mailto(rsync-bugs@samba.org)
-manpage(rsync)(1)(22 Apr 2006)()()
+manpage(rsync)(1)(6 Nov 2006)()()
manpagename(rsync)(faster, flexible replacement for rcp)
manpagesynopsis()
Some of the additional features of rsync are:
-itemize(
+itemization(
it() support for copying links, devices, owners, groups, and permissions
it() exclude and exclude-from options similar to GNU tar
it() a CVS exclude mode for ignoring the same files that CVS would ignore
Using rsync in this way is the same as using it with a remote shell except
that:
-itemize(
+itemization(
it() you either use a double colon :: instead of a single colon to
separate the hostname from the path, or you use an rsync:// URL.
it() the first word of the "path" is actually a module name.
to the detailed description below for a complete description. verb(
-v, --verbose increase verbosity
-q, --quiet suppress non-error messages
+ --no-motd suppress daemon-mode MOTD (see caveat)
-c, --checksum skip based on checksum, not mod-time & size
-a, --archive archive mode; same as -rlptgoD (no -H)
--no-OPTION turn off an implied OPTION (e.g. --no-D)
-4, --ipv4 prefer IPv4
-6, --ipv6 prefer IPv6
--version print version number
-(-h) --help show this help (see below for -h comment)
-)
+(-h) --help show this help (see below for -h comment))
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 (if used after --daemon)
-)
+ -h, --help show this help (if used after --daemon))
manpageoptions()
from the remote server. This flag is useful when invoking rsync from
cron.
+dit(bf(--no-motd)) This option affects the information that is output
+by the client at the start of a daemon transfer. This suppresses the
+message-of-the-day (MOTD) text, but it also affects the list of modules
+that the daemon sends in response to the "rsync host::" request (due to
+a limitation in the rsync protocol), so omit this option if you want to
+request the list of modules from the deamon.
+
dit(bf(-I, --ignore-times)) Normally rsync will skip any files that are
already the same size and have the same modification time-stamp.
This option turns off this "quick check" behavior, causing all files to
When this option is em(off), permissions are set as follows:
-quote(itemize(
+quote(itemization(
it() Existing files (including updated files) retain their existing
permissions, though the bf(--executability) option might change just
the execute permission for the file.
executability differs from that of the corresponding source file, rsync
modifies the destination file's permissions as follows:
-quote(itemize(
+quote(itemization(
it() To make a file non-executable, rsync turns off all its 'x'
permissions.
it() To make a file executable, rsync turns on each 'x' permission that
bf(--recursive) option was also enabled.
dit(bf(--max-delete=NUM)) This tells rsync not to delete more than NUM
-files or directories (NUM must be non-zero).
+files or directories.
+Beginning with version 3.0.0, you may specify bf(--max-delete=0) to
+be warned about any extraneous files in the destination, but be very
+careful to never specify a 0 value to an older rsync client, or the
+option will be silently ignored. (A 3.0.0 client will die with an
+error if the remote rsync is not new enough to handle the situation.)
This is useful when mirroring very large trees to prevent disasters.
dit(bf(--max-size=SIZE)) This tells rsync to avoid transferring any
for standard input). It also tweaks the default behavior of rsync to make
transferring just the specified files and directories easier:
-quote(itemize(
+quote(itemization(
it() The bf(--relative) (bf(-R)) option is implied, which preserves the path
information that is specified for each item in the file (use
bf(--no-relative) or bf(--no-R) if you want to turn that off).
The update types that replace the bf(Y) are as follows:
-quote(itemize(
+quote(itemization(
it() A bf(<) means that a file is being transferred to the remote host
(sent).
it() A bf(>) means that a file is being transferred to the local host
The attribute that is associated with each letter is as follows:
-quote(itemize(
+quote(itemization(
it() A bf(c) means the checksum of the file is different and will be
updated by the file transfer (requires bf(--checksum)).
it() A bf(s) means the size of the file is different and will be updated
on the file transfer, allowing you to tell how effective the rsync
algorithm is for your data.
-The current statistics are as follows: quote(itemize(
+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
the names of the files that are going to be transferred. These patterns
can take several forms:
-itemize(
+itemization(
it() if the pattern starts with a / then it is anchored to a
particular spot in the hierarchy of files, otherwise it is matched
against the end of the pathname. This is similar to a leading ^ in
Here are some examples of exclude/include matching:
-itemize(
+itemization(
it() "- *.o" would exclude all filenames matching *.o
it() "- /foo" would exclude a file (or directory) named foo in the
transfer-root directory
The following modifiers are accepted after a merge or dir-merge rule:
-itemize(
+itemization(
it() A bf(-) specifies that the file should consist of only exclude
patterns, with no other rule-parsing except for in-file comments.
it() A bf(+) specifies that the file should consist of only include
The following modifiers are accepted after a "+" or "-":
-itemize(
+itemization(
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
into the directory /bdest/dir. The differences between the two examples
reveals some of the flexibility you have in how you deal with batches:
-itemize(
+itemization(
it() The first example shows that the initial copy doesn't have to be
local -- you can push or pull data to/from a remote host using either the
remote-shell syntax or rsync daemon syntax, as desired.
manpagesection(VERSION)
-This man page is current for version 2.6.8 of rsync.
+This man page is current for version 2.6.9 of rsync.
manpagesection(INTERNAL OPTIONS)
Matt McCutchen's Web Site / rsync / rsync.git / blobdiff