mailto(rsync-bugs@samba.org)
-manpage(rsyncd.conf)(5)(28 Mar 2005)()()
-manpagename(rsyncd.conf)(configuration file for rsync server)
+manpage(rsyncd.conf)(5)(22 Apr 2006)()()
+manpagename(rsyncd.conf)(configuration file for rsync in daemon mode)
manpagesynopsis()
rsyncd.conf
manpagedescription()
The rsyncd.conf file is the runtime configuration file for rsync when
-run as an rsync server.
+run as an rsync daemon.
The rsyncd.conf file controls authentication, access, logging and
available modules.
You can launch it either via inetd, as a stand-alone daemon, or from
an rsync client via a remote shell. If run as a stand-alone daemon then
just run the command "bf(rsync --daemon)" from a suitable startup script.
-If run from an rsync client via a remote shell (by specifying both the
-bf(--rsh) (bf(-e)) option and server mode with "::" or "rsync://"), the bf(--daemon)
-option is automatically passed to the remote side.
When run via inetd you should add a line like this to /etc/services:
your system. You will then need to send inetd a HUP signal to tell it to
reread its config file.
-Note that you should not send the rsync server a HUP signal to force
+Note that you should bf(not) send the rsync daemon a HUP signal to force
it to reread the tt(rsyncd.conf) file. The file is re-read on each client
connection.
dit(bf(log file)) The "log file" option tells the rsync daemon to log
messages to that file rather than using syslog. This is particularly
-useful on systems (such as AIX) where syslog() doesn't work for
-chrooted programs.
+useful on systems (such as AIX) where code(syslog()) doesn't work for
+chrooted programs. If the daemon fails to open to specified file, it
+will fall back to using syslog and output an error about the failure.
+(Note that a failure to open the specified log file used to be a fatal
+error.)
dit(bf(pid file)) The "pid file" option tells the rsync daemon to write
its process ID to that file.
dit(bf(syslog facility)) The "syslog facility" option allows you to
specify the syslog facility name to use when logging messages from the
-rsync server. You may use any standard syslog facility name which is
+rsync daemon. You may use any standard syslog facility name which is
defined on your system. Common names are auth, authpriv, cron, daemon,
ftp, kern, lpr, mail, news, security, syslog, user, uucp, local0,
local1, local2, local3, local4, local5, local6 and local7. The default
is daemon.
+dit(bf(port)) You can override the default port the daemon will listen on
+by specifying this value (defaults to 873). This is ignored if the daemon
+is being run by inetd, and is superseded by the bf(--port) command-line option.
+
+dit(bf(address)) You can override the default IP address the daemon
+will listen on by specifying this value. This is ignored if the daemon is
+being run by inetd, and is superseded by the bf(--address) command-line option.
+
dit(bf(socket options)) This option can provide endless fun for people
who like to tune their systems to the utmost degree. You can set all
sorts of socket options which may make transfers faster (or
-slower!). Read the man page for the setsockopt() system call for
+slower!). Read the man page for the code(setsockopt()) system call for
details on some of the options you may be able to set. By default no
-special socket options are set.
+special socket options are set. These settings are superseded by the
+bf(--sockopts) command-line option.
enddit()
that is displayed next to the module name when clients obtain a list
of available modules. The default is no comment.
-dit(bf(path)) The "path" option specifies the directory in the servers
+dit(bf(path)) The "path" option specifies the directory in the daemon's
filesystem to make available in this module. You must specify this option
for each module in tt(rsyncd.conf).
-dit(bf(use chroot)) If "use chroot" is true, the rsync server will chroot
+dit(bf(use chroot)) If "use chroot" is true, the rsync daemon will chroot
to the "path" before starting the file transfer with the client. This has
the advantage of extra protection against possible implementation security
holes, but it has the disadvantages of requiring super-user privileges,
In order to preserve usernames and groupnames, rsync needs to be able to
use the standard library functions for looking up names and IDs (i.e.
