zrsync is available on github.

Description

For simple deployments and updates to a website, rysnc is a wonderful tool. zrsync is a simple rsync wrapper I wrote because I got tired of typing commands like this:

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rsync -auv -e ssh --delete-after --stats --exclude=.svn --exclude=.git*
--exclude-from=sync.exclude /Users/chronon/www/chronon.com/public/
chronon.com:/home/chronon/www/chronon.com/public

Following a few required conventions and using zrsync, the above command becomes:

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zrsync

A little easier to remember!

Installation

Put the script in your $PATH. Obviously SSH access to the remote host is required, preferably using key pair authentication.

Configuration

Optional: Set an environment variable for your most commonly used remote host. In .bashrc for example:

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export ZRSYNC_REMOTE="chronon.com"

Optional: Set an environment variable to convert Mac OS X directory /Users to /home when figuring out the remote path. See the conventions section below for details. In .bashrc for example:

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export ZRSYNC_OSXUSER=1

Conventions

This script is based on (my) conventions, which if followed make using it very simple.

• Use the same directory structure on your local development machine as you do on your server. Since OS X puts users in /Users and servers rooted in UNIX put users in /home, set the above mentioned environment variable ZRSYNC_OSXUSER to 1.

• To exlcude files or directories, create a file in the root of your project named sync.exclude and list stuff there. Example sync.exclude contents:

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Tests/
tmp/
webroot/test.php

• Both .svn and .git files/directories are automatically excluded.

Usage

If the above conventions are followed, to perform an rsync deployment or update of a project is as simple as cd to project root, and typing zrsync.

All command line options can be seen by typing zrsync -h. A pretend/dry-run mode is available by using the -p option.