rsync over ssh to Android

I have tried many ways to sync my music collection to my Android phone, and here is the most comfortable way I could find : the good old rsync.

Setup

Install Paul Lutus’s SSHelper, from the android play store, or directly from the homepage.
Run it
- Follow the instructions to enable write access to the Android device.
- Set a password
- Optional:
  - Disable all unneeded options (log display server, clipboard server, ..)
- Note that the default port is 2222.
Copy your ssh key from your host, let’s suppose phone is the DNS name or the IP of your phone, this time it will ask for a password.

There is no need to set the ssh username, SSHelper will ignore it.
```
ssh-copy-id phone -p 2222
```
Test that password-less login are ok:
```
 ssh phone -p 2222
```
Disable password logins in SSHelper.

Optional : data access for removable SD card.

Stop SSHelper
Eject the SD card (Settings > Storage > Eject).
Get the card on your computer and create the directory /Android/data/com.arachnoid.sshelper/
Put the card back into the Android device.
Start SSHelper

Find the external SD card mount point:

ssh phone -p 2222
asdf@phone:~$ ls /media
SoMeRaNdOM_NaMe # <- this is the mount point
emulated
self
asdf@phone:~$ exit

Copying/updating files

Start SSHelper

Run :

 #!/bin/bash
 RPATH="phone:/storage/SoMeRaNdOM_NaMe/Android/data/com.arachnoid.sshelper"
 OPTIONS=()
 OPTIONS+=("--modify-window=2")
 OPTIONS+=("--update")
 OPTIONS+=("--times")
 OPTIONS+=("--size-only")
 OPTIONS+=("--delete-before")

 rsync -av "${OPTIONS[@]}" -e "ssh -p 2222" /somewhere/mp3-from-flac "$RPATH"
 rsync -av "${OPTIONS[@]}" -e "ssh -p 2222" /somewhere/mp3 "$RPATH"

mp3-from-flac

Did you notice the mp3-from-flac directory? Since I don’t need losless quality on my phone (and in my car), I generate mp3 from flac files, using this script : flac2mp3.sh (conversion in parallel and only when needed).

~~~

Question, remark, bug? Don't hesitate to contact me or report a bug.