-D, --devices preserve devices (root only)
-t, --times preserve times
-O, --omit-dir-times omit directories when preserving times
+ --chmod=CHMOD change destination permissions
-S, --sparse handle sparse files efficiently
-n, --dry-run show what would have been transferred
-W, --whole-file copy files whole (without rsync algorithm)
-B, --block-size=SIZE force a fixed checksum block-size
-e, --rsh=COMMAND specify the remote shell to use
--rsync-path=PROGRAM specify the rsync to run on remote machine
- --existing only update files that already exist
+ --existing ignore non-existing files on receiving side
--ignore-existing ignore files that already exist on receiver
--remove-sent-files sent files/symlinks are removed from sender
--del an alias for --delete-during
--force force deletion of dirs even if not empty
--max-delete=NUM don't delete more than NUM files
--max-size=SIZE don't transfer any file larger than SIZE
+ --min-size=SIZE don't transfer any file smaller than SIZE
--partial keep partially transferred files
--partial-dir=DIR put a partially transferred file into DIR
--delay-updates put all updated files into place at end
--copy-dest=DIR ... and include copies of unchanged files
--link-dest=DIR hardlink to files in DIR when unchanged
-z, --compress compress file data during the transfer
+ --compress-level=NUM explicitly set compression level
-C, --cvs-exclude auto-ignore files in the same way CVS does
-f, --filter=RULE add a file-filtering RULE
-F same as --filter='dir-merge /.rsync-filter'
--port=PORT specify double-colon alternate port number
--blocking-io use blocking I/O for the remote shell
--stats give some file-transfer stats
+ -h, --human-readable output numbers in a human-readable format
+ --si like human-readable, but use powers of 1000
--progress show progress during transfer
-P same as --partial --progress
-i, --itemize-changes output a change-summary for all updates
-4, --ipv4 prefer IPv4
-6, --ipv6 prefer IPv6
--version print version number
- -h, --help show this help screen)
+ --help show this help screen)
Rsync can also be run as a daemon, in which case the following options are
accepted: verb(
-v, --verbose increase verbosity
-4, --ipv4 prefer IPv4
-6, --ipv6 prefer IPv6
- -h, --help show this help screen)
+ --help show this help screen)
manpageoptions()
can be used instead.
startdit()
-dit(bf(-h, --help)) Print a short help page describing the options
-available in rsync.
+dit(bf(--help)) Print a short help page describing the options
+available in rsync and exit. For backward-compatibility with older
+versions of rsync, the same help output can also be requested by using
+the bf(-h) option without any other args.
dit(bf(--version)) print the rsync version number and exit.
renamed as each file is transferred or deleted. You can control where the
backup file goes and what (if any) suffix gets appended using the
bf(--backup-dir) and bf(--suffix) options.
-Note that if you don't specify bf(--backup-dir), the bf(--omit-dir-times)
-option will be enabled.
+
+Note that if you don't specify bf(--backup-dir), (1) the
+bf(--omit-dir-times) option will be implied, and (2) if bf(--delete) is
+also in effect (without bf(--delete-excluded)), rsync will add a protect
+filter-rule for the backup suffix to the end of all your existing excludes
+(e.g. -f "P *~"). This will prevent previously backed-up files from being
+deleted. Note that if you are supplying your own filter rules, you may
+need to manually insert your own exclude/protect rule somewhere higher up
+in the list so that it has a high enough priority to be effective (e.g., if
+your rules specify a trailing inclusion/exclusion of '*', the auto-added
+rule would never be reached).
dit(bf(--backup-dir=DIR)) In combination with the bf(--backup) option, this
tells rsync to store all backups in the specified directory. This is
dit(bf(-d, --dirs)) Tell the sending side to include any directories that
are encountered. Unlike bf(--recursive), a directory's contents are not copied
-unless the directory was specified on the command-line as either "." or a
-name with a trailing slash (e.g. "foo/"). Without this option or the
+unless the directory name specified is "." or ends with a trailing slash
+(e.g. ".", "dir/.", "dir/", etc.). Without this option or the
bf(--recursive) option, rsync will skip all directories it encounters (and
output a message to that effect for each one). If you specify both
-bf(--dirs) and bf(--recursive), the latter takes precedence.
+bf(--dirs) and bf(--recursive), bf(--recursive) takes precedence.
dit(bf(-l, --links)) When symlinks are encountered, recreate the
symlink on the destination.
the directories on the receiving side, it is a good idea to use bf(-O).
This option is inferred if you use bf(--backup) without bf(--backup-dir).
+dit(bf(--chmod)) This options tells rsync to apply the listed "chmod" pattern
+to the permission of the files on the destination. In addition to the normal
+parsing rules specified in the chmod manpage, you can specify an item that
+should only apply to a directory by prefixing it with a 'D', or specify an
+item that should only apply to a file by prefixing it with a 'F'. For example:
+
+quote(--chmod=Dg+s,ug+w,Fo-w,+X)
+
+It is also legal to specify multiple bf(--chmod) options.
