Sync but check for last modifide date

[thestigma]

@OmarJay

On the subject of deletion, is there a way to get a list of all the files that exist in one location but not another? I was thinking once I had that list, I could delete them individually on the other location before doing a copy.

I don't think rclone can give you a comparison-list from a built-in command.
@ncw Or am I mistaken here?

What you can fairly easily do with a little scripting though is use
rclone ls (or lsl or lsf depending on what data you want in the list)
https://rclone.org/commands/rclone_lsl/
And then you can script a comparison between the two easily enough.

I would think that it would be much easier to just do a sync after you delete on one side though (ideally right after you copied in both directions to make sure all files are up to date on your end). A sync will mirror any changes, including moves and deletions to the other side and make an identical copy. That seems much more straight-forward to me.

@OmarJay

My strategy would be to allow deletions in only in one location.

You can certainly do this in a few ways depending on the setup. Many remotes can be specified to be read-only access. Mounts can be set to be read-only on that level for end-users. The sync command can also be modified with flags like --immutable or --max-delete 0
https://rclone.org/flags/#non-backend-flags

@OmarJay

--Note-- since I first posted this I realized that files added in the remote location would show up on the delete list. I think I would also have to keep track of times so that files added remotely after the sync time wouldn't be deleted.

Perhaps you would want to enable --backup-dir to keep the previous versions of modified or deleted files in case anything goes wrong (or just generally needs to be recovered - as is often needed in work situations as people make mistakes).
https://rclone.org/docs/#backup-dir-dir

Normally --backup-dir only keeps one previous revision of files, but you can see here an easy example (demonstrated in batch script) of how you can make a full dated revisions system if you need that extra layer of security and administrative flexibility:

I need help creating versioning with crypt to dated folders

EDIT: Script updated to 1.3 to correct the 4 issues mentioned by asdfdsa later down. Now 1.3 for more fixes and improvements... Well, since you knew the magic word (BOTH of them in fact!!) then I must oblige... Here you go, all done! (now where do I send the bill? ) Script has been tested, but of course I recommend you also test it thoroughly yourself and see that everything works as you expect before putting it into a live environment. Also check that you feel …

Hope that gets you on the right track