WHAT IS RSYNC? -------------- rsync is a replacement for scp/rcp that has many more features. rsync uses the "rsync algorithm" which provides a very fast method for bringing remote files into sync. It does this by sending just the differences in the files across the link, without requiring that both sets of files are present at one of the ends of the link beforehand. At first glance this may seem impossible because the calculation of diffs between two files normally requires local access to both files. A technical report describing the rsync algorithm is included with this package. USAGE ----- Basically you use rsync just like rcp, but rsync has many additional options. To get a complete list of supported options type rsync --help and see the manual for more information. SETUP ----- Rsync normally uses ssh or rsh for communication. It does not need to be setuid and requires no special privileges for installation. You must, however, have a working ssh or rsh system. Using ssh is recommended for its security features. Alternatively, rsync can run in `daemon' mode, listening on a socket. This is generally used for public file distribution, although authentication and access control are available. To install rsync, first run the "configure" script. This will create a Makefile and config.h appropriate for your system. Then type "make". Note that on some systems you will have to force configure not to use gcc because gcc may not support some features (such as 64 bit file offsets) that your system may support. Set the environment variable CC to the name of your native compiler before running configure in this case. Once built put a copy of rsync in your search path on the local and remote systems (or use "make install"). That's it! RSYNC SERVERS ------------- rsync can also talk to "rsync servers" which can provide anonymous or authenticated rsync. See the rsyncd.conf(5) man page for details on how to setup a rsync server. See the rsync(1) man page for info on how to connect to a rsync server. MAILING LIST ------------ There is a mailing list for the discussion of rsync and its applications. It is open to anyone to join. I will announce new versions on this list. To join the mailing list see the web page at http://lists.samba.org/ To send mail to everyone on the list send it to rsync@samba.org BUG REPORTS ----------- If you have web access then please look at http://rsync.samba.org/ That page contains links to the current bug list, and information on how to report a bug well. You might also like to try searching the internet for the error message you've received, or looking in the mailing list archives at http://mail-archive.com/rsync@lists.samba.org/ To send a bug report, follow the instructions on the bug-tracking page of the web site. If you don't have web access, email your bug report to rsync@lists.samba.org. CVS TREE -------- If you want to get the very latest version of rsync direct from the source code repository then you can use anonymous cvs. You will need a recent version of cvs then use the following commands: cvs -d :pserver:cvs@pserver.samba.org:/cvsroot login Password: cvs cvs -d :pserver:cvs@pserver.samba.org:/cvsroot co rsync Look at the cvs documentation for more details. COPYRIGHT --------- rsync was originally written by Andrew Tridgell and has been improved by many developers around the world. rsync may be used, modified and redistributed only under the terms of the GNU General Public License, found in the file COPYING in this distribution, or at http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl.html AVAILABILITY ------------ The main web site for rsync is http://rsync.samba.org/ The main ftp site is ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync/ This is also available as rsync://rsync.samba.org/rsyncftp/