file. In this case, a nomadic machine could be using a base-

line file that does not accurately describe the state of its files. This might result in incorrect reconciliations. To safeguard against the dangers associated with a single baseline file being shared by more than two machines,

filesync adds a default rule to each new packing rules file.

This default rule prevents the packing rules and baseline files from being copied. OPTIONS The following options are supported:

-a Force the checking of Access

Control Lists (ACLs ) and attempt to make them agree for all new and changed files. If it is not possible to set the ACL

for a particular file, filesync

stops ACL synchronization for that file.

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Some file systems do not support ACLs . It is not possible to synchronize ACLs between file systems that support ACLs and those that do not; attempting to do so will result in numerous error messages.

-d dest-dir Specify the directory on the

destination system into which filename is to be copied. Use

with the -s source-dir option

and the filename operand. See -s

and OPERANDS.

-e Flag all differences. It may not

be possible to resolve all con-

flicts involving modes and own-

ership (unless filesync is being

run with root privileges). If you cannot change the ownership or protections on a file,

filesync will normally ignore

conflicts in ownership and pro-

tection. If you specify the -e

(everything must agree) flag,

however, filesync will flag

these differences.

-f src | dst | old | new The -f option tells filesync how

to resolve conflicting changes. If a file has been changed on

both systems, and an -f option

has been specified, filesync

will retain the changes made on the favored system and discard the changes made on the unfavored system.

Specify -f src to favor the

source-system file. Specify -f

dst to favor the destination-

system file. Specify -f old to

favor the older version of the

file. Specify -f new to favor

the newer version of the file. It is possible to specify the

-f and -o options in

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combination if they both specify the same preference

(src and dst). If -f and -o

conflict, the -f option is

ignored. See the -o option

description.

-h Halt on error. Normally, if

filesync encounters a read or

write error while copying files,

it notes the error and the pro-

gram continues, in an attempt to

reconcile other files. If the -h

option is specified, filesync

will immediately halt when one of these errors occurs and will not try to process any more files.

-m Ensure that both copies of the

file have the same modification time. The modification time for newly copied files is set to the time of reconciliation by default. File changes are

ordered by increasing modifica-

tion times so that the pro-

pagated files have the same

relative modification time ord-

ering as the original changes. Users should be warned that there is usually some time skew between any two systems, and transferring modification times from one system to another can occasionally produce strange results. There are instances in which

using filesync to update some

(but not all) files in a direc-

tory will confuse the make pro-

gram. If, for instance, filesync

is keeping .c files synchron-

ized, but ignoring .o files, a changed .c file may show up with a modification time prior to a .o file that was built from a prior version of the .c file.

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-n Do not really make the changes.

If the -n option is specified,

filesync determines what changes

have been made to files, and what reconciliations are required and displays this

information on the standard out-

put. No changes are made to files, including the packing rules file.

Specifying both the -n and -o

options causes filesync to

analyze the prevailing system and report the changes that have been made on that system. Using

-n and -o in combination is use-

ful if your machine is discon-

nected (and you cannot access the server) but you want to know what changes have been made on

the local machine. See the -o

option description.

-o src | dst The -o option forces a one-way

reconciliation, favoring either

the source system (src) or des-

tination system (dst).

Specify -o src to propagate

changes only from the source

system to the destination sys-

tem. Changes made on the desti-

nation system are ignored.

filesync aborts if it cannot

access a source or destination directory.

Specify -o dst to propagate

changes only from the destina-

tion system to the source sys-

tem. Changes made on the source

system are ignored. filesync

aborts if it cannot access a source or destination directory.

Specifying -n with the -o option

causes filesync to analyze the

prevailing system and reports on what changes have been made on

that system. Using -n and -o in

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combination is useful if a machine is disconnected (and there is no access to the server), but you want to know what changes have been made on

the local machine. See the -n

option description.

It is possible to specify the -o

and -f options in combination if

they both specify the same

preference (src or dst). If -o

and -f options conflict, the -f

option will be ignored. See the

-f option description.

