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Rclone Preflight Guardrails

Preflight is the non-negotiable gate for safe sync. It prevents the most common incident pattern: running sync from an empty or wrong source path.

Preflight Sequence​

test -d /srv/site || exit 1
test "$(ls -A /srv/site | wc -l)" -gt 0 || exit 1
rclone lsd remote:site >/dev/null
rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv

Guardrail Checklist​

  • Verify source mount and non-empty state.
  • Verify destination remote path exists.
  • Review dry-run delete list before execution.

Examples with Output​

1. Example 1​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied ()
Would transfer 46 files

2. Example 2​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --check-first

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--check-first)
Would transfer 52 files

3. Example 3​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --checksum

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--checksum)
Would transfer 58 files

4. Example 4​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --size-only

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--size-only)
Would transfer 64 files

5. Example 5​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --exclude "**/*.tmp"

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--exclude "**/*.tmp")
Would transfer 70 files

6. Example 6​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --include "**/*.md"

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--include "**/*.md")
Would transfer 76 files

7. Example 7​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --delete-after

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--delete-after)
Would transfer 82 files

8. Example 8​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --delete-after --backup-dir remote:site/rollback/$(date +%F-%H%M)

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--delete-after --backup-dir remote:site/rollback/$(date +%F-%H%M))
Would transfer 88 files

9. Example 9​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --transfers 4 --checkers 8

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--transfers 4 --checkers 8)
Would transfer 94 files

10. Example 10​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --transfers 8 --checkers 16

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--transfers 8 --checkers 16)
Would transfer 100 files

11. Example 11​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --max-age 7d

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--max-age 7d)
Would transfer 106 files

12. Example 12​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --max-size 200M

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--max-size 200M)
Would transfer 112 files

13. Example 13​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --log-level INFO

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--log-level INFO)
Would transfer 118 files

14. Example 14​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --stats 30s

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--stats 30s)
Would transfer 124 files

15. Example 15​

Input command:

rclone sync /srv/site remote:site/current --dry-run -vv --error-on-no-transfer

Expected output:

NOTICE: safety profile applied (--error-on-no-transfer)
Would transfer 130 files