Extended a test to ensure that hard-linked distant files continues

[rsync/rsync.git] / README

WHAT IS RSYNC?
--------------

rsync is a replacement for scp/rcp that has many more features.

rsync uses the "rsync algorithm" which provides a very fast method for
bringing remote files into sync. It does this by sending just the
differences in the files across the link, without requiring that both
sets of files are present at one of the ends of the link beforehand.
At first glance this may seem impossible because the calculation of
diffs between two files normally requires local access to both
files. 

A technical report describing the rsync algorithm is included with
this package. 


USAGE
-----

Basically you use rsync just like rcp, but rsync has many additional
options.  To get a complete list of supported options type

  rsync --help

and see the manual for more information.


SETUP
-----

Rsync normally uses ssh or rsh for communication.  It does not need to
be setuid and requires no special privileges for installation.  You
must, however, have a working ssh or rsh system.  Using ssh is
recommended for its security features.

Alternatively, rsync can run in `daemon' mode, listening on a socket.
This is generally used for public file distribution, although
authentication and access control are available.

To install rsync, first run the "configure" script. This will create a
Makefile and config.h appropriate for your system. Then type
"make". 

Note that on some systems you will have to force configure not to use
gcc because gcc may not support some features (such as 64 bit file
offsets) that your system may support. Set the environment variable CC
to the name of your native compiler before running configure in this
case. 

Once built put a copy of rsync in your search path on the local and
remote systems (or use "make install"). That's it!

RSYNC DAEMONS
-------------

rsync can also talk to "rsync daemons" which can provide anonymous or
authenticated rsync. See the rsyncd.conf(5) man page for details on how
to setup an rsync daemon. See the rsync(1) man page for info on how to
connect to an rsync daemon.


MAILING LIST
------------

There is a mailing list for the discussion of rsync and its
applications. It is open to anyone to join. I will announce new
versions on this list. 

To join the mailing list see the web page at http://lists.samba.org/

To send mail to everyone on the list send it to rsync@lists.samba.org


BUG REPORTS
-----------

If you have web access then please look at

  http://rsync.samba.org/

That page contains links to the current bug list, and information on
how to report a bug well.  You might also like to try searching the
internet for the error message you've received, or looking in the
mailing list archives at

  http://mail-archive.com/rsync@lists.samba.org/

To send a bug report, follow the instructions on the bug-tracking
page of the web site.

If you don't have web access, email your bug report to
rsync@lists.samba.org.


CVS TREE
--------

If you want to get the very latest version of rsync direct from the
source code repository then you can use anonymous cvs. You will need a
recent version of cvs then use the following commands:

	cvs -d :pserver:cvs@pserver.samba.org:/cvsroot login
	Password: cvs

	cvs -d :pserver:cvs@pserver.samba.org:/cvsroot co rsync

Look at the cvs documentation for more details.


COPYRIGHT
---------

rsync was originally written by Andrew Tridgell and has been improved
by many developers around the world.  rsync may be used, modified and
redistributed only under the terms of the GNU General Public License,
found in the file COPYING in this distribution, or at 

  http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl.html


AVAILABILITY
------------

The main web site for rsync is http://rsync.samba.org/
The main ftp site is ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync/
This is also available as rsync://rsync.samba.org/rsyncftp/