1 mailto(rsync-bugs@samba.anu.edu.au)
2 manpage(rsyncd.conf)(5)(13 May 1998)()()
3 manpagename(rsyncd.conf)(configuration file for rsync server)
10 The rsyncd.conf file is the runtime configuration file for rsync when
11 run with the --daemon option. When run in this way rsync becomes a
12 rsync server listening on TCP port 873. Connections from rsync clients
13 are accepted for either anonymous or authenticated rsync sessions.
15 The rsyncd.conf file controls authentication, access, logging and
18 manpagesection(FILE FORMAT)
20 The file consists of modules and parameters. A module begins with the
21 name of the module in square brackets and continues until the next
22 module begins. Modules contain parameters of the form 'name = value'.
24 The file is line-based - that is, each newline-terminated line represents
25 either a comment, a module name or a parameter.
27 Only the first equals sign in a parameter is significant. Whitespace before
28 or after the first equals sign is discarded. Leading, trailing and internal
29 whitespace in module and parameter names is irrelevant. Leading and
30 trailing whitespace in a parameter value is discarded. Internal whitespace
31 within a parameter value is retained verbatim.
33 Any line beginning with a hash (#) is ignored, as are lines containing
36 Any line ending in a \ is "continued" on the next line in the
37 customary UNIX fashion.
39 The values following the equals sign in parameters are all either a string
40 (no quotes needed) or a boolean, which may be given as yes/no, 0/1 or
41 true/false. Case is not significant in boolean values, but is preserved
44 manpagesection(LAUNCHING THE RSYNC DAEMON)
46 The rsync daemon is launched by specifying the --daemon option to
47 rsync. The daemon must run with root privileges.
49 You can launch it either via inetd or as a standalone daemon. If run
50 as a daemon then just run the command "rsync --daemon" from a suitable
53 When run via inetd you should add a line like this to /etc/services:
57 and a single line something like this to /etc/inetd.conf:
59 quote(rsync stream tcp nowait root /usr/bin/rsync rsyncd --daemon)
61 You will then need to send inetd a HUP signal to tell it to reread its
64 Note that you should not send the rsync server a HUP signal to force
65 it to reread the tt(/etc/rsyncd.conf). The file is re-read on each client
68 manpagesection(GLOBAL OPTIONS)
70 The first parameters in the file (before a [module] header) are the
73 You may also include any module parameters in the global part of the
74 config file in which case the supplied value will override the
75 default for that parameter.
78 dit(bf(motd file)) The "motd file" option allows you to specify a
79 "message of the day" to display to clients on each connect. This
80 usually contains site information and any legal notices. The default
83 dit(bf(max connections)) The "max connections" option allows you to
84 specify the maximum number of simultaneous connections you will allow
85 to your rsync server. Any clients connecting when the maximum has
86 been reached will receive a message telling them to try later.
87 The default is 0 which means no limit.
89 dit(bf(lock file)) The "lock file" option specifies the file to use to
90 support the "max connections" option. The rsync server uses record
91 locking on this file to ensure that the max connections limit is not
92 exceeded. The default is tt(/var/run/rsyncd.lock).
94 dit(bf(syslog facility)) The "syslog facility" option allows you to
95 specify the syslog facility name to use when logging messages from the
96 rsync server. You may use any standard syslog facility name which is
97 defined on your system. Common names are auth, authpriv, cron, daemon,
98 ftp, kern, lpr, mail, news, security, syslog, user, uucp, local0,
99 local1, local2, local3, local4, local5, local6 and local7. The default
105 manpagesection(MODULE OPTIONS)
107 After the global options you should define a number of modules, each
108 module exports a directory tree as a symbolic name. Modules are
109 exported by specifying a module name in square brackets [module]
110 followed by the options for that module.
114 dit(bf(comment)) The "comment" option specifies a description string
115 that is displayed next to the module name when clients obtain a list
116 of available modules. The default is no comment.
118 dit(bf(path)) The "path" option specifies the directory in the servers
119 filesystem to make available in this module. The rsync server will
120 chroot to this path before starting the file transfer with the
121 client. You must specify this option for each module in tt(/etc/rsyncd.conf).
123 dit(bf(read only)) The "read only" option determines whether clients
124 will be able to upload files or not. If "read only" is true then any
125 attempted uploads will fail. If "read only" is false then uploads will
126 be possible if file permissions on the server allow them. The default
127 is for all modules to be read only.
129 dit(bf(list)) The "list" option determines if this module should be
130 listed when the client asks for a listing of available modules. By
131 setting this to false you can create hidden modules. The default is
132 for modules to be listable.
134 dit(bf(uid)) The "uid" option specifies the user name or user id that
135 file transfers to and from that module should take place as. In
136 combination with the "gid" option this determines what file
137 permissions are available. The default is the user "nobody".
139 dit(bf(gid)) The "gid" option specifies the group name or group id that
140 file transfers to and from that module should take place as. This
141 complements the "uid" option. The default is the group "nobody".
143 dit(bf(exclude)) The "exclude" option allows you to specify a space
144 separated list of patterns to add to the exclude list. This is
145 equivalent to the client specifying these patterns with the --exclude
146 option. Note that this option is not designed with strong security in
147 mind, it is quite possible that a client may find a way to bypass this
148 exclude list. If you want to absolutely ensure that certain files
149 cannot be accessed then use the uid/gid options in combination with
152 dit(bf(exclude from)) The "exclude from" option specifies a filename
153 on the server that contains exclude patterns, one per line. This is
154 equivalent to the client specifying the --exclude-from option with a
155 equivalent file. See also the note about security for the exclude
158 dit(bf(auth users)) The "auth users" option specifies a comma
159 and space separated list of usernames that will be allowed to connect
160 to this module. The usernames do not need to exist on the local
161 system. If "auth users" is set then the client will be challenged to
162 supply a username and password to connect to the module. A challenge
163 response authentication protocol is used for this exchange. The plain
164 text usernames are passwords are stored in the file specified by the
165 "secrets file" option. The default is for all users to be able to
166 connect without a password (this is called "anonymous rsync").
