From owner-freebsd-questions Fri Apr 27 15:30:35 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from borg-cube.com (226-193.adsl2.netlojix.net [207.71.226.193]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9E48D37B423; Fri, 27 Apr 2001 15:30:27 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from dburr@borg-cube.com) Received: from borg-cube.com (dburr@borg-cube.com [207.71.226.193]) by borg-cube.com (8.11.3/8.11.3) with ESMTP id f3RMUQH76878; Fri, 27 Apr 2001 15:30:26 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from dburr@borg-cube.com) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 15:30:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Donald Burr of Borg To: FreeBSD Questions Cc: FreeBSD Ports Subject: HELP: need Two-way file synchronization tool like MS-Windows "Briefcase" Message-ID: <20010427152135.J76666-100000@borg-cube.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG [note: please followup to freebsd-ports. Thanks] I'm looking for a tool similar to the Microsoft Windows "Briefcase" tool, that will allow me to keep files synchronized between my desktop and laptop computers. If you're not familiar with how MS Briefcase works, this is how: You drag copies of the files you are working on into a "Briefcase" folder, which you then take with you in some way (either on your laptop, or copy it onto removable media, etc.) Then when you get back to the office, you open up the briefcase and click "Synchronize" It then compares the date/time stamps (and possibly other attributes) of both copies of the file, and makes sure that *both* sources (your office computer *and* the Briefcase folder) have the most current files. Here's my situation: I have a laptop running FreeBSD, and my server (where I store all of my files) is also running FreeBSD. I *don't* keep a full copy of my home directory on my laptop. Instead, I only keep a subset of files that I am actually working on at the moment. What I would like to be able to do is, whenever I leave for the day, run a program and have both my laptop and desktop both synchronized so that they contain the most current files. Then, as I go out and about, I can work on them on my laptop at my leisure. When I get back home, I connect them up again, and run the same command, and again, have both sources synchronized with the latest data. My connections are not always over the highest-bandwidth method possible (yes, I use a modem) so the protocol should be as bandwidth-friendly as possible. Someone suggested I take a look at the "rsync" program. I looked at it, but it doesn't seem to me to be the ideal program for my needs. for one thing, the synchronization (from what I understand) is only one way. I.e. central server ---> remote backup copy, NOT the other way around. Also, it's a pretty large package, and is probably overkill for my needs as well. Does anyone have any idea of a program I could use that would suit my needs? I'm sure it can be done pretty easily, even using a small Perl script or something, but unfortunately I lack the programming knowledge to code that. Any and all help/advice/whatever is greatly appreciated. Thanks! -- Donald Burr of Borg | FreeBSD: The Power to Serve! WWW: http://www.borg-cube.com/ ICQ #16997506 | http://www.freebsd.org/ P.O. Box 91212, Santa Barbara, CA 93190-1212 \----------------------------- Phone: (805)957-9666 Present Day... Present Time! To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message