Implement --immutable option

docs/content/docs.md

@@ -433,6 +433,26 @@ Normally rclone would skip any files that have the same
 modification time and are the same size (or have the same checksum if
 using `--checksum`).
 
+### --immutable ###
+
+Treat source and destination files as immutable and disallow
+modification.
+
+With this option set, files will be created and deleted as requested,
+but existing files will never be updated.  If an existing file does
+not match between the source and destination, rclone will give the error
+`Source and destination exist but do not match: immutable file modified`.
+
+Note that only commands which transfer files (e.g. `sync`, `copy`,
+`move`) are affected by this behavior, and only modification is
+disallowed.  Files may still be deleted explicitly (e.g. `delete`,
+`purge`) or implicitly (e.g. `sync`, `move`).  Use `copy --immutable`
+if it is desired to avoid deletion as well as modification.
+
+This can be useful as an additional layer of protection for immutable
+or append-only data sets (notably backup archives), where modification
+implies corruption and should not be propagated.
+
 ### --log-file=FILE ###
 
 Log all of rclone's output to FILE.  This is not active by default.

fs/config.go

@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ var (
 	bindAddr              = StringP("bind", "", "", "Local address to bind to for outgoing connections, IPv4, IPv6 or name.")
 	disableFeatures       = StringP("disable", "", "", "Disable a comma separated list of features.  Use help to see a list.")
 	userAgent             = StringP("user-agent", "", "rclone/"+Version, "Set the user-agent to a specified string. The default is rclone/ version")
+	immutable             = BoolP("immutable", "", false, "Do not modify files. Fail if existing files have been modified.")
 	streamingUploadCutoff = SizeSuffix(100 * 1024)
 	logLevel              = LogLevelNotice
 	statsLogLevel         = LogLevelInfo
@@ -240,6 +241,7 @@ type ConfigInfo struct {
 	TPSLimitBurst         int
 	BindAddr              net.IP
 	DisableFeatures       []string
+	Immutable             bool
 	StreamingUploadCutoff SizeSuffix
 }
 
@@ -379,6 +381,7 @@ func LoadConfig() {
 	Config.UseListR = *useListR
 	Config.TPSLimit = *tpsLimit
 	Config.TPSLimitBurst = *tpsLimitBurst
+	Config.Immutable = *immutable
 	Config.BufferSize = bufferSize
 	Config.StreamingUploadCutoff = streamingUploadCutoff
 

fs/fs.go

@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ var (
 	ErrorNotDeletingDirs             = errors.New("not deleting directories as there were IO errors")
 	ErrorCantMoveOverlapping         = errors.New("can't move files on overlapping remotes")
 	ErrorDirectoryNotEmpty           = errors.New("directory not empty")
+	ErrorImmutableModified           = errors.New("immutable file modified")
 )
 
 // RegInfo provides information about a filesystem

fs/operations.go

@@ -180,8 +180,13 @@ func equal(src ObjectInfo, dst Object, sizeOnly, checkSum bool) bool {
 		if Config.DryRun {
 			Logf(src, "Not updating modification time as --dry-run")
 		} else {
-			// Size and hash the same but mtime different so update the
+			// Size and hash the same but mtime different
-			// mtime of the dst object here
+			// Error if objects are treated as immutable
+			if Config.Immutable {
+				Errorf(dst, "Timestamp mismatch between immutable objects")
+				return false
+			}
+			// Update the mtime of the dst object here
 			err := dst.SetModTime(srcModTime)
 			if err == ErrorCantSetModTime {
 				Debugf(dst, "src and dst identical but can't set mod time without re-uploading")

fs/sync.go

@@ -264,20 +264,26 @@ func (s *syncCopyMove) pairChecker(in ObjectPairChan, out ObjectPairChan, wg *sy
 			// Check to see if can store this
 			if src.Storable() {
 				if NeedTransfer(pair.dst, pair.src) {
-					// If destination already exists, then we must move it into --backup-dir if required
+					// If files are treated as immutable, fail if destination exists and does not match
-					if pair.dst != nil && s.backupDir != nil {
+					if Config.Immutable && pair.dst != nil {
-						remoteWithSuffix := pair.dst.Remote() + s.suffix
+						Errorf(pair.dst, "Source and destination exist but do not match: immutable file modified")
-						overwritten, _ := s.backupDir.NewObject(remoteWithSuffix)
+						s.processError(ErrorImmutableModified)
-						err := Move(s.backupDir, overwritten, remoteWithSuffix, pair.dst)
+					} else {
-						if err != nil {
+						// If destination already exists, then we must move it into --backup-dir if required
-							s.processError(err)
+						if pair.dst != nil && s.backupDir != nil {
+							remoteWithSuffix := pair.dst.Remote() + s.suffix
+							overwritten, _ := s.backupDir.NewObject(remoteWithSuffix)
+							err := Move(s.backupDir, overwritten, remoteWithSuffix, pair.dst)
+							if err != nil {
+								s.processError(err)
+							} else {
+								// If successful zero out the dst as it is no longer there and copy the file
+								pair.dst = nil
+								out <- pair
+							}
 						} else {
-							// If successful zero out the dst as it is no longer there and copy the file
-							pair.dst = nil
 							out <- pair
 						}
-					} else {
-						out <- pair
 					}
 				} else {
 					// If moving need to delete the files we don't need to copy

fs/sync_test.go

@@ -996,3 +996,36 @@ func TestSyncUTFNorm(t *testing.T) {
 	file1.Path = file2.Path
 	fstest.CheckItems(t, r.fremote, file1)
 }
+
+// Test --immutable
+func TestSyncImmutable(t *testing.T) {
+	r := NewRun(t)
+	defer r.Finalise()
+
+	fs.Config.Immutable = true
+	defer func() { fs.Config.Immutable = false }()
+
+	// Create file on source
+	file1 := r.WriteFile("existing", "potato", t1)
+	fstest.CheckItems(t, r.flocal, file1)
+	fstest.CheckItems(t, r.fremote)
+
+	// Should succeed
+	fs.Stats.ResetCounters()
+	err := fs.Sync(r.fremote, r.flocal)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	fstest.CheckItems(t, r.flocal, file1)
+	fstest.CheckItems(t, r.fremote, file1)
+
+	// Modify file data and timestamp on source
+	file2 := r.WriteFile("existing", "tomato", t2)
+	fstest.CheckItems(t, r.flocal, file2)
+	fstest.CheckItems(t, r.fremote, file1)
+
+	// Should fail with ErrorImmutableModified and not modify local or remote files
+	fs.Stats.ResetCounters()
+	err = fs.Sync(r.fremote, r.flocal)
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, fs.ErrorImmutableModified.Error())
+	fstest.CheckItems(t, r.flocal, file2)
+	fstest.CheckItems(t, r.fremote, file1)
+}