[TriLUG] how-to: preshare ssh key

[Mark Kempster]

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
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> TriLUG mailing list        : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
>> TriLUG FAQ  : http://www.trilug.org/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions
>>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Warren Myers
> http://warrenmyers.com
> --
> TriLUG mailing list        : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> TriLUG FAQ  : http://www.trilug.org/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions
>