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+---
+title: "Rsync: Upload and Sync Files and Websites"
+date: 2021-07-01
+img: 'rsync.png'
+tags: ['server']
+---
+
+rsync is a simple way to copy files and folders between your local computer and
+server. While you can install [Nextcloud](/nextcloud) is a more normie-friendly
+Dropbox/Google Drive-like way to share files, people familiar with the
+command-line will find all they need in the simple `rsync` command.
+
+It not only makes file-transfer easy, but it allows you to build and
+maintain your website offline, then easily upload it to the proper
+directory on your server so you don\'t need to constantly be logged into
+your server to modify your site.
+
+## Installing rsync
+
+Run the following on your server *and* on your local machine.
+
+```sh
+apt install rsync
+```
+
+## Uploading files with rsync
+
+From your local machine you can upload files to your server like this:
+
+```sh
+rsync -rtvzP /path/to/file root@example.org:/path/on/the/server
+```
+
+You will be prompted for the root password and then uploading will
+commence.
+
+If you omit **root@**, rsync will not attempt to log in as root, but
+whatever your local username is.
+
+### Options to rsync
+
+In this command, we give several options to rsync. You can remove some of these
+or add to them based on your needs:
+
+-   `-r` -- run recurssively (include directories)
+-   `-t` -- transfer modification times, which allows skipping files
+    that have not been modified on future uploads
+-   `-v` -- visual, show files uploaded
+-   `-z` -- compress files for upload
+-   `-P` -- if uploading a large file and upload breaks, pick up where
+    we left off rather than reuploading the entire file
+
+Avoid using the commonly used `-a` option when uploading to a server. It can
+transfer your local machine\'s user and group permissions to your
+server, which might cause breakage.
+
+But `-a` is useful for making back-ups of important directories. It's an alias for many options at once (`-rlptgoD`)---read `man rsync` for the details.
+
+### Scriptability
+
+It\'s a good idea to build your website offline, then make an rsync
+script or bash alias like the one above to upload the edited files when
+you have made updates.
+
+### Password-less authentication
+
+To avoid having to manually input your password each upload, you can set
+up [SSH keys](/sshkeys) to securely idenitify yourself and computer
+as a trusted.
+
+### Picky trailing slashes
+
+rsync is very particular about trailing slashes. This is useful, but can
+be confusing to some new users. Suppose we run the following wanting to
+mirror our offline copy of our website in the directory we use on our
+server (`/var/www/websitefiles/`):
+
+```sh
+❌ rsync -rtvzP ~/websitefiles/ root@example.org:/var/www/websitefiles/
+```
+
+This will *not actually do quite what we want*. It will take our local
+`websitefiles` directory and put it *inside* `websitefiles` on the
+remote machine, ending up with `/var/www/websitefiles/websitefiles`.
+
+Instead, remove the trailing slash from the remote server location:
+
+```sh
+✅ rsync -rtvzP ~/websitefiles/ root@example.org:/var/www/websitefiles
+```
+
+`websitefiles/` has been replaced with `websitefiles`, and this will do
+what we want.
+
+## Downloading files with rsync {#downloading-file-with-rsync}
+
+You may just as easily download files and directories from your server
+with rsync:
+
+```sh
+rsync -rtvzP root@example.org:/path/to/file /path/to/file
+```
+
+If you don't keep a local copy of your website or other things saved on a server🔒, it might be a good idea to set up a [cronjob](/cron) or just a normal script on your local computer that takes back-ups of your website in case of server failure!