Syncing Basics

Last updated on 2026-08-27 | Edit this page

Estimated time: 25 minutes

Overview

Questions

  • What is the difference between rclone copy and rclone sync?
  • When should I use sync vs copy?
  • What is a one-way mirror and why is it useful?

Objectives

  • Understand when to use rclone copy vs rclone sync
  • Implement one-way mirroring (sync from source to destination)
  • Set up workflows for backing up HPC results to cloud storage

Copy vs Sync: The Critical Difference

Two panels comparing rclone copy and rclone sync. Copy adds and updates files at the destination and never deletes anything, so it is safe by default. Sync makes the destination match the source exactly and deletes anything at the destination that is not in the source. A warning advises always doing a dry run of a sync first.
copy only adds; sync will delete to make the destination match.
Callout

Two Fundamentally Different Operations

rclone copy: Additive (Safe)

BASH 

rclone copy source destination
  • Copies files from source to destination
  • Only adds files to destination; never deletes
  • If destination has extra files, they stay untouched
  • Safe for backups and collaboration

Example:

Before copy:
  Source:  file1.txt, file2.txt
  Dest:    file3.txt

After copy:
  Dest:    file1.txt, file2.txt, file3.txt  <- All three present!

rclone sync: Mirroring (Destructive)

BASH 

rclone sync source destination
  • Makes destination an exact mirror of source
  • Deletes files in destination that don’t exist in source
  • Fast and powerful for one-way synchronization
  • Dangerous if you don’t understand what you’re doing

Example:

Before sync:
  Source:  file1.txt, file2.txt
  Dest:    file1.txt, file2.txt, file3.txt

After sync:
  Dest:    file1.txt, file2.txt  <- file3.txt DELETED!

When to Use Each

Callout

Strategic Use Cases for Copy vs Sync

Use rclone copy for:

  • Backing up work (source = your files, destination = backup)
  • Adding files to an archive that might have other content
  • Collaboration when multiple people modify files
  • Incremental backups

Use rclone sync for:

  • Mirroring simulation results to cloud storage (one-way mirror)
  • Syncing a dataset from cloud to HPC for processing
  • Maintaining an exact copy of a folder
  • Publishing results to a distribution point

Never Use rclone sync for:

  • Bidirectional syncing between two places you both modify
  • When you’re unsure of the consequences of deletion
  • Without --dry-run first!

Workflow 1: Backing Up HPC Results to Box

You run a 3-day simulation on Sagehen HPC that produces results in /scratch/results/. You want to backup these results to Box before they age out of /scratch.

The Safe Approach: Use rclone copy

BASH 

rclone copy /scratch/results pomona-box:/research-backup/simulation-2026

This copies all files. Running the command again only copies changed files and doesn’t delete anything from Box.

Preview Before Copying Large Data

BASH 

rclone copy /scratch/results pomona-box:/research-backup/simulation-2026 --dry-run -v

Verification

BASH 

rclone check /scratch/results pomona-box:/research-backup/simulation-2026

Workflow 2: Syncing HPC Results (One-Way Mirror)

You’re running daily simulations and want to keep a mirrored copy on Box. Each day, only the latest results matter; old results should be cleaned up.

The Sync Approach

Always use --dry-run first:

BASH 

rclone sync /scratch/daily-results pomona-box:/daily-results --dry-run

Once verified, execute:

BASH 

rclone sync /scratch/daily-results pomona-box:/daily-results

This keeps Box in perfect sync with your local folder, automatically cleaning up old files.

Preventing Mistakes: Key Commands

Always preview sync operations:

BASH 

rclone sync source destination --dry-run

Check what would be deleted:

BASH 

rclone sync source destination --dry-run -vv

Use size check before large operations:

BASH 

rclone size source
rclone size destination

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Reversing Source and Destination

BASH 

# WRONG! This deletes your HPC files!
rclone sync pomona-box:/backup /scratch/data

# RIGHT! This syncs HPC to Box
rclone sync /scratch/data pomona-box:/backup

Mistake 2: Using sync when you mean backup

sync makes the destination match the source – including deleting files from the destination when they disappear locally. That is exactly the point of Workflow 2’s one-way mirror (only the latest results matter, old ones should be cleaned up). But for a backup – where losing a local file must never delete the only remaining copy – it is dangerous:

BASH 

# WRONG for a backup! Deletes files from Box if you lose them locally
rclone sync /scratch/work pomona-box:/backup

# RIGHT for a backup: copy only adds and updates, never deletes
rclone copy /scratch/work pomona-box:/backup

Rule of thumb: sync for mirrors you want pruned, copy for backups you want to keep.

Challenge

Challenge 7.1: Set Up a Mirror Workflow

Create a mirror of a local folder to Box:

BASH 

mkdir -p ~/mirror-test
echo "Version 1" > ~/mirror-test/file.txt

# Sync to Box (dry-run first!)
rclone sync ~/mirror-test pomona-box:/mirror-test --dry-run
rclone sync ~/mirror-test pomona-box:/mirror-test

Now modify locally and sync again:

BASH 

echo "Version 2" > ~/mirror-test/file.txt
rclone sync ~/mirror-test pomona-box:/mirror-test

Verify:

BASH 

rclone cat pomona-box:/mirror-test/file.txt

Record: Did the content change to “Version 2”?

After modifying the file and syncing again, verify with:

BASH 

rclone cat pomona-box:/mirror-test/file.txt

Expected output: Version 2

The content changed, confirming that rclone sync updated the modified file on Box.

Challenge

Challenge 7.2: Practice Selective Deletion with Sync

Create a scenario where sync would delete files:

BASH 

mkdir -p ~/sync-test
echo "Keep this" > ~/sync-test/keep.txt
echo "Delete me" > ~/sync-test/delete.txt
rclone sync ~/sync-test pomona-box:/sync-test

Now delete locally and preview the sync:

BASH 

rm ~/sync-test/delete.txt
rclone sync ~/sync-test pomona-box:/sync-test --dry-run -vv

Record: Does the dry-run show that delete.txt would be deleted from Box?

The dry-run with -vv should show:

2026/03/05 16:10:00 INFO  : delete.txt: Deleted (dry run)

After executing rclone sync ~/sync-test pomona-box:/sync-test, only keep.txt remains on Box. This demonstrates that rclone sync deletes destination files not present in the source.

Key Points
  • rclone copy is safe for backups (additive only), while rclone sync creates an exact mirror and deletes files not in the source
  • Always preview sync operations with –dry-run before executing to avoid accidental data loss
  • Use rclone copy for backups and rclone sync only for one-way mirroring where you want the destination to exactly match the source
  • Reversing source and destination in rclone sync is a common and dangerous mistake