Re^2: copy only modified remote files

Thank you for your reply. I am just trying to understand which is more reliable/fast: checksum or mtime. The idea is that I want to check if the remote file was modified, before i copy it locally (to save up time). Also, is it possible to do checksum of the remote file before copying it locally? Thanks

Comment on Re^2: copy only modified remote files

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Re^3: copy only modified remote files by Laurent_R (Canon) on Jul 07, 2015 at 14:13 UTC
mtime will be faster in most if not all cases, much faster if your files are large.	[reply]
Re^3: copy only modified remote files by stevieb (Canon) on Jul 07, 2015 at 14:13 UTC
First, yes you can check on the remote system and there are a few ways you can do that. One is SSH into the remote machine, run a perl one-liner (or remote script) on the remote box to report back the mtime (or checksum). ~~Getting a checksum would likely be quicker, but~~ consider that you'll have to store the checksums somewhere then look them back up every program run for comparison, ~~so that's likely to even things out.~~ EDIT: per Laurent_R, mtime will be faster in the long run. I was testing on a miniscule few-byte file. -stevieb	[reply]