1 mailto(rsync-bugs@samba.org)
2 manpage(rsync)(1)(1 Jun 2005)()()
3 manpagename(rsync)(faster, flexible replacement for rcp)
6 rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... [USER@]HOST:DEST
8 rsync [OPTION]... [USER@]HOST:SRC [DEST]
10 rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... DEST
12 rsync [OPTION]... [USER@]HOST::SRC [DEST]
14 rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... [USER@]HOST::DEST
16 rsync [OPTION]... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/SRC [DEST]
18 rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/DEST
22 rsync is a program that behaves in much the same way that rcp does,
23 but has many more options and uses the rsync remote-update protocol to
24 greatly speed up file transfers when the destination file is being
27 The rsync remote-update protocol allows rsync to transfer just the
28 differences between two sets of files across the network connection, using
29 an efficient checksum-search algorithm described in the technical
30 report that accompanies this package.
32 Some of the additional features of rsync are:
35 it() support for copying links, devices, owners, groups, and permissions
36 it() exclude and exclude-from options similar to GNU tar
37 it() a CVS exclude mode for ignoring the same files that CVS would ignore
38 it() can use any transparent remote shell, including ssh or rsh
39 it() does not require root privileges
40 it() pipelining of file transfers to minimize latency costs
41 it() support for anonymous or authenticated rsync daemons (ideal for
45 manpagesection(GENERAL)
47 Rsync copies files either to or from a remote host, or locally on the
48 current host (it does not support copying files between two remote hosts).
50 There are two different ways for rsync to contact a remote system: using a
51 remote-shell program as the transport (such as ssh or rsh) or contacting an
52 rsync daemon directly via TCP. The remote-shell transport is used whenever
53 the source or destination path contains a single colon (:) separator after
54 a host specification. Contacting an rsync daemon directly happens when the
55 source or destination path contains a double colon (::) separator after a
56 host specification, OR when an rsync:// URL is specified.
58 As a special case, if a remote source is specified without a destination,
59 the remote files are listed in an output format similar to "ls -l".
61 As expected, if neither the source or destination path specify a remote
62 host, the copy occurs locally (see also the bf(--list-only) option).
64 Finally, it is possible to use a remote-shell transport to contact a remote
65 host and then to spawn a single-use rsync daemon. This allows the use of
66 some of the daemon features (such as named modules) without having to run a
67 daemon as a service. To achieve this, invoke rsync with an explicit
68 bf(--rsh=COMMAND) (aka "bf(-e COMMAND)") option combined with either the
69 source or destination path specified as an rsync daemon (i.e. either a ::
70 separator or an rsync:// URL). In this case, rsync contacts the remote
71 host specified using the specified remote shell, and then starts a
72 single-use rsync daemon to deal with that copy request. See the section
73 "CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM" below.
77 See the file README for installation instructions.
79 Once installed, you can use rsync to any machine that you can access via
80 a remote shell (as well as some that you can access using the rsync
81 daemon-mode protocol). For remote transfers, a modern rsync uses ssh
82 for its communications, but it may have been configured to use a
83 different remote shell by default, such as rsh or remsh.
85 You can also specify any remote shell you like, either by using the bf(-e)
86 command line option, or by setting the RSYNC_RSH environment variable.
88 One common substitute is to use ssh, which offers a high degree of
91 Note that rsync must be installed on both the source and destination
96 You use rsync in the same way you use rcp. You must specify a source
97 and a destination, one of which may be remote.
99 Perhaps the best way to explain the syntax is with some examples:
101 quote(tt(rsync -t *.c foo:src/))
103 This would transfer all files matching the pattern *.c from the
104 current directory to the directory src on the machine foo. If any of
105 the files already exist on the remote system then the rsync
106 remote-update protocol is used to update the file by sending only the
107 differences. See the tech report for details.
109 quote(tt(rsync -avz foo:src/bar /data/tmp))
111 This would recursively transfer all files from the directory src/bar on the
112 machine foo into the /data/tmp/bar directory on the local machine. The
113 files are transferred in "archive" mode, which ensures that symbolic
114 links, devices, attributes, permissions, ownerships, etc. are preserved
115 in the transfer. Additionally, compression will be used to reduce the
116 size of data portions of the transfer.
118 quote(tt(rsync -avz foo:src/bar/ /data/tmp))
120 A trailing slash on the source changes this behavior to avoid creating an
121 additional directory level at the destination. You can think of a trailing
122 / on a source as meaning "copy the contents of this directory" as opposed
123 to "copy the directory by name", but in both cases the attributes of the
124 containing directory are transferred to the containing directory on the
125 destination. In other words, each of the following commands copies the
126 files in the same way, including their setting of the attributes of
130 tt(rsync -av /src/foo /dest)nl()
131 tt(rsync -av /src/foo/ /dest/foo)nl()
134 Note also that host and module references don't require a trailing slash to
135 copy the contents of the default directory. For example, both of these
136 copy the remote directory's contents into "/dest":
139 tt(rsync -av host: /dest)nl()
140 tt(rsync -av host::module /dest)nl()
143 You can also use rsync in local-only mode, where both the source and
144 destination don't have a ':' in the name. In this case it behaves like
145 an improved copy command.
147 quote(tt(rsync somehost.mydomain.com::))
149 This would list all the anonymous rsync modules available on the host
150 somehost.mydomain.com. (See the following section for more details.)
152 manpagesection(ADVANCED USAGE)
154 The syntax for requesting multiple files from a remote host involves using
155 quoted spaces in the SRC. Some examples:
157 quote(tt(rsync host::'modname/dir1/file1 modname/dir2/file2' /dest))
159 This would copy file1 and file2 into /dest from an rsync daemon. Each
160 additional arg must include the same "modname/" prefix as the first one,
161 and must be preceded by a single space. All other spaces are assumed
162 to be a part of the filenames.
164 quote(tt(rsync -av host:'dir1/file1 dir2/file2' /dest))
166 This would copy file1 and file2 into /dest using a remote shell. This
167 word-splitting is done by the remote shell, so if it doesn't work it means
168 that the remote shell isn't configured to split its args based on
169 whitespace (a very rare setting, but not unknown). If you need to transfer
170 a filename that contains whitespace, you'll need to either escape the
171 whitespace in a way that the remote shell will understand, or use wildcards
172 in place of the spaces. Two examples of this are:
175 tt(rsync -av host:'file\ name\ with\ spaces' /dest)nl()
176 tt(rsync -av host:file?name?with?spaces /dest)nl()
179 This latter example assumes that your shell passes through unmatched
180 wildcards. If it complains about "no match", put the name in quotes.
182 manpagesection(CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON)
184 It is also possible to use rsync without a remote shell as the
185 transport. In this case you will connect to a remote rsync daemon
186 running on TCP port 873.
188 You may establish the connection via a web proxy by setting the
189 environment variable RSYNC_PROXY to a hostname:port pair pointing to
190 your web proxy. Note that your web proxy's configuration must support
191 proxy connections to port 873.
193 Using rsync in this way is the same as using it with a remote shell except
197 it() you either use a double colon :: instead of a single colon to
198 separate the hostname from the path, or you use an rsync:// URL.
199 it() the remote daemon may print a message of the day when you
201 it() if you specify no path name on the remote daemon then the
202 list of accessible paths on the daemon will be shown.
203 it() if you specify no local destination then a listing of the
204 specified files on the remote daemon is provided.
207 Some paths on the remote daemon may require authentication. If so then
208 you will receive a password prompt when you connect. You can avoid the
209 password prompt by setting the environment variable RSYNC_PASSWORD to
210 the password you want to use or using the bf(--password-file) option. This
211 may be useful when scripting rsync.
213 WARNING: On some systems environment variables are visible to all
214 users. On those systems using bf(--password-file) is recommended.
216 manpagesection(CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM)
218 It is sometimes useful to be able to set up file transfers using rsync
219 daemon capabilities on the remote machine, while still using ssh or
220 rsh for transport. This is especially useful when you want to connect
221 to a remote machine via ssh (for encryption or to get through a
222 firewall), but you still want to have access to the rsync daemon
223 features (see RUNNING AN RSYNC DAEMON OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM,
226 From the user's perspective, using rsync in this way is the same as
227 using it to connect to an rsync daemon, except that you must
228 explicitly set the remote shell program on the command line with
229 bf(--rsh=COMMAND). (Setting RSYNC_RSH in the environment will not turn on
232 In order to distinguish between the remote-shell user and the rsync
233 daemon user, you can use '-l user' on your remote-shell command:
235 verb( rsync -av --rsh="ssh -l ssh-user" \
236 rsync-user@host::module[/path] local-path)
238 The "ssh-user" will be used at the ssh level; the "rsync-user" will be
239 used to check against the rsyncd.conf on the remote host.
241 manpagesection(RUNNING AN RSYNC DAEMON)
243 An rsync daemon is configured using a configuration file. Please see the
244 rsyncd.conf(5) man page for more information. By default the configuration
245 file is called /etc/rsyncd.conf, unless rsync is running over a remote
246 shell program and is not running as root; in that case, the default name
247 is rsyncd.conf in the current directory on the remote computer
250 manpagesection(RUNNING AN RSYNC DAEMON OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM)
252 See the rsyncd.conf(5) man page for full information on the rsync
253 daemon configuration file.
255 Several configuration options will not be available unless the remote
256 user is root (e.g. chroot, setuid/setgid, etc.). There is no need to
257 configure inetd or the services map to include the rsync daemon port
258 if you run an rsync daemon only via a remote shell program.
260 To run an rsync daemon out of a single-use ssh key, see this section
261 in the rsyncd.conf(5) man page.
263 manpagesection(EXAMPLES)
265 Here are some examples of how I use rsync.
267 To backup my wife's home directory, which consists of large MS Word
268 files and mail folders, I use a cron job that runs
270 quote(tt(rsync -Cavz . arvidsjaur:backup))
272 each night over a PPP connection to a duplicate directory on my machine
275 To synchronize my samba source trees I use the following Makefile
279 rsync -avuzb --exclude '*~' samba:samba/ .
281 rsync -Cavuzb . samba:samba/
284 this allows me to sync with a CVS directory at the other end of the
285 connection. I then do CVS operations on the remote machine, which saves a
286 lot of time as the remote CVS protocol isn't very efficient.
