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16.4.1 ProblemYou want users to back up their own data. But you really don't want to give users shell accounts all over the place, just so that they can do backups. You'd also like to make it easier for them to share files, again without giving all your users shell accounts. 16.4.2 SolutionUse a dedicated PC for a central server, and run rsync in daemon mode. Users will not need login accounts on the server, and you can use rsync's own access controls and user authorization for security. rsync must be installed on all machines. First, on the rsync server, edit or create /etc/rsyncd.conf to create an rsync module defining the archive: # global settings log file = /var/log/rsyncd.log # modules [backup_dir1] path = /backups comment = server1 archive list = yes read only = no Make sure that /backups exists. Next, start rsync on the server in daemon mode: # rsync daemon Now you can copy files from a remote machine to the server. In this example, the remote PC is "workstation," and the rsync server is "server1." First, verify that the rsync server is accessible: sue@workstation:~$ rsync server1:: backup_dir1 server1 archive This command copies Sue's /spreadsheets directory to the module backup_dir1: sue@workstation:~$ rsync -av spreadsheets server1::backup_dir1 building file list.....done spreadsheets/aug_03 spreadsheets/sept_03 spreadsheets/oct_03 wrote 126399 bytes read 104 bytes 1522.0 bytes/sec total size is 130228 speedup is 0.94 Now, view the nice, new uploaded files: sue@workstation:~$ rsync server1::backup_dir1 drwx------ 192 2003/02/12 spreadsheets -rw-r--r-- 21560 2003/09/17 aug_03 -rw-r--r-- 21560 2003/10/14 sept_03 -rw-r--r-- 21560 2003/11/10 oct_03 Sue can easily retrieve files from server1 to her workstation: sue@workstation:~$ rsync -av server1::backup_dir1/sept_03 ~/downloads receiving file list...done sept_03 wrote 21560 bytes read 126 bytes 1148.0 bytes/sec total size is 22031 speedup is 0 16.4.3 DiscussionThis particular setup is perfectly functional, but not very secure. backup_dir1 is wide open, so any rsync user can access it. Files are transmitted in the clear, so you shouldn't use this for sensitive files. You can use rsync's built-in simple authentication and access controls to limit access, so it's possible to set up reasonably private archives. See Recipe 16.5 to learn how to add some security. This is what the rsync command options mean:
/etc/rsyncd.conf should be familiar to Samba users, as it uses the same style as smb.conf. Global settings go at the top. Then you can define as many modules as you need. A module defines a single directory, with its options and access permissions:
16.4.4 See Also
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