I have 6 devices that i rsync to a central location to back them up. Ive been using ssh as the -e option. Problem is i use public key with passphrases, meaning to backup all six i need to go to each device and run the backup script. Since i typically backup /etc, /home, and /root this means entering sudo and the ssh passphrase 3x for each device.

I would much prefer a script that runs on back storage device that can pull the data from each device without having to use ssh (encryption is not necessary since all traffic is either local or going through a vpn connection).

I could then put this script in root’s crontab or make it a systemd service running as root.

But i dont know how i can remote sync without ssh

  • matcha_addict
    22·
    10 months ago

    From my understanding, the issue is you can’t run them as background script because it is promoting you for the passphrase of the ssh key?

    The easiest way to solve this is to use a ssh key that has no passphrase. Yes it’s possible and it won’t prompt you for it. Whenever you create a key, it asks you to enter a passphrase. If you hit enter without entering anything, there’s no passphrase.

    But if you just don’t want ssh at all, you can use rsync daemon. Someone else mentioned it here. It’s not as hard as they said, especially if you’re in a local network where you’re fine without encryption.