diff -r on remote server

varunmicro · 10-27-2016, 02:05 AM

Directory A is on local machine and directory B on a remote server(password not required on ssh).
I want to check diff between these two directories.
Currently using command:

staging_path (path of directory on local machine)
production_path (path of directory on remote server)
user_at_host (ssh abc@xyz.com)

DiffCommand = "diff -r "+ staging_path + " | " + user_at_host + " " + production_path + " >>new_purge.txt"

I am getting an error while using this command

diff: missing operand after `/files/QAEngines/working/1016/PRODUCTION/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-041sc-probabilistic-systems-analysis-and-applied-probability-fall-2013'
diff: Try `diff --help' for more information.
bash: /var/lib/tomcat5/webapps/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-041sc-probabilistic-systems-analysis-and-applied-probability-fall-2013: is a directory

Turbocapitalist · 10-27-2016, 04:02 AM

What information are you trying to collect in the variable $DiffCommand there?

The easy way I can think of could be to mount the remote directory using "sshfs" and then running "diff -r" as normal over the local and the mounted remote directories.

Otherwise, the harder way is to do it in two parts. (Just a guess)

Since you can still use "diff" to compare individual files over "ssh"

Code:

diff /path/to/a/file <(ssh abc@xyz.com 'cat /path/to/another/file')

and since "rsync" can list differing file names using --dry-run

Code:

rsync -av --dry-run -e 'ssh -i ~/.ssh/some_key_rsa' /local/path/ abc@xyz.com:/remote/path/

you could combine the two. Loop through the output of "rsync" and run "diff" against those files found.

But I'd try the "sshfs" method first, I may have left something out of the "rsync" guess.