Windows based rsync server

Is there a way to build a Windows server what can be target for other Windows file servers with rsync ?

Solution 1:

While MarkM has a good point about DFS-R, if you want to still use rsync, then cwrsync is a great Windows version of rsync, which includes a client & server, and can also use encryption. I have used this package on Windows for years. It works great, but (in my experience) can sometimes have slower than expected file transfer times.

Solution 2:

Is there a reason that you want to use rsync? If I were you, I'd go with the native DFS-R functionality built into Windows.

Solution 3:

I have found a great tool Yintersync - Rsych for Windows to manage replicating multiple windows servers back to one. I replicate over 2tb daily from 10 servers over a 2mbit broadband connection using it.

Solution 4:

You can easily create a Windows rsync server using Cygwin with rsync package. All you have to do is install Cygwin and make sure you include rsync (listed under 'Net' category using setup-x86_64.exe installer). After Cygwin is installed on your server open a terminal window/session and do the following:

1. Create rsyncd.conf file on server

2. Inside rsyncd.conf add config info ex)
   auth users = myuser secrets file = /home/myuser/rsyncd.secrets hosts allow = 192.168.1.2,192.168.1.8 log file = /home/myuser/rsyncd.log port = 8730 use chroot = yes read only = yes [Share1] path = /cygdrive/e/pathtofolder [Share2] path = /cygdrive/f/pathtofolder Modify config to meet your specific needs.

3. Create rsyncd.secrets file on server and add secrets inside file ex)
   myuser:mysecretpassword

4. Protect rsyncd.secrets file on server (also required to properly run rsync daemon) ex)
   chmod 600 ./rsyncd.secrets

5. Test/Run daemon via cli on server ex)
   rsync --daemon --config=/home/myuser/rsyncd.confg --no-detach

6. Test rsync server connection from a client machine with rsync installed aswell ex)
   rsync -rdt rsync://myuser@rsyncserver:8730
   Command should list available shares.

7. Test rsync server auth from client machine (enter password when prompted) ex)
   rsync -rdt rsync://myuser@rsyncserver:8730/Share1 Password:mysecretpassword Command should list all files in specified share.

8. Something I've also learned about using Cygwin with rsync on Windows is that you also want to change your fstab file (located usually in Windows directory C:\cygwin64\etc on server or client) to include the noacl option otherwise you can run into all kinds of weird file permission issues when syncing. ex)

If any errors occur check server's rsyncd.log (as configured /home/myuser/rsyncd.log)

References:

• Rsync Server Setup
• Windows Cygwin Permission Annoyances