So how do we use rsync to push our web site to the server when we don’t have access to any of the rsyncd configuration files and can’t work with anything higher in the file tree than our home directory?  Sure we could pay more for a dedicated server, but why?  Lets use the tools we have as a simple user to accomplish what we need cheaply and easily.

First, get ssh access for your host server. Hostmonster requires a faxed copy of a picture ID and some other confirmation. Whatever your host requires, follow their procedures.

Test your ssh connection by opening a terminal and typing:

ssh username@hostname

It will ask you if you want to remember the host key and you should respond with a yes.

If you are able to enter your password and log in, you should be at your home directory on the host server. You should be able to see the files for your website with

ls ~/public_html

Type the following commands:

mkdir ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh

Log out and return to your local computer’s prompt and enter the following commands:

ssh-keygen -t dsa -C youremailaddress

ssh-keygen will ask you some questions. Using the default file name (/home/username/.ssh/id_dsa) is fine. It will also prompt you for a password. This will guard your ssh key, and you only have to type it once per session, so make it a good one.

Once complete, you should have two new files in ~/.ssh: id_dsa and id_dsa.pub.   Create a configuration shortcut:

echo -e "host shortname\n\tHostName hostname\n\tUser username" >> ~/.ssh/config

Where shortname is any name that you want to use to represent your website, hostname is the host that you are uploading to, and username is your login name on that server.

Now, send the public key to the server with:

scp ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub username@hostname:~/.ssh/authorized_keys2

Now, to prevent yourself from having to type your password every time you want to copy files or log in, type:

ssh-add

and type your password. This will put your ssh key into an ‘agent’, which will authorize you without a password for the rest of the time you are logged in.  After you log out you’ll have to do ssh-add again, but as long as you stay logged in you should be able to log into the hosting server with a simple:

ssh shortname

No password, no nothing, and all encrypted, too.  Log out of the server and get back to a local prompt.

Change to your directory that has the local copy of your web site, such as:

cd ~/public_html

To push the update your web site, type the command is:

rsync -e ssh -vramlHP --exclude '*.log' --numeric-ids --delete --delete-excluded --delete-after --delay-updates . shortname:~/public_html/

To pull the webserver down to your local directory, the command is:

rsync -e ssh -vralmHP --exclude '*.log' --numeric-ids --delete --delete-excluded --delete-after --delay-updates shortname:~/public_html/ .

It will transmit only the changed data, saving you time, and will properly handle hard and soft links, which will save you space on the server.

Just to finish the job I put them into shell scripts by:

mkdir ~/bin
echo -e '#!/bin/bash\n\nrsync -e ssh -vralHP --numeric-ids --delete --delete-excluded --delete-after --delay-updates localdirectory shortname:~/public_html/\n' >> ~/bin/pushsite
echo -e '#!/bin/bash\n\nrsync -e ssh -vralHP --numeric-ids --delete --delete-excluded --delete-after --delay-updates shortname:~/public_html/ localdirectory\n' >> ~/bin/pullsite
chmod +x ~/bin/pushsite ~/bin/pullsite

Where localdirectory is where you want the site stored locally.

Now typing ‘pushsite’ at a terminal prompt will push the update, and ‘pullsite’ will pull it down from the server (assuming your local bin dir is in your path, which it is on most systems).  Assuming you have previously done an ‘ssh-add’, you won’t even need to use a password.

Of course, this doesn’t backup databases, just static files.  But if you are dealing with static files, rsync can’t be beat.  It will push and pull only the changes, and will properly handle hard and soft links without duplicating the files.

Happy publishing.