Executing rsync as sudo

A quick way to run rsync (via sudo on the remote server) is to use the –rsync-path option (asuming that sudo is configured to run without a password) also verify that you have !tty_tickets in your sudoers file.

rsync -avz --rsync-path='sudo rsync' user@server:/dir/to/backup /destination/directory/

To do this interactivly (without being able to do it password less)

user@bacup$ stty -echo;ssh user@server sudo -v; stty echo
user@bacup$ rsync -avz --rsync-path='sudo rsync' user@server:/dir/to/backup /destination/directory/

(Or as one line)

stty -echo; rsync -azv --rsync-path='sudo rsync' user@server:/dir/to/backup /destination/directory/; stty echo

“stty -echo” turns off input echo (so that your password will not be shown as you type it)
“stty echo” turns the input echo back on (so you can see what you are doing)

svnadmin dump vs hotcopy

  • hotcopy makes a direct copy of the repository. It is fast, but it keeps information about the underlying file system etc. The server where the copy is imported needs to be the same version, have the same config etc.
  • dump is version independent. This means that the exported copy can be used by any version of svn.

IMHO: dump is better for backups and long term archiving (outside a repository) [like a tape in a vault].
hotcopy is better suited to make a quick copy to another server when the other server is up and running.

The base information for this post was found in the svn maillist