288 I mirror a directory between my "old" and "new" ftp sites with the
291 tt(rsync -az -e ssh --delete ~ftp/pub/samba nimbus:"~ftp/pub/tridge")
293 This is launched from cron every few hours.
295 manpagesection(OPTIONS SUMMARY)
297 Here is a short summary of the options available in rsync. Please refer
298 to the detailed description below for a complete description. verb(
299 -v, --verbose increase verbosity
300 -q, --quiet suppress non-error messages
301 -c, --checksum skip based on checksum, not mod-time & size
302 -a, --archive archive mode; same as -rlptgoD (no -H)
303 -r, --recursive recurse into directories
304 -R, --relative use relative path names
305 --no-relative turn off --relative
306 --no-implied-dirs don't send implied dirs with -R
307 -b, --backup make backups (see --suffix & --backup-dir)
308 --backup-dir=DIR make backups into hierarchy based in DIR
309 --suffix=SUFFIX backup suffix (default ~ w/o --backup-dir)
310 -u, --update skip files that are newer on the receiver
311 --inplace update destination files in-place
312 -d, --dirs transfer directories without recursing
313 -l, --links copy symlinks as symlinks
314 -L, --copy-links transform symlink into referent file/dir
315 --copy-unsafe-links only "unsafe" symlinks are transformed
316 --safe-links ignore symlinks that point outside the tree
317 -H, --hard-links preserve hard links
318 -K, --keep-dirlinks treat symlinked dir on receiver as dir
319 -p, --perms preserve permissions
320 -o, --owner preserve owner (root only)
321 -g, --group preserve group
322 -D, --devices preserve devices (root only)
323 -t, --times preserve times
324 -O, --omit-dir-times omit directories when preserving times
325 -S, --sparse handle sparse files efficiently
326 -n, --dry-run show what would have been transferred
327 -W, --whole-file copy files whole (without rsync algorithm)
328 --no-whole-file always use incremental rsync algorithm
329 -x, --one-file-system don't cross filesystem boundaries
330 -B, --block-size=SIZE force a fixed checksum block-size
331 -e, --rsh=COMMAND specify the remote shell to use
332 --rsync-path=PROGRAM specify the rsync to run on remote machine
333 --existing only update files that already exist
334 --ignore-existing ignore files that already exist on receiver
335 --remove-sent-files sent files/symlinks are removed from sender
336 --del an alias for --delete-during
337 --delete delete files that don't exist on sender
338 --delete-before receiver deletes before transfer (default)
339 --delete-during receiver deletes during xfer, not before
340 --delete-after receiver deletes after transfer, not before
341 --delete-excluded also delete excluded files on receiver
342 --ignore-errors delete even if there are I/O errors
343 --force force deletion of dirs even if not empty
344 --max-delete=NUM don't delete more than NUM files
345 --max-size=SIZE don't transfer any file larger than SIZE
346 --partial keep partially transferred files
347 --partial-dir=DIR put a partially transferred file into DIR
348 --delay-updates put all updated files into place at end
349 --numeric-ids don't map uid/gid values by user/group name
350 --timeout=TIME set I/O timeout in seconds
351 -I, --ignore-times don't skip files that match size and time
352 --size-only skip files that match in size
353 --modify-window=NUM compare mod-times with reduced accuracy
354 -T, --temp-dir=DIR create temporary files in directory DIR
355 -y, --fuzzy find similar file for basis if no dest file
356 --compare-dest=DIR also compare received files relative to DIR
357 --copy-dest=DIR ... and include copies of unchanged files
358 --link-dest=DIR hardlink to files in DIR when unchanged
359 -z, --compress compress file data during the transfer
360 -C, --cvs-exclude auto-ignore files in the same way CVS does
361 -f, --filter=RULE add a file-filtering RULE
362 -F same as --filter='dir-merge /.rsync-filter'
363 repeated: --filter='- .rsync-filter'
364 --exclude=PATTERN exclude files matching PATTERN
365 --exclude-from=FILE read exclude patterns from FILE
366 --include=PATTERN don't exclude files matching PATTERN
367 --include-from=FILE read include patterns from FILE
368 --files-from=FILE read list of source-file names from FILE
369 -0, --from0 all *from/filter files are delimited by 0s
370 --address=ADDRESS bind address for outgoing socket to daemon
371 --port=PORT specify double-colon alternate port number
372 --blocking-io use blocking I/O for the remote shell
373 --no-blocking-io turn off blocking I/O when it is default
374 --stats give some file-transfer stats
375 --progress show progress during transfer
376 -P same as --partial --progress
377 -i, --itemize-changes output a change-summary for all updates
378 --log-format=FORMAT output filenames using the specified format
379 --password-file=FILE read password from FILE
380 --list-only list the files instead of copying them
381 --bwlimit=KBPS limit I/O bandwidth; KBytes per second
382 --write-batch=FILE write a batched update to FILE
383 --only-write-batch=FILE like --write-batch but w/o updating dest
384 --read-batch=FILE read a batched update from FILE
385 --protocol=NUM force an older protocol version to be used
386 --checksum-seed=NUM set block/file checksum seed (advanced)
387 -4, --ipv4 prefer IPv4
388 -6, --ipv6 prefer IPv6
389 --version print version number
390 -h, --help show this help screen)
392 Rsync can also be run as a daemon, in which case the following options are
394 --daemon run as an rsync daemon
395 --address=ADDRESS bind to the specified address
396 --bwlimit=KBPS limit I/O bandwidth; KBytes per second
397 --config=FILE specify alternate rsyncd.conf file
398 --no-detach do not detach from the parent
399 --port=PORT listen on alternate port number
400 -v, --verbose increase verbosity
401 -4, --ipv4 prefer IPv4
402 -6, --ipv6 prefer IPv6
403 -h, --help show this help screen)
407 rsync uses the GNU long options package. Many of the command line
408 options have two variants, one short and one long. These are shown
409 below, separated by commas. Some options only have a long variant.
410 The '=' for options that take a parameter is optional; whitespace
414 dit(bf(-h, --help)) Print a short help page describing the options
417 dit(bf(--version)) print the rsync version number and exit.
419 dit(bf(-v, --verbose)) This option increases the amount of information you
420 are given during the transfer. By default, rsync works silently. A
421 single bf(-v) will give you information about what files are being
422 transferred and a brief summary at the end. Two bf(-v) flags will give you
423 information on what files are being skipped and slightly more
424 information at the end. More than two bf(-v) flags should only be used if
425 you are debugging rsync.
427 Note that the names of the transferred files that are output are done using
428 a default bf(--log-format) of "%n%L", which tells you just the name of the
429 file and, if the item is a link, where it points. At the single bf(-v)
430 level of verbosity, this does not mention when a file gets its attributes
431 changed. If you ask for an itemized list of changed attributes (either
432 bf(--itemize-changes) or adding "%i" to the bf(--log-format) setting), the
433 output (on the client) increases to mention all items that are changed in
434 any way. See the bf(--log-format) option for more details.
436 dit(bf(-q, --quiet)) This option decreases the amount of information you
437 are given during the transfer, notably suppressing information messages
438 from the remote server. This flag is useful when invoking rsync from
441 dit(bf(-I, --ignore-times)) Normally rsync will skip any files that are
442 already the same size and have the same modification time-stamp.
443 This option turns off this "quick check" behavior.
445 dit(bf(--size-only)) Normally rsync will not transfer any files that are
446 already the same size and have the same modification time-stamp. With the
447 bf(--size-only) option, files will not be transferred if they have the same size,
448 regardless of timestamp. This is useful when starting to use rsync
449 after using another mirroring system which may not preserve timestamps
452 dit(bf(--modify-window)) When comparing two timestamps, rsync treats the
453 timestamps as being equal if they differ by no more than the modify-window
454 value. This is normally 0 (for an exact match), but you may find it useful
455 to set this to a larger value in some situations. In particular, when
456 transferring to or from an MS Windows FAT filesystem (which represents
457 times with a 2-second resolution), bf(--modify-window=1) is useful
458 (allowing times to differ by up to 1 second).
460 dit(bf(-c, --checksum)) This forces the sender to checksum all files using
461 a 128-bit MD4 checksum before transfer. The checksum is then
462 explicitly checked on the receiver and any files of the same name
463 which already exist and have the same checksum and size on the
464 receiver are not transferred. This option can be quite slow.
466 dit(bf(-a, --archive)) This is equivalent to bf(-rlptgoD). It is a quick
467 way of saying you want recursion and want to preserve almost
468 everything. The only exception to this is if bf(--files-from) was
469 specified, in which case bf(-r) is not implied.
471 Note that bf(-a) bf(does not preserve hardlinks), because
472 finding multiply-linked files is expensive. You must separately
475 dit(bf(-r, --recursive)) This tells rsync to copy directories
476 recursively. See also bf(--dirs) (bf(-d)).
478 dit(bf(-R, --relative)) Use relative paths. This means that the full path
479 names specified on the command line are sent to the server rather than
480 just the last parts of the filenames. This is particularly useful when
481 you want to send several different directories at the same time. For
482 example, if you used the command
484 quote(tt( rsync /foo/bar/foo.c remote:/tmp/))
486 then this would create a file called foo.c in /tmp/ on the remote
487 machine. If instead you used
489 quote(tt( rsync -R /foo/bar/foo.c remote:/tmp/))
491 then a file called /tmp/foo/bar/foo.c would be created on the remote
492 machine -- the full path name is preserved. To limit the amount of
493 path information that is sent, do something like this:
497 tt( rsync -R bar/foo.c remote:/tmp/)nl()
500 That would create /tmp/bar/foo.c on the remote machine.
502 dit(bf(--no-relative)) Turn off the bf(--relative) option. This is only
503 needed if you want to use bf(--files-from) without its implied bf(--relative)
506 dit(bf(--no-implied-dirs)) When combined with the bf(--relative) option, the
507 implied directories in each path are not explicitly duplicated as part
508 of the transfer. This makes the transfer more optimal and also allows
509 the two sides to have non-matching symlinks in the implied part of the
510 path. For instance, if you transfer the file "/path/foo/file" with bf(-R),
511 the default is for rsync to ensure that "/path" and "/path/foo" on the
512 destination exactly match the directories/symlinks of the source. Using
513 the bf(--no-implied-dirs) option would omit both of these implied dirs,
514 which means that if "/path" was a real directory on one machine and a
515 symlink of the other machine, rsync would not try to change this.
517 dit(bf(-b, --backup)) With this option, preexisting destination files are
518 renamed as each file is transferred or deleted. You can control where the
519 backup file goes and what (if any) suffix gets appended using the
520 bf(--backup-dir) and bf(--suffix) options.
521 Note that if you don't specify bf(--backup-dir), the bf(--omit-dir-times)
522 option will be enabled.
524 dit(bf(--backup-dir=DIR)) In combination with the bf(--backup) option, this
525 tells rsync to store all backups in the specified directory. This is
526 very useful for incremental backups. You can additionally
527 specify a backup suffix using the bf(--suffix) option
528 (otherwise the files backed up in the specified directory
529 will keep their original filenames).
531 dit(bf(--suffix=SUFFIX)) This option allows you to override the default
532 backup suffix used with the bf(--backup) (bf(-b)) option. The default suffix is a ~
533 if no -bf(-backup-dir) was specified, otherwise it is an empty string.
535 dit(bf(-u, --update)) This forces rsync to skip any files which exist on
536 the destination and have a modified time that is newer than the source
537 file. (If an existing destination file has a modify time equal to the
538 source file's, it will be updated if the sizes are different.)
540 In the current implementation of bf(--update), a difference of file format
541 between the sender and receiver is always
542 considered to be important enough for an update, no matter what date
543 is on the objects. In other words, if the source has a directory or a
544 symlink where the destination has a file, the transfer would occur
545 regardless of the timestamps. This might change in the future (feel
546 free to comment on this on the mailing list if you have an opinion).
548 dit(bf(--inplace)) This causes rsync not to create a new copy of the file
549 and then move it into place. Instead rsync will overwrite the existing
550 file, meaning that the rsync algorithm can't accomplish the full amount of
551 network reduction it might be able to otherwise (since it does not yet try
552 to sort data matches). One exception to this is if you combine the option
553 with bf(--backup), since rsync is smart enough to use the backup file as the
554 basis file for the transfer.
556 This option is useful for transfer of large files with block-based changes
557 or appended data, and also on systems that are disk bound, not network
560 The option implies bf(--partial) (since an interrupted transfer does not delete
561 the file), but conflicts with bf(--partial-dir) and bf(--delay-updates).
562 Prior to rsync 2.6.4 bf(--inplace) was also incompatible with bf(--compare-dest)
565 WARNING: The file's data will be in an inconsistent state during the
566 transfer (and possibly afterward if the transfer gets interrupted), so you
567 should not use this option to update files that are in use. Also note that
568 rsync will be unable to update a file in-place that is not writable by the
571 dit(bf(-d, --dirs)) Tell the sending side to include any directories that
572 are encountered. Unlike bf(--recursive), a directory's contents are not copied
573 unless the directory was specified on the command-line as either "." or a
574 name with a trailing slash (e.g. "foo/"). Without this option or the
575 bf(--recursive) option, rsync will skip all directories it encounters (and
576 output a message to that effect for each one).
