.\" Hey, EMACS: -*- nroff -*- .\" First parameter, NAME, should be all caps .\" Second parameter, SECTION, should be 1-8, maybe w/ subsection .\" other parameters are allowed: see man(7), man(1) .TH UNISON 1 "September 23, 2001" .\" Please adjust this date whenever revising the manpage. .\" .\" Some roff macros, for reference: .\" .nh disable hyphenation .\" .hy enable hyphenation .\" .ad l left justify .\" .ad b justify to both left and right margins .\" .nf disable filling .\" .fi enable filling .\" .br insert line break .\" .sp insert n+1 empty lines .\" for manpage-specific macros, see man(7) .SH NAME unison \- a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows .SH SYNOPSIS .B unison .RI [ options ] .br .B unison root1 root2 .RI [ options ] .br .B unison profilename .RI [ options ] .br .B unison-gtk .RI [ options ] .SH DESCRIPTION This manual page briefly documents Unison, and was written for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution because the original program does not have a manual page. For a full description, please refer to the inbuilt documentation or the manuals in /usr/share/doc/unison/. The unison-gtk binary has similar command-line options, but allows the user to select and create profiles and configure options from within the program. .PP Unison is a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows. It allows two replicas of a collection of files and directories to be stored on different hosts (or different disks on the same host), modified separately, and then brought up to date by propagating the changes in each replica to the other. .PP Unison offers several advantages over various synchronization methods such as CVS, Coda, rsync, Intellisync, etc. Unison can run on and synchronize between Windows and many UNIX platforms. Unison requires no root privileges, system access or kernel changes to function. Unison can synchronize changes to files and directories in both directions, on the same machine, or across a network using ssh or a direct socket connection. .PP Transfers are optimised using a version of the rsync protocol, making it ideal for slower links. Unison has a clear and precise specification, and is resilient to failure due to its careful handling of the replicas and its private structures. .SH OPTIONS All Unison options are long, starting with one dash (`-') only. A summary of options is included here. For a complete description, see the inbuilt documentation or the manuals in /usr/share/doc/unison/. .TP .B \-addprefsto specify a file to add new preferences to in interactive mode .TP .B \-addversionno add version number to name of unison executable on server .TP .B \-auto automatically accept default actions .TP .B \-backup xxx add a regexp to the backup list .TP .B \-backups keep backup copies of files (deprecated: use 'backup') .TP .B \-batch batch mode: ask no questions at all .TP .B \-contactquietly suppress the 'contacting server' message during startup .TP .B \-debug xxx debug module xxx ('all' -> everything, 'verbose' -> more) .TP .B \-doc xxx show documentation ('-doc topics' lists topics) .TP .B \-dumbtty do not try to change terminal settings in text UI .TP .B \-editor xxx command for displaying the output of the -merge program .TP .B \-fastcheck do fast (and slightly unsafe) update detection on windows .TP .B \-follow xxx add a regexp to the follow list .TP .B \-force xxx force changes from this replica to the other .TP .B \-group synchronize group .TP .B \-height n height (in lines) of main window in graphical interface .TP .B \-ignore xxx add a regexp to the ignore list .TP .B \-ignorecase ignore upper/lowercase spelling of filenames .TP .B \-ignorenot xxx add a regexp to the ignorenot list .TP .B \-killserver kill server when done (even when using sockets) .TP .B \-log record actions in file specified by logfile preference .TP .B \-logfile xxx log file name .TP .B \-maxbackups n number of backed up versions of a file to keep .TP .B \-merge xxx command for merging conflicting files .TP .B \-merge2 xxx command for merging files (when no common version exists) .TP .B \-numericids don't map uid/gid values by user/group names .TP .B \-owner synchronize owner .TP .B \-path xxx path to synchronize .TP .B \-perms n part of the permissions which is synchronized .TP .B \-prefer xxx choose this replica's version in case of conflict .TP .B \-root xxx root of a replica .TP .B \-rootalias xxx register alias for canonical root names .TP .B \-rshargs xxx other arguments (if any) for remote shell command .TP .B \-rshcmd xxx path to the rsh executable .TP .B \-servercmd xxx name of unison executable on remote server .TP .B \-silent print nothing (except error messages) .TP .B \-socket xxx act as a server on a socket .TP .B \-sortbysize list changed files by size, not name .TP .B \-sortfirst xxx add a regexp to the sortfirst list .TP .B \-sortlast xxx add a regexp to the sortlast list .TP .B \-sortnewfirst list new before changed files .TP .B \-sshcmd xxx path to the ssh executable .TP .B \-statusdepth n status display depth for local files .TP .B \-terse suppress status messages .TP .B \-testserver exit immediately after the connection to the server .TP .B \-times synchronize modification times .TP .B \-ui xxx select user interface ('text' or 'graphic') .TP .B \-version print version and exit .PP Some preferences are just boolean flags. Others take numeric or string arguments, indicated in the preferences list by n or xxx. Most of the string preferences can be given several times; the arguments are accumulated into a list internally. .SH SEE ALSO The program is documented fully in the in-built documentation and the manual, available as HTML, PostScript and text in /usr/share/doc/unison/. .SH AUTHOR This manual page was written by Robert McQueen , for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).