WHAT IS RSYNC? -------------- rsync is a replacement for rcp that has many more features. rsyns uses the "rsync algorithm" which provides a very fast method for bringing remote files into sync. It does this by sending just the differences in the files across the link, without requiring that both sets of files are present at one of the ends of the link beforehand. At first glance this may seem impossible because the calculation of diffs between two files normally requires local access to both files. A technical report describing the rsync algorithm is included with this package. USAGE ----- Basically you use rsync just like rcp, but rsync has many additional options. Here is a brief description of available options: -v, --verbose increase verbosity -c, --checksum always checksum -a, --archive archive mode (same as -rlptDog) -r, --recursive recurse into directories -b, --backup make backups (default ~ extension) -u, --update update only (don't overwrite newer files) -l, --links preserve soft links -p, --perms preserve permissions -o, --owner preserve owner (root only) -g, --group preserve group -D, --devices preserve devices (root only) -t, --times preserve times -n, --dry-run show what would have been transferred -x, --one-file-system don't cross filesystem boundaries -B, --block-size SIZE checksum blocking size -e, --rsh COMMAND specify rsh replacement --rsync-path PATH specify path to rsync on the remote machine -C, --cvs-exclude auto ignore files in the same way CVS does --delete delete files that don't exist on the sending side -I, --ignore-times don't exclude files that match length and time --exclude FILE exclude file FILE --exclude-from FILE exclude files listed in FILE --suffix SUFFIX override backup suffix --version print version number SETUP ----- Rsync uses rsh or ssh for communication. It does not need to be setuid and requires no special privilages for installation. It does not require a inetd entry or a daemon. You must, however, have a working rsh or ssh system. Using ssh is recommended for its security and compression features. To install rsync, first run the "configure" script. This will create a Makefile and config.h appropriate for your system. Then type "make". Once built put a copy of rsync in your search path on the local and remote systems (or use "make install"). That's it! COPYRIGHT --------- Rsync was written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras, and is available under the GPL. Andrew.Tridgell@anu.edu.au paulus@cs.anu.edu.au AVAILABILITY ------------ The main ftp site for rsync is ftp://samba.anu.edu.au/pub/rsync