578 dit(bf(-l, --links)) When symlinks are encountered, recreate the
579 symlink on the destination.
581 dit(bf(-L, --copy-links)) When symlinks are encountered, the file that
582 they point to (the referent) is copied, rather than the symlink. In older
583 versions of rsync, this option also had the side-effect of telling the
584 receiving side to follow symlinks, such as symlinks to directories. In a
585 modern rsync such as this one, you'll need to specify bf(--keep-dirlinks) (bf(-K))
586 to get this extra behavior. The only exception is when sending files to
587 an rsync that is too old to understand bf(-K) -- in that case, the bf(-L) option
588 will still have the side-effect of bf(-K) on that older receiving rsync.
590 dit(bf(--copy-unsafe-links)) This tells rsync to copy the referent of
591 symbolic links that point outside the copied tree. Absolute symlinks
592 are also treated like ordinary files, and so are any symlinks in the
593 source path itself when bf(--relative) is used.
595 dit(bf(--safe-links)) This tells rsync to ignore any symbolic links
596 which point outside the copied tree. All absolute symlinks are
597 also ignored. Using this option in conjunction with bf(--relative) may
598 give unexpected results.
600 dit(bf(-H, --hard-links)) This tells rsync to recreate hard links on
601 the remote system to be the same as the local system. Without this
602 option hard links are treated like regular files.
604 Note that rsync can only detect hard links if both parts of the link
605 are in the list of files being sent.
607 This option can be quite slow, so only use it if you need it.
609 dit(bf(-K, --keep-dirlinks)) On the receiving side, if a symlink is
610 pointing to a directory, it will be treated as matching a directory
613 dit(bf(-W, --whole-file)) With this option the incremental rsync algorithm
614 is not used and the whole file is sent as-is instead. The transfer may be
615 faster if this option is used when the bandwidth between the source and
616 destination machines is higher than the bandwidth to disk (especially when the
617 "disk" is actually a networked filesystem). This is the default when both
618 the source and destination are specified as local paths.
620 dit(bf(--no-whole-file)) Turn off bf(--whole-file), for use when it is the
623 dit(bf(-p, --perms)) This option causes rsync to set the destination
624 permissions to be the same as the source permissions.
626 Without this option, all existing files (including updated files) retain
627 their existing permissions, while each new file gets its permissions set
628 based on the source file's permissions, but masked by the receiving end's
630 (which is the same behavior as other file-copy utilities, such as cp).
632 dit(bf(-o, --owner)) This option causes rsync to set the owner of the
633 destination file to be the same as the source file. On most systems,
634 only the super-user can set file ownership. By default, the preservation
635 is done by name, but may fall back to using the ID number in some
636 circumstances. See the bf(--numeric-ids) option for a full discussion.
638 dit(bf(-g, --group)) This option causes rsync to set the group of the
639 destination file to be the same as the source file. If the receiving
640 program is not running as the super-user, only groups that the
641 receiver is a member of will be preserved. By default, the preservation
642 is done by name, but may fall back to using the ID number in some
643 circumstances. See the bf(--numeric-ids) option for a full discussion.
645 dit(bf(-D, --devices)) This option causes rsync to transfer character and
646 block device information to the remote system to recreate these
647 devices. This option is only available to the super-user.
649 dit(bf(-t, --times)) This tells rsync to transfer modification times along
650 with the files and update them on the remote system. Note that if this
651 option is not used, the optimization that excludes files that have not been
652 modified cannot be effective; in other words, a missing bf(-t) or bf(-a) will
653 cause the next transfer to behave as if it used bf(-I), causing all files to be
654 updated (though the rsync algorithm will make the update fairly efficient
655 if the files haven't actually changed, you're much better off using bf(-t)).
657 dit(bf(-O, --omit-dir-times)) This tells rsync to omit directories when
658 it is preserving modification times (see bf(--times)). If NFS is sharing
659 the directories on the receiving side, it is a good idea to use bf(-O).
660 This option is inferred if you use bf(--backup) without bf(--backup-dir).
662 dit(bf(-n, --dry-run)) This tells rsync to not do any file transfers,
663 instead it will just report the actions it would have taken.
665 dit(bf(-S, --sparse)) Try to handle sparse files efficiently so they take
666 up less space on the destination.
668 NOTE: Don't use this option when the destination is a Solaris "tmpfs"
669 filesystem. It doesn't seem to handle seeks over null regions
670 correctly and ends up corrupting the files.
672 dit(bf(-x, --one-file-system)) This tells rsync not to cross filesystem
673 boundaries when recursing. This is useful for transferring the
674 contents of only one filesystem.
676 dit(bf(--existing)) This tells rsync not to create any new files --
677 only update files that already exist on the destination.
679 dit(bf(--ignore-existing))
680 This tells rsync not to update files that already exist on
683 dit(bf(--remove-sent-files)) This tells rsync to remove from the sending
684 side the files and/or symlinks that are newly created or whose content is
685 updated on the receiving side. Directories and devices are not removed,
686 nor are files/symlinks whose attributes are merely changed.
688 dit(bf(--delete)) This tells rsync to delete extraneous files from the
689 receiving side (ones that aren't on the sending side), but only for the
690 directories that are being synchronized. You must have asked rsync to
691 send the whole directory (e.g. "dir" or "dir/") without using a wildcard
692 for the directory's contents (e.g. "dir/*") since the wildcard is expanded
693 by the shell and rsync thus gets a request to transfer individual files, not
694 the files' parent directory. Files that are excluded from transfer are
695 also excluded from being deleted unless you use the bf(--delete-excluded)
696 option or mark the rules as only matching on the sending side (see the
697 include/exclude modifiers in the FILTER RULES section).
699 This option has no effect unless directory recursion is enabled.
701 This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very good idea
702 to run first using the bf(--dry-run) option (bf(-n)) to see what files would be
703 deleted to make sure important files aren't listed.
705 If the sending side detects any I/O errors, then the deletion of any
706 files at the destination will be automatically disabled. This is to
707 prevent temporary filesystem failures (such as NFS errors) on the
708 sending side causing a massive deletion of files on the
709 destination. You can override this with the bf(--ignore-errors) option.
711 The bf(--delete) option may be combined with one of the --delete-WHEN options
712 without conflict, as well as bf(--delete-excluded). However, if none of the
713 --delete-WHEN options are specified, rsync will currently choose the
714 bf(--delete-before) algorithm. A future version may change this to choose the
715 bf(--delete-during) algorithm. See also bf(--delete-after).
717 dit(bf(--delete-before)) Request that the file-deletions on the receiving
718 side be done before the transfer starts. This is the default if bf(--delete)
719 or bf(--delete-excluded) is specified without one of the --delete-WHEN options.
720 See bf(--delete) (which is implied) for more details on file-deletion.
722 Deleting before the transfer is helpful if the filesystem is tight for space
723 and removing extraneous files would help to make the transfer possible.
724 However, it does introduce a delay before the start of the transfer,
725 and this delay might cause the transfer to timeout (if bf(--timeout) was
728 dit(bf(--delete-during, --del)) Request that the file-deletions on the
729 receiving side be done incrementally as the transfer happens. This is
730 a faster method than choosing the before- or after-transfer algorithm,
731 but it is only supported beginning with rsync version 2.6.4.
732 See bf(--delete) (which is implied) for more details on file-deletion.
734 dit(bf(--delete-after)) Request that the file-deletions on the receiving
735 side be done after the transfer has completed. This is useful if you
736 are sending new per-directory merge files as a part of the transfer and
737 you want their exclusions to take effect for the delete phase of the
739 See bf(--delete) (which is implied) for more details on file-deletion.
741 dit(bf(--delete-excluded)) In addition to deleting the files on the
742 receiving side that are not on the sending side, this tells rsync to also
743 delete any files on the receiving side that are excluded (see bf(--exclude)).
744 See the FILTER RULES section for a way to make individual exclusions behave
745 this way on the receiver, and for a way to protect files from
746 bf(--delete-excluded).
747 See bf(--delete) (which is implied) for more details on file-deletion.
749 dit(bf(--ignore-errors)) Tells bf(--delete) to go ahead and delete files
750 even when there are I/O errors.
752 dit(bf(--force)) This options tells rsync to delete directories even if
753 they are not empty when they are to be replaced by non-directories. This
754 is only relevant without bf(--delete) because deletions are now done depth-first.
755 Requires the bf(--recursive) option (which is implied by bf(-a)) to have any effect.
757 dit(bf(--max-delete=NUM)) This tells rsync not to delete more than NUM
758 files or directories (NUM must be non-zero).
759 This is useful when mirroring very large trees to prevent disasters.
761 dit(bf(--max-size=SIZE)) This tells rsync to avoid transferring any
762 file that is larger than the specified SIZE. The SIZE value can be
763 suffixed with a letter to indicate a size multiplier (K, M, or G) and
764 may be a fractional value (e.g. "bf(--max-size=1.5m)").
766 dit(bf(-B, --block-size=BLOCKSIZE)) This forces the block size used in
767 the rsync algorithm to a fixed value. It is normally selected based on
768 the size of each file being updated. See the technical report for details.
770 dit(bf(-e, --rsh=COMMAND)) This option allows you to choose an alternative
771 remote shell program to use for communication between the local and
772 remote copies of rsync. Typically, rsync is configured to use ssh by
773 default, but you may prefer to use rsh on a local network.
775 If this option is used with bf([user@]host::module/path), then the
776 remote shell em(COMMAND) will be used to run an rsync daemon on the
777 remote host, and all data will be transmitted through that remote
778 shell connection, rather than through a direct socket connection to a
779 running rsync daemon on the remote host. See the section "CONNECTING
780 TO AN RSYNC DAEMON OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM" above.
782 Command-line arguments are permitted in COMMAND provided that COMMAND is
783 presented to rsync as a single argument. For example:
785 quote(tt( -e "ssh -p 2234"))
787 (Note that ssh users can alternately customize site-specific connect
788 options in their .ssh/config file.)
790 You can also choose the remote shell program using the RSYNC_RSH
791 environment variable, which accepts the same range of values as bf(-e).
793 See also the bf(--blocking-io) option which is affected by this option.
795 dit(bf(--rsync-path=PROGRAM)) Use this to specify what program is to be run
796 on the remote machine to start-up rsync. Often used when rsync is not in
797 the default remote-shell's path (e.g. --rsync-path=/usr/local/bin/rsync).
798 Note that PROGRAM is run with the help of a shell, so it can be any
799 program, script, or command sequence you'd care to run, so long as it does
800 not corrupt the standard-in & standard-out that rsync is using to
803 One tricky example is to set a different default directory on the remote
804 machine for use with the bf(--relative) option. For instance:
806 quote(tt( rsync -avR --rsync-path="cd /a/b && rsync" hst:c/d /e/))
808 dit(bf(-C, --cvs-exclude)) This is a useful shorthand for excluding a
809 broad range of files that you often don't want to transfer between
810 systems. It uses the same algorithm that CVS uses to determine if
811 a file should be ignored.
813 The exclude list is initialized to:
815 quote(quote(tt(RCS SCCS CVS CVS.adm RCSLOG cvslog.* tags TAGS .make.state
816 .nse_depinfo *~ #* .#* ,* _$* *$ *.old *.bak *.BAK *.orig *.rej
817 .del-* *.a *.olb *.o *.obj *.so *.exe *.Z *.elc *.ln core .svn/)))
819 then files listed in a $HOME/.cvsignore are added to the list and any
820 files listed in the CVSIGNORE environment variable (all cvsignore names
821 are delimited by whitespace).
