How can I automatically copy the content of a usb (flash) drive to another directory?
The script below is an opposite- variant of this script; while that one acts on specified drives, this scripts acts on all except specified (usb) drives.
What it does
- Whenever an external usb storage device is being connected, the script copies its content into a directory, defined by you (in the head section of the script:
target_folder =
). A sub directory is created with the name of the drive it was copied from. - If the target folder (earlier copy of the disk's content) exists, it overwrites the earlier copy.
- I also added an entry
excluded =
, in which you can (and probably should) list the names of your "normal", (permanent) usb devices ("normal" drives are excluded already automatically). it seems Ubuntu defines the type of device mainly by the file system; I tested formatting a flash drive asext4
, and it showed up as a "normal" drive instead of a flash drive.
The script
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import time
import shutil
#--
target_folder = "/path/to/target_folder"
excluded = ["media_extern"]
#--
def get_mountedlist():
return [(item.split()[0].replace("├─", "").replace("└─", ""),
item[item.find("/"):]) for item in subprocess.check_output(
["/bin/bash", "-c", "lsblk"]).decode("utf-8").split("\n") if "/" in item]
def identify(disk):
command = "find /dev/disk -ls | grep /"+disk
output = subprocess.check_output(["/bin/bash", "-c", command]).decode("utf-8")
if "usb" in output:
return True
else:
return False
done = []
while True:
mounted = get_mountedlist()
new_paths = [dev for dev in get_mountedlist() if not dev in done and not dev[1] == "/"]
valid = [dev for dev in new_paths if (identify(dev[0]), dev[1].split("/")[-1] in excluded) == (True, False)]
for item in valid:
target = target_folder+"/"+item[1].split("/")[-1]
try:
shutil.rmtree(target)
except FileNotFoundError:
pass
shutil.copytree(item[1], target)
done = mounted
time.sleep(4)
How to use
Copy the script into an empty file. In the head section, set:
-
the path to where you want to store the copies of your inserted flash drives
target_folder = "/path/to/directory"
-
the names of your possibly permanently connected devices (use
lsblk
if you don't know)excluded = ["media_extern", "<some_other_drive>"]
For example:
sdb 8:16 1 471M 0 disk └─sdb1 8:17 1 471M 0 part /media/jacob/19C3-0A41 sdc 8:32 0 698,6G 0 disk └─sdc1 8:33 0 698,6G 0 part /media/jacob/media_extern sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
In the output of my
lsblk
, there are two devices:19C3-0A41
andmedia_extern
. The last one is my permanently connected disk I want to exclude:excluded = ["media_extern"]
Save the script as copy_flash.py
, run it by:
python3 /path/to/copy_flash.py
If it does what you want, add it to your startup applications: Dash > Startup Applications > Add
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Eng Fares
Updated on September 18, 2022Comments
-
Eng Fares over 1 year
I want to program my Ubuntu in such a way that it automatically copies the content of USB flash drive to a defined folder in my home directory.
I would like this to be done automatically when any flash drive is being connected (so not just specific ones).
-
Jacob Vlijm over 9 yearsall usb block devices or only flash drives?
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Jacob Vlijm over 9 yearsThat seems hardly possible since it seems Ubuntu defines the type of device mainly by the file system; I tested formatting a flash drive as ext4, and it showed up as... a "normal" drive instead of a flash drive. I made a workaround, see my upcoming answer.
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Eng Fares over 9 yearsif it possible on fat then tell me I don't care about ext4 flashs
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Jacob Vlijm over 9 yearsAt the moment of your snapshot, no external drive seems to be mounted, I will post an example to my answer.
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Eng Fares over 9 yearsyes they are all unmounted except "sdb2" mounted at "/", I cant't exclude it
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Jacob Vlijm over 9 yearsNono, you don't have to. Only the usb devices that you want to exclude. The script recognizes if a device is a
usb
or not. "normal" drives are excluded already. -
Eng Fares over 9 yearsmy bad, but it still copying the "/" (computer) content to my directory
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Jacob Vlijm over 9 yearsReally???? that is weird, not your fault. Is it an internal drive?
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Jacob Vlijm over 9 yearsYou are welcome, glad it works.
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Admin over 8 yearsIs it possible to modify the above script to only copy jpg and mp4?
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