-getpwuid(), getgrgid(), getpwname(), and getgrnam()). This means a
+code(getpwuid()), code(getgrgid()), code(getpwname()), and code(getgrnam())). This means a
process in the chroot namespace will need to have access to the resources
used by these library functions (traditionally /etc/passwd and
/etc/group). If these resources are not available, rsync will only be
Note that you are free to setup user/group information in the chroot area
differently from your normal system. For example, you could abbreviate
the list of users and groups. Also, you can protect this information from
-being downloaded/uploaded by adding an exclude rule to the rsync.conf file
+being downloaded/uploaded by adding an exclude rule to the rsyncd.conf file
(e.g. "exclude = /etc/**"). Note that having the exclusion affect uploads
-is a relatively new feature in rsync, so make sure your server is running
+is a relatively new feature in rsync, so make sure your daemon is
at least 2.6.3 to effect this. Also note that it is safest to exclude a
directory and all its contents combining the rule "/some/dir/" with the
rule "/some/dir/**" just to be sure that rsync will not allow deeper
do this automatically, but you might as well specify both to be extra
sure).
-dit(bf(port)) You can override the default port the daemon will listen on
-by specifying this value (defaults to 873). This is ignored if the daemon
-is being run by inetd, and is superseded by the bf(--port) command-line option.
-
-dit(bf(address)) You can override the default IP address the daemon
-will listen on by specifying this value. This is ignored if the daemon is
-being run by inetd, and is superseded by the bf(--address) command-line option.
-
dit(bf(max connections)) The "max connections" option allows you to
specify the maximum number of simultaneous connections you will allow.
Any clients connecting when the maximum has been reached will receive a
which allows the client to request one level of verbosity.
dit(bf(lock file)) The "lock file" option specifies the file to use to
-support the "max connections" option. The rsync server uses record
+support the "max connections" option. The rsync daemon uses record
locking on this file to ensure that the max connections limit is not
exceeded for the modules sharing the lock file.
The default is tt(/var/run/rsyncd.lock).
dit(bf(read only)) The "read only" option determines whether clients
will be able to upload files or not. If "read only" is true then any
attempted uploads will fail. If "read only" is false then uploads will
-be possible if file permissions on the server allow them. The default
+be possible if file permissions on the daemon side allow them. The default
is for all modules to be read only.
dit(bf(write only)) The "write only" option determines whether clients
will be able to download files or not. If "write only" is true then any
attempted downloads will fail. If "write only" is false then downloads
-will be possible if file permissions on the server allow them. The
+will be possible if file permissions on the daemon side allow them. The
default is for this option to be disabled.
dit(bf(list)) The "list" option determines if this module should be
which is normally the group "nobody".
dit(bf(filter)) The "filter" option allows you to specify a space-separated
-list of filter rules that the server will not allow to be read or written.
+list of filter rules that the daemon will not allow to be read or written.
This is only superficially equivalent to the client specifying these
patterns with the bf(--filter) option. Only one "filter" option may be
specified, but it may contain as many rules as you like, including
merge-file rules. Note that per-directory merge-file rules do not provide
as much protection as global rules, but they can be used to make bf(--delete)
-work better when a client downloads the server's files (if the per-dir
+work better when a client downloads the daemon's files (if the per-dir
merge files are included in the transfer).
dit(bf(exclude)) The "exclude" option allows you to specify a
-space-separated list of patterns that the server will not allow to be read
+space-separated list of patterns that the daemon will not allow to be read
or written. This is only superficially equivalent to the client
specifying these patterns with the bf(--exclude) option. Only one "exclude"
option may be specified, but you can use "-" and "+" before patterns to
specify exclude/include.
Because this exclude list is not passed to the client it only applies on
-the server: that is, it excludes files received by a client when receiving
-from a server and files deleted on a server when sending to a server, but
+the daemon: that is, it excludes files received by a client when receiving
+from a daemon and files deleted on a daemon when sending to a daemon, but
it doesn't exclude files from being deleted on a client when receiving
-from a server.
