rsyncOSX / Rsyncosx

RsyncOSX require macOS Catalina 10.15 and later versions of macOS.

The work on a SwiftUI based version of RsyncOSX has commenced. The new app is called RsyncUI and will be released as a new application and not as an upgrade.

• Install by Homebrew
• Documents, issues and changelog
• Dependencies
• Tools used
• Scheduling
• Remote servers
• Signing and notarizing
• Localization
• Version of rsync
• Some words about RsyncOSX
• The --delete parameter
• The source code and compile
• A Sandboxed version
• About bugs
• About restoring files to a temporary restore catalog
• Application icon
• How to use RsyncOSX - YouTube videos
• XCTest

Install by Homebrew

RsyncOSX can also be installed by Homebrew: brew install --cask rsyncosx

Documents, issues and changelog

RsyncOSX is a GUI on top of the command line utility rsync. Rsync is a file-based synchronization and backup tool. There is no custom solution for the backup archive. You can quit utilizing RsyncOSX (and rsync) at any time and still have access to all synchronized files. RsyncOSX is compiled with support for macOS Catalina 10.15 and later versions.

• info and guidelines about using RsyncOSX
• the changelog

The above docs are based on Hugo, the Hugo theme Even, Markdown and published on Netlify. If you want to discuss changes or report bugs please create an issue.

Dependencies

The application is implemented in pure Swift, ViewControllers and Storyboard(Cocoa and Foundation classes). From the latest release there are three source code dependencies:

• check for TCP connectivity by utilizing SwiftSocket, some functions require connections to remote servers
• execute pre and post shellscripts by utilizing John Sundell´s ShellOut
• utilizing John Sundell´s Files for reading files and catalogs

All three are available as source code and automatically included as part of building RsyncOSX.

Working with JSON require to encode and decode the JSON file. The tool JSONExport is used to create the required Swift structs (configurations, schedules and logs) for decode JSON file into the approriate Swift structs.

Tools used

The following tools are used in development:

• Xcode (the main tool)
• make to compile new versions in terminal
• create-dmg to create new releases
• periphery to identify unused code
• SwiftLint to enforce Swift style and conventions
• SwiftFormat for reformatting Swift code

All the above, except Xcode are installed by using Homebrew.

Scheduling

Scheduled tasks are added and deleted within RsyncOSX. Executing the scheduled tasks is by the menu app.

Remote servers

If destination is a remote server, RsyncOSX is dependent on setting up password-less logins. Both ssh-keys and rsync daemon setup are possible. It is advised utilizing ssh-keys because communication between source and destination (client and server) is encrypted.

If destination is a local attached volume, the above is not relevant.

Signing and notarizing

The app is signed with my Apple ID developer certificate and notarized by Apple. See signing and notarizing for info. Signing and notarizing is required to run on macOS Catalina.

Localization

RsyncOSX speaks new languages. RsyncOSX is localized to:

• Chinese (Simplified) - by StringKe (Chen)
• German - by Andre Voigtmann
• Norwegian - by me
• English - the base language of RsyncOSX
• Italian - by Stefano Steve Cutelle'
• Dutch - by Marcellino Santoso

Localization is done by utilizing Crowdin to translate the xliff files which are imported into Xcode after translating. Xcode then creates the required language strings. Crowdin is free for open source projects.

Version of rsync

RsyncOSX is verified with rsync versions 2.6.9, 3.1.2, 3.1.3 and 3.2.x. Other versions of rsync will work but numbers about transferred files is not set in logs. It is recommended to install the latest version of rsync.

If you are only looking for utilizing stock version of rsync (version 2.6.9) and only synchronize data to either local attached disks or remote servers, there is a minor version (RsynGUI) available on Mac App Store. RsyncGUI does not support snapshots or scheduling task.

Some words about RsyncOSX

RsyncOSX is not developed to be an easy to use synchronize and backup tool. The main purpose is to assist and ease the use of rsync to synchronize files on your Mac to remote FreeBSD and Linux servers. And of course restore files from those remote servers.

The UI of RsyncOSX can for users who dont know rsync, be difficult or complex to understand. Using RsyncOSX requires some knowledge of rsync. The main objective for RsyncOSX is to ease the use of rsync, not teach macOS users how to use rsync. That is beyond the scope of RsyncOSX. Setting the wrong parameters to rsync can result in deleted data. And RsyncOSX will not stop you for doing so. That is why it is very important to execute a simulated run (--dry-run) and inspect what happens before a real run.

RsyncOSX supports synchronize and snapshots of files.

If your plan is to use RsyncOSX as your main tool for backup of files, please investigate and understand the limits of it. RsyncOSX is quite powerful, but it is might not the primary backup tool for the average user of macOS.

The --delete parameter

Caution about RsyncOSX and the `--delete` parameter. The `--delete` is a default parameter.
The parameter instructs rsync to keep the source and destination synchronized (in sync).
The parameter instructs rsync to delete all files in the destination which are not present
in the source.

Every time you add a new task to RsyncOSX, execute an estimation run (--dry-run) and inspect
the result before executing a real run. If you by accident set an empty catalog as source
RsyncOSX (rsync) will delete all files in the destination.

To save deleted and changes files either utilize snapshots or the --backup parameter. The --delete parameter and other default parameters might be deleted if wanted.

The source code and compile

There are some details about source and how to compile.

A Sandboxed version

There is also released a minor version, RsyncGUI of RsyncOSX on Apple Mac App Store. See the changelog. RsyncGUI utilizes stock version of rsync in macOS and RsyncGUI only supports synchronize task (no snapshots).

About bugs

Over the years most bugs are smoked out. Thanks to users who reports bugs. Fighting bugs are difficult. I am not able to test RsyncOSX for all possible user interactions and use. I need support from other users discovering bugs or not expected results. If you discover a bug please report it.

About restoring files to a temporary restore catalog

If you do a restore from the remote to the source, some files in the source might be deleted. This is due to how rsync works in synchronize mode. As a precaution never do a restore directly from the remote to the source, always do a restore to a temporary restore catalog.

Application icon

The application icon is created by Zsolt Sándor. All rights reserved to Zsolt Sándor.

How to use RsyncOSX - YouTube videos

There are two short YouTube videos of RsyncOSX:

• how to get and install RsyncOSX
• adding and executing the first backup

XCTest

There are two XCTest configurations for testing.