-D same as --devices --specials
-t, --times preserve modification times
-O, --omit-dir-times omit directories from --times
+ -J, --omit-link-times omit symlinks from --times
--super receiver attempts super-user activities
--fake-super store/recover privileged attrs using xattrs
-S, --sparse handle sparse files efficiently
--log-file-format=FMT log updates using the specified FMT
--password-file=FILE read daemon-access password from FILE
--list-only list the files instead of copying them
- --bwlimit=KBPS limit I/O bandwidth; KBytes per second
+ --bwlimit=RATE limit socket I/O bandwidth
--write-batch=FILE write a batched update to FILE
--only-write-batch=FILE like --write-batch but w/o updating dest
--read-batch=FILE read a batched update from FILE
accepted: verb(
--daemon run as an rsync daemon
--address=ADDRESS bind to the specified address
- --bwlimit=KBPS limit I/O bandwidth; KBytes per second
+ --bwlimit=RATE limit socket I/O bandwidth
--config=FILE specify alternate rsyncd.conf file
-M, --dparam=OVERRIDE override global daemon config parameter
--no-detach do not detach from the parent
That would create /tmp/bar/baz.c on the remote machine. (Note that the
dot must be followed by a slash, so "/foo/." would not be abbreviated.)
-(2) For older rsync versions, you would need to use a chdir to limit the
+For older rsync versions, you would need to use a chdir to limit the
source path. For example, when pushing files:
quote(tt( (cd /foo; rsync -avR bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/) ))
(otherwise the files backed up in the specified directory
will keep their original filenames).
+Note that if you specify a relative path, the backup directory will be
+relative to the destination directory, so you probably want to specify
+either an absolute path or a path that starts with "../". If an rsync
+daemon is the receiver, the backup dir cannot go outside the module's path
+hierarchy, so take extra care not to delete it or copy into it.
+
dit(bf(--suffix=SUFFIX)) This option allows you to override the default
backup suffix used with the bf(--backup) (bf(-b)) option. The default suffix is a ~
if no -bf(-backup-dir) was specified, otherwise it is an empty string.
data that goes into the file-lists, and thus it doesn't affect deletions.
It just limits the files that the receiver requests to be transferred.
-dit(bf(--inplace)) This option changes how rsync transfers a file when the
-file's data needs to be updated: instead of the default method of creating
+dit(bf(--inplace)) This option changes how rsync transfers a file when
+its data needs to be updated: instead of the default method of creating
a new copy of the file and moving it into place when it is complete, rsync
instead writes the updated data directly to the destination file.
-This has several effects: (1) in-use binaries cannot be updated (either the
-OS will prevent this from happening, or binaries that attempt to swap-in
-their data will misbehave or crash), (2) the file's data will be in an
-inconsistent state during the transfer, (3) a file's data may be left in an
-inconsistent state after the transfer if the transfer is interrupted or if
-an update fails, (4) a file that does not have write permissions can not be
-updated, and (5) the efficiency of rsync's delta-transfer algorithm may be
-reduced if some data in the destination file is overwritten before it can
-be copied to a position later in the file (one exception to this is if you
-combine this option with bf(--backup), since rsync is smart enough to use
-the backup file as the basis file for the transfer).
+This has several effects:
+
+quote(itemization(
+ it() Hard links are not broken. This means the new data will be visible
+ through other hard links to the destination file. Moreover, attempts to
+ copy differing source files onto a multiply-linked destination file will
+ result in a "tug of war" with the destination data changing back and forth.
+ it() In-use binaries cannot be updated (either the OS will prevent this from
+ happening, or binaries that attempt to swap-in their data will misbehave or
+ crash).
+ it() The file's data will be in an inconsistent state during the transfer
+ and will be left that way if the transfer is interrupted or if an update
+ fails.
+ it() A file that rsync cannot write to cannot be updated. While a super user
+ can update any file, a normal user needs to be granted write permission for
+ the open of the file for writing to be successful.
+ it() The efficiency of rsync's delta-transfer algorithm may be reduced if
+ some data in the destination file is overwritten before it can be copied to
+ a position later in the file. This does not apply if you use bf(--backup),
+ since rsync is smart enough to use the backup file as the basis file for the
+ transfer.
+))
WARNING: you should not use this option to update files that are being
accessed by others, so be careful when choosing to use this for a copy.
-This option is useful for transfer of large files with block-based changes
+This option is useful for transferring large files with block-based changes
or appended data, and also on systems that are disk bound, not network
-bound.
