Automator script sometimes fails when run as Application

It seems that the rsync command is completing (results in its own log), but the shell session is still throwing the error and causing the script to abort. I tried adding an 'exit' command after rsync, but the problem is still occurring intermittently. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you.

I finally managed to replicate (what I assume to be the same) error from within Automator (so not using the Application, which threw the error more often than not). In the Automator Log I saw 'Run Shell Script failed - 1 error'; on the next line was the error icon (white cross against red circle) and '(24).

Have been unable to understand what the '(24)' means. Again, this is not happening on every execution. The script seems to be performing the rsync command. For this last run that command was followed by an 'exit' instruction.

Again, any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you, twtwtw (especially for highlighting that this was an rsync error and not shell - I should have been able to find it, sorry).

I am guessing you are on to something here: I copy the Library folder in my user account and sometimes Preferences files (as I recall) vanish between the building of the file list and the copy. When I run in Terminal I sometimes see a warning that some files have 'vanished' but this is never recorded in the rsync log-file, which seems to include what it copied rather than what it thought about copying! This also, of couse, would explain why the abort occurs only intermittently.

I now need to find out how to trap this one specific error.

Again, thank you.

Thanks. I did a little Googling re redirecting STDERR and tried adding the following (bold) to my command line:

rsync -av --exclude-from="/Volumes/X/rsync Library/rsync Exclusions/user-exc.txt" --log-file="/Volumes/X/rsync Library/rsync Logs/rsync-user.txt" "/Volumes/Mac HD/Users/user/" "/Volumes/X/rsync-user" 2>"/Volumes/X/rsync Library/rsync Logs/Errors/rsync-user errors.txt"

It is still ending with an error 24 occasionally (and this file is empty, but created). My guess is that your idea is correct and my implementation wrong. Shall continue to play with redirecting the output and let you know how I get on. Thank you for your supprt.

Thanks again, twtwtw. Just to update you, I managed to redirect output and error stream to a file by adding the following to the rsync command:

1>"path/filename" 2>&1

With the above, I could see the error (24) codes in the file, e.g.

rsync warning: some files vanished before they could be transferred (code 24) at /SourceCache/rsync/rsync-42/rsync/main.c(992) [sender=2.6.9]

However, unfortunately, this redirection did not prevent the shell script from terminating. Still, I'd like to thank you for your support here.

Thank you, twtwtw. Yes, I am adding 'busy' folders to the exclusions list - I only really need to copy user content, and have less interest in configuration settings, etc. Still, there is content in Library - fonts, mail folders, chat messages, etc.

Hiroto, Thank you. This solved the problem: adding 'exit 0' allows the scipt to continue.

For others' reference, Automator application for copying files with rysnc now looks like this:

rsync -a --stats --exclude-from="/path/exclude.txt" --log-file="/path/log.txt" "/path/src/" "/path/dest"

exit 0

For me, there is no need for the -v switch, as the log contains a verbose listing. After Run Shell Script, I have New Text File, which shows the statistics (--stats switch) and any errors. If we remove --stats then this file is empty if there are no errors. I end with Ask For Confirmation so that I know the script has ended.

Improvements might be:

a) exit 0 only if error = 24

b) Show a Notification Centre badge in Mountain Lion

I suppose that (a) can be done with Apple Script, and (b) with terminal-notifier (a solution I know nothing about, but which apparently is robust). Still, I have not wanted to complicate things - the script does what I need, if perhaps not entirely what I desire!

Thank you to everyone who helped to solve this.

Thank you, Hiroto. So, I shall type this into the Run Shell Script into Automator - great. I see how the (now updated) syntax works, but I am unsure why I need to use double square brackets as opposed to single. Have googled but cannot find a satisfying answer that seems to apply. I am using /bin/hash (this seems relevant). May I abuse your kindness and ask for the rationale, please? Again, thank you.