You're pretty close to ideal there.
I use
rsync -avEHh --delete-after --progress $SOURCE $DESTINATION
Generally no need to sudo for your own homedir, and "-z" is really only useful for network copying (it compresses in-transit, not on disk).
That will only copy over changes between the source and destination, and will remove anything in destination that's no longer in source.
Make sure the external drive is formatted EXT3 or XFS so you can preserve things like access controls and ownership.
When you look at the final output of the command, there's usually a ratio listed.
That's the amount that could be copied vs. the amount actually copied. If that's much larger than 1, then you're only copying changes.
==Joseph++
betty wrote:
> I have an ext hdd that i copy my stuff to every few months. I think that
> i am copying everything all over again each time.
> What I'd like to do is just copy files that have changed.
> This is the command i have been using
>
> stormy@stormy-desktop:~$ sudo rsync -azvH /home/stormy/ /media/october
>
> please don't suggest that i use dd or whatever else there is because i
> am not good at trying new things. i think i'm doing a lot just to do the
> backup every few months.
>
> any rsync suggestions greatly appreciated. if i am already using the
> correct command for just copying things that have changed, please let me
> know.
>
> THANKS, Merry Christmas to all pluggers !
>
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