Operating Systems Coursework: File Synchronization and Remote Transfer

This assignment explores file synchronization techniques using the Rsync command in an operating systems context. The solution demonstrates the use of Rsync for local and remote file transfers, including command examples and explanations. It covers the configuration of remote file transfer between source and destination machines, highlighting the use of various options such as –exclude, -exclude-from, –update, and –delete. The student reflects on the learning process, emphasizing the importance of research and the practical application of Rsync for backup and file management. The assignment references relevant academic sources and provides a detailed understanding of file synchronization using Rsync.

Running head: OPERATING SYSTEMS UG2
Coursework Exercise Sheet 4
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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OPERATING SYSTEMS UG2
Appropriate synchronization tool for performing file synchronization
The above screenshot shows copying of file using the rsync command in a tmp directory that can
be used for backup.
The above screenshot shows successfully copying of the files in the tmp directory and working
on rsync command
Configuration of remote file transfer between source machine and destination
machine
With the use or rsync local and remote file transfers can be done and it is similar with scp
remote transfer syntax (Tanpure et al. 2015). The following command is used for establishing a
connection and enabling remote file transfer between the source and destination machine.
rsync [flags] [local path] [user]@[remote server]:[remote path]
The following example is used for establishing a connection with remote host for remote
transfer:

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OPERATING SYSTEMS UG2
rsync -avh /tmp/foo/ root@host2:/tmp/bar
There are more options available such as –exclude, -exclude-from, -update, -delete used
based on the scenario. –exclude is used depending on the file pattern since rsync does not have
the support for regex and thus the standard matching of files are used. –exclude-from is used for
excluding the files that are listed in separated line file. –update is used if the source copy has
been modified recently (Gagie et al. 2019). –delete is used for deleting the source if the copy of
the source does not exists.
Reflective Comments
I successfully completed the coursework without any major problem because I have done
a lots of research from Ubuntu community regarding the installation and working of rsync.
The rsync can be installed in graphical mode for getting the features and perform remote
or local backup easily.
The previous exercises helped me to learn about the commands that are needed for
installation of rsync in command line utility and transfer the files between the two virtual
machine that I have created in course work 1 and course work 3.
I have learned that with the use of rsync a large number of options can be availed that
helps in controlling the aspect of behavior and gives permission for flexible specification for
copying a set of files.

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OPERATING SYSTEMS UG2
References
Gagie, T., Manzini, G., Navarro, G., Sakamoto, H. and Takabatake, Y., 2019. Rpair: Rescaling
RePair with Rsync. arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.00809.
Tanpure, A., Patil, A., Bansod, A. and Kulkarni, A., 2015. Rsync over https for Linux and
windows with seamless data transfer. International journal of scientific and research
publications (IJSRP), pp.582-285.