mailto(rsync-bugs@samba.org)
-manpage(rsync)(1)(6 Nov 2006)()()
-manpagename(rsync)(faster, flexible replacement for rcp)
+manpage(rsync)(1)(8 Nov 2007)()()
+manpagename(rsync)(a fast, versatile, remote (and local) file-copying tool)
manpagesynopsis()
-rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... DEST
+verb(Local: rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [DEST]
-rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... [USER@]HOST:DEST
+Access via remote shell:
+ Pull: rsync [OPTION...] [USER@]HOST:SRC... [DEST]
+ Push: rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [USER@]HOST:DEST
-rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... [USER@]HOST::DEST
+Access via rsync daemon:
+ Pull: rsync [OPTION...] [USER@]HOST::SRC... [DEST]
+ rsync [OPTION...] rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/SRC... [DEST]
+ Push: rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [USER@]HOST::DEST
+ rsync [OPTION...] SRC... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/DEST)
-rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/DEST
-
-rsync [OPTION]... SRC
-
-rsync [OPTION]... [USER@]HOST:SRC [DEST]
-
-rsync [OPTION]... [USER@]HOST::SRC [DEST]
-
-rsync [OPTION]... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/SRC [DEST]
+Usages with just one SRC arg and no DEST arg will list the source files
+instead of copying.
manpagedescription()
-Rsync is a program that behaves in much the same way that rcp does,
-but has many more options and uses the rsync remote-update protocol to
-greatly speed up file transfers when the destination file is being
-updated.
-
-The rsync remote-update protocol allows rsync to transfer just the
-differences between two sets of files across the network connection, using
-an efficient checksum-search algorithm described in the technical
-report that accompanies this package.
-
-Rsync finds files that need to be transferred using a "quick check" algorithm
-that looks for files that have changed in size or in last-modified time (by
-default). Any changes in the other preserved attributes (as requested by
-options) are made on the destination file directly when the quick check
-indicates that the file's data does not need to be updated.
+Rsync is a fast and extraordinarily versatile file copying tool. It can
+copy locally, to/from another host over any remote shell, or to/from a
+remote rsync daemon. It offers a large number of options that control
+every aspect of its behavior and permit very flexible specification of the
+set of files to be copied. It is famous for its delta-transfer algorithm,
+which reduces the amount of data sent over the network by sending only the
+differences between the source files and the existing files in the
+destination. Rsync is widely used for backups and mirroring and as an
+improved copy command for everyday use.
+
+Rsync finds files that need to be transferred using a "quick check"
+algorithm (by default) that looks for files that have changed in size or
+in last-modified time. Any changes in the other preserved attributes (as
+requested by options) are made on the destination file directly when the
+quick check indicates that the file's data does not need to be updated.
Some of the additional features of rsync are:
manpagesection(ADVANCED USAGE)
-The syntax for requesting multiple files from a remote host involves using
-quoted spaces in the SRC. Some examples:
+The syntax for requesting multiple files from a remote host is done by
+specifying additional remote-host args in the same style as the first,
+or with the hostname omitted. For instance, all these work:
-quote(tt(rsync host::'modname/dir1/file1 modname/dir2/file2' /dest))
+quote(tt(rsync -av host:file1 :file2 host:file{3,4} /dest/)nl()
+tt(rsync -av host::modname/file{1,2} host::modname/file3 /dest/)nl()
+tt(rsync -av host::modname/file1 ::modname/file{3,4}))
-This would copy file1 and file2 into /dest from an rsync daemon. Each
-additional arg must include the same "modname/" prefix as the first one,
-and must be preceded by a single space. All other spaces are assumed
-to be a part of the filenames.
+Older versions of rsync required using quoted spaces in the SRC, like these
+examples:
-quote(tt(rsync -av host:'dir1/file1 dir2/file2' /dest))
+quote(tt(rsync -av host:'dir1/file1 dir2/file2' /dest)nl()
+tt(rsync host::'modname/dir1/file1 modname/dir2/file2' /dest))
-This would copy file1 and file2 into /dest using a remote shell. This
-word-splitting is done by the remote shell, so if it doesn't work it means
-that the remote shell isn't configured to split its args based on
-whitespace (a very rare setting, but not unknown). If you need to transfer
-a filename that contains whitespace, you'll need to either escape the
-whitespace in a way that the remote shell will understand, or use wildcards
-in place of the spaces. Two examples of this are:
+This word-splitting still works (by default) in the latest rsync, but is
+not as easy to use as the first method.
