rsink is a command line tool for managing and executing data transfer plans using rsync.

Clone rsink using git clone https://github.com/adamlazz/rsink.git, or download and unzip a release from the [releases] 1 page. You can move the resulting rsink directory wherever you want.

In order to run rsink/rsink.sh you must set up your rsink directory. Inside this directory, there is a config file where your sources and destinations are listed. There is also a profiles directory, where you can manage rsync options for different backup schemes. Set up your config file and profiles (below) and then run rsink.

./rsink.sh <options>
    -d or --dry-run     # Dry run (Don't run rsync)
    -h or --help        # Display help
    -s or --silent      # Silent output
    -v or --version     # Displays version

The config file provides instructions for rsync on the sources and destinations for your backups. Each entry of the file is formatted like so:

profile name (required)
source path (required)
destination path (required)
destination folder (required and must exist)
exclude
...
<new line>

• A # at the beginning of a line indicates a comment.
• There should not be a / character at the end of the destination volume or at the beginning of the destination folder.
• Destinations that are not mounted will be skipped.
• Destination folders can be . for root of drive. Otherwise, the folders must exist.
• There can be 0 or more excludes.
• An new line character \n indicates the end of a backup configuration.

The profiles directory contains files that create different sets of options for rsync to use. The profile's name is the name of the file. For example, the dump profile uses the following options:

a   # archive
E   # preserve executability
progress
ignore-existing

• A # character indicates the start of a comment. Blank lines are also permitted.
• <source> and <dest> are available as placeholders, so that profiles are not tied to specific sources or destinations.

• dump Copies source's new or changed files to the destination. Deleted files on the source will not be deleted from the destination.
• sync Source to destination sync. Files no longer on the source will be deleted from the destination if they exist.
• backup Versioned backup using rsync --link-dest=PATH. PATH is the location of the symbolic link to the most recent backup. You may use <dest> as a placeholder for the destination volume. A destination folder must be assigned in the config file and this folder must exist. Date and time data will be added to this destination folder to identify backups.