(The list archiving site appears to be down -- sorry if this is answered there...) I'm using rsync to perform backups to an rsync daemon as follows: /usr/local/bin/rsync -az --delete $X user@1.2.3.4::backup/current One of those $X's is /home, which contains a few thousand maildir's. Trouble arises when attempting to copy files that are quickly moved. (eg, when someone initiates a POP session in the middle of a backup.) Rsync exits with: send_files failed to open //home/user/Maildir/new/_dwG.NeZv8.blah: No such file or directory rsync error: partial transfer (code 23) at main.c(578) I've looked through the manpage and the docs on the website, but I haven't found anything (ie, --partial and --ignore-errors) that have any effect. This has gotta be something that people run into all the time, but does anyone have a solution? John -- John Madden UNIX Systems Engineer Ivy Tech State College jmadden@ivy.tec.in.us
On Wed, Apr 17, 2002 at 10:57:56AM -0500, John Madden wrote:> send_files failed to open //home/user/Maildir/new/_dwG.NeZv8.blah: No such > file or directory > rsync error: partial transfer (code 23) at main.c(578)This looks slightly problematic. While Maildir delivery guarantees that files in new/ will always be complete/present, no such guarantee exists for retrieval/access. There is a race between stat'ing the source files and sending file data in the sender and any external process (a program such as qmail-pop3d in this case) which removes the source files. One way around this would be to use a lock file to coordinate access to the Maildir between the backup process and the POP daemon. This isn't too intrusive; while the lock is present, mail delivery can still take place. -- Jos Backus _/ _/_/_/ Santa Clara, CA _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ jos@catnook.com _/_/ _/_/_/ use Std::Disclaimer;