Environment Synchronization Procedures

This guide details how to keep the Local Development environment in sync with the Remote Production server.

Direction: Remote -> Local

To pull the latest data, code, and configuration from Production (<remote_host>) to your local machine:

1. The Command

Run this from the project root (<local_root>):

rsync -avz --exclude 'vania-novikau.me' -e "ssh" root@<remote_host>:<local_root>/ ./

2. Critical Flags

• --exclude 'vania-novikau.me': MANDATORY.
  • Reason: The remote file structure might contain a nested backup or recursive link (e.g., <local_root>/vania-novikau.me). Without this, rsync will enter an infinite loop or copy terabytes of duplicated data.
• -a: Archive mode (preserves permissions, owners, dates).
• -v: Verbose.
• -z: Compress during transfer (saves bandwidth).

Direction: Local -> Remote

WARNING: Generally, we use Git to push changes to Remote, not rsync. However, if updating Documentation builds purely:

cd documentation && npm run build
rsync -avz -e "ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" <local_root>/documentation/build/ root@<remote_host>:/var/www/html/documentation/

Git Merging Strategy (Production Mirror)

We maintain a main branch that mirrors Production. When conflicts occur between main (Local logic) and Production files:

1. Prioritize Production: The Production environment is the source of truth for runtime configurations (e.g., wp-config.php, connection scripts).
2. Resolution Command:

   git checkout --theirs <path/to/conflicted/file>
   (Assuming you are merging Production-into-Main).