+bound. It can also help keep a copy-on-write filesystem snapshot from
+diverging the entire contents of a file that only has minor changes.
The option implies bf(--partial) (since an interrupted transfer does not delete
the file), but conflicts with bf(--partial-dir) and bf(--delay-updates).
See also bf(--keep-dirlinks) for an analogous option for the receiving
side.
+bf(--copy-dirlinks) applies to all symlinks to directories in the source. If
+you want to follow only a few specified symlinks, a trick you can use is to
+pass them as additional source args with a trailing slash, using bf(--relative)
+to make the paths match up right. For example:
+
+quote(tt(rsync -r --relative src/./ src/./follow-me/ dest/))
+
+This works because rsync calls bf(lstat)(2) on the source arg as given, and the
+trailing slash makes bf(lstat)(2) follow the symlink, giving rise to a directory
+in the file-list which overrides the symlink found during the scan of "src/./".
+
dit(bf(-K, --keep-dirlinks)) This option causes the receiving side to treat
a symlink to a directory as though it were a real directory, but only if it
matches a real directory from the sender. Without this option, the
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
-the transfer and link together the corresponding files on the receiving
-side. Without this option, hard-linked files in the transfer are treated
+the source and link together the corresponding files on the destination.
+Without this option, hard-linked files in the source are treated
as though they were separate files.
-When you are updating a non-empty destination, this option only ensures
-that files that are hard-linked together on the source are hard-linked
-together on the destination. It does NOT currently endeavor to break
-already existing hard links on the destination that do not exist between
-the source files. Note, however, that if one or more extra-linked files
-have content changes, they will become unlinked when updated (assuming you
-are not using the bf(--inplace) option).
+This option does NOT necessarily ensure that the pattern of hard links on the
+destination exactly matches that on the source. Cases in which the
+destination may end up with extra hard links include the following:
+
+quote(itemization(
+ it() If the destination contains extraneous hard-linked files, rsync will not
+ break them explicitly. However, if one or more of the paths have content
+ differences, the normal file-update process will break those extra links
+ (unless you are using the bf(--inplace) option).
+ it() If you specify a bf(--link-dest) directory that contains hard links,
+ the linking of the destination files against the bf(--link-dest) files can
+ cause some paths in the destination to become linked together due to the
+ bf(--link-dest) associations.
+))
Note that rsync can only detect hard links between files that are inside
the transfer set. If rsync updates a file that has extra hard-link
If incremental recursion is active (see bf(--recursive)), rsync may transfer
a missing hard-linked file before it finds that another link for that contents
exists elsewhere in the hierarchy. This does not affect the accuracy of
-the transfer, just its efficiency. One way to avoid this is to disable
+the transfer (i.e. which files are hard-linked together), just its efficiency
+(i.e. copying the data for a new, early copy of a hard-linked file that could
+have been found later in the transfer in another member of the hard-linked
+set of files). One way to avoid this inefficiency is to disable
incremental recursion using the bf(--no-inc-recursive) option.
dit(bf(-p, --perms)) This option causes the receiving rsync to set the
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.
+dit(bf(-X, --xattrs)) This option causes rsync to update the destination
+extended attributes to be the same as the source 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.
+Note that this option does not copy rsyncs special xattr values (e.g. those
+used by bf(--fake-super)) unless you repeat the option (e.g. -XX). This
+"copy all xattrs" mode cannot be used with bf(--fake-super).
+
dit(bf(--chmod)) This option tells rsync to apply one or more
-comma-separated "chmod" strings to the permission of the files in the
-transfer. The resulting value is treated as though it was the permissions
+comma-separated "chmod" modes to the permission of the files in the
+transfer. The resulting value is treated as though it were the permissions
that the sending side supplied for the file, which means that this option
can seem to have no effect on existing files if bf(--perms) is not enabled.
In addition to the normal parsing rules specified in the bf(chmod)(1)
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:
+file by prefixing it with a 'F'. For example, the following will ensure
+that all directories get marked set-gid, that no files are other-writable,
+that both are user-writable and group-writable, and that both have
+consistent executability across all bits:
quote(--chmod=Dg+s,ug+w,Fo-w,+X)
+Using octal mode numbers is also allowed:
+
+quote(--chmod=D2775,F664)
+
It is also legal to specify multiple bf(--chmod) options, as each
additional option is just appended to the list of changes to make.
