Rsync a list of files

Linux Tips & Tricks
1

I’ve been using rsync in a script one directory at a time, which is fine, but it would be more compact if I can get rsync to read the necessary directories/files from a file and the man pages offer the –files-from=FILE option. Unfortunately I can’t get this to work and the response is:
rsync error: syntax or usage error (code 1) at options.c(2308) [client=3.1.1]

My statement might be something like: rsync -a --files-from=dir-list.txt /media/keith/BACKUP_USB

I would be very grateful for advice.

Thank you

2

Found it!
The trick is: “Note that you still have to specify the directory where the files listed are located, for instance: rsync -av --files-from=file-list . target/ for copying files from the current dir.”
Note the dot (" . ") between “-list” and “target”. Not obvious from the man pages!

Found here: How to rsync only a specific list of files? - Stack Overflow

3

If you want rsync to run on specific directories then (instead of specific files) then you might be better off with --include-from option.
The manpage says:
–include=PATTERN
This option is a simplified form of the --filter option that
defaults to an include rule and does not allow the full
rule-parsing syntax of normal filter rules.

          See  the  FILTER  RULES section for detailed information on this
          option.

–include-from=FILE
This option is related to the --include option, but it specifies
a FILE that contains include patterns (one per line). Blank
lines in the file and lines starting with ’;’ or ’#’ are
ignored. If FILE is -, the list will be read from standard
input.

So your dir-list.txt could contain:
/Desktop
/Documents
/Pictures
/Misc
/play
/Programming
/Radio

Then you would use(n=dry run):

rsync -an --delete --prune-empty-dirs --include-from= $HOME/dir-list.txt $HOME/ /media/keith/BACKUP_USB

Assuming dir-list.txt is in /home/keith directory
Once you are happy that it is working as intended then remove the n option.

4

Many thanks for your very detailed reply, SeZo.
I do struggle to understand the man pages so your example is very helpful. I shall practice for a while and report on progress.

Cheers.

5

Well - tests did not go well.
After using the -n option without errors, a live test resulted in:

  • all the existing files on the USB being deleted, then

  • the system appeared to be copying all files on the system, not just those in the backup file-list

I had to crash out. I think I might give this method some serious (and safe) practice before trying it again! But thank you for the suggestion.