823 Finally, any file is ignored if it is in the same directory as a
824 .cvsignore file and matches one of the patterns listed therein. Unlike
825 rsync's filter/exclude files, these patterns are split on whitespace.
826 See the bf(cvs(1)) manual for more information.
828 If you're combining bf(-C) with your own bf(--filter) rules, you should
829 note that these CVS excludes are appended at the end of your own rules,
830 regardless of where the bf(-C) was placed on the command-line. This makes them
831 a lower priority than any rules you specified explicitly. If you want to
832 control where these CVS excludes get inserted into your filter rules, you
833 should omit the bf(-C) as a command-line option and use a combination of
834 bf(--filter=:C) and bf(--filter=-C) (either on your command-line or by
835 putting the ":C" and "-C" rules into a filter file with your other rules).
836 The first option turns on the per-directory scanning for the .cvsignore
837 file. The second option does a one-time import of the CVS excludes
840 dit(bf(-f, --filter=RULE)) This option allows you to add rules to selectively
841 exclude certain files from the list of files to be transferred. This is
842 most useful in combination with a recursive transfer.
844 You may use as many bf(--filter) options on the command line as you like
845 to build up the list of files to exclude.
847 See the FILTER RULES section for detailed information on this option.
849 dit(bf(-F)) The bf(-F) option is a shorthand for adding two bf(--filter) rules to
850 your command. The first time it is used is a shorthand for this rule:
852 quote(tt( --filter=': /.rsync-filter'))
854 This tells rsync to look for per-directory .rsync-filter files that have
855 been sprinkled through the hierarchy and use their rules to filter the
856 files in the transfer. If bf(-F) is repeated, it is a shorthand for this
859 quote(tt( --filter='- .rsync-filter'))
861 This filters out the .rsync-filter files themselves from the transfer.
863 See the FILTER RULES section for detailed information on how these options
866 dit(bf(--exclude=PATTERN)) This option is a simplified form of the
867 bf(--filter) option that defaults to an exclude rule and does not allow
868 the full rule-parsing syntax of normal filter rules.
870 See the FILTER RULES section for detailed information on this option.
872 dit(bf(--exclude-from=FILE)) This option is similar to the bf(--exclude)
873 option, but instead it adds all exclude patterns listed in the file
874 FILE to the exclude list. Blank lines in FILE and lines starting with
875 ';' or '#' are ignored.
876 If em(FILE) is bf(-) the list will be read from standard input.
878 dit(bf(--include=PATTERN)) This option is a simplified form of the
879 bf(--filter) option that defaults to an include rule and does not allow
880 the full rule-parsing syntax of normal filter rules.
882 See the FILTER RULES section for detailed information on this option.
884 dit(bf(--include-from=FILE)) This specifies a list of include patterns
886 If em(FILE) is "-" the list will be read from standard input.
888 dit(bf(--files-from=FILE)) Using this option allows you to specify the
889 exact list of files to transfer (as read from the specified FILE or "-"
890 for standard input). It also tweaks the default behavior of rsync to make
891 transferring just the specified files and directories easier:
894 it() The bf(--relative) (bf(-R)) option is implied, which preserves the path
895 information that is specified for each item in the file (use
896 bf(--no-relative) if you want to turn that off).
897 it() The bf(--dirs) (bf(-d)) option is implied, which will create directories
898 specified in the list on the destination rather than noisily skipping
900 it() The bf(--archive) (bf(-a)) option's behavior does not imply bf(--recursive)
901 (bf(-r)), so specify it explicitly, if you want it.
904 The file names that are read from the FILE are all relative to the
905 source dir -- any leading slashes are removed and no ".." references are
906 allowed to go higher than the source dir. For example, take this
909 quote(tt( rsync -a --files-from=/tmp/foo /usr remote:/backup))
911 If /tmp/foo contains the string "bin" (or even "/bin"), the /usr/bin
912 directory will be created as /backup/bin on the remote host. If it
913 contains "bin/" (note the trailing slash), the immediate contents of
914 the directory would also be sent (without needing to be explicitly
915 mentioned in the file -- this began in version 2.6.4). In both cases,
916 if the bf(-r) option was enabled, that dir's entire hierarchy would
917 also be transferred (keep in mind that bf(-r) needs to be specified
918 explicitly with bf(--files-from), since it is not implied by bf(-a)).
920 that the effect of the (enabled by default) bf(--relative) option is to
921 duplicate only the path info that is read from the file -- it does not
922 force the duplication of the source-spec path (/usr in this case).
924 In addition, the bf(--files-from) file can be read from the remote host
925 instead of the local host if you specify a "host:" in front of the file
926 (the host must match one end of the transfer). As a short-cut, you can
927 specify just a prefix of ":" to mean "use the remote end of the
928 transfer". For example:
930 quote(tt( rsync -a --files-from=:/path/file-list src:/ /tmp/copy))
932 This would copy all the files specified in the /path/file-list file that
933 was located on the remote "src" host.
935 dit(bf(-0, --from0)) This tells rsync that the rules/filenames it reads from a
936 file are terminated by a null ('\0') character, not a NL, CR, or CR+LF.
937 This affects bf(--exclude-from), bf(--include-from), bf(--files-from), and any
938 merged files specified in a bf(--filter) rule.
939 It does not affect bf(--cvs-exclude) (since all names read from a .cvsignore
940 file are split on whitespace).
942 dit(bf(-T, --temp-dir=DIR)) This option instructs rsync to use DIR as a
943 scratch directory when creating temporary copies of the files
944 transferred on the receiving side. The default behavior is to create
945 the temporary files in the receiving directory.
947 dit(bf(-y, --fuzzy)) This option tells rsync that it should look for a
948 basis file for any destination file that is missing. The current algorithm
949 looks in the same directory as the destination file for either a file that
950 has an identical size and modified-time, or a similarly-named file. If
951 found, rsync uses the fuzzy basis file to try to speed up the transfer.
953 Note that the use of the bf(--delete) option might get rid of any potential
954 fuzzy-match files, so either use bf(--delete-after) or specify some
955 filename exclusions if you need to prevent this.
957 dit(bf(--compare-dest=DIR)) This option instructs rsync to use em(DIR) on
958 the destination machine as an additional hierarchy to compare destination
959 files against doing transfers (if the files are missing in the destination
960 directory). If a file is found in em(DIR) that is identical to the
961 sender's file, the file will NOT be transferred to the destination
962 directory. This is useful for creating a sparse backup of just files that
963 have changed from an earlier backup.
965 Beginning in version 2.6.4, multiple bf(--compare-dest) directories may be
966 provided, which will cause rsync to search the list in the order specified
968 If a match is found that differs only in attributes, a local copy is made
969 and the attributes updated.
970 If a match is not found, a basis file from one of the em(DIR)s will be
971 selected to try to speed up the transfer.
973 If em(DIR) is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
974 See also bf(--copy-dest) and bf(--link-dest).
976 dit(bf(--copy-dest=DIR)) This option behaves like bf(--compare-dest), but
977 rsync will also copy unchanged files found in em(DIR) to the destination
978 directory using a local copy.
979 This is useful for doing transfers to a new destination while leaving
980 existing files intact, and then doing a flash-cutover when all files have
981 been successfully transferred.
983 Multiple bf(--copy-dest) directories may be provided, which will cause
984 rsync to search the list in the order specified for an unchanged file.
985 If a match is not found, a basis file from one of the em(DIR)s will be
986 selected to try to speed up the transfer.
988 If em(DIR) is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
989 See also bf(--compare-dest) and bf(--link-dest).
991 dit(bf(--link-dest=DIR)) This option behaves like bf(--copy-dest), but
992 unchanged files are hard linked from em(DIR) to the destination directory.
993 The files must be identical in all preserved attributes (e.g. permissions,
994 possibly ownership) in order for the files to be linked together.
997 quote(tt( rsync -av --link-dest=$PWD/prior_dir host:src_dir/ new_dir/))
999 Beginning in version 2.6.4, multiple bf(--link-dest) directories may be
1000 provided, which will cause rsync to search the list in the order specified
1002 If a match is found that differs only in attributes, a local copy is made
1003 and the attributes updated.
1004 If a match is not found, a basis file from one of the em(DIR)s will be
1005 selected to try to speed up the transfer.
1007 If em(DIR) is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
1008 See also bf(--compare-dest) and bf(--copy-dest).
1010 Note that rsync versions prior to 2.6.1 had a bug that could prevent
1011 bf(--link-dest) from working properly for a non-root user when bf(-o) was specified
1012 (or implied by bf(-a)). You can work-around this bug by avoiding the bf(-o) option
1013 when sending to an old rsync.
1015 dit(bf(-z, --compress)) With this option, rsync compresses the file data
1016 as it is sent to the destination machine, which reduces the amount of data
1017 being transmitted -- something that is useful over a slow connection.
1019 Note this this option typically achieves better compression ratios that can
1020 be achieved by using a compressing remote shell or a compressing transport
1021 because it takes advantage of the implicit information in the matching data
1022 blocks that are not explicitly sent over the connection.
1024 dit(bf(--numeric-ids)) With this option rsync will transfer numeric group
1025 and user IDs rather than using user and group names and mapping them
1028 By default rsync will use the username and groupname to determine
1029 what ownership to give files. The special uid 0 and the special group
1030 0 are never mapped via user/group names even if the bf(--numeric-ids)
1031 option is not specified.
1033 If a user or group has no name on the source system or it has no match
1034 on the destination system, then the numeric ID
1035 from the source system is used instead. See also the comments on the
1036 "use chroot" setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage for information on how
1037 the chroot setting affects rsync's ability to look up the names of the
1038 users and groups and what you can do about it.
1040 dit(bf(--timeout=TIMEOUT)) This option allows you to set a maximum I/O
1041 timeout in seconds. If no data is transferred for the specified time
1042 then rsync will exit. The default is 0, which means no timeout.
1044 dit(bf(--address)) By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address when
1045 connecting to an rsync daemon. The bf(--address) option allows you to
1046 specify a specific IP address (or hostname) to bind to. See also this
1047 option in the bf(--daemon) mode section.
1049 dit(bf(--port=PORT)) This specifies an alternate TCP port number to use
1050 rather than the default of 873. This is only needed if you are using the
1051 double-colon (::) syntax to connect with an rsync daemon (since the URL
1052 syntax has a way to specify the port as a part of the URL). See also this
1053 option in the bf(--daemon) mode section.
1055 dit(bf(--blocking-io)) This tells rsync to use blocking I/O when launching
1056 a remote shell transport. If the remote shell is either rsh or remsh,
1057 rsync defaults to using
1058 blocking I/O, otherwise it defaults to using non-blocking I/O. (Note that
1059 ssh prefers non-blocking I/O.)
1061 dit(bf(--no-blocking-io)) Turn off bf(--blocking-io), for use when it is the
1064 dit(bf(-i, --itemize-changes)) Requests a simple itemized list of the
1065 changes that are being made to each file, including attribute changes.
1066 This is exactly the same as specifying bf(--log-format='%i %n%L').
1068 The "%i" escape has a cryptic output that is 9 letters long. The general
1069 format is like the string bf(UXcstpoga)), where bf(U) is replaced by the
1070 kind of update being done, bf(X) is replaced by the file-type, and the
1071 other letters represent attributes that may be output if they are being
1074 The update types that replace the bf(U) are as follows:
1077 it() A bf(<) means that a file is being transferred to the remote host
1079 it() A bf(>) means that a file is being transferred to the local host
1081 it() A bf(c) means that a local change/creation is occurring for the item
1082 (such as the creation of a directory or the changing of a symlink, etc.).