+
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.
boundaries when recursing. This is useful for transferring the
contents of only one filesystem.
-dit(bf(--existing)) This tells rsync not to create any new files --
-only update files that already exist on the destination.
+dit(bf(-x, --one-file-system)) This tells rsync to avoid recursing into a
+directory that is the mount-point for another filesystem, including (as of
+2.6.7), "bind" mount-points. You can still copy the contents of multiple
+file systems if you include a source dir from each file system -- this just
+limits rsync's directory-recursion algorithm.
-dit(bf(--ignore-existing))
-This tells rsync not to update files that already exist on
-the destination.
+Rsync will copy the directory at each encountered mount-point unless this
+option is repeated. Note, however, that the attributes of this mount-point
+directory are copied from those currently visible in the filesystem, not
+the inaccessible attributes of the underlying directory.
+
+This option does not affect the "collapsing" of symlinks that options such
+as bf(--copy-links) perform, irrespective of what filesystem the symlink's
+referent may be on.
+
+dit(bf(--existing, --ignore-non-existing)) This tells rsync to skip
+updating files that do not exist yet on the destination. If this option is
+combined with the bf(--ignore-existing) option, no files will be updated
+(which can be useful if all you want to do is to delete missing files).
+
+dit(bf(--ignore-existing)) This tells rsync to skip updating files that
+already exist on the destination. See also bf(--ignore-non-existing).
dit(bf(--remove-sent-files)) This tells rsync to remove from the sending
side the files and/or symlinks that are newly created or whose content is
Prior to rsync 2.6.7, this option would have no effect unless bf(--recursive)
was in effect. Beginning with 2.6.7, deletions will also occur when bf(--dirs)
-is specified, but only for directories whose contents are being copied.
+(bf(-d)) is in effect, 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
dit(bf(--max-size=SIZE)) This tells rsync to avoid transferring any
file that is larger than the specified SIZE. The SIZE value can be
-suffixed with a letter to indicate a size multiplier (K, M, or G) and
+suffixed with a string to indicate a size multiplier, and
may be a fractional value (e.g. "bf(--max-size=1.5m)").
+The suffixes are as follows: "K" (or "KiB") is a kibibyte (1024),
+"M" (or "MiB") is a mebibyte (1024*1024), and "G" (or "GiB") is a
+gibibyte (1024*1024*1024).
+If you want the multiplier to be 1000 instead of 1024, use "KB",
+"MB", or "GB". (Note: lower-case is also accepted for all values.)
+Finally, if the suffix ends in either "+1" or "-1", the value will
+be offset by one byte in the indicated direction.
+
+Examples: --max-size=1.5mb-1 is 1499999 bytes, and --max-size=2g+1 is
+2147483649 bytes.
+
+dit(bf(--min-size=SIZE)) This tells rsync to avoid transferring any
+file that is smaller than the specified SIZE, which can help in not
+transferring small, junk files.
+See the bf(--max-size) option for a description of SIZE.
+
dit(bf(-B, --block-size=BLOCKSIZE)) This forces the block size used in
the rsync algorithm to a fixed value. It is normally selected based on
the size of each file being updated. See the technical report for details.
RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION" above.
Command-line arguments are permitted in COMMAND provided that COMMAND is
-presented to rsync as a single argument. For example:
+presented to rsync as a single argument. You must use spaces (not tabs
+or other whitespace) to separate the command and args from each other,
+and you can use single- and/or double-quotes to preserve spaces in an
+argument (but not backslashes). Note that doubling a single-quote
+inside a single-quoted string gives you a single-quote; likewise for
+double-quotes (though you need to pay attention to which quotes your
+shell is parsing and which quotes rsync is parsing). Some examples:
-quote(tt( -e "ssh -p 2234"))
+quote(
+tt( -e 'ssh -p 2234')nl()
+tt( -e 'ssh -o "ProxyCommand nohup ssh firewall nc -w1 %h %p"')nl()
+)
(Note that ssh users can alternately customize site-specific connect
options in their .ssh/config file.)
because it takes advantage of the implicit information in the matching data
blocks that are not explicitly sent over the connection.
+dit(bf(--compress-level=NUM)) Explicitly set the compression level to use
+(see bf(--compress)) instead of letting it default. If NUM is non-zero,
+the bf(--compress) option is implied.
+
dit(bf(--numeric-ids)) With this option rsync will transfer numeric group
and user IDs rather than using user and group names and mapping them
at both ends.
dit(bf(-i, --itemize-changes)) Requests a simple itemized list of the
changes that are being made to each file, including attribute changes.
This is exactly the same as specifying bf(--log-format='%i %n%L').
+If you repeat the option, unchanged files will also be output, but only
+if the receiving rsync is at least version 2.6.7 (you can use bf(-vv)
+with older versions of rsync, but that also turns on the output of other
+verbose messages).
