opt/unison/unison.1

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.TH UNISON 1 "September 23, 2001"
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.SH NAME
unison \- a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B unison
.RI [ options ]
.br
.B unison
root1 root2
.RI [ options ]
.br
.B unison
profilename
.RI [ options ]
.br
.B unison-gtk
.RI [ options ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
This manual page briefly documents Unison, and was written for the
Debian GNU/Linux distribution because the original program does not
have a manual page. For a full description, please refer to the
inbuilt documentation or the manuals in /usr/share/doc/unison/. The
unison-gtk binary has similar command-line options, but allows the user
to select and create profiles and configure options from within the
program.
.PP
Unison is a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows. It allows
two replicas of a collection of files and directories to be stored on
different hosts (or different disks on the same host), modified
separately, and then brought up to date by propagating the changes in
each replica to the other.
.PP
Unison offers several advantages over various synchronization methods
such as CVS, Coda, rsync, Intellisync, etc. Unison can run on and
synchronize between Windows and many UNIX platforms. Unison requires
no root privileges, system access or kernel changes to function. Unison
can synchronize changes to files and directories in both directions,
on the same machine, or across a network using ssh or a direct
socket connection.
.PP
Transfers are optimised using a version of the rsync protocol, making
it ideal for slower links. Unison has a clear and precise specification,
and is resilient to failure due to its careful handling of the replicas
and its private structures.
.SH OPTIONS
All Unison options are long, starting with one dash (`-') only.
A summary of options is included here. For a complete description,
see the inbuilt documentation or the manuals in /usr/share/doc/unison/.
.TP
.B \-addprefsto
specify a file to add new preferences to in interactive mode
.TP
.B \-addversionno
add version number to name of unison executable on server
.TP
.B \-auto
automatically accept default actions
.TP
.B \-backup xxx
add a regexp to the backup list
.TP
.B \-backups
keep backup copies of files (deprecated: use 'backup')
.TP
.B \-batch
batch mode: ask no questions at all
.TP
.B \-contactquietly
suppress the 'contacting server' message during startup
.TP
.B \-debug xxx
debug module xxx ('all' -> everything, 'verbose' -> more)
.TP
.B \-doc xxx
show documentation ('-doc topics' lists topics)
.TP
.B \-dumbtty
do not try to change terminal settings in text UI
.TP
.B \-editor xxx
command for displaying the output of the -merge program
.TP
.B \-fastcheck
do fast (and slightly unsafe) update detection on windows
.TP
.B \-follow xxx
add a regexp to the follow list
.TP
.B \-force xxx
force changes from this replica to the other
.TP
.B \-group
synchronize group
.TP
.B \-height n
height (in lines) of main window in graphical interface
.TP
.B \-ignore xxx
add a regexp to the ignore list
.TP
.B \-ignorecase
ignore upper/lowercase spelling of filenames
.TP
.B \-ignorenot xxx
add a regexp to the ignorenot list
.TP
.B \-killserver
kill server when done (even when using sockets)
.TP
.B \-log
record actions in file specified by logfile preference
.TP
.B \-logfile xxx
log file name
.TP
.B \-maxbackups n
number of backed up versions of a file to keep
.TP
.B \-merge xxx
command for merging conflicting files
.TP
.B \-merge2 xxx
command for merging files (when no common version exists)
.TP
.B \-numericids
don't map uid/gid values by user/group names
.TP
.B \-owner
synchronize owner
.TP
.B \-path xxx
path to synchronize
.TP
.B \-perms n
part of the permissions which is synchronized
.TP
.B \-prefer xxx
choose this replica's version in case of conflict
.TP
.B \-root xxx
root of a replica
.TP
.B \-rootalias xxx
register alias for canonical root names
.TP
.B \-rshargs xxx
other arguments (if any) for remote shell command
.TP
.B \-rshcmd xxx
path to the rsh executable
.TP
.B \-servercmd xxx
name of unison executable on remote server
.TP
.B \-silent
print nothing (except error messages)
.TP
.B \-socket xxx
act as a server on a socket
.TP
.B \-sortbysize
list changed files by size, not name
.TP
.B \-sortfirst xxx
add a regexp to the sortfirst list
.TP
.B \-sortlast xxx
add a regexp to the sortlast list
.TP
.B \-sortnewfirst
list new before changed files
.TP
.B \-sshcmd xxx
path to the ssh executable
.TP
.B \-statusdepth n
status display depth for local files
.TP
.B \-terse
suppress status messages
.TP
.B \-testserver
exit immediately after the connection to the server
.TP
.B \-times
synchronize modification times
.TP
.B \-ui xxx
select user interface ('text' or 'graphic')
.TP
.B \-version
print version and exit
.PP
Some preferences are just boolean flags. Others take numeric or string
arguments, indicated in the preferences list by n or xxx. Most of the
string preferences can be given several times; the arguments are
accumulated into a list internally.
.SH SEE ALSO
The program is documented fully in the in-built documentation and the
manual, available as HTML, PostScript and text in /usr/share/doc/unison/.
.SH AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Robert McQueen <robot101@debian.org>,
for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).