Offline Folders Type Functionality in Ubuntu

[Eberhard Roloff]

Nolan Garrett wrote:
> Hello!
> 
> I recently switched from Windows to Ubuntu.  One of the things I enjoyed
>  about Windows was that I can use Offline Files to store my files on my
> network NAS, but still access them when on the road with my laptop.
> 
> Does anyone know of a good way to implement this? I've seen rsync,
> Unison, and several others suggested, but I really want a system that
> offers some of the complexity Offline Files does such as syncing on
> logon/logoff.  It also doesn't appear to me that rsync will handle
> deleted files well (I could be wrong here).
> 
> Any thoughts on this?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Nolan
> 
> 
For this I indeed happily use Unison (also on Windows, btw.). rsync imho
is more suited for unidirectional syncronisation.
Unison also has a textual interface and Unix is a modular system. So you
you can use a script  that includes:
1. unison does the sync between your two machines
2. logoff

So anytime you want to log off you do so by executing the script.
But beware, as unison does bidirectional syncronisation (and as I
understand, this is what you might be looking for) there can be use
cases where it is not clear which file on either side should "rule".
This is where basically it is up to you to decide what to do.
iirc this can be handled with the multitude of unisons options. Type
unison --help for a start.

you also could setup a sync job via cron, so that there is absolutely no
need for having a user log on to your machine if this makes sense to you.

kind regards
Eberhard