The "%i" escape has a cryptic output that is 9 letters long. The general
format is like the string bf(UXcstpoga)), where bf(U) is replaced by the
touched directory) unless the itemized-changes escape (%i) is included in
the string, in which case the logging of names increases to mention any
item that is changed in any way (as long as the receiving side is at least
-2.6.4). See the bf(--itemized-changes) option for a description of the
+2.6.4). See the bf(--itemize-changes) option for a description of the
output of "%i".
The bf(--verbose) option implies a format of "%n%L", but you can use
on the file transfer, allowing you to tell how effective the rsync
algorithm is for your data.
+dit(bf(-h, --human-readable)) Output numbers in a more human-readable format.
+Large numbers may be output in larger units, with a K (1024), M (1024*1024),
+or G (1024*1024*1024) suffix.
+
+dit(bf(--si)) Similar to the bf(--human-readable) option, but using powers
+of 1000 instead of 1024.
+
dit(bf(--partial)) By default, rsync will delete any partially
transferred file if the transfer is interrupted. In some circumstances
it is more desirable to keep partially transferred files. Using the
untimely deletion of partial-dir items on the receiving side. An example:
the above bf(--partial-dir) option would add an "bf(--exclude=.rsync-partial/)"
rule at the end of any other filter rules. Note that if you are
-supplying your own filter rules, you may need to manually insert a
-rule for this directory exclusion somewhere higher up in the list so that
+supplying your own exclude rules, you may need to manually insert your own
+exclude/protect rule somewhere higher up in the list so that
it has a high enough priority to be effective (e.g., if your rules specify
-a trailing bf(--exclude='*') rule, the auto-added rule would never be
+a trailing inclusion/exclusion of '*', the auto-added rule would never be
reached).
IMPORTANT: the bf(--partial-dir) should not be writable by other users or it
transfer, at which time all the files are renamed into place in rapid
succession. This attempts to make the updating of the files a little more
atomic. By default the files are placed into a directory named ".~tmp~" in
-each file's destination directory, but you can override this by specifying
-the bf(--partial-dir) option. (Note that RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR has no effect
-on this value, nor is bf(--partial-dir) considered to be implied for the
-purposes of the daemon-config's "refuse options" setting.)
-Conflicts with bf(--inplace).
+each file's destination directory, but if you've specified the
+bf(--partial-dir) option, that directory will be used instead.
+Conflicts with bf(--inplace) and bf(--append).
This option uses more memory on the receiving side (one bit per file
transferred) and also requires enough free disk space on the receiving
of the transfer.
it() if the pattern ends with a / then it will only match a
directory, not a file, link, or device.
- it() if the pattern contains a wildcard character from the set
- *?[ then expression matching is applied using the shell filename
- matching rules. Otherwise a simple string match is used.
- it() the double asterisk pattern "**" will match slashes while a
- single asterisk pattern "*" will stop at slashes.
- it() if the pattern contains a / (not counting a trailing /) or a "**"
+
+ it() rsync chooses between doing a simple string match and wildcard
+ matching by checking if the pattern contains one of these three wildcard
+ characters: '*', '?', and '[' .
+ it() a '*' matches any non-empty path component (it stops at slashes).
+ it() use '**' to match anything, including slashes.
+ it() a '?' matches any character except a slash (/).
+ it() a '[' introduces a character class, such as [a-z] or [[:alpha:]].
+ it() in a wildcard pattern, a backslash can be used to escape a wildcard
+ character, but it is matched literally when no wildcards are present.
+ it() if the pattern contains a / (not counting a trailing /) or a "**",
then it is matched against the full pathname, including any leading
directories. If the pattern doesn't contain a / or a "**", then it is
matched only against the final component of the filename.
(Remember that the algorithm is applied recursively so "full filename"
can actually be any portion of a path from the starting directory on
down.)
+ it() a trailing "dir_name/***" will match both the directory (as if
+ "dir_name/" had been specified) and all the files in the directory
+ (as if "dir_name/**" had been specified). (This behavior is new for
+ version 2.6.7.)
)
Note that, when using the bf(--recursive) (bf(-r)) option (which is implied by
The following modifiers are accepted after a "+" or "-":
itemize(
- it() A "/" specifies that the include/exclude should be treated as an
- absolute path, relative to the root of the filesystem. For example,
+ it() A "/" specifies that the include/exclude rule should be matched
+ against the absolute pathname of the current item. For example,
"-/ /etc/passwd" would exclude the passwd file any time the transfer
- was sending files from the "/etc" directory.
+ was sending files from the "/etc" directory, and "-/ subdir/foo"
+ would always exclude "foo" when it is in a dir named "subdir", even
+ if "foo" is at the root of the current transfer.
it() A "!" specifies that the include/exclude should take effect if
the pattern fails to match. For instance, "-! */" would exclude all
non-directories.
Matt McCutchen's Web Site / rsync / rsync.git / blobdiff