116 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
116 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
While git-annex can be [[installed_on_your_Android_device|/Android]],
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it might be easier not to install it there, but run it on your computer
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using `adb` to pull and push changes to the Android device.
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A few reasons for going this route:
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* Easier than installing git-annex on Android.
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* Avoids needing to type commands into a terminal on Android.
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* Avoids problems with putting a git-annex repository on Android's `/sdcard`,
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which is crippled by not supporting hard links etc.
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All you should need is a USB cable (or adb over wifi), and the `adb`
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command.
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## setting it up
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First, initialize your git-annex repository on your computer, if you haven't
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already.
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Then, in that repository, set up an adb special remote:
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git-annex initremote android type=adb androiddirectory=/sdcard encryption=none exporttree=yes importtree=yes
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The above example syncs with the /sdcard directory of the
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Android device. That can be a lot of files, so you may want a more
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limited directory. See the sample workflows below for some more examples.
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Next, configure how trees of files imported from it will be merged into your
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git repository.
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git config remote.android.annex-tracking-branch master:android
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Setting "master:android" makes the phone be treated as containing a branch
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of the master branch, and makes all its files appear to be inside a
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subdirectory named `android`. If you want its files to not be in a
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subdirectory, set it to "master" instead.
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Finally, you may want to configure a preferred content expression for the
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remote. That will limit both what is exported to it, and what is imported
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from it. If you want to fully sync all files, you don't need to do this.
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For example, to limit the files that get imported and exported to sound files:
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git annex wanted android 'include=*.mp3 or include=*.ogg'
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## syncing with it
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git annex sync --content android
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This command does a bi-directional sync with the phone, first importing
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new and changed files from it, merging that into the master branch,
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and then exporting from the master branch back to the android device so any
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modifications you have made get synced over to it.
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See [[git-annex-import, [[git-annex-export]], and [[git-annex-sync]]
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for more details, and bear in mind that you can also use commands like
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these to only import from or export to the android device:
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git annex import master:android --from android
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git annex merge android/master
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git annex export master:android --to android
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## sample workflows
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### photos
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Set up the remote to use the /sdcard/DCIM directory where the phone's
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camera stores them.
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git-annex initremote android type=adb androiddirectory=/sdcard/DCIM encryption=none exporttree=yes importtree=yes
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The annex-tracking-branch can be the same as before, to limit
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the files that are synced to those in an android directory:
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git config remote.android.annex-tracking-branch master:android
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If you don't want to keep old photos on your Android device, you can simply
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`git mv` the files from the android directory to another directory, and
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the next sync with the phone will delete them from the Android device:
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git mv android/* .
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git annex sync --content
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### music and podcasts
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You could set up the remote to use the /sdcard/Music directory.
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But, I sometimes download music to other locations, and perhaps you do too.
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Let's instead limit the remote to mp3 and ogg files:
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git-annex initremote android type=adb androiddirectory=/sdcard encryption=none exporttree=yes importtree=yes
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git annex wanted android 'include=*.mp3 or include=*.ogg'
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The annex-tracking-branch can be the same as before, to limit
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the files that are synced to those in an android directory:
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git config remote.android.annex-tracking-branch master:android
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And then do an initial sync:
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git annex sync --content android
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Now, you can copy music and podcasts you want to listen
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to over to the Android device, by first copying them to the android
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directory of your git-annex repo:
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cp -a podcasts/LibreLounge/Episode_14__Secure_Scuttlebutt_with_Joey_Hess.ogg android/
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git annex add android
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git annex sync --content android
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That will also import any new sound files from the Android device into
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your git-annex repo.
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Once you're done with listening to something on the Android device, you can
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simply delete it from the device, and the next time git-annex syncs, it
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will get removed from the android directory. Or, you can delete it from the
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android directory and the next sync will delete it from the Android device.
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