this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2025
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Using rsync for backups, because it's not shiny and new (tinkerbetter.tube)
submitted 5 days ago by mesamunefire@piefed.social to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
144 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

You might not even like rsync. Yeah it's old. Yeah it's slow. But if you're working with Linux you're going to need to know it.

In this video I walk through my favorite everyday flags for rsync.

Support the channel:
https://patreon.com/VeronicaExplains
https://ko-fi.com/VeronicaExplains
https://thestopbits.bandcamp.com/

Here's a companion blog post, where I cover a bit more detail: https://vkc.sh/everyday-rsync

Also, @BreadOnPenguins made an awesome rsync video and you should check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eifQI5uD6VQ

Lastly, I left out all of the ssh setup stuff because I made a video about that and the blog post goes into a smidge more detail. If you want to see a video covering the basics of using SSH, I made one a few years ago and it's still pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FKsdbjzBcc

Chapters:
1:18 Invoking rsync
4:05 The --delete flag for rsync
5:30 Compression flag: -z
6:02 Using tmux and rsync together
6:30 but Veronica... why not use (insert shiny object here)

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[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I use rsync for all kinda of things:

  • deploying static files to a public webserver (blog or whatever)
  • backups - scheduled systems/cron task w/ SSH key
  • copying stuff from a USB drive

I only really use scp if the system doesn't already have rsync.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Alright. But you don't need to know rsync. That's my only point. 👍👍

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Sure, but you should probably be aware of what it is and what it does. It's incredibly common and will be referenced in a ton of documentation for Linux server stuff.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You won't need to unless you run a server in that case. 👍 But the only condition here was "working with Linux".

Like I said, I've been using Linux at home and for work for over a decade, maybe 15+ years, never once did I need to use rsync or know what it is.

That being said, it was convenient when I used it, but never did I need it.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago

This is the self-hosted community, so that's the context I was assuming.