scripts/iPhone-synchronization-linux.md

iPhone Synchronization under Arch Linux

Wired synchronization with libimobiledevice and ifuse

Installation

sudo pacman -S libimobiledevice ifuse

Install the necessary tools: On your Linux system, install libimobiledevice and ifuse. The installation command depends on your distribution (e.g., sudo apt-get install libimobiledevice-utils on Debian/Ubuntu or use the AUR for Arch-based systems).

Connect your iPhone: Plug your iPhone into your computer with a USB cable.

Trust the computer: On your iPhone, tap "Trust" when the prompt appears and enter your passcode. Mount the device: Open a terminal and create a mount point, for example, mkdir ~/iPhone. Then, mount the device with the command ifuse ~/iPhone.

Access files: Your iPhone should now appear as a mounted device, typically with a DCIM folder containing your photos and videos. You can browse and copy files from this folder to your computer.

Script to synchronize the iPhone data to the Linux PC

Create a new file, e.g. sync-iPhone.sh with the content:

#!/bin/sh
program_list=("ifuse" "ldconfig" "rsync")
library_list=("libimobiledevice")
sync_folder="$HOME/iPhone"
sync_mount="${sync_folder}/.mnt"
sync_data="${sync_folder}/data"

# iteration thru list of programs
for program in "${program_list[@]}"
do
	if command -v "${program}" >/dev/null 2>&1
	then
		echo "OK, ${program} exists."
	else
		echo "Sorry, ${program} does not exists,"
		echo "you have to install all of these programs first: ${program_list[@]}"
		exit 1
	fi
done

# iteration thru list of libraries
for library in "${library_list[@]}"
do
	if ldconfig -p | grep ${library} >/dev/null 2>&1
	then
		echo "OK, ${library} exists."
	else
		echo "Sorry, the library ${library} is not installed."
		echo "You have to install the libraries first: ${library_list[@]}"
		exit 2
	fi
done
echo "Create the folder ${sync_mount} ..."
if mkdir -p ${sync_mount} >/dev/null 2>&1
then
	echo "done."
else
	echo "Folder ${sync_mount} already exists."
fi

echo "Mount the iPhone into that folder using ifuse ..."
if ifuse ${sync_mount}
then
	echo "ok."
else
	echo "did not work. Check your connection to the iPhone."
	exit 3
fi

echo "RSYNC the iPhone ..."
FROM="$sync_mount"/
TO="$sync_data"/

while true
do
	echo "** Synchronization from ${FROM} to ${TO} **"
	read -n 1 -p"Sync iPhone and delete old files (y)es/(n)o/(c)ancel? " response
	echo
	case ${response} in
		[Nn]* ) rsync -avP "${FROM}" "${TO}"; break;;
		[YyJj]* ) rsync -avP --delete "${FROM}" "${TO}"; break;;
		[Cc]* ) break;;
		* ) echo "Please answer yes, no or cancel.";;
	esac
done
echo "Memory usage on the iPhone:" && du -hs ${sync_mount}

echo "Unmount the iPhone ..."
if umount ${sync_mount}
then
	echo "done."
else
	echo "The umounting procedure did not work."
fi
echo "Remove temporary mount point ..."
rmdir ${sync_mount}
echo "done."
echo "Disk usage:" && du -hs ${sync_folder}

You have to set the executable flag to this file sync-iPhone.sh with

chmod +x sync-iPhone.sh

Now you can execute that script using

./sync-iPhone.sh