Thread

Been working on a MacBook Pro but awaiting arrival of a new iMac and working through my list of ‘to-do’s’ to set up my web development environment. Initially to start off the machines will be clones of each other.

Basically I have Php/Apache/MySql running from localhost in the webserver/documents folder and several EE iterations installed there. I am going to be working mainly on the iMac but often remotely at a clients or wherever on the MacBook Pro.

What I need to happen is a 2-way sync between the two so that all the flat-files and MySql databases are in sync to the latest updated version.

Any suggestions on the best most painless method?

You can use GIT to stay synchronized 😊

I’d go out on a limb to say don’t clone. Start from fresh and reinstall / move as needed. Computers get bloated over time (unless you’re ungodly good at keeping things tidy), so starting fresh will help make sure only what you need is transferred over.

Version control is a good way to keep “synced”, though it has the downfall of if you forget to push your changes.

Dropbox can keep files up-to-date, you can even use the dropbox folder as your htdocs root (though it may be slower, I’ve never done this myself).

Remote desktop is always an option - be able to use your iMac from your laptop. That way you don’t really need to keep any files synced.

I’m sure there’s more options, too.

I’d go out on a limb to say don’t clone. Start from fresh and reinstall / move as needed. Computers get bloated over time (unless you’re ungodly good at keeping things tidy), so starting fresh will help make sure only what you need is transferred over.

Version control is a good way to keep “synced”, though it has the downfall of if you forget to push your changes.

Dropbox can keep files up-to-date, you can even use the dropbox folder as your htdocs root (though it may be slower, I’ve never done this myself).

Remote desktop is always an option - be able to use your iMac from your laptop. That way you don’t really need to keep any files synced.

I’m sure there’s more options, too.

Thanks Aken - went the route of using Dropbox to sync my EE flatfiles in Localhost via Symlinks so I don’t actually have to move them to the DB folder.

Will work out a better solution later as this does not back up the databases but that is not so important for me anyway as they are not actual clones of the live sites but contain mainly dummy info and they are backed up elsewhere.

Thanks for the tips!

If you use MAMP you could just sync that folder also. The DB is stored inside of it.

If you use MAMP you could just sync that folder also. The DB is stored inside of it.

I never really got into Mamp because I’ve been in the habit of just rolling my own environment for too long…old dogs and all that.

But having said that, when this new Mac arrives I will have to upgrade two other Macs to Mountain Lion which means setting up the dev environment on all 3 manually. Fun and games….especially as Apple change the config with each release and something always breaks.

So given that, and the DB aspect you mentioned I am seriously thinking of moving to Mamp.

Would it be possible to have multiple EE installs in there? Could I just slot them in or would I need some complex transfer operation?

Maybe you could use a separate computer as a web server, and tie into it from either computer? That way you don’t have to manage multiple environments, just how you connect to a single environment.

Maybe you could use a separate computer as a web server, and tie into it from either computer? That way you don’t have to manage multiple environments, just how you connect to a single environment.

I thought of it but the problem is I am on the road a lot with the laptop so it isn’t the best solution.