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(-J, --omit-link-times)) This tells rsync to omit symlinks when
+it is preserving modification times (see bf(--times)).
+
dit(bf(--super)) This tells the receiving side to attempt super-user
activities even if the receiving rsync wasn't run by the super-user. These
activities include: preserving users via the bf(--owner) option, preserving
option, and copying devices via the bf(--devices) option. This is useful
for systems that allow such activities without being the super-user, and
also for ensuring that you will get errors if the receiving side isn't
-being running as the super-user. To turn off super-user activities, the
+being run as the super-user. To turn off super-user activities, the
super-user can use bf(--no-super).
dit(bf(--fake-super)) When this option is enabled, rsync simulates
up less space on the destination. Conflicts with bf(--inplace) because it's
not possible to overwrite data in a sparse fashion.
-NOTE: Don't use this option when the destination is a Solaris "tmpfs"
-filesystem. It doesn't seem to handle seeks over null regions
-correctly and ends up corrupting the files.
-
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
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
+call failures); if it isn't, that's a bug. Other output should be mostly
+unchanged, 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.
+where no file transfers were needed.
dit(bf(-W, --whole-file)) With this option rsync's delta-transfer algorithm
is not used and the whole file is sent as-is instead. The transfer may be
faster if this option is used when the bandwidth between the source and
destination machines is higher than the bandwidth to disk (especially when the
"disk" is actually a networked filesystem). This is the default when both
-the source and destination are specified as local paths.
+the source and destination are specified as local paths, but only if no
+batch-writing option is in effect.
dit(bf(-x, --one-file-system)) This tells rsync to avoid crossing a
filesystem boundary when recursing. This does not limit the user's ability
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
prevent temporary filesystem failures (such as NFS errors) on the
-sending side causing a massive deletion of files on the
+sending side from causing a massive deletion of files on the
destination. You can override this with the bf(--ignore-errors) option.
The bf(--delete) option may be combined with one of the --delete-WHEN options
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/ .git/ .bzr/)))
+*.a *.olb *.o *.obj *.so *.exe *.Z *.elc *.ln core .svn/ .git/ .hg/ .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
This would copy all the files specified in the /path/file-list file that
was located on the remote "src" host.
+If the bf(--iconv) and bf(--protect-args) options are specified and the
+bf(--files-from) filenames are being sent from one host to another, the
+filenames will be translated from the sending host's charset to the
+receiving host's charset.
+
+NOTE: sorting the list of files in the --files-from input helps rsync to be
+more efficient, as it will avoid re-visiting the path elements that are shared
+between adjacent entries. If the input is not sorted, some path elements
+(implied directories) may end up being scanned multiple times, and rsync will
+eventually unduplicate them after they get turned into file-list elements.
+
dit(bf(-0, --from0)) This tells rsync that the rules/filenames it reads from a
file are terminated by a null ('\0') character, not a NL, CR, or CR+LF.
This affects bf(--exclude-from), bf(--include-from), bf(--files-from), and any
It does not affect bf(--cvs-exclude) (since all names read from a .cvsignore
file are split on whitespace).
-If the bf(--iconv) and bf(--protect-args) options are specified and the
-bf(--files-from) filenames are being sent from one host to another, the
-filenames will be translated from the sending host's charset to the
-receiving host's charset.
-
-dit(bf(-s, --protect-args)) This option sends all filenames and some options to
+dit(bf(-s, --protect-args)) This option sends all filenames and most options to
the remote rsync without allowing the remote shell to interpret them. This
means that spaces are not split in names, and any non-wildcard special
characters are not translated (such as ~, $, ;, &, etc.). Wildcards are
expanded on the remote host by rsync (instead of the shell doing it).
-If you use this option with bf(--iconv), the args will also be translated
+If you use this option with bf(--iconv), the args related to the remote
+side will also be translated
from the local to the remote character-set. The translation happens before
wild-cards are expanded. See also the bf(--files-from) option.
+You may also control this option via the RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS environment
+variable. If this variable has a non-zero value, this option will be enabled
+by default, otherwise it will be disabled by default. Either state is
+overridden by a manually specified positive or negative version of this option
+(note that bf(--no-s) and bf(--no-protect-args) are the negative versions).
+Since this option was first introduced in 3.0.0, you'll need to make sure it's
+disabled if you ever need to interact with a remote rsync that is older than
+that.
+
+Rsync can also be configured (at build time) to have this option enabled by
+default (with is overridden by both the environment and the command-line).