-quote(
-tt(rsync -av host:'file\ name\ with\ spaces' /dest)nl()
-tt(rsync -av host:file?name?with?spaces /dest)nl()
-)
+If you need to transfer a filename that contains whitespace, you can either
+specify the bf(--protect-args) (bf(-s)) option, or you'll need to escape
+the whitespace in a way that the remote shell will understand. For
+instance:
-This latter example assumes that your shell passes through unmatched
-wildcards. If it complains about "no match", put the name in quotes.
+quote(tt(rsync -av host:'file\ name\ with\ spaces' /dest))
manpagesection(CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON)
rsync -av targethost1::module/src/ /dest/
rsync -av rsync:://targethost2/module/src/ /dest/ )
-The command specifed above uses ssh to run nc (netcat) on a proxyhost,
+The command specified above uses ssh to run nc (netcat) on a proxyhost,
which forwards all data to port 873 (the rsync daemon) on the targethost
(%H).
-u, --update skip files that are newer on the receiver
--inplace update destination files in-place
--append append data onto shorter files
- --append-verify --append w/old data in file cheksum
+ --append-verify --append w/old data in file checksum
-d, --dirs transfer directories without recursing
-l, --links copy symlinks as symlinks
-L, --copy-links transform symlink into referent file/dir
--super receiver attempts super-user activities
--fake-super store/recover privileged attrs using xattrs
-S, --sparse handle sparse files efficiently
- -n, --dry-run show what would have been transferred
+ -n, --dry-run perform a trial run with no changes made
-W, --whole-file copy files whole (without rsync algorithm)
-x, --one-file-system don't cross filesystem boundaries
-B, --block-size=SIZE force a fixed checksum block-size
--only-write-batch=FILE like --write-batch but w/o updating dest
--read-batch=FILE read a batched update from FILE
--protocol=NUM force an older protocol version to be used
- --iconv=CONVERT_SPEC request charset conversion of filesnames
+ --iconv=CONVERT_SPEC request charset conversion of filenames
--checksum-seed=NUM set block/file checksum seed (advanced)
-4, --ipv4 prefer IPv4
-6, --ipv6 prefer IPv6
output a message to that effect for each one). If you specify both
bf(--dirs) and bf(--recursive), bf(--recursive) takes precedence.
+This option is implied by the bf(--list-only) option (including an implied
+bf(--list-only) usage) if bf(--recursive) wasn't specified (so that
+directories are seen in the listing). Specify bf(--no-dirs) (or bf(--no-d))
+if you want to override this. This option is also implied by
+bf(--files-from).
+
dit(bf(-l, --links)) When symlinks are encountered, recreate the
symlink on the destination.
bf(--keep-dirlinks), the receiver keeps the symlink and "file" ends up in
"bar".
+One note of caution: if you use bf(--keep-dirlinks), you must trust all
+the symlinks in the copy! If it is possible for an untrusted user to
+create their own symlink to any directory, the user could then (on a
+subsequent copy) replace the symlink with a real directory and affect the
+content of whatever directory the symlink references. For backup copies,
+you are better off using something like a bind mount instead of a symlink
+to modify your receiving hierarchy.
+
See also bf(--copy-dirlinks) for an analogous option for the sending side.
dit(bf(-H, --hard-links)) This tells rsync to look for hard-linked files in
bf(--perms) option is off and use bf(--chmod=ugo=rwX) (which ensures that
all non-masked bits get enabled). If you'd care to make this latter
behavior easier to type, you could define a popt alias for it, such as
-putting this line in the file ~/.popt (this defines the bf(-s) option,
+putting this line in the file ~/.popt (the following defines the bf(-Z) option,
and includes --no-g to use the default group of the destination dir):
-quote(tt( rsync alias -s --no-p --no-g --chmod=ugo=rwX))
+quote(tt( rsync alias -Z --no-p --no-g --chmod=ugo=rwX))
You could then use this new option in a command such as this one:
-quote(tt( rsync -asv src/ dest/))
+quote(tt( rsync -avZ src/ dest/))
-(Caveat: make sure that bf(-a) does not follow bf(-s), or it will re-enable
-the "--no-*" options.)
+(Caveat: make sure that bf(-a) does not follow bf(-Z), or it will re-enable
+the two "--no-*" options mentioned above.)
