[TriLUG] how-to: preshare ssh key

Mark Kempster mark at kempster.org
Tue Jun 3 14:17:34 EDT 2008


If you've got one central master server making content available, and
the clients are on their own to check and receive updates, having
rsyncd on the master is certainly a normal setup. The ubuntu rsync
package has a default config file that's pretty decent.

The nice thing about using rsyncd is sorta like apache - you can
separate the rsync module from the filesystem, which can come in handy
when dealing with large filesystems. It's pretty trivial to set up
your rsync repository pointing at /mnt/a while you prep /mnt/b. Once
/mnt/b is finished update rsyncd.conf and clients get the new stuff. I
had trouble just putting stuff into /mnt/a and having clients receive
partials.

If you're in a push scenario (pushing content from the master to the
clients), rsync+ssh is probably the better bet - dealing with an
rsyncd server to receive the updates on every client can be
challenging when ssh is (presumably) already there.

In general I've had the best (read: easiest) time of it when setting
up a master rsyncd server and having clients pull updates on a
scheduled (revolving) basis. But that mandates a secure local network.
I'd absolutely throw ssh into the mix in any other situation.

- Mark


On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 2:02 PM, Warren Myers <volcimaster at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ron - the rsyncd man pages don't look exactly the clearest, so I'm going to
> ask:
>
> My specific problem is that I have a master repository of content that may
> or may not be updated, but must be replicated from a parent server to too
> child servers if it is updated.
>
> If the repository *is* updated, new data will be on the order of gigabytes
> (these are os images).
>
> If using rsync in daemon mode makes sense, I will definitely need some
> assistance as I've only ever been on the receiving end of rsyncs in the past
> (I'm a mirror for m0n0wall).
>
> Thanks,
> WMM
>
>
> On 6/3/08, Ron Joffe <rjoffe at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Tuesday 03 June 2008 13:15, Warren Myers wrote:
>> > I need to set up rsync between a pair of servers and want to use ssh to
>> > accomplish that.
>> >
>>
>> I would highly recommend that you look at utilizing rsyncd (daemon) mode.
>> It
>> will accomplish what you want without requiring shared keys, and with much
>> more precise control of who can sync and to where.
>>
>> Let us know if you need help configuring it.
>>
>> Ron
>>
>>
>>
>> --
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>>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Warren Myers
> http://warrenmyers.com
> --
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> TriLUG FAQ  : http://www.trilug.org/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions
>



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