Installed on Ubuntu (14.04) at time of writing this tutorial.
Pre-req – make sure passwordless SSH has been setup – https://www.linuxtutorial.co.uk/ssh-login-without-password/
Install Unison:
apt-get install unison
Create directory for Unison config files and logs:
mkdir /root/.unison
Create config file:
vim /root/.unison/default.prf
Enter the following:
# Roots of the synchronization root = /var root = ssh://10.10.10.10//var/ # Paths to synchronize path = www path = vmail # Some regexps specifying names and paths to ignore #ignore = Path stats ## ignores /var/www/stats #ignore = Path stats/* ## ignores /var/www/stats/* #ignore = Path */stats ## ignores /var/www/somedir/stats, but not /var/www/a/b/c/stats #ignore = Name *stats ## ignores all files/directories that end with "stats" #ignore = Name stats* ## ignores all files/directories that begin with "stats" #ignore = Name *.tmp ## ignores all files with the extension .tmp # When set to true, this flag causes the user interface to skip # asking for confirmations on non-conflicting changes. (More # precisely, when the user interface is done setting the # propagation direction for one entry and is about to move to the # next, it will skip over all non-conflicting entries and go # directly to the next conflict.) auto=true # When this is set to true, the user interface will ask no # questions at all. Non-conflicting changes will be propagated; # conflicts will be skipped. batch=true # !When this is set to true, Unison will request an extra # confirmation if it appears that the entire replica has been # deleted, before propagating the change. If the batch flag is # also set, synchronization will be aborted. When the path # preference is used, the same confirmation will be requested for # top-level paths. (At the moment, this flag only affects the # text user interface.) See also the mountpoint preference. confirmbigdel=true # When this preference is set to true, Unison will use the # modification time and length of a file as a `pseudo inode # number' when scanning replicas for updates, instead of reading # the full contents of every file. Under Windows, this may cause # Unison to miss propagating an update if the modification time # and length of the file are both unchanged by the update. # However, Unison will never overwrite such an update with a # change from the other replica, since it always does a safe # check for updates just before propagating a change. Thus, it is # reasonable to use this switch under Windows most of the time # and occasionally run Unison once with fastcheck set to false, # if you are worried that Unison may have overlooked an update. # The default value of the preference is auto, which causes # Unison to use fast checking on Unix replicas (where it is safe) # and slow checking on Windows replicas. For backward # compatibility, yes, no, and default can be used in place of # true, false, and auto. See the section "Fast Checking" for more # information. fastcheck=true # When this flag is set to true, the group attributes of the # files are synchronized. Whether the group names or the group # identifiers are synchronizeddepends on the preference numerids. group=true # When this flag is set to true, the owner attributes of the # files are synchronized. Whether the owner names or the owner # identifiers are synchronizeddepends on the preference # extttnumerids. owner=true # Including the preference -prefer root causes Unison always to # resolve conflicts in favor of root, rather than asking for # guidance from the user. (The syntax of root is the same as for # the root preference, plus the special values newer and older.) # This preference is overridden by the preferpartial preference. # This preference should be used only if you are sure you know # what you are doing! prefer=newer # When this preference is set to true, the textual user interface # will print nothing at all, except in the case of errors. # Setting silent to true automatically sets the batch preference # to true. silent=true # When this flag is set to true, file modification times (but not # directory modtimes) are propagated. times=true
Replace the following information in the config file:
root = /var
root = ssh://192.168.0.106//var/
path = www
path = vmail
The above settings synchronise everything inside /var/www and /var/vmail
Now add a cron job to run the sync e.g. every 5 minutes:
crontab -e
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/unison &> /dev/null
Test the sync is running by adding files/directories within the paths above and make sure they can be seen on both server.
TROUBLESHOOTING
ISPConfig3 – when a new website is added a new user and or group is created in the default linux locations i.e. /etc/passwd, /etc/group and /etc/passwd. These must be sync’d along with /var/www and /var/mail. To copy the directories in /etc a new config file is to be setup:
vim /root/.unison/users.prf
Insert the following:
# Roots of the synchronization root = /etc root = ssh://10.10.10.10//etc/ # Paths to synchronize path = group path = passwd path = shadow # Some regexps specifying names and paths to ignore #ignore = Path stats ## ignores /var/www/stats #ignore = Path stats/* ## ignores /var/www/stats/* #ignore = Path */stats ## ignores /var/www/somedir/stats, but not /var/www/a/b/c/stats #ignore = Name *stats ## ignores all files/directories that end with "stats" #ignore = Name stats* ## ignores all files/directories that begin with "stats" #ignore = Name *.tmp ## ignores all files with the extension .tmp # When set to true, this flag causes the user interface to skip # asking for confirmations on non-conflicting changes. (More # precisely, when the user interface is done setting the # propagation direction for one entry and is about to move to the # next, it will skip over all non-conflicting entries and go # directly to the next conflict.) auto=true # When this is set to true, the user interface will ask no # questions at all. Non-conflicting changes will be propagated; # conflicts will be skipped. batch=true # !When this is set to true, Unison will request an extra # confirmation if it appears that the entire replica has been # deleted, before propagating the change. If the batch flag is # also set, synchronization will be aborted. When the path # preference is used, the same confirmation will be requested for # top-level paths. (At the moment, this flag only affects the # text user interface.) See also the mountpoint preference. confirmbigdel=true # When this preference is set to true, Unison will use the # modification time and length of a file as a `pseudo inode # number' when scanning replicas for updates, instead of reading # the full contents of every file. Under Windows, this may cause # Unison to miss propagating an update if the modification time # and length of the file are both unchanged by the update. # However, Unison will never overwrite such an update with a # change from the other replica, since it always does a safe # check for updates just before propagating a change. Thus, it is # reasonable to use this switch under Windows most of the time # and occasionally run Unison once with fastcheck set to false, # if you are worried that Unison may have overlooked an update. # The default value of the preference is auto, which causes # Unison to use fast checking on Unix replicas (where it is safe) # and slow checking on Windows replicas. For backward # compatibility, yes, no, and default can be used in place of # true, false, and auto. See the section "Fast Checking" for more # information. fastcheck=true # When this flag is set to true, the group attributes of the # files are synchronized. Whether the group names or the group # identifiers are synchronizeddepends on the preference numerids. group=true # When this flag is set to true, the owner attributes of the # files are synchronized. Whether the owner names or the owner # identifiers are synchronizeddepends on the preference # extttnumerids. owner=true # Including the preference -prefer root causes Unison always to # resolve conflicts in favor of root, rather than asking for # guidance from the user. (The syntax of root is the same as for # the root preference, plus the special values newer and older.) # This preference is overridden by the preferpartial preference. # This preference should be used only if you are sure you know # what you are doing! prefer=newer # When this preference is set to true, the textual user interface # will print nothing at all, except in the case of errors. # Setting silent to true automatically sets the batch preference # to true. silent=true # When this flag is set to true, file modification times (but not # directory modtimes) are propagated. times=true
Add this to the crontab:
crontab -e
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/unison users &> /dev/null
Add a new site through the ISPConfig interface on either now and confirm all directories and files are syncronised.
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