1083 it() A bf(h) means that the item is a hard-link to another item (requires
1085 it() A bf(.) means that the item is not being updated (though it might
1086 have attributes that are being modified).
1089 The file-types that replace the bf(X) are: bf(f) for a file, a bf(d) for a
1090 directory, an bf(L) for a symlink, and a bf(D) for a device.
1092 The other letters in the string above are the actual letters that
1093 will be output if the associated attribute for the item is being updated or
1094 a "." for no change. Three exceptions to this are: (1) a newly created
1095 item replaces each letter with a "+", (2) an identical item replaces the
1096 dots with spaces, and (3) an unknown attribute replaces each letter with
1097 a "?" (this can happen when talking to an older rsync).
1099 The attribute that is associated with each letter is as follows:
1102 it() A bf(c) means the checksum of the file is different and will be
1103 updated by the file transfer (requires bf(--checksum)).
1104 it() A bf(s) means the size of the file is different and will be updated
1105 by the file transfer.
1106 it() A bf(t) means the modification time is different and is being updated
1107 to the sender's value (requires bf(--times)). An alternate value of bf(T)
1108 means that the time will be set to the transfer time, which happens
1109 anytime a symlink is transferred, or when a file or device is transferred
1110 without bf(--times).
1111 it() A bf(p) means the permissions are different and are being updated to
1112 the sender's value (requires bf(--perms)).
1113 it() An bf(o) means the owner is different and is being updated to the
1114 sender's value (requires bf(--owner) and root privileges).
1115 it() A bf(g) means the group is different and is being updated to the
1116 sender's value (requires bf(--group) and the authority to set the group).
1117 it() The bf(a) is reserved for a future enhanced version that supports
1118 extended file attributes, such as ACLs.
1121 One other output is possible: when deleting files, the "%i" will output
1122 the string "*deleting" for each item that is being removed (assuming that
1123 you are talking to a recent enough rsync that it logs deletions instead of
1124 outputting them as a verbose message).
1126 dit(bf(--log-format=FORMAT)) This allows you to specify exactly what the
1127 rsync client outputs to the user on a per-file basis. The format is a text
1128 string containing embedded single-character escape sequences prefixed with
1129 a percent (%) character. For a list of the possible escape characters, see
1130 the "log format" setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage. (Note that this
1131 option does not affect what a daemon logs to its logfile.)
1133 Specifying this option will mention each file, dir, etc. that gets updated
1134 in a significant way (a transferred file, a recreated symlink/device, or a
1135 touched directory) unless the itemized-changes escape (%i) is included in
1136 the string, in which case the logging of names increases to mention any
1137 item that is changed in any way (as long as the receiving side is at least
1138 2.6.4). See the bf(--itemized-changes) option for a description of the
1141 The bf(--verbose) option implies a format of "%n%L", but you can use
1142 bf(--log-format) without bv(--verbose) if you like, or you can override
1143 the format of its per-file output using this option.
1145 Rsync will output the log-format string prior to a file's transfer unless
1146 one of the transfer-statistic escapes is requested, in which case the
1147 logging is done at the end of the file's transfer. When this late logging
1148 is in effect and bf(--progress) is also specified, rsync will also output
1149 the name of the file being transferred prior to its progress information
1150 (followed, of course, by the log-format output).
1152 dit(bf(--stats)) This tells rsync to print a verbose set of statistics
1153 on the file transfer, allowing you to tell how effective the rsync
1154 algorithm is for your data.
1156 dit(bf(--partial)) By default, rsync will delete any partially
1157 transferred file if the transfer is interrupted. In some circumstances
1158 it is more desirable to keep partially transferred files. Using the
1159 bf(--partial) option tells rsync to keep the partial file which should
1160 make a subsequent transfer of the rest of the file much faster.
1162 dit(bf(--partial-dir=DIR)) A better way to keep partial files than the
1163 bf(--partial) option is to specify a em(DIR) that will be used to hold the
1164 partial data (instead of writing it out to the destination file).
1165 On the next transfer, rsync will use a file found in this
1166 dir as data to speed up the resumption of the transfer and then deletes it
1167 after it has served its purpose.
1168 Note that if bf(--whole-file) is specified (or implied), any partial-dir
1169 file that is found for a file that is being updated will simply be removed
1171 rsync is sending files without using the incremental rsync algorithm).
1173 Rsync will create the em(DIR) if it is missing (just the last dir -- not
1174 the whole path). This makes it easy to use a relative path (such as
1175 "bf(--partial-dir=.rsync-partial)") to have rsync create the
1176 partial-directory in the destination file's directory when needed, and then
1177 remove it again when the partial file is deleted.
1179 If the partial-dir value is not an absolute path, rsync will also add a directory
1180 bf(--exclude) of this value at the end of all your existing excludes. This
1181 will prevent partial-dir files from being transferred and also prevent the
1182 untimely deletion of partial-dir items on the receiving side. An example:
1183 the above bf(--partial-dir) option would add an "bf(--exclude=.rsync-partial/)"
1184 rule at the end of any other filter rules. Note that if you are
1185 supplying your own filter rules, you may need to manually insert a
1186 rule for this directory exclusion somewhere higher up in the list so that
1187 it has a high enough priority to be effective (e.g., if your rules specify
1188 a trailing bf(--exclude='*') rule, the auto-added rule would never be
1191 IMPORTANT: the bf(--partial-dir) should not be writable by other users or it
1192 is a security risk. E.g. AVOID "/tmp".
1194 You can also set the partial-dir value the RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR environment
1195 variable. Setting this in the environment does not force bf(--partial) to be
1196 enabled, but rather it effects where partial files go when bf(--partial) is
1197 specified. For instance, instead of using bf(--partial-dir=.rsync-tmp)
1198 along with bf(--progress), you could set RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR=.rsync-tmp in your
1199 environment and then just use the bf(-P) option to turn on the use of the
1200 .rsync-tmp dir for partial transfers. The only time that the bf(--partial)
1201 option does not look for this environment value is (1) when bf(--inplace) was
1202 specified (since bf(--inplace) conflicts with bf(--partial-dir)), or (2) when
1203 bf(--delay-updates) was specified (see below).
1205 For the purposes of the daemon-config's "refuse options" setting,
1206 bf(--partial-dir) does em(not) imply bf(--partial). This is so that a
1207 refusal of the bf(--partial) option can be used to disallow the overwriting
1208 of destination files with a partial transfer, while still allowing the
1209 safer idiom provided by bf(--partial-dir).
1211 dit(bf(--delay-updates)) This option puts the temporary file from each
1212 updated file into a holding directory until the end of the
1213 transfer, at which time all the files are renamed into place in rapid
1214 succession. This attempts to make the updating of the files a little more
1215 atomic. By default the files are placed into a directory named ".~tmp~" in
1216 each file's destination directory, but you can override this by specifying
1217 the bf(--partial-dir) option. (Note that RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR has no effect
1218 on this value, nor is bf(--partial-dir) considered to be implied for the
1219 purposes of the daemon-config's "refuse options" setting.)
1220 Conflicts with bf(--inplace).
1222 This option uses more memory on the receiving side (one bit per file
1223 transferred) and also requires enough free disk space on the receiving
1224 side to hold an additional copy of all the updated files. Note also that
1225 you should not use an absolute path to bf(--partial-dir) unless there is no
1226 chance of any of the files in the transfer having the same name (since all
1227 the updated files will be put into a single directory if the path is
1230 See also the "atomic-rsync" perl script in the "support" subdir for an
1231 update algorithm that is even more atomic (it uses bf(--link-dest) and a
1232 parallel hierarchy of files).
1234 dit(bf(--progress)) This option tells rsync to print information
1235 showing the progress of the transfer. This gives a bored user
1237 Implies bf(--verbose) if it wasn't already specified.
1239 When the file is transferring, the data looks like this:
1241 verb( 782448 63% 110.64kB/s 0:00:04)
1243 This tells you the current file size, the percentage of the transfer that
1244 is complete, the current calculated file-completion rate (including both
1245 data over the wire and data being matched locally), and the estimated time
1246 remaining in this transfer.
1248 After a file is complete, the data looks like this:
1250 verb( 1238099 100% 146.38kB/s 0:00:08 (5, 57.1% of 396))
1252 This tells you the final file size, that it's 100% complete, the final
1253 transfer rate for the file, the amount of elapsed time it took to transfer
1254 the file, and the addition of a total-transfer summary in parentheses.
1255 These additional numbers tell you how many files have been updated, and
1256 what percent of the total number of files has been scanned.
1258 dit(bf(-P)) The bf(-P) option is equivalent to bf(--partial) bf(--progress). Its
1259 purpose is to make it much easier to specify these two options for a long
1260 transfer that may be interrupted.
1262 dit(bf(--password-file)) This option allows you to provide a password
1263 in a file for accessing a remote rsync daemon. Note that this option
1264 is only useful when accessing an rsync daemon using the built in
1265 transport, not when using a remote shell as the transport. The file
1266 must not be world readable. It should contain just the password as a
1269 dit(bf(--list-only)) This option will cause the source files to be listed
1270 instead of transferred. This option is inferred if there is no destination
1271 specified, so you don't usually need to use it explicitly. However, it can
1272 come in handy for a user that wants to avoid the "bf(-r --exclude='/*/*')"
1273 options that rsync might use as a compatibility kluge when generating a
1274 non-recursive listing, or to list the files that are involved in a local
1275 copy (since the destination path is not optional for a local copy, you
1276 must specify this option explicitly and still include a destination).
1278 dit(bf(--bwlimit=KBPS)) This option allows you to specify a maximum
1279 transfer rate in kilobytes per second. This option is most effective when
1280 using rsync with large files (several megabytes and up). Due to the nature
1281 of rsync transfers, blocks of data are sent, then if rsync determines the
1282 transfer was too fast, it will wait before sending the next data block. The
1283 result is an average transfer rate equaling the specified limit. A value
1284 of zero specifies no limit.
1286 dit(bf(--write-batch=FILE)) Record a file that can later be applied to
1287 another identical destination with bf(--read-batch). See the "BATCH MODE"
1288 section for details, and also the bf(--only-write-batch) option.
1290 dit(bf(--only-write-batch=FILE)) Works like bf(--write-batch), except that
1291 no updates are made on the destination system when creating the batch.
1292 This lets you transport the changes to the destination system via some
1293 other means and then apply the changes via bf(--read-batch).
1295 Note that you can feel free to write the batch directly to some portable
1296 media: if this media fills to capacity before the end of the transfer, you
1297 can just apply that partial transfer to the destination and repeat the
1298 whole process to get the rest of the changes (as long as you don't mind a
1299 partially updated destination system while the multi-update cycle is
1302 Also note that you only save bandwidth when pushing changes to a remote
1303 system because this allows the batched data to be diverted from the sender
1304 into the batch file without having to flow over the wire to the receiver
1305 (when pulling, the sender is remote, and thus can't write the batch).
1307 dit(bf(--read-batch=FILE)) Apply all of the changes stored in FILE, a
1308 file previously generated by bf(--write-batch).
1309 If em(FILE) is "-" the batch data will be read from standard input.
1310 See the "BATCH MODE" section for details.
1312 dit(bf(--protocol=NUM)) Force an older protocol version to be used. This
1313 is useful for creating a batch file that is compatible with an older
1314 version of rsync. For instance, if rsync 2.6.4 is being used with the
1315 bf(--write-batch) option, but rsync 2.6.3 is what will be used to run the
1316 bf(--read-batch) option, you should use "--protocol=28" when creating the
1317 batch file to force the older protocol version to be used in the batch
1318 file (assuming you can't upgrade the rsync on the reading system).