+from a daemon.
dit(bf(exclude from)) The "exclude from" option specifies a filename
-on the server that contains exclude patterns, one per line.
+on the daemon that contains exclude patterns, one per line.
This is only superficially equivalent
to the client specifying the bf(--exclude-from) option with an equivalent file.
See the "exclude" option above.
dit(bf(include)) The "include" option allows you to specify a
space-separated list of patterns which rsync should not exclude. This is
only superficially equivalent to the client specifying these patterns with
-the bf(--include) option because it applies only on the server. This is
+the bf(--include) option because it applies only on the daemon. This is
useful as it allows you to build up quite complex exclude/include rules.
Only one "include" option may be specified, but you can use "+" and "-"
before patterns to switch include/exclude. See the "exclude" option
above.
dit(bf(include from)) The "include from" option specifies a filename
-on the server that contains include patterns, one per line. This is
+on the daemon that contains include patterns, one per line. This is
only superficially equivalent to the client specifying the
bf(--include-from) option with a equivalent file.
See the "exclude" option above.
+dit(bf(incoming chmod)) This option allows you to specify a set of
+comma-separated chmod strings that will affect the permissions of all
+incoming files (files that are being received by the daemon). These
+changes happen after all other permission calculations, and this will
+even override destination-default and/or existing permissions when the
+client does not specify bf(--perms).
+See the description of the bf(--chmod) rsync option and the bf(chmod)(1)
+manpage for information on the format of this string.
+
+dit(bf(outgoing chmod)) This option allows you to specify a set of
+comma-separated chmod strings that will affect the permissions of all
+outgoing files (files that are being sent out from the daemon). These
+changes happen first, making the sent permissions appear to be different
+than those stored in the filesystem itself. For instance, you could
+disable group write permissions on the server while having it appear to
+be on to the clients.
+See the description of the bf(--chmod) rsync option and the bf(chmod)(1)
+manpage for information on the format of this string.
+
dit(bf(auth users)) The "auth users" option specifies a comma and
space-separated list of usernames that will be allowed to connect to
this module. The usernames do not need to exist on the local
"auth users" is set then the client will be challenged to supply a
username and password to connect to the module. A challenge response
authentication protocol is used for this exchange. The plain text
-usernames are passwords are stored in the file specified by the
+usernames and passwords are stored in the file specified by the
"secrets file" option. The default is for all users to be able to
connect without a password (this is called "anonymous rsync").
-See also the bf(CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC SERVER OVER A REMOTE SHELL
-PROGRAM) section in rsync(1) for information on how handle an
+See also the "CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON OVER A REMOTE SHELL
+PROGRAM" section in bf(rsync)(1) for information on how handle an
rsyncd.conf-level username that differs from the remote-shell-level
-username when using a remote shell to connect to an rsync server.
+username when using a remote shell to connect to an rsync daemon.
dit(bf(secrets file)) The "secrets file" option specifies the name of
a file that contains the username:password pairs used for
The default is no "hosts deny" option, which means all hosts can connect.
dit(bf(ignore errors)) The "ignore errors" option tells rsyncd to
-ignore I/O errors on the server when deciding whether to run the delete
+ignore I/O errors on the daemon when deciding whether to run the delete
phase of the transfer. Normally rsync skips the bf(--delete) step if any
I/O errors have occurred in order to prevent disastrous deletion due
to a temporary resource shortage or other I/O error. In some cases this
test is counter productive so you can use this option to turn off this
behavior.
-dit(bf(ignore nonreadable)) This tells the rsync server to completely
+dit(bf(ignore nonreadable)) This tells the rsync daemon to completely
ignore files that are not readable by the user. This is useful for
public archives that may have some non-readable files among the
directories, and the sysadmin doesn't want those files to be seen at all.
dit(bf(transfer logging)) The "transfer logging" option enables per-file
logging of downloads and uploads in a format somewhat similar to that
-used by ftp daemons. The server always logs the transfer at the end, so
+used by ftp daemons. The daemon always logs the transfer at the end, so
if a transfer is aborted, no mention will be made in the log file.
