Hey #rsync experts! I have a dilemma. I do a daily backup to an external disk, but some of the files (VM containers) are HUGE (100GB), and because they are zero-padded, their size is always the same. By the time the rsync for these files finishes, they have wildly different mod dates from the originals on my HDD. I can set --modify-wiindow to $BIGNUM, but then all the regular files *don't* back up.

Maybe the answer is to touch all the big files (originals and backup) at the end of the rsync?

Hey #rsync experts! I have a dilemma. I do a daily backup to an external disk, but some of the files (VM containers) are HUGE (100GB), and because they are zero-padded, their size is always the same. By the time the rsync for these files finishes, they have wildly different mod dates from the originals on my HDD. I can set --modify-wiindow to $BIGNUM, but then all the regular files *don't* back up.

Maybe the answer is to touch all the big files (originals and backup) at the end of the rsync?

Added 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝟮 - 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 [UPDATE 2 - Interim Solution] to 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 [Failed Backup Server Build] article.

https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2025/05/28/failed-backup-server-build/#interim

#verblog #freebsd #hardware #backup #NAS #rsync #linux #zfs #openzfs