+This option will eventually become a new default setting at some
+as-yet-undetermined point in the future.
+
dit(bf(-T, --temp-dir=DIR)) This option instructs rsync to use DIR as a
scratch directory when creating temporary copies of the files transferred
on the receiving side. The default behavior is to create each temporary
Simple character-class matching is supported: each must consist of a list
of letters inside the square brackets (e.g. no special classes, such as
-"[:alpha:]", are supported).
+"[:alpha:]", are supported, and '-' has no special meaning).
The characters asterisk (*) and question-mark (?) have no special meaning.
verb( --skip-compress=gz/jpg/mp[34]/7z/bz2)
-The default list of suffixes that will not be compressed is this (several
-of these are newly added for 3.0.0):
-
-verb( gz/zip/z/rpm/deb/iso/bz2/t[gb]z/7z/mp[34]/mov/avi/ogg/jpg/jpeg)
+The default list of suffixes that will not be compressed is this (in this
+version of rsync):
+
+bf(7z)
+bf(ace)
+bf(avi)
+bf(bz2)
+bf(deb)
+bf(gpg)
+bf(gz)
+bf(iso)
+bf(jpeg)
+bf(jpg)
+bf(lz)
+bf(lzma)
+bf(lzo)
+bf(mov)
+bf(mp3)
+bf(mp4)
+bf(ogg)
+bf(png)
+bf(rar)
+bf(rpm)
+bf(rzip)
+bf(tbz)
+bf(tgz)
+bf(tlz)
+bf(txz)
+bf(xz)
+bf(z)
+bf(zip)
This list will be replaced by your bf(--skip-compress) list in all but one
situation: a copy from a daemon rsync will add your skipped suffixes to
The current statistics are as follows: quote(itemization(
it() bf(Number of files) is the count of all "files" (in the generic
- sense), which includes directories, symlinks, etc.
- it() bf(Number of files transferred) is the count of normal files that
- were updated via rsync's delta-transfer algorithm, which does not include created
- dirs, symlinks, etc.
+ sense), which includes directories, symlinks, etc. The total count will
+ be followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero).
+ For example: "(reg: 5, dir: 3, link: 2, dev: 1, special: 1)" lists the
+ totals for regular files, directories, symlinks, devices, and special
+ files. If any of value is 0, it is completely omitted from the list.
+ it() bf(Number of created files) is the count of how many "files" (generic
+ sense) were created (as opposed to updated). The total count will be
+ followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero).
+ it() bf(Number of deleted files) is the count of how many "files" (generic
+ sense) were created (as opposed to updated). The total count will be
+ followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero).
+ Note that this line is only output if deletions are in effect, and only
+ if protocol 31 is being used (the default for rsync 3.1.x).
+ it() bf(Number of regular files transferred) is the count of normal files
+ that were updated via rsync's delta-transfer algorithm, which does not
+ include dirs, symlinks, etc. Note that rsync 3.1.0 added the word
+ "regular" into this heading.
it() bf(Total file size) is the total sum of all file sizes in the transfer.
This does not count any size for directories or special files, but does
include the size of symlinks.
Backward compatibility note: versions of rsync prior to 3.1.0 do not support
human-readable level 1, and they default to level 0. Thus, specifying one or
-two bf(-h) options behaves the same in old and new versions as long as you
-didn't specify a bf(--no-h) option prior to one or more bf(-h) options.
+two bf(-h) options will behave in a comparable manner in old and new versions
+as long as you didn't specify a bf(--no-h) option prior to one or more bf(-h)
+options. See the bf(--list-only) option for one difference.
dit(bf(--partial)) By default, rsync will delete any partially
transferred file if the transfer is interrupted. In some circumstances
verb( rsync -av --list-only foo* dest/)
+Starting with rsync 3.1.0, the sizes output by bf(--list-only) are affected
+by the bf(--human-readable) option. By default they will contain digit
+separators, but higher levels of readability will output the sizes with
+unit suffixes. Note also that the column width for the size output has
+increased from 11 to 14 characters for all human-readable levels. Use
+bf(--no-h) if you want just digits in the sizes, and the old column width
+of 11 characters.
+
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)
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
-of rsync transfers, blocks of data are sent, then if rsync determines the
-transfer was too fast, it will wait before sending the next data block. The
-result is an average transfer rate equaling the specified limit. A value
-of zero specifies no limit.
