Simple whole volume copy

[Henri Shustak]

> I have a volume at 192.168.0.2 on my local network. I'd like to rsync the
> entire volume to a backup volume, skip all files already present on the
> backup volume (same name and the same or earlier timestamp)


Firstly, I would recommend that on both machines you compile and install a copy of the latest version of rsync with some Mac OS X specific patches the link below will assist you : 
http://www.lbackup.org/developer/rsync_hfs

If you are not coping a boot volume, then you will probably find the information at the following URL helpful : <http://www.lbackup.org/synchronizing_disk_images_between_machines>

If you are trying to create a bootable clone of a startup disk then I would recommend Carbon Copy Cloner (I would also recommend that you shutdown the system before you make a clone) : <http://www.bombich.com/>

Whichever method you use, I recommend the use of Backup-Bouncer to check that it has actually copied the various meta-data you are expecting to have preserved. Further information regarding backup bouncer is available from the following URL : <http://www.n8gray.org/code/backup-bouncer/>

> include all flags, dates, etc. as applicable to Mac OS X 10.6.x.


I am unsure if the latest version of Backup-Bouncer or rsync supports the checking / coping of HFS file system compressed files. Hopefully someone else with a deeper understanding of this matter is watching this thread and will be able to comment.

Further information regarding the file system compression on Mac OS 10.6 is available at the following URL : <http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20090902223042255>

There is a recent thread on the rsync mailing list which relates to the rsync flag : 

  --protect-decmpfs

The full thread is available from the following URL : 
<http://www.mail-archive.com/rsync@lists.samba.org/msg25797.html>

Finally, to be absolutely sure that all meta data is preserved you could consider a tool such as dd to copy the disk block by block. However, using a tool such as dd will mean that you will miss out on the benefits of a tool like rsync : <http://linux.die.net/man/1/dd>




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