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Leo Simon
Asked: 2015-06-09 00:18:13 +0800 CST

syncronizing with unison on ubuntu

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I'm trying to sync two ubuntu machines using unison. Unfortunately the documentation for this program is not terribly helpful. Also there doesn't seem to be an established forum. So I'm hoping somebody here has used it.

When I sync for the first time, using the most basic syntax

unison myHome ssh://root_to_remote//myHome

even though my profile file says

auto = true
times = true

I'm prompted about every single file in my filesystem, even for files that are of identical sizes, with the same modification times. Obviously, I'm doing something wrong, since unison is supposed to work with minimal user input.

I'd greatly appreciate any advice...

sync

2 Answers

  1. Which manual do you refer to? I think that the tutorial is quite clear...

    Anyway, I use Unison to sync all my machines. What I do is:

    1. Create a profile in ~/.unison, myprofile.prf, like this: 

      label = my shiny new profile
root = /home/romano/
root = ssh://romano@remotehost//home/romano/

path = education
path = research
...

      (the path elements limits the subdirectories to be synced; i do not want all directories in my home to be synced by this profile, your usage can vary; if you use no path you'll duplicate everything --- be careful with hidden files though)

    2. Then I check that the thing works ok using the graphical interface unison-gtk --- from there you can check if the operation is going to be ok): unison-gtk

    3. Once you are confident that the sync will not eat your data for breakfast, you can use on the command line

      unison -auto -batch myprofile
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  2. To specifically address your problem, when you run

    unison myHome ssh://root_to_remote//myHome

    I'm pretty sure Unison doesn't look for a profile; it just uses the options you provide at the command line. If you want to use the settings in the file ~/.unison/eliforp.prf you need to evoke Unison like this:

    unison eliforp myHome ssh://root_to_remote//myHome

    A cleaner way might be to add the roots of synchronization to the profile by adding the lines

    root = myHome 
root = ssh://root_to_remote//myHome

    to ~/.unison/eliforp.prf and just evoking Unison with the command unison eliforp.

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