If you want to customize the log lines, see the "log format" option.
The single-character escapes that are understood are as follows:
quote(itemize(
- it() %h for the remote host name
- it() %a for the remote IP address
- it() %l for the length of the file in bytes
- it() %p for the process ID of this rsync session
- it() %o for the operation, which is "send", "recv", or "del."
- (the latter includes the trailing period)
- it() %f for the filename (long form on sender; no trailing "/")
- it() %n for the filename (short form; trailing "/" on dir)
- it() %L either the string " -> SYMLINK", or " => HARDLINK" or an
- empty string (where bf(SYMLINK) or bf(HARDLINK) is a filename)
- it() %P for the module path
- it() %m for the module name
- it() %t for the current date time
- it() %u for the authenticated username (or the null string)
- it() %b for the number of bytes actually transferred
- it() %c when sending files this gives the number of checksum bytes
- received for this file
+ it() %a the remote IP address
+ it() %b the number of bytes actually transferred
+ it() %B the permission bits of the file (e.g. rwxrwxrwt)
+ it() %c the checksum bytes received for this file (only when sending)
+ it() %f the filename (long form on sender; no trailing "/")
+ it() %G the gid of the file (decimal) or "DEFAULT"
+ it() %h the remote host name
it() %i an itemized list of what is being updated
+ it() %l the length of the file in bytes
+ it() %L the string " -> SYMLINK", " => HARDLINK", or "" (where bf(SYMLINK) or bf(HARDLINK) is a filename)
+ it() %m the module name
+ it() %M the last-modified time of the file
+ it() %n the filename (short form; trailing "/" on dir)
+ it() %o the operation, which is "send", "recv", or "del." (the latter includes the trailing period)
+ it() %p the process ID of this rsync session
+ it() %P the module path
+ it() %t the current date time
+ it() %u the authenticated username or an empty string
+ it() %U the uid of the file (decimal)
))
For a list of what the characters mean that are output by "%i", see the
clients choice for I/O timeout for this module. Using this option you
can ensure that rsync won't wait on a dead client forever. The timeout
is specified in seconds. A value of zero means no timeout and is the
-default. A good choice for anonymous rsync servers may be 600 (giving
+default. A good choice for anonymous rsync daemons may be 600 (giving
a 10 minute timeout).
dit(bf(refuse options)) The "refuse options" option allows you to
specify a space-separated list of rsync command line options that will
-be refused by your rsync server.
+be refused by your rsync daemon.
You may specify the full option name, its one-letter abbreviation, or a
wild-card string that matches multiple options.
For example, this would refuse bf(--checksum) (bf(-c)) and all the various
without the former, instead refuse "delete-*" -- that refuses all the
delete modes without affecting bf(--remove-sent-files).
-When an option is refused, the server prints an error message and exits.
+When an option is refused, the daemon prints an error message and exits.
To prevent all compression, you can use "dont compress = *" (see below)
instead of "refuse options = compress" to avoid returning an error to a
client that requests compression.
The default setting is tt(*.gz *.tgz *.zip *.z *.rpm *.deb *.iso *.bz2 *.tbz)
+dit(bf(pre-xfer exec), bf(post-xfer exec)) You may specify a command to be run
+before and/or after the transfer. If the bf(pre-xfer exec) command fails, the
+transfer is aborted before it begins.
+
+The following environment variables will be set, though some are
+specific to the pre-xfer or the post-xfer environment:
+
+quote(itemize(
+ it() bf(RSYNC_MODULE_NAME): The name of the module being accessed.
+ it() bf(RSYNC_MODULE_PATH): The path configured for the module.
+ it() bf(RSYNC_HOST_ADDR): The accessing host's IP address.
+ it() bf(RSYNC_HOST_NAME): The accessing host's name.
+ it() bf(RSYNC_USER_NAME): The accessing user's name (empty if no user).