The preservation of the destination's setgid bit on newly-created
directories when bf(--perms) is off was added in rsync 2.6.7. Older rsync
If bf(--perms) is enabled, this option is ignored.
dit(bf(-A, --acls)) This option causes rsync to update the destination
-ACLs to be the same as the source ACLs. This nonstandard option only
-works if the remote rsync also supports it. bf(--acls) implies bf(--perms).
+ACLs to be the same as the source ACLs.
+The option also implies bf(--perms).
+
+The source and destination systems must have compatible ACL entries for this
+option to work properly. See the bf(--fake-super) option for a way to backup
+and restore ACLs that are not compatible.
dit(bf(-X, --xattrs)) This option causes rsync to update the remote
-extended attributes to be the same as the local ones. This will work
-only if the remote machine's rsync also supports this option.
+extended attributes to be the same as the local ones.
+
+For systems that support extended-attribute namespaces, a copy being done by a
+super-user copies all namespaces except system.*. A normal user only copies
+the user.* namespace. To be able to backup and restore non-user namespaces as
+a normal user, see the bf(--fake-super) option.
dit(bf(--chmod)) This option tells rsync to apply one or more
comma-separated "chmod" strings to the permission of the files in the
destination file to be the same as the source file, but only if the
receiving rsync is being run as the super-user (see also the bf(--super)
and bf(--fake-super) options).
-Without this option, the owner is set to the invoking user on the
-receiving side.
+Without this option, the owner of new and/or transferred files are set to
+the invoking user on the receiving side.
The preservation of ownership will associate matching names by default, but
may fall back to using the ID number in some circumstances (see also the
super-user can use bf(--no-super).
dit(bf(--fake-super)) When this option is enabled, rsync simulates
-super-user activities by saving/restoring the privileged attributes via a
-special extended attribute that is attached to each file (as needed). This
+super-user activities by saving/restoring the privileged attributes via
+special extended attributes that are attached to each file (as needed). This
includes the file's owner and group (if it is not the default), the file's
device info (device & special files are created as empty text files), and
any permission bits that we won't allow to be set on the real file (e.g.
the real file gets u-s,g-s,o-t for safety) or that would limit the owner's
access (since the real super-user can always access/change a file, the
files we create can always be accessed/changed by the creating user).
+This option also handles ACLs (if bf(--acls) was specified) and non-user
+extended attributes (if bf(--xattrs) was specified).
+
+This is a good way to backup data without using a super-user, and to store
+ACLs from incompatible systems.
The bf(--fake-super) option only affects the side where the option is used.
To affect the remote side of a remote-shell connection, specify an rsync
quote(tt( rsync -av --rsync-path="rsync --fake-super" /src/ host:/dest/))
Since there is only one "side" in a local copy, this option affects both
-the sending and recieving of files. You'll need to specify a copy using
-"localhost" if you need to avoid this. Note, however, that it is always
-safe to copy from some non-fake-super files into some fake-super files
-using a local bf(--fake-super) command because the non-fake source files
-will just have their normal attributes.
+the sending and receiving of files. You'll need to specify a copy using
+"localhost" if you need to avoid this, possibly using the "lsh" shell
+script (from the support directory) as a substitute for an actual remote
+shell (see bf(--rsh)).
This option is overridden by both bf(--super) and bf(--no-super).
filesystem. It doesn't seem to handle seeks over null regions
correctly and ends up corrupting the files.
-dit(bf(-n, --dry-run)) This tells rsync to not do any file transfers,
-instead it will just report the actions it would have taken.
+dit(bf(-n, --dry-run)) This makes rsync perform a trial run that doesn't
+make any changes (and produces mostly the same output as a real run). It
+is most commonly used in combination with the bf(-v, --verbose) and/or
+bf(-i, --itemize-changes) options to see what an rsync command is going
+to do before one actually runs it.
+
+The output of bf(--itemize-changes) is supposed to be exactly the same on a
+dry run and a subsequent real run (barring intentional trickery and system
+call failures); if it isn't, that's a bug. Other output is the same to the
+extent practical, but may differ in some areas. Notably, a dry run does not
+send the actual data for file transfers, so bf(--progress) has no effect,
+the "bytes sent", "bytes received", "literal data", and "matched data"
+statistics are too small, and the "speedup" value is equivalent to a run
+where no file transfers are needed.
dit(bf(-W, --whole-file)) With this option the delta transfer algorithm
is not used and the whole file is sent as-is instead. The transfer may be
was enabled. Beginning with 2.6.7, deletions will also occur when bf(--dirs)
(bf(-d)) is enabled, but only for directories whose contents are being copied.