168 dit(bf(secrets file)) The "secrets file" option specifies the name of
169 a file that contains the username:password pairs used for
170 authenticating this module. This file is only consulted if the "auth
171 users" option is specified. The file is line based and contains
172 username:password pairs separated by a single colon. Any line starting
173 with a hash (#) is considered a comment and is skipped. The passwords
174 can contain any characters but be warned that many operating systems
175 limit the length of passwords that can be typed at the client end, so
176 you may find that passwords longer than 8 characters don't work.
178 bf(You should make sure that the secrets file is not readable by anyone
179 other than the system administrator.) There is no default for the
180 "secrets file" option, you must choose a name (such as
181 tt(/etc/rsyncd.secrets)).
183 dit(bf(hosts allow)) The "hosts allow" option allows you to specify a
184 list of patterns that are matched against a connecting clients
185 hostname and IP address. If none of the patterns match then the
186 connection is rejected.
188 Each pattern can be in one of five forms:
191 it() a dotted decimal IP address. In this case the incoming machines
192 IP address must match exactly.
194 it() a address/mask in the form a.b.c.d/n were n is the number of
195 one bits in in the netmask. All IP addresses which match the masked
196 IP address will be allowed in.
198 it() a address/mask in the form a.b.c.d/e.f.g.h where e.f.g.h is a
199 netmask in dotted decimal notation. All IP addresses which match the masked
200 IP address will be allowed in.
202 it() a hostname. The hostname as determined by a reverse lookup will
203 be matched (case insensitive) against the pattern. Only an exact
206 it() a hostname pattern using wildcards. These are matched using the
207 same rules as normal unix filename matching. If the pattern matches
208 then the client is allowed in.
211 You can also combine "hosts allow" with a separate "hosts deny"
212 option. If both options are specified then the "hosts allow" option s
213 checked first and a match results in the client being able to
214 connect. The "hosts deny" option is then checked and a match means
215 that the host is rejected. If the host does not match either the
216 "hosts allow" or the "hosts deny" patterns then it is allowed to
219 The default is no "hosts allow" option, which means all hosts can connect.
221 dit(bf(hosts allow)) The "hosts deny" option allows you to specify a
222 list of patterns that are matched against a connecting clients
223 hostname and IP address. If the pattern matches then the connection is
224 rejected. See the "hosts allow" option for more information.
226 The default is no "hosts deny" option, which means all hosts can connect.
230 manpagesection(AUTHENTICATION STRENGTH)
232 The authentication protocol used in rsync is a 128 bit MD4 based
233 challenge response system. Although I believe that no one has ever
234 demonstrated a brute-force break of this sort of system you should
235 realise that this is not a "military strength" authentication system.
236 It should be good enough for most purposes but if you want really top
237 quality security then I recommend that you run rsync over ssh.
239 Also note that the rsync server protocol does not currently provide any
240 encryption of the data that is transferred over the link. Only
241 authentication is provided. Use ssh as the transport if you want
244 Future versions of rsync may support SSL for better authentication and
245 encryption, but that is still being investigated.
247 manpagesection(EXAMPLES)
249 A simple rsyncd.conf file that allow anonymous rsync to a ftp area at
250 tt(/home/ftp) would be:
255 comment = ftp export area
259 A more sophisticated example would be:
263 max connections = 4 nl()
264 syslog facility = local5 nl()
268 comment = whole ftp area (approx 6.1 GB)
271 path = /var/ftp/pub/samba
272 comment = Samba ftp area (approx 300 MB)
275 path = /var/ftp/pub/rsync
276 comment = rsync ftp area (approx 6 MB)
279 path = /public_html/samba
280 comment = Samba WWW pages (approx 240 MB)
284 comment = CVS repository (requires authentication)
285 auth users = tridge, susan
286 secrets file = /etc/rsyncd.secrets
289 The /etc/rsyncd.secrets file would look something like this:
306 The rsync server does not send all types of error messages to the
307 client. this means a client may be mystified as to why a transfer
308 failed. The error will have been logged by syslog on the server.
310 Please report bugs! The rsync bug tracking system is online at
311 url(http://samba.anu.edu.au/rsync/)(http://samba.anu.edu.au/rsync/)
313 manpagesection(VERSION)
314 This man page is current for version 2.0 of rsync
316 manpagesection(CREDITS)
318 rsync is distributed under the GNU public license. See the file
321 The primary ftp site for rsync is
322 url(ftp://samba.anu.edu.au/pub/rsync)(ftp://samba.anu.edu.au/pub/rsync).
324 A WEB site is available at
325 url(http://samba.anu.edu.au/rsync/)(http://samba.anu.edu.au/rsync/)
327 We would be delighted to hear from you if you like this program.
329 This program uses the zlib compression library written by Jean-loup
330 Gailly and Mark Adler.
332 manpagesection(THANKS)
334 Thanks to Warren Stanley for his original idea and patch for the rsync
335 server. Thanks to Karsten Thygesen for his many suggestions and
340 rsync was written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras. They may be
341 contacted via email at tridge@samba.anu.edu.au and
342 Paul.Mackerras@cs.anu.edu.au