This is a prototype of a startup utility to sync backup directories.

This script relies on a few tools that may not be immediately available in your system. On Debian/Ubuntu based systems, run the following command to install the necessary dependencies:

sudo apt install flock inotify-tools rsync

First grab the script and appreciate the BS in all its glory!

git clone https://github.com/tiagosimoes-euf/BackupSync.git
cd BackupSync/ && ls -hAl

Copy the example config file and edit the active config file.

cp example.bs.cfg bs.cfg
nano bs.cfg

Make the main script and the helper scripts executable.

chmod a+w bs.sh
chmod a+w bschk.sh
chmod a+w bsset.sh

Put these somewhere in your $PATH for easier access.

sudo ln -s ${PWD}/bs.sh /usr/local/bin/bs
sudo ln -s ${PWD}/bschk.sh /usr/local/bin/bschk
sudo ln -s ${PWD}/bsset.sh /usr/local/bin/bsset

Now you can run bs, bschk or bsset from anywhere in the command line.

To set up a particular sync, go to each source directory under the parent directory being watched and use the bsset command to add a destination directory to a destination file.

cd /WATCHDIR/sourcedir
bsset -d /path/to/destinationdir1
bsset -d /path/to/destinationdir2
...

Now any changes in this source directory will trigger a sync to all the destinations defined.

Use bsset -l to list all the destinations in the file and bsset -e to edit the file manually.

The approach to rsync is to exclude all but the patterns defined in the .rsync.include file at the project root. It is possible to define different rules for each source directory by running bsset -r which will copy the example file to that directory and open it in the text predefined text editor. Due to the way rsync works, this file will be ignored when syncing.

Call BS by typing bs & so that it runs in the background.

To check if the main script is running, use bschk. The check script will display a message according with the configuration file, but this can be overridden by passing a flag to the command:

bschk -m DEFAULT    # echoes in the command line
bschk -m NOTIFY     # displays a system notification
bschk -m GENMON     # outputs XML for the XFCE Panel Generic Monitor

Use bschk -t to toggle BackupSync on and off! If the script is running, this command will kill the child processes and switch it off. If the script is not running, it will start it running in the background.

You can combine it with another flag like bschk -t -m NOTIFY and bind it to a keyboard shortcut for bonus points!

Sometimes this error may prevent the script from starting:

Failed to watch /home/ts/dev/00_BACKUP; upper limit on inotify watches reached!
Please increase the amount of inotify watches allowed per user via `/proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches'.

Refer to this StackOverflow answer for details on how to solve it.

in memoriam Tiago Seco (1984 - 2022)