1320 dit(bf(-4, --ipv4) or bf(-6, --ipv6)) Tells rsync to prefer IPv4/IPv6
1321 when creating sockets. This only affects sockets that rsync has direct
1322 control over, such as the outgoing socket when directly contacting an
1323 rsync daemon. See also these options in the bf(--daemon) mode section.
1325 dit(bf(--checksum-seed=NUM)) Set the MD4 checksum seed to the integer
1326 NUM. This 4 byte checksum seed is included in each block and file
1327 MD4 checksum calculation. By default the checksum seed is generated
1328 by the server and defaults to the current time(). This option
1329 is used to set a specific checksum seed, which is useful for
1330 applications that want repeatable block and file checksums, or
1331 in the case where the user wants a more random checksum seed.
1332 Note that setting NUM to 0 causes rsync to use the default of time()
1336 manpagesection(DAEMON OPTIONS)
1338 The options allowed when starting an rsync daemon are as follows:
1341 dit(bf(--daemon)) This tells rsync that it is to run as a daemon. The
1342 daemon you start running may be accessed using an rsync client using
1343 the bf(host::module) or bf(rsync://host/module/) syntax.
1345 If standard input is a socket then rsync will assume that it is being
1346 run via inetd, otherwise it will detach from the current terminal and
1347 become a background daemon. The daemon will read the config file
1348 (rsyncd.conf) on each connect made by a client and respond to
1349 requests accordingly. See the rsyncd.conf(5) man page for more
1352 dit(bf(--address)) By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address when
1353 run as a daemon with the bf(--daemon) option. The bf(--address) option
1354 allows you to specify a specific IP address (or hostname) to bind to. This
1355 makes virtual hosting possible in conjunction with the bf(--config) option.
1356 See also the "address" global option in the rsyncd.conf manpage.
1358 dit(bf(--bwlimit=KBPS)) This option allows you to specify a maximum
1359 transfer rate in kilobytes per second for the data the daemon sends.
1360 The client can still specify a smaller bf(--bwlimit) value, but their
1361 requested value will be rounded down if they try to exceed it. See the
1362 client version of this option (above) for some extra details.
1364 dit(bf(--config=FILE)) This specifies an alternate config file than
1365 the default. This is only relevant when bf(--daemon) is specified.
1366 The default is /etc/rsyncd.conf unless the daemon is running over
1367 a remote shell program and the remote user is not root; in that case
1368 the default is rsyncd.conf in the current directory (typically $HOME).
1370 dit(bf(--no-detach)) When running as a daemon, this option instructs
1371 rsync to not detach itself and become a background process. This
1372 option is required when running as a service on Cygwin, and may also
1373 be useful when rsync is supervised by a program such as
1374 bf(daemontools) or AIX's bf(System Resource Controller).
1375 bf(--no-detach) is also recommended when rsync is run under a
1376 debugger. This option has no effect if rsync is run from inetd or
1379 dit(bf(--port=PORT)) This specifies an alternate TCP port number for the
1380 daemon to listen on rather than the default of 873. See also the "port"
1381 global option in the rsyncd.conf manpage.
1383 dit(bf(-v, --verbose)) This option increases the amount of information the
1384 daemon logs during its startup phase. After the client connects, the
1385 daemon's verbosity level will be controlled by the options that the client
1386 used and the "max verbosity" setting in the module's config section.
1388 dit(bf(-4, --ipv4) or bf(-6, --ipv6)) Tells rsync to prefer IPv4/IPv6
1389 when creating the incoming sockets that the rsync daemon will use to
1390 listen for connections. One of these options may be required in older
1391 versions of Linux to work around an IPv6 bug in the kernel (if you see
1392 an "address already in use" error when nothing else is using the port,
1393 try specifying bf(--ipv6) or bf(--ipv4) when starting the daemon).
1395 dit(bf(-h, --help)) When specified after bf(--daemon), print a short help
1396 page describing the options available for starting an rsync daemon.
1399 manpagesection(FILTER RULES)
1401 The filter rules allow for flexible selection of which files to transfer
1402 (include) and which files to skip (exclude). The rules either directly
1403 specify include/exclude patterns or they specify a way to acquire more
1404 include/exclude patterns (e.g. to read them from a file).
1406 As the list of files/directories to transfer is built, rsync checks each
1407 name to be transferred against the list of include/exclude patterns in
1408 turn, and the first matching pattern is acted on: if it is an exclude
1409 pattern, then that file is skipped; if it is an include pattern then that
1410 filename is not skipped; if no matching pattern is found, then the
1411 filename is not skipped.
1413 Rsync builds an ordered list of filter rules as specified on the
1414 command-line. Filter rules have the following syntax:
1417 tt(RULE [PATTERN_OR_FILENAME])nl()
1418 tt(RULE,MODIFIERS [PATTERN_OR_FILENAME])nl()
1421 You have your choice of using either short or long RULE names, as described
1422 below. If you use a short-named rule, the ',' separating the RULE from the
1423 MODIFIERS is optional. The PATTERN or FILENAME that follows (when present)
1424 must come after either a single space or an underscore (_).
1425 Here are the available rule prefixes:
1428 bf(exclude, -) specifies an exclude pattern. nl()
1429 bf(include, +) specifies an include pattern. nl()
1430 bf(merge, .) specifies a merge-file to read for more rules. nl()
1431 bf(dir-merge, :) specifies a per-directory merge-file. nl()
1432 bf(hide, H) specifies a pattern for hiding files from the transfer. nl()
1433 bf(show, S) files that match the pattern are not hidden. nl()
1434 bf(protect, P) specifies a pattern for protecting files from deletion. nl()
1435 bf(risk, R) files that match the pattern are not protected. nl()
1436 bf(clear, !) clears the current include/exclude list (takes no arg) nl()
1439 When rules are being read from a file, empty lines are ignored, as are
1440 comment lines that start with a "#".
1442 Note that the bf(--include)/bf(--exclude) command-line options do not allow the
1443 full range of rule parsing as described above -- they only allow the
1444 specification of include/exclude patterns plus a "!" token to clear the
1445 list (and the normal comment parsing when rules are read from a file).
1447 does not begin with "- " (dash, space) or "+ " (plus, space), then the
1448 rule will be interpreted as if "+ " (for an include option) or "- " (for
1449 an exclude option) were prefixed to the string. A bf(--filter) option, on
1450 the other hand, must always contain either a short or long rule name at the
1453 Note also that the bf(--filter), bf(--include), and bf(--exclude) options take one
1454 rule/pattern each. To add multiple ones, you can repeat the options on
1455 the command-line, use the merge-file syntax of the bf(--filter) option, or
1456 the bf(--include-from)/bf(--exclude-from) options.
1458 manpagesection(INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERN RULES)
1460 You can include and exclude files by specifying patterns using the "+",
1461 "-", etc. filter rules (as introduced in the FILTER RULES section above).
1462 The include/exclude rules each specify a pattern that is matched against
1463 the names of the files that are going to be transferred. These patterns
1464 can take several forms:
1467 it() if the pattern starts with a / then it is anchored to a
1468 particular spot in the hierarchy of files, otherwise it is matched
1469 against the end of the pathname. This is similar to a leading ^ in
1470 regular expressions.
1471 Thus "/foo" would match a file called "foo" at either the "root of the
1472 transfer" (for a global rule) or in the merge-file's directory (for a
1473 per-directory rule).
1474 An unqualified "foo" would match any file or directory named "foo"
1475 anywhere in the tree because the algorithm is applied recursively from
1477 top down; it behaves as if each path component gets a turn at being the
1478 end of the file name. Even the unanchored "sub/foo" would match at
1479 any point in the hierarchy where a "foo" was found within a directory
1480 named "sub". See the section on ANCHORING INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERNS for
1481 a full discussion of how to specify a pattern that matches at the root
1483 it() if the pattern ends with a / then it will only match a
1484 directory, not a file, link, or device.
1485 it() if the pattern contains a wildcard character from the set
1486 *?[ then expression matching is applied using the shell filename
1487 matching rules. Otherwise a simple string match is used.
1488 it() the double asterisk pattern "**" will match slashes while a
1489 single asterisk pattern "*" will stop at slashes.
1490 it() if the pattern contains a / (not counting a trailing /) or a "**"
1491 then it is matched against the full pathname, including any leading
1492 directories. If the pattern doesn't contain a / or a "**", then it is
1493 matched only against the final component of the filename.
1494 (Remember that the algorithm is applied recursively so "full filename"
1495 can actually be any portion of a path from the starting directory on
1499 Note that, when using the bf(--recursive) (bf(-r)) option (which is implied by
1500 bf(-a)), every subcomponent of every path is visited from the top down, so
1501 include/exclude patterns get applied recursively to each subcomponent's
1502 full name (e.g. to include "/foo/bar/baz" the subcomponents "/foo" and
1503 "/foo/bar" must not be excluded).
1504 The exclude patterns actually short-circuit the directory traversal stage
1505 when rsync finds the files to send. If a pattern excludes a particular
1506 parent directory, it can render a deeper include pattern ineffectual
1507 because rsync did not descend through that excluded section of the
1508 hierarchy. This is particularly important when using a trailing '*' rule.
1509 For instance, this won't work:
1512 tt(+ /some/path/this-file-will-not-be-found)nl()
1513 tt(+ /file-is-included)nl()
1517 This fails because the parent directory "some" is excluded by the '*'
1518 rule, so rsync never visits any of the files in the "some" or "some/path"
1519 directories. One solution is to ask for all directories in the hierarchy
1520 to be included by using a single rule: "+ */" (put it somewhere before the
1521 "- *" rule). Another solution is to add specific include rules for all
1522 the parent dirs that need to be visited. For instance, this set of rules
1527 tt(+ /some/path/)nl()
1528 tt(+ /some/path/this-file-is-found)nl()
1529 tt(+ /file-also-included)nl()
1533 Here are some examples of exclude/include matching:
1536 it() "- *.o" would exclude all filenames matching *.o
1537 it() "- /foo" would exclude a file called foo in the transfer-root directory
1538 it() "- foo/" would exclude any directory called foo
1539 it() "- /foo/*/bar" would exclude any file called bar two
1540 levels below a directory called foo in the transfer-root directory
1541 it() "- /foo/**/bar" would exclude any file called bar two
1542 or more levels below a directory called foo in the transfer-root directory
1543 it() The combination of "+ */", "+ *.c", and "- *" would include all
1544 directories and C source files but nothing else.
1545 it() The combination of "+ foo/", "+ foo/bar.c", and "- *" would include
1546 only the foo directory and foo/bar.c (the foo directory must be
1547 explicitly included or it would be excluded by the "*")
1550 manpagesection(MERGE-FILE FILTER RULES)
1552 You can merge whole files into your filter rules by specifying either a
1553 merge (.) or a dir-merge (:) filter rule (as introduced in the FILTER RULES
1556 There are two kinds of merged files -- single-instance ('.') and
1557 per-directory (':'). A single-instance merge file is read one time, and
1558 its rules are incorporated into the filter list in the place of the "."
1559 rule. For per-directory merge files, rsync will scan every directory that
1560 it traverses for the named file, merging its contents when the file exists
1561 into the current list of inherited rules. These per-directory rule files
1562 must be created on the sending side because it is the sending side that is
1563 being scanned for the available files to transfer. These rule files may
1564 also need to be transferred to the receiving side if you want them to
1565 affect what files don't get deleted (see PER-DIRECTORY RULES AND DELETE
1571 tt(merge /etc/rsync/default.rules)nl()
1572 tt(. /etc/rsync/default.rules)nl()
1573 tt(dir-merge .per-dir-filter)nl()
1574 tt(dir-merge,n- .non-inherited-per-dir-excludes)nl()
1575 tt(:n- .non-inherited-per-dir-excludes)nl()
1578 The following modifiers are accepted after a merge or dir-merge rule:
1581 it() A bf(-) specifies that the file should consist of only exclude
1582 patterns, with no other rule-parsing except for in-file comments.
