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I'm using rsnapshot to make backups of a folder which contains audio files. When these files change, it is only metadata such as ID3 tags which change, and I don't need to make a new backup of the entire MP3 file just because of this.

I've got the metadata in a separate database and can easily write that metadata to the files if needed.

Thus, I would like rsnapshot only to make copies of new files and remove deleted files from my backup "vault". My question is; can I simply just use --ignore-existing for this?

Will rsnapshot understand that?

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up vote 2 down vote accepted

So yes, you must provide the argument in the rsnapshot.conf file :

rsync_long_args        --ignore-existing

If you want to keep the default rsync_long_args for rsnapshot (you probably want). You must put them on the same line like this :

rsync_long_args        --delete --numeric-ids --relative --delete-excluded --ignore-existing

The example above is from the version 1.3.1. Remember a TAB should separate the rsync_long_args part from the arguments.

Just remember to do a test with -t before doing it for real !

rsnapshot -t daily
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Alright...just for me to get this right...does rsnapshot first create hardlinks based on the "previous" backup, and then from there check against the source to see if there are any changes? –  sbrattla Feb 26 '13 at 14:56
Found an explanation in cantrell.org.uk/david/tech/talks/… under "How rsnapshot works". Thanks! –  sbrattla Feb 26 '13 at 15:17
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