2. Commands

Synctity manages and executes rsync commands, which are configured by the rsync command dialog. This dialog can be launched from the Edit Profile section of the Synctity main by double-clicking on any existing command or adding a new command. Each command specifies a file copying operation.

The rsync command dialog is split into three tabs, Paths, Common, and Advanced. The Paths tab configures the files involved in the file copying operation, while the other two tabs configure options related to the file transfer. The rsync command that is being configured is displayed in text at the bottom of the dialog.

2.1. Paths

The Paths tab configures the Source and Destination of a file copy operation. When executed, files are copied from the source location to the destination location.

Note

On Unix-based machines, folders are files. So, in this documentation, the term “file” means either a file or a folder.

Either one (but not both) of the source and destination paths can be located on a remote file system. A complete path consists of three components:

Path

The absolute path to a file, local to the machine where the file resides. That is, the path from the root of the file system to the file. This is required. The ~ character can be used to denote the user’s home directory.

This can be entered manually in the Path text box or from a file browser by clicking on the ... button next to the text box.

Host

The name of the machine where the file resides. This can be an IP address or a machine name known on the network. This is optional; by default, the local machine is assumed.

User

The name of a user who has access to the file through SSH authorization. This is required if Host is specified.

These components combine to form a complete network path with the format user@host:/path. The path that the rsync command will use can be seen at the bottom of the rsync command dialog.

See also

In order to use remote a remote file system you must have SSH Authorization configured.

The rsync program makes an important distinction between source paths that end with the / directory delimiter and those that do not. If the source folder does not specify a trailing /, the entire folder is copied to the destination location. If a trailing / is specified, the contents of the folder are copied to the destination location.

For example, given the following source and destination file system:

$ tree
.
├── source
│   └── teapot.txt
└── target

If we specified a source path of source, the file system would look like this after synchroniziation:

$ tree
.
├── source
│   └── teapot.txt
└── target
    └── source
        └── teapot.txt

If, however, we specified a source path of source/, the file system would look like this after synchronization:

$ tree
.
├── source
│   └── teapot.txt
└── target
    └── teapot.txt

rsync does not make the same distinction for the destination directory. In Synctity, however, collections of rsync commands can be run in reverse, where the source and destination directories are swapped. This is something to keep in mind when configuring paths.

2.2. Common Options

Option Overload

The sheer number of options available is what makes rsync somewhat difficult to use in practice. This is the point of the Common tab—present the commonly-used options with brief descriptions to make it easy to find and use the options that are right for a particular task.

rsync has a large number of parameters that influence how files are copied from the source to destination. The Common tab collects the most commonly-used options in a single view. All of the options on this tab are turned on and off by toggling a check box—none of the options have parameters. Each option has a single letter code and short description. Hovering the mouse over an option will display a more detailed description. When an option is enabled, it will appear in the command line text at the bottom of the rsync command dialog.

See also

You may still need to consult the rsync documentation from time to time.

2.3. Advanced Options

There are yet more options in rsync, and some of these require parameter values, and therefore cannot be configured with a simple check box. The Advanced tab provides a means to configure any rsync parameter by specifying a name/value pair.

Use the following controls to add, edit, or remove advanced options:

Name

The name of the option, as known by rsync. This can be a single-letter option, such as o or a named option, such as exclude. This is required. Do not use a leading dash (- or --) when specifying option names—this will be added as appropriate.

Value

The value to supply for the option. This is optional.

Add

Adds the option specified by the name/value pair to the rsync command. The new option will be displayed in the table and in the command text.

Edit

Updates the option currently selected in the table with the name/value pair specified in the Name and Value text boxes.

Remove

Removes the option currently selected in the table from the command.

Name/Value Table

This table displays the currently configured options. Selecting an option will populate the Name and Value text boxes.

For example, below is a command that is configured to preserve file ownership attributes (-o) and exclude directories called images (--exclude=images/):