Smart Update in Reverse?

[jaydisc]

Hi there,

I use a feature of OS X Server called Portable Home Folder syncing from my laptop to the server. Every now and then, it gets a bit confused and the results can be a bit sporadic.

I'm wondering if SuperDuper! can help me in those cases.

For example, here is one of those cases:

1. The sync process tells me my laptop and server are out of sync and I need to choose which one to lean towards. I choose laptop.
2. The machines then synchronize, the laptop putting anything on the server that isn't currently there and vice versa, and in the case of a conflict, use the laptop's copy. However, if I had deleted stuff from the laptop since the last time I synced with the server, the server unfortunately restores it.

So, my plan:

1. When I'm warned that stuff is out of sync, I perform a SuperDuper! backup of my laptop's home folder to my iPod. So this would be a script that inherits Exclude All Files, and then includes /Users/me.

2. I then perform the server sync, and get all sorts of stuff I previously deleted from my laptop RETURNED to my laptop and my laptop and the server are mirrored again.

3. I then perform a reverse SuperDuper! operation from the iPod BACK to the laptop, using Smart Update with a script that Excludes all files and manually includes /Users/me, hoping that SUperDuper yanks out all that extraneous stuff improperly restored from the server.

4. Since SuperDuper! just deleted that stuff, when I sync again, the server will properly delete its copy of that extraneous stuff and all is good.

However, my fear is that I can't use the Smart Update feature from the iPod back to my Laptop (the one with Exclude all Files and include /Users/me) as I fear it's going to delete EVERYTHING ELSE on my laptop.

Is my fear warranted?

Does excluding stuff in a script and performing a Smart Update REMOVE the excluded stuff on the destination, or just IGNORE it?

[dnanian]

Your fear is warranted. Smart Update makes the destination exactly resemble the selections from the source, so your restore will end up with *only* your Home folder on it.

The secondary problem is that we won't let you copy to the boot device.

Doing a similar thing, with "Backup - all files", and then booting from the backup & restoring should work, though... unless the sync done by Server keeps some sort of "state" file on the laptop.