I have an iMac and a MacBook Pro, both running the latest version of mavericks.. I want to sync files and folders outside Dropbox across the two computers. Up until now, I've been using symbolic links which I created via terminal. I've found that the symbolic links stop working after a while and I was wondering if there was a better way of syncing data between computers.
PS: I use Dropbox as part of it. For example if I want to sync mamp databases across two machines, on my iMac I find the db folder, create a symbolic link for that folder, move it into dropbox, go to my MacBook and make a symbolic link of the db folder that's in Dropbox and move it into the mamp folder, delete the current db folder and replace it with the db symbolic version. That's what I want to achieve, I want to be able to sync folders outside Dropbox through Dropbox if that makes sense.
Best Answer
There are are a range of third party tools for synchronising files across two or more computers. You mention already using DropBox.
DropBox is designed to sync only one folder. Using symbolic links is a great work around but as you have experienced, the approach is likely to be fragile as it is not the focus of DropBox's developers.
Consider using another synchronising approach that can handle multiple shared folders across your Macs.
Unison File Synchronizer
A stalwart of the file-synchronization world, Unison is designed for keeping two or more computer's files in sync. It deals with edge cases and is aimed at those needing more than just a routine copy between computers.
BitTorrent Sync
BitTorrent Sync is relatively new and claims to need no cloud and share no private information.
AeroFS
Another new comer is AeroFS. For private use a free plan is available. I am not sure how applicable this option will be, but it may offer more options, such as multiple shared folders, than currently offered by DropBox.
rsync
rsync is a command line tool included with OS X. You can use
rsync
to synchronise file systems with relative ease. Setting up rsync requires a scheduling tool such as launchd, cron, or Power Manager but once done it is extremely reliable.