Introducing HostnExtra Sync: Simple File Synchronization for Server Deployments

Today, we're excited to introduce HostnExtra Sync, a new file synchronization plugin for the HostnExtra CLI.

HostnExtra Sync provides a clean command-line interface for synchronizing files and directories between local machines and remote servers using SSH and rsync.

Why HostnExtra Sync?

rsync is a powerful and reliable tool for file synchronization. HostnExtra Sync builds a simpler workflow around it for common server and deployment tasks.

Instead of managing longer rsync and SSH commands manually, you can use a consistent HostnExtra CLI interface.

For example:

hostnextra sync push ./build --to web-prod-01:/var/www

hostnextra sync push ./build --to web-prod-01:/var/www

The actual synchronization is still performed by rsync, allowing HostnExtra Sync to benefit from its efficient file transfer and synchronization capabilities.

Key Features

HostnExtra Sync includes:

• Push files and directories to remote servers
• Pull files and directories from remote servers
• Compare local and remote content
• Watch directories and synchronize changes automatically
• Dry-run support
• File and directory exclusions
• Directory-scoped --delete
• SSH connection reuse
• Remote rsync availability detection
• Transfer progress reporting
• Direct SSH targets
• Integration with HostnExtra SSH Config

This makes it useful for development workflows, server deployments, remote development environments, and everyday infrastructure operations.

Designed Around Existing Tools

HostnExtra Sync is designed to work with the tools engineers already use.

It uses the system SSH client for authentication and relies on rsync for file synchronization. SSH keys, agents, passwords, custom ports, identity files, and ProxyJump configurations continue to be handled through the existing SSH environment.

The HostnExtra SSH Config plugin can also be used to manage server definitions, allowing commands such as:

hostnextra sync push ./build --to web-prod-01:/var/www

hostnextra sync push ./build --to web-prod-01:/var/www

where the SSH configuration for web-prod-01 is already defined in HostnExtra SSH Config.

Built for Safe Workflows

File synchronization can affect production systems, so HostnExtra Sync includes features designed to make important operations easier to review.

Dry runs allow you to preview changes before synchronization, while --delete requires explicit confirmation and is limited to the directory being synchronized.

For example:

hostnextra sync push ./build --to web-prod-01:/var/www --delete --dry-run

hostnextra sync push ./build --to web-prod-01:/var/www --delete --dry-run

This gives you an opportunity to review the operation before making changes.

Open Source and Available Now

HostnExtra Sync is released under the MIT License and is available as an open source project.

GitHub Repository: github.com/hostnextra/sync

npm Package: hostnextra-sync on npm

To install the plugin through HostnExtra CLI:

npm install -g hostnextra
hostnextra plugin add sync

npm install -g hostnextra
hostnextra plugin add sync

HostnExtra Sync requires Node.js 22+, rsync on the local machine and remote server, and SSH access to the destination server.

Part of the HostnExtra Open Source Ecosystem

HostnExtra Sync is the next step in our effort to build a collection of focused infrastructure tools that work well together.

With HostnExtra CLI, we're building a foundation for practical command-line workflows around server management and infrastructure operations.

We're looking forward to continuing this work and sharing more open source tools with the community.

If you're working with Linux servers, deployments, remote development environments, or infrastructure automation, we hope HostnExtra Sync becomes a useful addition to your workflow.