-This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very good idea
-to run first using the bf(--dry-run) option (bf(-n)) to see what files would be
-deleted to make sure important files aren't listed.
+This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very good idea to
+first try a run using the bf(--dry-run) option (bf(-n)) to see what files are
+going to be deleted.
If the sending side detects any I/O errors, then the deletion of any
files at the destination will be automatically disabled. This is to
initial items are marked as perishable -- see the FILTER RULES section):
quote(quote(tt(RCS SCCS CVS CVS.adm RCSLOG cvslog.* tags TAGS .make.state
-.nse_depinfo *~ #* .#* ,* _$* *$ *.old *.bak *.BAK *.orig *.rej
-.del-* *.a *.olb *.o *.obj *.so *.exe *.Z *.elc *.ln core .svn/ .bzr/)))
+.nse_depinfo *~ #* .#* ,* _$* *$ *.old *.bak *.BAK *.orig *.rej .del-*
+*.a *.olb *.o *.obj *.so *.exe *.Z *.elc *.ln core .svn/ .git/ .bzr/)))
then, files listed in a $HOME/.cvsignore are added to the list and any
files listed in the CVSIGNORE environment variable (all cvsignore names
instead of transferred. This option is inferred if there is a single source
arg and no destination specified, so its main uses are: (1) to turn a copy
command that includes a
-destination arg into a file-listing command, (2) to be able to specify more
-than one local source arg (note: be sure to include the destination), or
-(3) to avoid the automatically added "bf(-r --exclude='/*/*')" options that
-rsync usually uses as a compatibility kluge when generating a non-recursive
-listing. Caution: keep in mind that a source arg with a wild-card is expanded
-by the shell into multiple args, so it is never safe to try to list such an arg
+destination arg into a file-listing command, or (2) to be able to specify
+more than one source arg (note: be sure to include the destination).
+Caution: keep in mind that a source arg with a wild-card is expanded by the
+shell into multiple args, so it is never safe to try to list such an arg
without using this option. For example:
verb( rsync -av --list-only foo* dest/)
+Compatibility note: when requesting a remote listing of files from an rsync
+that is version 2.6.3 or older, you may encounter an error if you ask for a
+non-recursive listing. This is because a file listing implies the bf(--dirs)
+option w/o bf(--recursive), and older rsyncs don't have that option. To
+avoid this problem, either specify the bf(--no-dirs) option (if you don't
+need to expand a directory's content), or turn on recursion and exclude
+the content of subdirectories: bf(-r --exclude='/*/*').
+
dit(bf(--bwlimit=KBPS)) This option allows you to specify a maximum
transfer rate in kilobytes per second. This option is most effective when
using rsync with large files (several megabytes and up). Due to the nature
manpagesection(VERSION)
-This man page is current for version 2.6.9 of rsync.
+This man page is current for version 3.0.0pre5 of rsync.
manpagesection(INTERNAL OPTIONS)
url(ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync)(ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync).
We would be delighted to hear from you if you like this program.
+Please contact the mailing-list at rsync@lists.samba.org.
This program uses the excellent zlib compression library written by
Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler.
manpagesection(THANKS)
-Thanks to Richard Brent, Brendan Mackay, Bill Waite, Stephen Rothwell
-and David Bell for helpful suggestions, patches and testing of rsync.
-I've probably missed some people, my apologies if I have.
+Especial thanks go out to: John Van Essen, Matt McCutchen, Wesley W. Terpstra,
+David Dykstra, Jos Backus, Sebastian Krahmer, Martin Pool, and our
+gone-but-not-forgotten compadre, J.W. Schultz.
-Especial thanks also to: David Dykstra, Jos Backus, Sebastian Krahmer,
-Martin Pool, Wayne Davison, J.W. Schultz.
+Thanks also to Richard Brent, Brendan Mackay, Bill Waite, Stephen Rothwell
+and David Bell. I've probably missed some people, my apologies if I have.
manpageauthor()
rsync was originally written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras.
-Many people have later contributed to it.
+Many people have later contributed to it. It is currently maintained
+by Wayne Davison.
Mailing lists for support and development are available at
url(http://lists.samba.org)(lists.samba.org)
Matt McCutchen's Web Site / rsync / rsync.git / blobdiff