+ it() bf(RSYNC_REQUEST): (pre-xfer only) The module/path info specified
+ by the user (note that the user can specify multiple source files,
+ so the request can be something like "mod/path1 mod/path2", etc.).
+ it() bf(RSYNC_ARG#): (pre-xfer only) The pre-request arguments are set
+ in these numbered values. RSYNC_ARG0 is always "rsyncd", and the last
+ value contains a single period.
+ it() bf(RSYNC_EXIT_STATUS): (post-xfer only) rsync's exit value. This will be 0 for a
+ successful run, a positive value for an error that rsync returned
+ (e.g. 23=partial xfer), or a -1 if rsync failed to exit properly.
+ it() bf(RSYNC_RAW_STATUS): (post-xfer only) the raw exit value from code(waitpid()).
+))
+
+Even though the commands can be associated with a particular module, they
+are run using the permissions of the user that started the daemon (not the
+module's uid/gid setting) without any chroot restrictions.
+
enddit()
manpagesection(AUTHENTICATION STRENGTH)
The authentication protocol used in rsync is a 128 bit MD4 based
-challenge response system. Although I believe that no one has ever
-demonstrated a brute-force break of this sort of system you should
-realize that this is not a "military strength" authentication system.
-It should be good enough for most purposes but if you want really top
-quality security then I recommend that you run rsync over ssh.
+challenge response system. This is fairly weak protection, though (with
+at least one brute-force hash-finding algorithm publicly available), so
+if you want really top-quality security, then I recommend that you run
+rsync over ssh. (Yes, a future version of rsync will switch over to a
+stronger hashing method.)
-Also note that the rsync server protocol does not currently provide any
+Also note that the rsync daemon protocol does not currently provide any
encryption of the data that is transferred over the connection. Only
authentication is provided. Use ssh as the transport if you want
encryption.
Future versions of rsync may support SSL for better authentication and
encryption, but that is still being investigated.
-manpagesection(RUNNING AN RSYNC SERVER OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM)
-
-If rsync is run with both the bf(--daemon) and bf(--rsh) (bf(-e)) options, it will
-spawn an rsync daemon using a remote shell connection. Several
-configuration options will not be available unless the remote user is
-root (e.g. chroot, setuid/setgid, etc.). There is no need to configure
-inetd or the services map to include the rsync server port if you run an
-rsync server only via a remote shell program.
-
-ADVANCED: To run an rsync server out of a single-use ssh key, use the
-"command=em(COMMAND)" syntax in the remote user's authorized_keys entry,
-where command would be
-
-quote(tt(rsync --server --daemon .))
-
-NOTE: rsync's argument parsing expects the trailing ".", so make sure
-that it's there. If you want to use an rsyncd.conf(5)-style
-configuration file other than the default, you can added a
-bf(--config) option to the em(command):
-
-quote(tt(rsync --server --daemon --config=em(file) .))
-
-Note that the "--server" here is the internal option that rsync uses to
-run the remote version of rsync that it communicates with, and thus you
-should not be using the bf(--server) option under normal circumstances.
-
manpagesection(EXAMPLES)
A simple rsyncd.conf file that allow anonymous rsync to a ftp area at
manpagebugs()
-The rsync server does not send all types of error messages to the
-client. this means a client may be mystified as to why a transfer
-failed. The error will have been logged by syslog on the server.
-
Please report bugs! The rsync bug tracking system is online at
url(http://rsync.samba.org/)(http://rsync.samba.org/)
manpagesection(VERSION)
-This man page is current for version 2.x of rsync.
+
+This man page is current for version 2.6.8 of rsync.
manpagesection(CREDITS)
manpagesection(THANKS)
Thanks to Warren Stanley for his original idea and patch for the rsync
-server. Thanks to Karsten Thygesen for his many suggestions and
+daemon. Thanks to Karsten Thygesen for his many suggestions and
documentation!
manpageauthor()
Matt McCutchen's Web Site / rsync / rsync.git / blobdiff