Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Name

filesync

Synopsis

    filesync [options] [-r dir ...]
    filesync [options] -s srcdir -d dstdir filename ...

Synchronize files and directories (including symbolic links and device files) between two different computer systems. This command is intended for keeping nomadic computers, such as laptops or notebook systems, synchronized with server systems. By default, changes are propagated two ways: from both the source system to the destination system, and vice versa. (Typically the server is the source system and the nomadic system is the destination.) Access to the server file tree is via NFS mount on the client, typically managed via the automounter. (Contrast this to the rsync command [see rsync in the earlier section "Alphabetical Summary of Common Commands“], where the name of the remote host is provided explicitly.)

filesync synchronizes only the files listed in the $HOME/.packingrules file. See packingrules(4) for a description of the file format. The file allows specification of files to be ignored, wildcard patterns, and more. It lists the files and directories that are to be synchronized. Users may edit this file with any text editor in order to adjust filesync’s operation. The file $HOME/.filesync-base keeps track of which files are subject to synchronization, and their states when last synchronized. Users should not edit this file. Both files should be kept on the nomadic system, which should also be the one where filesync is run, in order to avoid problems with multiple nomadic ...