1583 it() A bf(+) specifies that the file should consist of only include
1584 patterns, with no other rule-parsing except for in-file comments.
1585 it() A bf(C) is a way to specify that the file should be read in a
1586 CVS-compatible manner. This turns on 'n', 'w', and '-', but also
1587 allows the list-clearing token (!) to be specified. If no filename is
1588 provided, ".cvsignore" is assumed.
1589 it() A bf(e) will exclude the merge-file name from the transfer; e.g.
1590 "dir-merge,e .rules" is like "dir-merge .rules" and "- .rules".
1591 it() An bf(n) specifies that the rules are not inherited by subdirectories.
1592 it() A bf(w) specifies that the rules are word-split on whitespace instead
1593 of the normal line-splitting. This also turns off comments. Note: the
1594 space that separates the prefix from the rule is treated specially, so
1595 "- foo + bar" is parsed as two rules (assuming that prefix-parsing wasn't
1597 it() You may also specify any of the modifiers for the "+" or "-" rules
1598 (below) in order to have the rules that are read-in from the file
1599 default to having that modifier set. For instance, "merge,-/ .excl" would
1600 treat the contents of .excl as absolute-path excludes,
1601 while "dir-merge,s .filt" and ":sC" would each make all their
1602 per-directory rules apply only on the sending side.
1605 The following modifiers are accepted after a "+" or "-":
1608 it() A "/" specifies that the include/exclude should be treated as an
1609 absolute path, relative to the root of the filesystem. For example,
1610 "-/ /etc/passwd" would exclude the passwd file any time the transfer
1611 was sending files from the "/etc" directory.
1612 it() A "!" specifies that the include/exclude should take effect if
1613 the pattern fails to match. For instance, "-! */" would exclude all
1615 it() A bf(C) is used to indicate that all the global CVS-exclude rules
1616 should be inserted as excludes in place of the "-C". No arg should
1618 it() An bf(s) is used to indicate that the rule applies to the sending
1619 side. When a rule affects the sending side, it prevents files from
1620 being transferred. The default is for a rule to affect both sides
1621 unless bf(--delete-excluded) was specified, in which case default rules
1622 become sender-side only. See also the hide (H) and show (S) rules,
1623 which are an alternate way to specify sending-side includes/excludes.
1624 it() An bf(r) is used to indicate that the rule applies to the receiving
1625 side. When a rule affects the receiving side, it prevents files from
1626 being deleted. See the bf(s) modifier for more info. See also the
1627 protect (P) and risk (R) rules, which are an alternate way to
1628 specify receiver-side includes/excludes.
1631 Per-directory rules are inherited in all subdirectories of the directory
1632 where the merge-file was found unless the 'n' modifier was used. Each
1633 subdirectory's rules are prefixed to the inherited per-directory rules
1634 from its parents, which gives the newest rules a higher priority than the
1635 inherited rules. The entire set of dir-merge rules are grouped together in
1636 the spot where the merge-file was specified, so it is possible to override
1637 dir-merge rules via a rule that got specified earlier in the list of global
1638 rules. When the list-clearing rule ("!") is read from a per-directory
1639 file, it only clears the inherited rules for the current merge file.
1641 Another way to prevent a single rule from a dir-merge file from being inherited is to
1642 anchor it with a leading slash. Anchored rules in a per-directory
1643 merge-file are relative to the merge-file's directory, so a pattern "/foo"
1644 would only match the file "foo" in the directory where the dir-merge filter
1647 Here's an example filter file which you'd specify via bf(--filter=". file":)
1650 tt(merge /home/user/.global-filter)nl()
1652 tt(dir-merge .rules)nl()
1657 This will merge the contents of the /home/user/.global-filter file at the
1658 start of the list and also turns the ".rules" filename into a per-directory
1659 filter file. All rules read-in prior to the start of the directory scan
1660 follow the global anchoring rules (i.e. a leading slash matches at the root
1663 If a per-directory merge-file is specified with a path that is a parent
1664 directory of the first transfer directory, rsync will scan all the parent
1665 dirs from that starting point to the transfer directory for the indicated
1666 per-directory file. For instance, here is a common filter (see bf(-F)):
1668 quote(tt(--filter=': /.rsync-filter'))
1670 That rule tells rsync to scan for the file .rsync-filter in all
1671 directories from the root down through the parent directory of the
1672 transfer prior to the start of the normal directory scan of the file in
1673 the directories that are sent as a part of the transfer. (Note: for an
1674 rsync daemon, the root is always the same as the module's "path".)
1676 Some examples of this pre-scanning for per-directory files:
1679 tt(rsync -avF /src/path/ /dest/dir)nl()
1680 tt(rsync -av --filter=': ../../.rsync-filter' /src/path/ /dest/dir)nl()
1681 tt(rsync -av --filter=': .rsync-filter' /src/path/ /dest/dir)nl()
1684 The first two commands above will look for ".rsync-filter" in "/" and
1685 "/src" before the normal scan begins looking for the file in "/src/path"
1686 and its subdirectories. The last command avoids the parent-dir scan
1687 and only looks for the ".rsync-filter" files in each directory that is
1688 a part of the transfer.
1690 If you want to include the contents of a ".cvsignore" in your patterns,
1691 you should use the rule ":C", which creates a dir-merge of the .cvsignore
1692 file, but parsed in a CVS-compatible manner. You can
1693 use this to affect where the bf(--cvs-exclude) (bf(-C)) option's inclusion of the
1694 per-directory .cvsignore file gets placed into your rules by putting the
1695 ":C" wherever you like in your filter rules. Without this, rsync would
1696 add the dir-merge rule for the .cvsignore file at the end of all your other
1697 rules (giving it a lower priority than your command-line rules). For
1701 tt(cat <<EOT | rsync -avC --filter='. -' a/ b)nl()
1706 tt(rsync -avC --include=foo.o -f :C --exclude='*.old' a/ b)nl()
1709 Both of the above rsync commands are identical. Each one will merge all
1710 the per-directory .cvsignore rules in the middle of the list rather than
1711 at the end. This allows their dir-specific rules to supersede the rules
1712 that follow the :C instead of being subservient to all your rules. To
1713 affect the other CVS exclude rules (i.e. the default list of exclusions,
1714 the contents of $HOME/.cvsignore, and the value of $CVSIGNORE) you should
1715 omit the bf(-C) command-line option and instead insert a "-C" rule into
1716 your filter rules; e.g. "--filter=-C".
1718 manpagesection(LIST-CLEARING FILTER RULE)
1720 You can clear the current include/exclude list by using the "!" filter
1721 rule (as introduced in the FILTER RULES section above). The "current"
1722 list is either the global list of rules (if the rule is encountered while
1723 parsing the filter options) or a set of per-directory rules (which are
1724 inherited in their own sub-list, so a subdirectory can use this to clear
1725 out the parent's rules).
1727 manpagesection(ANCHORING INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERNS)
1729 As mentioned earlier, global include/exclude patterns are anchored at the
1730 "root of the transfer" (as opposed to per-directory patterns, which are
1731 anchored at the merge-file's directory). If you think of the transfer as
1732 a subtree of names that are being sent from sender to receiver, the
1733 transfer-root is where the tree starts to be duplicated in the destination
1734 directory. This root governs where patterns that start with a / match.
1736 Because the matching is relative to the transfer-root, changing the
1737 trailing slash on a source path or changing your use of the bf(--relative)
1738 option affects the path you need to use in your matching (in addition to
1739 changing how much of the file tree is duplicated on the destination
1740 host). The following examples demonstrate this.
1742 Let's say that we want to match two source files, one with an absolute
1743 path of "/home/me/foo/bar", and one with a path of "/home/you/bar/baz".
1744 Here is how the various command choices differ for a 2-source transfer:
1747 Example cmd: rsync -a /home/me /home/you /dest nl()
1748 +/- pattern: /me/foo/bar nl()
1749 +/- pattern: /you/bar/baz nl()
1750 Target file: /dest/me/foo/bar nl()
1751 Target file: /dest/you/bar/baz nl()
1755 Example cmd: rsync -a /home/me/ /home/you/ /dest nl()
1756 +/- pattern: /foo/bar (note missing "me") nl()
1757 +/- pattern: /bar/baz (note missing "you") nl()
1758 Target file: /dest/foo/bar nl()
1759 Target file: /dest/bar/baz nl()
1763 Example cmd: rsync -a --relative /home/me/ /home/you /dest nl()
1764 +/- pattern: /home/me/foo/bar (note full path) nl()
1765 +/- pattern: /home/you/bar/baz (ditto) nl()
1766 Target file: /dest/home/me/foo/bar nl()
1767 Target file: /dest/home/you/bar/baz nl()
1771 Example cmd: cd /home; rsync -a --relative me/foo you/ /dest nl()
1772 +/- pattern: /me/foo/bar (starts at specified path) nl()
1773 +/- pattern: /you/bar/baz (ditto) nl()
1774 Target file: /dest/me/foo/bar nl()
1775 Target file: /dest/you/bar/baz nl()
1778 The easiest way to see what name you should filter is to just
1779 look at the output when using bf(--verbose) and put a / in front of the name
1780 (use the bf(--dry-run) option if you're not yet ready to copy any files).
1782 manpagesection(PER-DIRECTORY RULES AND DELETE)
1784 Without a delete option, per-directory rules are only relevant on the
1785 sending side, so you can feel free to exclude the merge files themselves
1786 without affecting the transfer. To make this easy, the 'e' modifier adds
1787 this exclude for you, as seen in these two equivalent commands:
1790 tt(rsync -av --filter=': .excl' --exclude=.excl host:src/dir /dest)nl()
1791 tt(rsync -av --filter=':e .excl' host:src/dir /dest)nl()
1794 However, if you want to do a delete on the receiving side AND you want some
1795 files to be excluded from being deleted, you'll need to be sure that the
1796 receiving side knows what files to exclude. The easiest way is to include
1797 the per-directory merge files in the transfer and use bf(--delete-after),
1798 because this ensures that the receiving side gets all the same exclude
1799 rules as the sending side before it tries to delete anything:
1801 quote(tt(rsync -avF --delete-after host:src/dir /dest))
1803 However, if the merge files are not a part of the transfer, you'll need to
1804 either specify some global exclude rules (i.e. specified on the command
1805 line), or you'll need to maintain your own per-directory merge files on
1806 the receiving side. An example of the first is this (assume that the
1807 remote .rules files exclude themselves):
1809 verb(rsync -av --filter=': .rules' --filter='. /my/extra.rules'
1810 --delete host:src/dir /dest)
1812 In the above example the extra.rules file can affect both sides of the
1813 transfer, but (on the sending side) the rules are subservient to the rules
1814 merged from the .rules files because they were specified after the
1815 per-directory merge rule.
1817 In one final example, the remote side is excluding the .rsync-filter
1818 files from the transfer, but we want to use our own .rsync-filter files
1819 to control what gets deleted on the receiving side. To do this we must
1820 specifically exclude the per-directory merge files (so that they don't get
1821 deleted) and then put rules into the local files to control what else
1822 should not get deleted. Like one of these commands:
1824 verb( rsync -av --filter=':e /.rsync-filter' --delete \
1826 rsync -avFF --delete host:src/dir /dest)
1828 manpagesection(BATCH MODE)
1830 Batch mode can be used to apply the same set of updates to many
1831 identical systems. Suppose one has a tree which is replicated on a
1832 number of hosts. Now suppose some changes have been made to this
1833 source tree and those changes need to be propagated to the other
1834 hosts. In order to do this using batch mode, rsync is run with the
1835 write-batch option to apply the changes made to the source tree to one
1836 of the destination trees. The write-batch option causes the rsync
1837 client to store in a "batch file" all the information needed to repeat
1838 this operation against other, identical destination trees.
