Fetch Help > Windows > Mirror Window

The Mirror window lets you automatically copy all new or changed files from a local Macintosh folder to a remote folder on a server, or vice versa. You can also use it to synchronize a Macintosh folder with a server folder.

This is a detailed description of the Mirror window; for a quick guide, see the Mirror window introduction help topic.

For example, if you keep all the files that make up a website in a folder on your Macintosh, you can use the Mirror window to quickly upload only the files that are new or have changed since your last update, instead of using the Put command to upload the entire site again. You can also save a mirror document that makes uploading the website changes a simple one-click process.

You can display the Mirror window by choosing Remote > Mirror, or you can add a Mirror button to the transfer window toolbar.

The Mirror window has two panes — one for specifying the source and one for specifying the destination. Mirroring can take place between a folder on your computer and a folder on a server, or two server folders. In the left-hand pane, you can choose either a local or remote folder by clicking the appropriate tab; the right-hand pane always refers to a remote folder.

You can specify a local folder by clicking the Choose button, which shows the standard choose folder prompt, or by dragging a folder icon from the Finder to the left-hand pane of the Mirror window. Once you've chosen a local folder, the path to it will be displayed in the pane.

You can specify remote folders in several ways:

- The pop-up menu to the left of the Host field lists the folders represented by currently open transfer windows. Choose one from the menu to specify it as the remote folder to use.
- Drag a remote folder from a transfer window into one of the Mirror window panes.
- The Choose button displays a dialog similar to the New Connection dialog. Fill out the dialog with the information for the desired folder on the server.

Once you've chosen a remote folder, the hostname, username, and path to the remote folder will be displayed in the pane. Fetch will display a padlock icon if you've chosen to connect securely (using SFTP or FTP with TLS/SSL to the server.

Click one of the two arrow buttons between the two panes to indicate the direction in which files should be copied.

The Delete stray items at destination checkbox instructs Fetch to delete items in the destination folder that do not exist in the source folder, letting you synchronize the two folders. This is a dangerous option, since it can delete entire folders and their contents. Be very sure when you select it, and use it with care!

Click the Mirror button to start mirroring.

Note that the first time you mirror a local folder to a remote folder, Fetch will most likely upload all your files, because it needs to start by synchronizing all the files. But the next and all subsequent times you use the Mirror window for the same folders, only new or changed files will be uploaded.

The Save button saves the current Mirror window settings to a mirror document. Opening that document will open the Mirror window with those settings, or optionally immediately start mirroring.

When you click the Save button, you will be prompted for the name and location for the mirror document. Check the Mirror automatically when opened box to tell Fetch to automatically start mirroring when you open the mirror document. Otherwise, Fetch will open the Mirror window filled out with the folders specified in the document, and you will have to click the Mirror button to start mirroring.

If the connections saved in a mirror document require passwords, you will be prompted for them when mirroring starts. If you do not want to be prompted for passwords, you need to save the passwords for the connections in your keychain.