Using Rsnapshot with sync_first, link_dest, and use_lazy_deletes

I've set up rsnapshot with the configuration below and it seems to work fine. However, if I understand what I have read correctly, in the rsnapshot docs and other tutorials, the operation would be more robust with these options added:

link_dest 1
sync_first 1
use_lazy_deletes    1

However when I enabled these, particularly sync_first, it does not seem to operate correctly. There are no errors, but nothing seems to happen (see last code block below). Configtest succeeds fine. I suspect I am missing something about how sync_first is to be used. I would like to know first if these three options are indeed beneficial when used together (no conflicts) and secondly, is there a difference in the way I must call rsnapshot in cron after enabling sync_first?

This is installed on Ubuntu 14.04 with rsnapshot 1.3.1 and rsync has the link_dest option. Thanks for any direction on this, the official docs are a bit dry.

Conf

    config_version  1.2
    snapshot_root   /srv/rsnapshot/
    no_create_root  0
    cmd_cp      /bin/cp
    cmd_rm      /bin/rm
    cmd_rsync   /usr/bin/rsync
    cmd_ssh /usr/bin/ssh
    cmd_logger  /usr/bin/logger
    cmd_du      /usr/bin/du
    cmd_rsnapshot_diff  /usr/bin/rsnapshot-diff

    retain      HoursAgo    6
    retain      DaysAgo     7
    retain      WeeksAgo    4
    #retain monthly 3

    verbose     5
    loglevel    3
    logfile /var/log/rsnapshot.log
    lockfile    /var/run/rsnapshot.pid
    rsync_long_args --stats --delete --numeric-ids --relative --delete-excluded
    ssh_args    -p 22

    # host.mydomain.net
    backup      [email protected]:/etc/        host.mydomain.net/
    backup      [email protected]:/srv/www/        host.mydomain.net/
    backup_script       /usr/bin/ssh [email protected] "rm -rf /var/local/mysqlbak/"       unused/
    backup_script       /usr/bin/ssh [email protected] "/usr/local/bin/mysql_bak.sh"       unused1/
    backup      [email protected]:/var/local/mysqlbak/     host.mydomain.net/mysql/

Cron

 0     */4    * * *    root    /usr/bin/rsnapshot hourly 2>&1  | \/usr/local/bin/rsnapreport.pl | mail -s "Hourly Backup" [email protected]
 30     3     * * *    root    /usr/bin/rsnapshot daily 2>&1  | \/usr/local/bin/rsnapreport.pl | mail -s "Daily Backup" [email protected]
 0      3     * * 1    root    /usr/bin/rsnapshot weekly 2>&1  | \/usr/local/bin/rsnapreport.pl | mail -s "Weekly Backup" [email protected]

Results of running with all three extra options enabled:

root@backup:~# rsnapshot HoursAgo
require Lchown
Lchown module loaded successfully
Setting locale to POSIX "C"
echo 3567 > /var/run/rsnapshot.pid
mv /srv/rsnapshot/HoursAgo.3/ /srv/rsnapshot/HoursAgo.4/
mv /srv/rsnapshot/HoursAgo.2/ /srv/rsnapshot/HoursAgo.3/
mv /srv/rsnapshot/HoursAgo.1/ /srv/rsnapshot/HoursAgo.2/
mv /srv/rsnapshot/HoursAgo.0/ /srv/rsnapshot/HoursAgo.1/
No directory to delete: /srv/rsnapshot/_delete.3567
rm -f /var/run/rsnapshot.pid
/usr/bin/logger -i -p user.info -t rsnapshot /usr/bin/rsnapshot HoursAgo: \
    completed successfully

This happens instantly, with no connection to the remote and no time to check changed files.

Update: I found some additional information on sync_first in the Ubuntu pages on rsnapshot. I've edited my cron by adding rsnapshot sync && in front of the hourly line:

 0 */4 * * * root /usr/bin/rsnapshot sync && /usr/bin/rsnapshot hourly 2>&1  | \/usr/local/bin/rsnapreport.pl | mail -s "Hourly Backup" [email protected]

This seems to work when I ran it manually.

I would still like to know: Are these three extra options advantageous used together?

I may also dump the stats so I only get an email in case of error.

Solution 1:

You have to call rsnapshot sync before calling rsnapshot <level>.