Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 13:09:02 +0200 (CEST) From: Oliver Fromme <olli@lurza.secnetix.de> To: cejkar@fit.vutbr.cz (Rudolf Cejka) Cc: freebsd-hubs@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Rsync synchronization problem Message-ID: <200705141109.l4EB92ME048808@lurza.secnetix.de> In-Reply-To: <20070514070225.GA8051@fit.vutbr.cz>
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Hi, This is probably not related to the problems described in this thread, but I'd like to give a generic warning about the use of rsync. As long as things are fine, rsync runs very well. But as soon as there's some error situation, it might start running havoc. For example, I had situations where the destination file system was full (or out of inodes), and rsync started to mirror files at completely different positions, filling a shared bin directory with random files from users' homes and even device nodes. In another case there was a permission problem on one directory, which caused rsync to ignore random files (but not all of them) in a completely different directory (which did have the correct permissions). It seems that rsync's error handling is very bad, and if an error occurs, serious bugs start to appear. I wouldn't go as far as saying "rsync considered harmful", but when you use rsync, make sure that you always have sufficient space on the target file file system, and that no other errors occur. Always check for errors. If something goes wrong, make sure that all files are still where they belong (or delete everything and start from scratch). Personally I try to avoid rsync when possible. The FreeBSD FTP tree consists mostly of compressed binary files that don't benefit from the rsync algorithm anyway. Just my 2 cents. YMMV, of course. Best regards Oliver -- Oliver Fromme, secnetix GmbH & Co. KG, Marktplatz 29, 85567 Grafing b. M. Handelsregister: Registergericht Muenchen, HRA 74606, Geschäftsfuehrung: secnetix Verwaltungsgesellsch. mbH, Handelsregister: Registergericht Mün- chen, HRB 125758, Geschäftsführer: Maik Bachmann, Olaf Erb, Ralf Gebhart FreeBSD-Dienstleistungen, -Produkte und mehr: http://www.secnetix.de/bsd "C++ is over-complicated nonsense. And Bjorn Shoestrap's book a danger to public health. I tried reading it once, I was in recovery for months." -- Cliff Sarginson
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