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-- in work -
+Introduction
+------------
+
+ rsync-backup is a frontend to rsync (with a few extras) to allow for the
+creation of incremental backups, using hard links. It notably is tracking
+movements, that is a file moved (but unchanged) in the source file tree will
+not be stored twice for two corresponding backups - before and after the
+movement.
Dependencies
------------
-Most dependencies are required locally and remotely, as a huge part of the
+ Most dependencies are required locally and remotely, as a huge part of the
script may be executed remotely.
- bash>=4.2 (test -v)
- rsync
- ssh
-- coreutils (realpath, date)
+- coreutils
- find
+Installation
+------------
+
+ Put all the source files in one directory. It may be desirable to set up
+a symbolic link in e.g. /usr/local/bin, or a shell alias.
+
+
+Usage
+-----
+
+ Execute 'rsync-backup' either with one argument, specifying the source
+directory, requiring that to be configured (see Configuration) or two
+arguments, where the second one specifies the destination.
+
+ It is highly recommended to configure the respective directories, not least
+to configure to be excluded parts of the file tree (e.g., /dev, /mnt).
+
+ It is possible to use a remote location for one of the source and
+destination.
+
+ Examples:
+$ rsync-backup /home # requires prior configuration
+$ rsync-backup / user@server:/backup
+
+
+Configuration
+-------------
+
+ Configuration may be done in the file '/etc/rsync-backup/config'. See the
+source file 'variables' for information on which variables can be set.
+
+
+Documentation
+-------------
+
+As of now, documentation on the usage is found only here.
+
+The file NOTES provides an overview of the ideas and the (inner) working of
+this program.
+
+
Notes
-----
-Symbolic links are simply copied, thus linking to the backed-up filetree, not
-the backup-filetree itself.
+ IMPORTANT: Both the source and destination file tree should reside on a
+single file system. It is highly recommended to exclude (config:
+filter_file) other mounted file systems. Otherwise, assuming the backup
+process does not fail, each new backup is expected to take the full space for
+such mounted subdirectories.
+
+ Symbolic links are simply copied, thus linking to the backed-up filetree,
+not the backup-filetree itself.
-Dates are always calculated on the local host.
+ Dates are always calculated on the source host.