1840 To apply the recorded changes to another destination tree, run rsync
1841 with the read-batch option, specifying the name of the same batch
1842 file, and the destination tree. Rsync updates the destination tree
1843 using the information stored in the batch file.
1845 For convenience, one additional file is creating when the write-batch
1846 option is used. This file's name is created by appending
1847 ".sh" to the batch filename. The .sh file contains
1848 a command-line suitable for updating a destination tree using that
1849 batch file. It can be executed using a Bourne(-like) shell, optionally
1850 passing in an alternate destination tree pathname which is then used
1851 instead of the original path. This is useful when the destination tree
1852 path differs from the original destination tree path.
1854 Generating the batch file once saves having to perform the file
1855 status, checksum, and data block generation more than once when
1856 updating multiple destination trees. Multicast transport protocols can
1857 be used to transfer the batch update files in parallel to many hosts
1858 at once, instead of sending the same data to every host individually.
1863 tt($ rsync --write-batch=foo -a host:/source/dir/ /adest/dir/)nl()
1864 tt($ scp foo* remote:)nl()
1865 tt($ ssh remote ./foo.sh /bdest/dir/)nl()
1869 tt($ rsync --write-batch=foo -a /source/dir/ /adest/dir/)nl()
1870 tt($ ssh remote rsync --read-batch=- -a /bdest/dir/ <foo)nl()
1873 In these examples, rsync is used to update /adest/dir/ from /source/dir/
1874 and the information to repeat this operation is stored in "foo" and
1875 "foo.sh". The host "remote" is then updated with the batched data going
1876 into the directory /bdest/dir. The differences between the two examples
1877 reveals some of the flexibility you have in how you deal with batches:
1880 it() The first example shows that the initial copy doesn't have to be
1881 local -- you can push or pull data to/from a remote host using either the
1882 remote-shell syntax or rsync daemon syntax, as desired.
1883 it() The first example uses the created "foo.sh" file to get the right
1884 rsync options when running the read-batch command on the remote host.
1885 it() The second example reads the batch data via standard input so that
1886 the batch file doesn't need to be copied to the remote machine first.
1887 This example avoids the foo.sh script because it needed to use a modified
1888 bf(--read-batch) option, but you could edit the script file if you wished to
1889 make use of it (just be sure that no other option is trying to use
1890 standard input, such as the "bf(--exclude-from=-)" option).
1895 The read-batch option expects the destination tree that it is updating
1896 to be identical to the destination tree that was used to create the
1897 batch update fileset. When a difference between the destination trees
1898 is encountered the update might be discarded with a warning (if the file
1899 appears to be up-to-date already) or the file-update may be attempted
1900 and then, if the file fails to verify, the update discarded with an
1901 error. This means that it should be safe to re-run a read-batch operation
1902 if the command got interrupted. If you wish to force the batched-update to
1903 always be attempted regardless of the file's size and date, use the bf(-I)
1904 option (when reading the batch).
1905 If an error occurs, the destination tree will probably be in a
1906 partially updated state. In that case, rsync can
1907 be used in its regular (non-batch) mode of operation to fix up the
1910 The rsync version used on all destinations must be at least as new as the
1911 one used to generate the batch file. Rsync will die with an error if the
1912 protocol version in the batch file is too new for the batch-reading rsync
1913 to handle. See also the bf(--protocol) option for a way to have the
1914 creating rsync generate a batch file that an older rsync can understand.
1915 (Note that batch files changed format in version 2.6.3, so mixing versions
1916 older than that with newer versions will not work.)
1918 When reading a batch file, rsync will force the value of certain options
1919 to match the data in the batch file if you didn't set them to the same
1920 as the batch-writing command. Other options can (and should) be changed.
1921 For instance bf(--write-batch) changes to bf(--read-batch),
1922 bf(--files-from) is dropped, and the
1923 bf(--filter)/bf(--include)/bf(--exclude) options are not needed unless
1924 one of the bf(--delete) options is specified.
1926 The code that creates the BATCH.sh file transforms any filter/include/exclude
1927 options into a single list that is appended as a "here" document to the
1928 shell script file. An advanced user can use this to modify the exclude
1929 list if a change in what gets deleted by bf(--delete) is desired. A normal
1930 user can ignore this detail and just use the shell script as an easy way
1931 to run the appropriate bf(--read-batch) command for the batched data.
1933 The original batch mode in rsync was based on "rsync+", but the latest
1934 version uses a new implementation.
1936 manpagesection(SYMBOLIC LINKS)
1938 Three basic behaviors are possible when rsync encounters a symbolic
1939 link in the source directory.
1941 By default, symbolic links are not transferred at all. A message
1942 "skipping non-regular" file is emitted for any symlinks that exist.
1944 If bf(--links) is specified, then symlinks are recreated with the same
1945 target on the destination. Note that bf(--archive) implies
1948 If bf(--copy-links) is specified, then symlinks are "collapsed" by
1949 copying their referent, rather than the symlink.
1951 rsync also distinguishes "safe" and "unsafe" symbolic links. An
1952 example where this might be used is a web site mirror that wishes
1953 ensure the rsync module they copy does not include symbolic links to
1954 bf(/etc/passwd) in the public section of the site. Using
1955 bf(--copy-unsafe-links) will cause any links to be copied as the file
1956 they point to on the destination. Using bf(--safe-links) will cause
1957 unsafe links to be omitted altogether. (Note that you must specify
1958 bf(--links) for bf(--safe-links) to have any effect.)
1960 Symbolic links are considered unsafe if they are absolute symlinks
1961 (start with bf(/)), empty, or if they contain enough bf("..")
1962 components to ascend from the directory being copied.
1964 Here's a summary of how the symlink options are interpreted. The list is
1965 in order of precedence, so if your combination of options isn't mentioned,
1966 use the first line that is a complete subset of your options:
1968 dit(bf(--copy-links)) Turn all symlinks into normal files (leaving no
1969 symlinks for any other options to affect).
1971 dit(bf(--links --copy-unsafe-links)) Turn all unsafe symlinks into files
1972 and duplicate all safe symlinks.
1974 dit(bf(--copy-unsafe-links)) Turn all unsafe symlinks into files, noisily
1975 skip all safe symlinks.
1977 dit(bf(--links --safe-links)) Duplicate safe symlinks and skip unsafe
1980 dit(bf(--links)) Duplicate all symlinks.
1982 manpagediagnostics()
1984 rsync occasionally produces error messages that may seem a little
1985 cryptic. The one that seems to cause the most confusion is "protocol
1986 version mismatch -- is your shell clean?".
1988 This message is usually caused by your startup scripts or remote shell
1989 facility producing unwanted garbage on the stream that rsync is using
1990 for its transport. The way to diagnose this problem is to run your
1991 remote shell like this:
1993 quote(tt(ssh remotehost /bin/true > out.dat))
1995 then look at out.dat. If everything is working correctly then out.dat
1996 should be a zero length file. If you are getting the above error from
1997 rsync then you will probably find that out.dat contains some text or
1998 data. Look at the contents and try to work out what is producing
1999 it. The most common cause is incorrectly configured shell startup
2000 scripts (such as .cshrc or .profile) that contain output statements
2001 for non-interactive logins.
2003 If you are having trouble debugging filter patterns, then
2004 try specifying the bf(-vv) option. At this level of verbosity rsync will
2005 show why each individual file is included or excluded.
2007 manpagesection(EXIT VALUES)
2011 dit(bf(1)) Syntax or usage error
2012 dit(bf(2)) Protocol incompatibility
2013 dit(bf(3)) Errors selecting input/output files, dirs
2014 dit(bf(4)) Requested action not supported: an attempt
2015 was made to manipulate 64-bit files on a platform that cannot support
2016 them; or an option was specified that is supported by the client and
2018 dit(bf(5)) Error starting client-server protocol
2019 dit(bf(6)) Daemon unable to append to log-file
2020 dit(bf(10)) Error in socket I/O
2021 dit(bf(11)) Error in file I/O
2022 dit(bf(12)) Error in rsync protocol data stream
2023 dit(bf(13)) Errors with program diagnostics
2024 dit(bf(14)) Error in IPC code
2025 dit(bf(20)) Received SIGUSR1 or SIGINT
2026 dit(bf(21)) Some error returned by waitpid()
2027 dit(bf(22)) Error allocating core memory buffers
2028 dit(bf(23)) Partial transfer due to error
2029 dit(bf(24)) Partial transfer due to vanished source files
2030 dit(bf(25)) The --max-delete limit stopped deletions
2031 dit(bf(30)) Timeout in data send/receive
2034 manpagesection(ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES)
2037 dit(bf(CVSIGNORE)) The CVSIGNORE environment variable supplements any
2038 ignore patterns in .cvsignore files. See the bf(--cvs-exclude) option for
2040 dit(bf(RSYNC_RSH)) The RSYNC_RSH environment variable allows you to
2041 override the default shell used as the transport for rsync. Command line
2042 options are permitted after the command name, just as in the bf(-e) option.
2043 dit(bf(RSYNC_PROXY)) The RSYNC_PROXY environment variable allows you to
2044 redirect your rsync client to use a web proxy when connecting to a
2045 rsync daemon. You should set RSYNC_PROXY to a hostname:port pair.
2046 dit(bf(RSYNC_PASSWORD)) Setting RSYNC_PASSWORD to the required
2047 password allows you to run authenticated rsync connections to an rsync
2048 daemon without user intervention. Note that this does not supply a
2049 password to a shell transport such as ssh.
2050 dit(bf(USER) or bf(LOGNAME)) The USER or LOGNAME environment variables
2051 are used to determine the default username sent to an rsync daemon.
2052 If neither is set, the username defaults to "nobody".
2053 dit(bf(HOME)) The HOME environment variable is used to find the user's
2054 default .cvsignore file.
2059 /etc/rsyncd.conf or rsyncd.conf
2067 times are transferred as unix time_t values
2069 When transferring to FAT filesystems rsync may re-sync
2071 See the comments on the bf(--modify-window) option.
2073 file permissions, devices, etc. are transferred as native numerical
2076 see also the comments on the bf(--delete) option
2078 Please report bugs! See the website at
2079 url(http://rsync.samba.org/)(http://rsync.samba.org/)
2081 manpagesection(VERSION)
2083 This man page is current for version 2.6.5 of rsync.
2085 manpagesection(CREDITS)
2087 rsync is distributed under the GNU public license. See the file
2088 COPYING for details.
2090 A WEB site is available at
2091 url(http://rsync.samba.org/)(http://rsync.samba.org/). The site
2092 includes an FAQ-O-Matic which may cover questions unanswered by this
2095 The primary ftp site for rsync is
2096 url(ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync)(ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync).
2098 We would be delighted to hear from you if you like this program.
2100 This program uses the excellent zlib compression library written by
2101 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler.
2103 manpagesection(THANKS)
2105 Thanks to Richard Brent, Brendan Mackay, Bill Waite, Stephen Rothwell
2106 and David Bell for helpful suggestions, patches and testing of rsync.
2107 I've probably missed some people, my apologies if I have.
2109 Especial thanks also to: David Dykstra, Jos Backus, Sebastian Krahmer,
2110 Martin Pool, Wayne Davison, J.W. Schultz.
2114 rsync was originally written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras.
2115 Many people have later contributed to it.
2117 Mailing lists for support and development are available at
2118 url(http://lists.samba.org)(lists.samba.org)