Copying files from one machine to another

The rsync utility is the main way that we copy files to/from different computers. It has the following key features:

• It can be told to only copy files on the source that are newer than, or do not exist on, the destination.
• It can be told to remove files from the destination that are not on the source.
• By default, it works via secure ssh protocols.

We will develop this page further in the future. This program is a beast with a huge number of options. You do also need to be a bit careful with these options! For example, you may not always want the “remove from destination” option mentioned above, and you probably need to consider that on a case by case basis.