Need help correcting this rsync command for moving files to new Home dir

UPDATE 4/14/12 7:02PM: found out the issue, but I don't know how to get the right clearance to allow it to copy to the Home folder directly

Here's the new command:

Code:

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rsync --progress -r /media/ALEXPOULOS/backup/alex/ ~ /home/

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and here's the output:

Code:

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rsync: recv_generator: mkdir "/home/Music" failed: Permission denied (13)
*** Skipping any contents from this failed directory ***

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Original Post:

I recently had an issue with my previous User account - something went wrong and messed up metacity

So, through trouble shooting I've found out that making a new user account - the problem is non-existent in the new account only the old one.

TL;DR

- I'm trying to make an rsync command that copies my Home folder to the new one - I backed up my old one to an external drive and am copying from there.

Here's what I have:

Code:

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rsync --progress -r /media/ALEXPOULOS/backup/alex/ ~ /home/alex

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I let it run for a while and then I realized not only did it back up everything from the my old BUT also made a dupe folder inside the /home/alex dir also called "alex" which contained all the same files and in turn caused my Hard drive's free space to go from 160GB - 1.5GB

So where did I go wrong in this command to have it create a dupe folder?

First, check the ownership and permissions of the directory and/or files, both source and destination, and see if you can determine the problem. If not, try running rsync with sudo (sudo rsync . . . . .). That should copy everything. Then change the owners, groups and permissions as necessary.

Hi AlexOnVinyl.

A few pointers:

(1) The characther ~ represents your home directory. By itself is replaced by the path to your home directory. For example:

Code:

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echo ~

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should print

Code:

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/home/alex

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(2) Since there's a space between ~ and /home/alex in your command:

Code:

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...  ~  /home/alex
      ^

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The /media/.. directory and ~ (your home) are considered sources, thus they bith will be copied on the destination: /home/alex

With all those consideration, try this command:

Code:

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rsync --progress -r /media/ALEXPOULOS/backup/alex/  /home/alex

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Hope that helps, and tell us how it goes.
Regards.

Solved. Thank you.