Articles :: System Administration :: iPod + Ant = Portable Backup System
written by Toby Miller on February 1, 2007 February 1, 2007
I was copying some files to my iPod one day to work on at home (the vpn was down for maintenance). Then it hit me, why do I do this by hand? I have Ant! So off I went, tap tapping away, and a few minutes later I had an Ant script that would grab my most valued file folders from my computer and synchronize them with a duplicate copy on my iPod. Now whenever I need to take some work home with me I just plug in my iPod, execute my Ant task, wait a few minutes, and my iPod has a complete up-to-date copy of my most valued file folders. Simple, eh?
I'm sure there are lots of things I could do to make these tasks more efficient, but I quit when it started doing what I needed it to. So if you see room for improvements please let me know.
build.xml - remember to update the paths to apply to your system
1:<project name="pc-backup" default="info">
2: <property name="ipod.path" value="G:"/>
3: <property name="separator" value=""/>
4: <property name="verbose" value="true"/>
5:
6: <target name="info">
7: <!-- usage statement -->
8: <echo message="sync2ipod: sync folders from your pc to your ipod"/>
9: </target>
10:
11: <target name="init" description="prepare for a sync">
12: <!-- this is a personal backup, leave the version control files intact -->
13: <defaultexcludes remove="**/CVS"/>
14: <defaultexcludes remove="**/CVS/**"/>
15: <defaultexcludes remove="**/.cvsignore"/>
16: <defaultexcludes remove="**/SCCS"/>
17: <defaultexcludes remove="**/SCCS/**"/>
18: <defaultexcludes remove="**/vssver.scc"/>
19: <defaultexcludes remove="**/.svn"/>
20: <defaultexcludes remove="**/.svn/**"/>
21: <tstamp>
22: <format property="stamp.record" pattern="yyyyMMdd_HHmmss"/>
23: </tstamp>
24:
25: <!-- record the current priority level -->
26: <nice currentpriority="old.priority"/>
27:
28: <!-- start a log -->
29: <record name="${ipod.path}${separator}${ant.project.name}${separator}ant_${stamp.record}.log" action="start"/>
30: </target>
31:
32: <target name="cleanup" description="cleanup after ourselves">
33: <!-- stop the log -->
34: <record name="${ipod.path}${separator}${ant.project.name}${separator}ant_${stamp.record}.log" action="stop"/>
35:
36: <!-- reset the priority level -->
37: <nice newpriority="${old.priority}"/>
38: </target>
39:
40: <target name="syncfile" description="sync file from one path to another">
41: <!-- srcpath = real file, destpath = copied file -->
42: <echo message="syncing from ${srcpath} to ${destpath}"/>
43: <copy file="${srcpath}" tofile="${destpath}" overwrite="false" verbose="${verbose}" granularity="2000"/>
44: <sleep seconds="1"/>
45: </target>
46:
47: <target name="syncdir" description="sync from one directory to another">
48: <!-- srcdir = real dir, destdir = copied dir -->
49: <echo message="syncing from ${srcdir} to ${destdir}"/>
50: <sync todir="${destdir}" overwrite="false" includeEmptyDirs="true" verbose="${verbose}" granularity="2000">
51: <fileset dir="${srcdir}"/>
52: </sync>
53: <sleep seconds="1"/>
54: </target>
55:
56: <target name="sync2ipod" depends="init" description="sync chosen files to my ipod">
57: <!-- sync the build.xml file itself -->
58: <antcall target="syncfile">
59: <param name="srcpath" value="E:${separator}build.xml"/>
60: <param name="destpath" value="${ipod.path}${separator}${ant.project.name}${separator}build.xml"/>
61: </antcall>
62:
63: <!-- sync my valued folders (edit this section to suit your own needs) -->
64: <antcall target="syncdir">
65: <param name="srcdir" value="E:${separator}shared"/>
66: <param name="destdir" value="${ipod.path}${separator}${ant.project.name}${separator}shared"/>
67: </antcall>
68: <antcall target="syncdir">
69: <param name="srcdir" value="E:${separator}projects"/>
70: <param name="destdir" value="${ipod.path}${separator}${ant.project.name}${separator}projects"/>
71: </antcall>
72:
73: <!-- cleanup after yourself -->
74: <antcall target="cleanup"/>
75: </target>
76:
77: <target name="sync2ipodlow" depends="init" description="sync chosen files to my ipod with minimum cpu priority">
78: <!-- set priority as low as possible -->
79: <nice newpriority="1"/>
80: <nice currentpriority="new.priority"/>
81: <echo message="changed priority from ${old.priority} to ${new.priority}"/>
82:
83: <!-- continue with sync -->
84: <antcall target="sync2ipod"/>
85: </target>
86:
87: <target name="sync2ipodhigh" depends="init" description="sync chosen files to my ipod with maximum cpu priority">
88: <!-- set priority as high as possible -->
89: <nice newpriority="10"/>
90: <nice currentpriority="new.priority"/>
91: <echo message="changed priority from ${old.priority} to ${new.priority}"/>
92:
93: <!-- continue with sync -->
94: <antcall target="sync2ipod"/>
95: </target>
96:</project>
97:
So plug in your ipod, edit this ant file to match the paths on your machine and execute it with ant sync2ipod. Now just remember to use it once a day, or as often as you'd like, and voila! Your iPod just went from being a cool mp3 player to being a cool mp3 player and portable synchronized backup utility device. =)
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