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Syncing Files with Vagrant

When using Vagrant, being able to sync applications, infrastructure, and other important files between your workstation and the resulting environment is paramount. It ensures that any changes we make to our working environment will persist after a `vagrant destroy` — after all, the Vagrant environment is ephemeral. In this hands-on lab, we will specifically explore syncing our host and guest directories using the `rsync` implementation by updating our `Vagrantfile`.

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Lab Info
Level
Beginner
Last updated
May 24, 2025
Duration
15m

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Table of Contents
  1. Challenge

    Update the Vagrantfile
    1. Use the config.vm.synced_folder option to set up file syncing based on the parameters from the instructions:

       Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
         config.vm.box = "fgrehm/trusty64-lxc"
         config.vm.define "app" do |app|
           app.vm.provider :lxc do |lxc|
             lxc.container_name = 'app'
           end
         end
         config.vm.synced_folder "/home/cloud_user/wanderer/app", "/opt/wanderer", type: "rsync",
           id: "wanderer-app", rsync__auto: true
       end
      
    2. Save and exit.

  2. Challenge

    Test the Vagrant Environment and Check the Sync
    1. Deploy the Vagrant environment:

      vagrant up
      
    2. We can SSH into the guest container to see that the sync worked:

      vagrant ssh
      ls /opt/wanderer/
      exit
      
  3. Challenge

    Test the Auto-Syncing Process
    1. Since we are using rsync, auto-synced must be turned on:

      vagrant rsync-auto &
      
    2. Take note of the process ID output.

    3. Update the application; here changing Do This! to To-Do:

      vim app/views/index.ejs
      
          To-Do
      
    4. Save and exit; notice the output from Vagrant.

    5. Kill the auto-sync process:

      pkill PID_OUTPUT
      
    6. Stop the container:

      vagrant halt
      
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