backup script

[ieuuk]

hi, i have a backup script which goes as follows:

#!/bin/sh
#
# Back-Up Directory
TIMESTAMP=`date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S`;     #Year_Month_Day_Hour_Minute_Second
echo $TIMESTAMP;
/usr/bin/rsync --verbose --stats --recursive /server/Mail /server2/Mirror/
/usr/bin/rsync --verbose --stats --recursive /server/Documents /server2/Mirror/
/usr/bin/rsync --verbose --stats --recursive /server/Backup /server2/Mirror/
if [ $? -eq 0 ];then
	echo "bk_OK_$TIMESTAMP" >> /home/ian/sync.log
fi

poweroff

designed to copy my important stuff to another hard drive.. but a problem that i have with it is when it runs... if i have deleted something the backup copy doesnt delete the same file.

any ideas how i can get around this? thanks.

[ilja]

Isn't it the main reason for a backup, that the deleted files are not deleted in the backup directory?

[ieuuk]

see your point on that one... i didnt think of it like that

was just wanting it as a copy of whats on the other drive incase of a failure etc.. but i think i will keep it as is now.
could just set it to have a clear out of that directory so that it starts fresh every month or so, so that it doesnt go wild on disk space.

[ilja]

read through the man page of rsync. It is very interesting and might help you.

//edit:
e.g.

--delete
This tells rsync to delete any files on the receiving side that
aren’t on the sending side. Files that are excluded from
transfer are excluded from being deleted unless you use
--delete-excluded.

This option has no effect if directory recursion is not
selected.

This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very
good idea to run first using the dry run option (-n) to see what
files would be deleted to make sure important files aren’t
listed.

If the sending side detects any I/O errors then the deletion of
any files at the destination will be automatically disabled.
This is to prevent temporary filesystem failures (such as NFS
errors) on the sending side causing a massive deletion of files
on the destination. You can override this with the --ignore-
errors option.