Mirroring file moves with rsync

Question

The proprietary software that we're using for backups (sadface) generates a series of images that we use rsync to sync over to an off-site location. The files generated look something like:

a.bak
b.bak
c.bak

So we sync those across and get exactly the same structure on the off-site machine. Then the backup program runs again and we get something like:

archive/a.bak
archive/b.bak
c.bak
d.bak
e.bak

So the rsync job runs and we end up with something like:

archive/a.bak
archive/b.bak
a.bak
b.bak
c.bak
d.bak
e.bak

Obviously, we would prefer the off-site machine to look like the on-site machine does, to avoid clutter and save on storage space. Is there any way to get rsync to mirror the moves that have happened on-site, or are we going to have to work out something outside of rsync?

Answer 1

I don't know of any way to have it intelligently detect that the file has simply "moved". You can, however, use the --delete flag, so that it'll delete files from the destination that no longer exist on the source. The downside is that you'll re-copy the file whenever it moves, but at least you won't be wasting space for the old location on the destination anymore.

Answer 2

If you use the --times switch and make sure both ends have clock syncing and then you can use --update and --delete options to only transfer newer files and prune away files that shouldn't be there.

See the rsync man page for full options.

Answer 3

The solution we ended up going with was to write a script that works out the moves itself.