-q Suppress the standard filesync

messages that describe each reconciliation action as it is performed.

The standard filesync message

describes each reconciliation action in the form of a UNIX shell command (for example, mv, ln, cp, rm, chmod, chown, chgrp, setfacl, and so forth).

-r directory Limit the reconciliation to

directory. Specify multiple

directories with multiple -r

specifications.

-s source-dir Specify the directory on the

source system from which the filename to be copied is

located. Use with the -d dest-

dir option and the filename

operand. See the -d option

description and OPERANDS.

-v Display additional information

about each file comparison as it is made on the standard output.

-y Bypass safety check prompts.

Nomadic machines occasionally

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move between domains, and many

of the files on which filesync

operates are expected to be accessed by NFS. There is a

danger that someday filesync

will be asked to reconcile local changes against the wrong file system or server. This could result in a large number of

inappropriate copies and dele-

tions. To prevent such a mishap,

filesync performs a few safety

checks prior to reconciliation. If large numbers of files are likely to be deleted, or if high level directories have

changed their I-node numbers,

filesync prompts for a confirma-

tion before reconciliation. If you know that this is likely, and do not want to be prompted,

use the -y (yes) option to

automatically confirm these prompts. OPERANDS The following operands are supported:

filename The name of the ordinary file, directory, sym-

bolic link, or special file in the specified

source directory (source-dir) to be synchron-

ized. Specify multiple files by separating each filename by spaces. Use the filename operand

with the -s and -d options. See OPTIONS.

If filename is an ordinary file, that ordinary file will be replicated (with the same filename)

in the specified destination directory (dest-

dir). If filename is a directory, that directory and all of the files and subdirectories under it

will be replicated (recursively) in the speci-

fied destination directory (dest-dir).

If filename is a symbolic link, a copy of that

symbolic link will be replicated in the speci-

fied destination directory (dest-dir).

If filename is a special file, a special file with the same major or minor device numbers will

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be replicated in the specified destination

directory. (dest-dir). Only super-users can use

filesync to create special files.

Files created in the destination directory

(dest-dir) will have the same owner, group and

other permissions as the files in the source directory. If filename contains escaped shell wildcard characters, the wildcard characters are stored

in $HOME/.packingrules and evaluated each time

filesync is run.

For example, the following would make sure that

the two specified files, currently in $RHOME,

were replicated in $HOME:

filesync -s $RHOME -d $HOME a.c b.c

The following example would ensure that all of

the *.c files in $RHOME were replicated in

$HOME, even if those files were not created

until later.

filesync -s $RHOME -d $HOME '*.c'

If any of the destination files already exist,

filesync ensures that they are identical and

issues warnings if they are not. Once files have been copied, the distinction

between the source and destination is a rela-

tively arbitrary one (except for its use in the

-o and -f switches).

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES FILESYNC Specifies the default location of the

filesync packing rules and baseline files.

The default value for this variable is $HOME.

The suffixes .packingrules and .filesync-base

will be appended to form the names of the packing rules and baseline files.

LC_MESSAGES Determines how diagnostic and informative

messages are presented. In the "C" locale, the messages are presented in the default form found in the program itself (in most

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cases, U.S. English). EXIT STATUS

Normally, if all files are already up-to-date, or if all

files were successfully reconciled, filesync will exit with

a status of 0. However, if either the -n option was speci-

fied or any errors occurred, the exit status will be the logical OR of the following: 0 No conflicts, all files up to date. 1 Some resolvable conflicts. 2 Some conflicts requiring manual resolution. 4 Some specified files did not exist. 8 Insufficient permission for some files. 16 Errors accessing packing rules or baseline file. 32 Invalid arguments. 64 Unable to access either or both of the specified src or dst directories. 128 Miscellaneous other failures. FILES

$HOME/.packingrules list of files to be kept synchron-

ized

$HOME/.filesync-base baseline summary file

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-

butes:

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_______________________________________________________________

| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |

|_____________________________|________________________________|

| Availability | service/network/network-clients|

|_____________________________|________________________________|