UNISON-2.32.52(1)
NAME
unison-2.32.52 - a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows
SYNOPSIS
unison-2.32.52 [options] unison-2.32.52 root1 root2 [options] unison-2.32.52 profilename [options] unison-2.32.52-gtk [options]
DESCRIPTION
This manual page briefly documents Unison, and was written for the
Debian GNU/Linux distribution because the original program does not
have a manual page. For a full description, please refer to the inbuilt
documentation or the manuals in /usr/share/doc/unison/. The unison-2.32.52-gtk binary has similar command-line options, but allows the
user to select and create profiles and configure options from within
the program.
Unison is a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows. It allows
two replicas of a collection of files and directories to be stored on
different hosts (or different disks on the same host), modified separately, and then brought up to date by propagating the changes in each
replica to the other.
Unison offers several advantages over various synchronization methods
such as CVS, Coda, rsync, Intellisync, etc. Unison can run on and synchronize between Windows and many UNIX platforms. Unison requires no
root privileges, system access or kernel changes to function. Unison
can synchronize changes to files and directories in both directions, on
the same machine, or across a network using ssh or a direct socket connection.
Transfers are optimised using a version of the rsync protocol, making
it ideal for slower links. Unison has a clear and precise specification, and is resilient to failure due to its careful handling of the
replicas and its private structures.
The two roots can be specified using an URI or a path. The URI must
follow the convention: protocol://[user@][host][:port][/path]. The protocol part can be file, socket, ssh or rsh.
OPTIONS
All Unison options are long, starting with one dash (`-') only. A summary of options is included here. For a complete description, see the
inbuilt documentation or the manuals in /usr/share/doc/unison/.
-auto automatically accept default (nonconflicting) actions
-batch batch mode: ask no questions at all
- -doc xxx
- show documentation ('-doc topics' lists topics)
- -follow xxx
- add a pattern to the follow list
- -force xxx
- force changes from this replica to the other
- -group synchronize group attributes
- -ignore xxx
- add a pattern to the ignore list
- -ignorenot xxx
- add a pattern to the ignorenot list
- -owner synchronize owner
- -path xxx
- path to synchronize
- -perms n
- part of the permissions which is synchronized
- -prefer xxx
- choose this replica's version for conflicting changes
- -root xxx
- root of a replica (should be used exactly twice)
- -silent
- print nothing except error messages
- -terse suppress status messages
- -testserver
- exit immediately after the connection to the server
- -times synchronize modification times
- -version
- print version and exit
- -addprefsto xxx
- file to add new prefs to
- -addversionno
- add version number to name of unison on server
- -backup xxx
- add a pattern to the backup list
- -backupcurr xxx
- add a pattern to the backupcurr list
- -backupcurrnot xxx
- add a pattern to the backupcurrnot list
- -backupdir xxx
- directory for storing centralized backups
- -backuploc xxx
- where backups are stored ('local' or 'central')
- -backupnot xxx
- add a pattern to the backupnot list
- -backupprefix xxx
- prefix for the names of backup files
- -backups
- keep backup copies of all files (see also 'backup')
- -backupsuffix xxx
- a suffix to be added to names of backup files
- -confirmbigdel
- ask about whole-replica (or path) deletes (default true)
- -confirmmerge
- ask for confirmation before commiting results of a merge
- -contactquietly
- suppress the 'contacting server' message during startup
- -copyprog xxx
- external program for copying large files
- -copyprogrest xxx
- variant of copyprog for resuming partial transfers
- -copyquoterem xxx
- add quotes to remote file name for copyprog (true/false/default)
- -copythreshold n
- use copyprog on files bigger than this (if >=0, in Kb)
- -debug xxx
- debug module xxx ('all' -> everything, 'verbose' -> more)
- -diff xxx
- command for showing differences between files
- -dontchmod
- When set, never use the chmod system call
- -dumbtty
- do not change terminal settings in text UI
- -fastcheck xxx
- do fast update detection (true/false/default)
- -forcepartial xxx
- add a pattern to the forcepartial list
- -height n
- height (in lines) of main window in graphical interface
- -host xxx
- bind the socket to this host name in server socket mode
- -ignorecase xxx
- identify upper/lowercase filenames (true/false/default)
- -ignorelocks
- ignore locks left over from previous run (dangerous!)
- -immutable xxx
- add a pattern to the immutable list
- -immutablenot xxx
- add a pattern to the immutablenot list
- -key xxx
- define a keyboard shortcut for this profile (in some UIs)
- -killserver
- kill server when done (even when using sockets)
- -label xxx
- provide a descriptive string label for this profile
- -log record actions in logfile (default true)
- -logfile xxx
- logfile name
- -maxbackups n
- number of backed up versions of a file
- -maxthreads n
- maximum number of simultaneous file transfers
- -merge xxx
- add a pattern to the merge list
- -mountpoint xxx
- abort if this path does not exist
- -numericids
- don't map uid/gid values by user/group names
- -preferpartial xxx
- add a pattern to the preferpartial list
- -pretendwin
- Use creation times for detecting updates
- -repeat xxx
- synchronize repeatedly (text interface only)
- -retry n
- re-try failed synchronizations N times (text ui only)
- -rootalias xxx
- register alias for canonical root names
- -rsrc xxx
- synchronize resource forks (true/false/default)
- -rsync activate the rsync transfer mode (default true)
- -selftest
- run internal tests and exit
- -servercmd xxx
- name of unison executable on remote server
- -showarchive
- show 'true names' (for rootalias) of roots and archive
- -socket xxx
- act as a server on a socket
- -sortbysize
- list changed files by size, not name
- -sortfirst xxx
- add a pattern to the sortfirst list
- -sortlast xxx
- add a pattern to the sortlast list
- -sortnewfirst
- list new before changed files
- -sshargs xxx
- other arguments (if any) for remote shell command
- -sshcmd xxx
- path to the ssh executable
- -ui xxx
- select UI ('text' or 'graphic'); command-line only
- -xferbycopying
- optimize transfers using local copies (default true)
- Some preferences are just boolean flags. Others take numeric or string arguments, indicated in the preferences list by n or xxx. Most of the string preferences can be given several times; the arguments are accumulated into a list internally.
SEE ALSO
The program is documented fully in the in-built documentation and the
manual, available as text in /usr/share/doc/unison/.
AUTHOR
- Options are automatically extracted from `unison -help'. The rest of
this manual page was written by Robert McQueen <robot101@debian.org>,
for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).