Rclone check from within a script

[Animosity022]

So if you goal is to run a check from source to destination, you can just look for the return code of the check.

Here is an example of a check returning no changes and I made a small edit to the file so check returned a non zero return code.

felix@gemini:~$ rclone check /etc/hosts GD:
2019/01/17 16:12:25 NOTICE: Google drive root '': 0 differences found
felix@gemini:~$ echo $?
0
felix@gemini:~$ vi /etc/hosts
felix@gemini:~$ sudo vi /etc/hosts
felix@gemini:~$ rclone check /etc/hosts GD:
2019/01/17 16:12:46 ERROR : hosts: Sizes differ
2019/01/17 16:12:46 NOTICE: Google drive root '': 1 differences found
2019/01/17 16:12:46 Failed to check: 1 differences found
felix@gemini:~$ echo $?
1

So in your case, I’m assuming you would:

rclone check
if 0 do nothing
if 1
do this
do that
do this
do that

And that’s your workflow if I’m understanding.

[ncw (Nick Craig-Wood)]

I did a quick test (actually with copy, not sync) and it looks like it exits with 0 either way. So, if I just sync from the start I don’t have any way to know if there where changes, is that correct?

Yes sync will make the source equal to the destination and return an error only if that failed.

[detwiler]

Animosity022, I tried to respond right after your last message but I was over the allowed number of messages for a new forum member. The message below is what I had intended to send:

Thanks, that is exactly what I am doing. This whole thread started with me asking if there was a code I could check, rather than parsing the log output. In a reply, calisro suggested that I check and see if the exit codes differed, depending on whether or not there have been changes. I determined that they do differ and updated my script.

The subsequent part of this thread sort of devolved into why I was using check instead of sync. For the most part it is because sync (actually I use copy) doesn’t change its exit code.

[Ajki]

I’m trying to figure out how to use rclone check from within a script. The first step of said script should be to determine if there are any changed files on the remote. If there are not, then exit. If so, proceed to copy and process

You could make a simple script eg

#!/bin/bash
Gdrive=/mnt/gdrive
LastRun="/home/plex/.cache/LastRun"
if [[ ! -f "$LastRun" ]]; then
    touch $LastRun
fi

find "$Gdrive" -mindepth 1 -type f -cnewer $LastRun |
while read Path; do
        echo "New/changed: $Path"
        # do whatever you want here with it
done
touch $LASTRUNFILE

[detwiler]

Thanks Ajki. Unless I misunderstand, your script is checking to see when it was last run. That is different than my use case, check and see if any files are different on the remote. I have written a script, the conditional part looks like this (“FMA” is just the name of the product that the files comprise):

#!/bin/bash
...
# next check to see if FMA processing needs to be done
# if not, exit
$(rclone check FMATeamDrive: $LATEST_DIR)
check=$?
if [[ $check == 0 ]]; then
    echo "The FMA has NOT been modified "
else
    echo "The FMA has been modified"

    # since we are going to process the FMA, copy it down from Google Drive
    rclone copy FMATeamDrive: "$LATEST_DIR"

    # launch FMA processing script
    # ...
fi

[Ajki]

Thanks Ajki. Unless I misunderstand, your script is checking to see when it was last run. That is different than my use case, check and see if any files are different on the remote. I have written a script, the conditional part looks like this (“FMA” is just the name of the product that the files comprise):

Actually it makes lastrun to compare time date of that file and then process only files that changed on remote.
So you could sync/copy only changed files

[dasfga]

Hi detwiler,

Thank you so much for the work you have done. This is what I want to do and you’re informative.

[detwiler]

Hey dasfga,
My pleasure, glad I could help.
Cheers