I have 6 devices that i rsync to a central location to back them up. Ive been using ssh as the -e option. Problem is i use public key with passphrases, meaning to backup all six i need to go to each device and run the backup script. Since i typically backup /etc, /home, and /root this means entering sudo and the ssh passphrase 3x for each device.
I would much prefer a script that runs on back storage device that can pull the data from each device without having to use ssh (encryption is not necessary since all traffic is either local or going through a vpn connection).
I could then put this script in root’s crontab or make it a systemd service running as root.
But i dont know how i can remote sync without ssh
As long as you restrict the user of those keys access to an interactive shell and limit access to only the directories rsync needs for backup, it’s more like giving the pool boy keys to the pool rather than allowing access to the whole house.