<- Back
#backup #copy

rsync

Copy directory and preserve as much info as possible
Copy (archive) 
sudo rsync -avAXh --info=progress2 --info=name0 /mnt/source/ /mnt/target/
-a
--archive: equals -rlptgoD (no -H,-A,-X)
-v
--verbose
-A
--acls: preserve ACLs (implies -p)
-X
--xattrs: preserve extended attributes
-h
--human-readable
--info=progress2
Best way to show total progress
--info=name0
Hide filenames for cleaner output
-r
--recursive
-l
--links: copy symlinks as symlinks
-p
--perms: preserve permissions
-t
--times: preserve modification times
-g
--group: preserve group
-o
--owner: preserve owner (super-user only)
-D
same as --devices --specials
--devices
preserve device files (super-user only)
--specials
preserve special files
Copy as the current user 
sudo rsync -rltvXh --info=progress2 --info=name0 /mnt/source/ /mnt/target/

Optional extra arguments

  • -n: --dry-run
  • -i: --itemize-changes
  • -z: --compress
  • -P: --partial (continues files)
  • -H: --hard-links (preserve hard links)
  • --ignore-existing / --ignore-non-existing (= --existing)
  • --rsync-path="sudo rsync": Use sudo to access root files

Itemize Changes

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4493525/what-does-f-mean-in-rsync-logs

https://dev.to/alexisayenko/understanding-rsync-itemize-changes-5fgi

The log output can be interpreted like this:

>f.st……

> - the item is received
f - it is a regular file
s - the file size is different
t - the time stamp is different

.d..t……

. - the item is not being updated (though it might have attributes
    that are being modified)
d - it is a directory
t - the time stamp is different

>f+++++++++

> - the item is received
f - a regular file
+++++++++ - this is a newly created item

For copying system drives

Replicate partition table

Recreate all partitions manually.

Mount both drives (old and new) and copy files

Use rsync to copy files.

Note:

for system drives, copying /dev, /proc, /sys directories should be avoided: either exclude them with –exclude or do this from a live environment.

–exclude={“/dev/”,”/proc/”,”/sys/”,”/tmp/”,”/run/”,”/mnt/”,”/media/*”,”lost+found”}

Reinstall GRUB

sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/target/dev
sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/target/proc
sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/target/sys
sudo chroot /mnt/target
grub-install /dev/sdY
update-grub

Update /etc/fstab if needed

  1. Check sudo blkid to see new UUIDs.
  2. Edit /mnt/target/etc/fstab to match the new partition UUIDs so it boots correctly.