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Sparse doesn't work on some filesystems (explained in man rsync).
Other than that it is fine. Any file that has a big chunk of null
characters will be written sparsely and take up less space.
Note that you can't always use it when restoring. Do not restore
/boot with --sparse or you will find that grub can't read the kernel.
On 09/05/12 11:45, Karl O. Pinc wrote:> Hi,
>
> I'm using rsync with --link-dest to do backups. I don't have any
> sparse files, but someday I might. Should I be using --sparse?
>
> I notice that -S is not implied by -a. This makes me suspicious
> that --sparse is not (yet?) suitable for general purpose use.
> There also seem to be outstanding bugs related to --sparse.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> Karl <kop at meme.com> Free Software: "You don't pay back,
you pay
> forward." -- Robert A. Heinlein
>
- --
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Kevin Korb Phone: (407) 252-6853
Systems Administrator Internet:
FutureQuest, Inc. Kevin at FutureQuest.net (work)
Orlando, Florida kmk at sanitarium.net (personal)
Web page: http://www.sanitarium.net/
PGP public key available on web site.
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