+dit(bf(--bwlimit=RATE)) This option allows you to specify the maximum transfer
+rate for the data sent over the socket, specified in units per second. The
+RATE value can be suffixed with a string to indicate a size multiplier, and may
+be a fractional value (e.g. "bf(--bwlimit=1.5m)"). If no suffix is specified,
+the value will be assumed to be in units of 1024 bytes (as if "K" or "KiB" had
+been appended). See the bf(--max-size) option for a description of all the
+available suffixes. A value of zero specifies no limit.
+
+For backward-compatibility reasons, the rate limit will be rounded to the
+nearest KiB unit, so no rate smaller than 1024 bytes per second is possible.
+
+Rsync writes data over the socket in blocks, and this option both limits the
+size of the blocks that rsync writes, and tries to keep the average transfer
+rate at the requested limit. Some "burstiness" may be seen where rsync writes
+out a block of data and then sleeps to bring the average rate into compliance.
+
+Due to the internal buffering of data, the bf(--progress) option may not be an
+accurate reflection on how fast the data is being sent. This is because some
+files can show up as being rapidly sent when the data is quickly buffered,
+while other can show up as very slow when the flushing of the output buffer
+occurs. This may be fixed in a future version.
dit(bf(--write-batch=FILE)) Record a file that can later be applied to
another identical destination with bf(--read-batch). See the "BATCH MODE"
makes virtual hosting possible in conjunction with the bf(--config) option.
See also the "address" global option in the rsyncd.conf manpage.
-dit(bf(--bwlimit=KBPS)) This option allows you to specify a maximum
-transfer rate in kilobytes per second for the data the daemon sends.
-The client can still specify a smaller bf(--bwlimit) value, but their
-requested value will be rounded down if they try to exceed it. See the
-client version of this option (above) for some extra details.
+dit(bf(--bwlimit=RATE)) This option allows you to specify the maximum transfer
+rate for the data the daemon sends over the socket. The client can still
+specify a smaller bf(--bwlimit) value, but no larger value will be allowed.
+See the client version of this option (above) for some extra details.
dit(bf(--config=FILE)) This specifies an alternate config file than
the default. This is only relevant when bf(--daemon) is specified.
also disabled).
it() You may also specify any of the modifiers for the "+" or "-" rules
(above) in order to have the rules that are read in from the file
- default to having that modifier set. For instance, "merge,-/ .excl" would
+ default to having that modifier set (except for the bf(!) modifier, which
+ would not be useful). For instance, "merge,-/ .excl" would
treat the contents of .excl as absolute-path excludes,
while "dir-merge,s .filt" and ":sC" would each make all their
- per-directory rules apply only on the sending side.
+ per-directory rules apply only on the sending side. If the merge rule
+ specifies sides to affect (via the bf(s) or bf(r) modifier or both),
+ then the rules in the file must not specify sides (via a modifier or
+ a rule prefix such as bf(hide)).
)
Per-directory rules are inherited in all subdirectories of the directory
If bf(--copy-links) is specified, then symlinks are "collapsed" by
copying their referent, rather than the symlink.
-rsync also distinguishes "safe" and "unsafe" symbolic links. An
-example where this might be used is a web site mirror that wishes
-ensure the rsync module they copy does not include symbolic links to
+Rsync can also distinguish "safe" and "unsafe" symbolic links. An
+example where this might be used is a web site mirror that wishes to
+ensure that the rsync module that is copied does not include symbolic links to
bf(/etc/passwd) in the public section of the site. Using
bf(--copy-unsafe-links) will cause any links to be copied as the file
they point to on the destination. Using bf(--safe-links) will cause
ignore patterns in .cvsignore files. See the bf(--cvs-exclude) option for
more details.
dit(bf(RSYNC_ICONV)) Specify a default bf(--iconv) setting using this
-environment variable.
+environment variable. (First supported in 3.0.0.)
+dit(bf(RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS)) Specify a non-zero numeric value if you want the
+bf(--protect-args) option to be enabled by default, or a zero value to make
+sure that it is disabled by default. (First supported in 3.1.0.)
dit(bf(RSYNC_RSH)) The RSYNC_RSH environment variable allows you to
override the default shell used as the transport for rsync. Command line
options are permitted after the command name, just as in the bf(-e) option.
manpagesection(THANKS)
-Especial thanks go out to: John Van Essen, Matt McCutchen, Wesley W. Terpstra,
+Special 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.
Matt McCutchen's Web Site / rsync / rsync.git / blobdiff