3 rsync - a fast, versatile, remote (and local) file-copying tool
9 rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [DEST]
11 Access via remote shell:
13 rsync [OPTION...] [USER@]HOST:SRC... [DEST]
15 rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [USER@]HOST:DEST
17 Access via rsync daemon:
19 rsync [OPTION...] [USER@]HOST::SRC... [DEST]
20 rsync [OPTION...] rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/SRC... [DEST]
22 rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [USER@]HOST::DEST
23 rsync [OPTION...] SRC... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/DEST)
26 Usages with just one SRC arg and no DEST arg will list the source files instead
31 Rsync is a fast and extraordinarily versatile file copying tool. It can copy
32 locally, to/from another host over any remote shell, or to/from a remote rsync
33 daemon. It offers a large number of options that control every aspect of its
34 behavior and permit very flexible specification of the set of files to be
35 copied. It is famous for its delta-transfer algorithm, which reduces the
36 amount of data sent over the network by sending only the differences between
37 the source files and the existing files in the destination. Rsync is widely
38 used for backups and mirroring and as an improved copy command for everyday
41 Rsync finds files that need to be transferred using a "quick check" algorithm
42 (by default) that looks for files that have changed in size or in last-modified
43 time. Any changes in the other preserved attributes (as requested by options)
44 are made on the destination file directly when the quick check indicates that
45 the file's data does not need to be updated.
47 Some of the additional features of rsync are:
49 - support for copying links, devices, owners, groups, and permissions
50 - exclude and exclude-from options similar to GNU tar
51 - a CVS exclude mode for ignoring the same files that CVS would ignore
52 - can use any transparent remote shell, including ssh or rsh
53 - does not require super-user privileges
54 - pipelining of file transfers to minimize latency costs
55 - support for anonymous or authenticated rsync daemons (ideal for mirroring)
59 Rsync copies files either to or from a remote host, or locally on the current
60 host (it does not support copying files between two remote hosts).
62 There are two different ways for rsync to contact a remote system: using a
63 remote-shell program as the transport (such as ssh or rsh) or contacting an
64 rsync daemon directly via TCP. The remote-shell transport is used whenever the
65 source or destination path contains a single colon (:) separator after a host
66 specification. Contacting an rsync daemon directly happens when the source or
67 destination path contains a double colon (::) separator after a host
68 specification, OR when an rsync:// URL is specified (see also the "USING
69 RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION" section for an exception
72 As a special case, if a single source arg is specified without a destination,
73 the files are listed in an output format similar to "`ls -l`".
75 As expected, if neither the source or destination path specify a remote host,
76 the copy occurs locally (see also the `--list-only` option).
78 Rsync refers to the local side as the client and the remote side as the server.
79 Don't confuse server with an rsync daemon. A daemon is always a server, but a
80 server can be either a daemon or a remote-shell spawned process.
84 See the file README.md for installation instructions.
86 Once installed, you can use rsync to any machine that you can access via a
87 remote shell (as well as some that you can access using the rsync daemon-mode
88 protocol). For remote transfers, a modern rsync uses ssh for its
89 communications, but it may have been configured to use a different remote shell
90 by default, such as rsh or remsh.
92 You can also specify any remote shell you like, either by using the `-e`
93 command line option, or by setting the RSYNC_RSH environment variable.
95 Note that rsync must be installed on both the source and destination machines.
99 You use rsync in the same way you use rcp. You must specify a source and a
100 destination, one of which may be remote.
102 Perhaps the best way to explain the syntax is with some examples:
104 > rsync -t *.c foo:src/
106 This would transfer all files matching the pattern `*.c` from the current
107 directory to the directory src on the machine foo. If any of the files already
108 exist on the remote system then the rsync remote-update protocol is used to
109 update the file by sending only the differences in the data. Note that the
110 expansion of wildcards on the commandline (`*.c`) into a list of files is
111 handled by the shell before it runs rsync and not by rsync itself (exactly the
112 same as all other posix-style programs).
114 > rsync -avz foo:src/bar /data/tmp
116 This would recursively transfer all files from the directory src/bar on the
117 machine foo into the /data/tmp/bar directory on the local machine. The files
118 are transferred in archive mode, which ensures that symbolic links, devices,
119 attributes, permissions, ownerships, etc. are preserved in the transfer.
120 Additionally, compression will be used to reduce the size of data portions of
123 > rsync -avz foo:src/bar/ /data/tmp
125 A trailing slash on the source changes this behavior to avoid creating an
126 additional directory level at the destination. You can think of a trailing /
127 on a source as meaning "copy the contents of this directory" as opposed to
128 "copy the directory by name", but in both cases the attributes of the
129 containing directory are transferred to the containing directory on the
130 destination. In other words, each of the following commands copies the files
131 in the same way, including their setting of the attributes of /dest/foo:
133 > rsync -av /src/foo /dest
134 > rsync -av /src/foo/ /dest/foo
136 Note also that host and module references don't require a trailing slash to
137 copy the contents of the default directory. For example, both of these copy
138 the remote directory's contents into "/dest":
140 > rsync -av host: /dest
141 > rsync -av host::module /dest
143 You can also use rsync in local-only mode, where both the source and
144 destination don't have a ':' in the name. In this case it behaves like an
145 improved copy command.
147 Finally, you can list all the (listable) modules available from a particular
148 rsync daemon by leaving off the module name:
150 > rsync somehost.mydomain.com::
152 See the following section for more details.
156 The syntax for requesting multiple files from a remote host is done by
157 specifying additional remote-host args in the same style as the first, or with
158 the hostname omitted. For instance, all these work:
160 > rsync -av host:file1 :file2 host:file{3,4} /dest/
161 > rsync -av host::modname/file{1,2} host::modname/file3 /dest/
162 > rsync -av host::modname/file1 ::modname/file{3,4}
164 Older versions of rsync required using quoted spaces in the SRC, like these
167 > rsync -av host:'dir1/file1 dir2/file2' /dest
168 > rsync host::'modname/dir1/file1 modname/dir2/file2' /dest
170 This word-splitting still works (by default) in the latest rsync, but is not as
171 easy to use as the first method.
173 If you need to transfer a filename that contains whitespace, you can either
174 specify the `--protect-args` (`-s`) option, or you'll need to escape the
175 whitespace in a way that the remote shell will understand. For instance:
177 > rsync -av host:'file\ name\ with\ spaces' /dest
179 # CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON
181 It is also possible to use rsync without a remote shell as the transport. In
182 this case you will directly connect to a remote rsync daemon, typically using
183 TCP port 873. (This obviously requires the daemon to be running on the remote
184 system, so refer to the STARTING AN RSYNC DAEMON TO ACCEPT CONNECTIONS section
185 below for information on that.)
187 Using rsync in this way is the same as using it with a remote shell except
190 - you either use a double colon :: instead of a single colon to separate the
191 hostname from the path, or you use an rsync:// URL.
192 - the first word of the "path" is actually a module name.
193 - the remote daemon may print a message of the day when you connect.
194 - if you specify no path name on the remote daemon then the list of accessible
195 paths on the daemon will be shown.
196 - if you specify no local destination then a listing of the specified files on
197 the remote daemon is provided.
198 - you must not specify the `--rsh` (`-e`) option (since that overrides the
199 daemon connection to use ssh -- see USING RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A
200 REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION below).
202 An example that copies all the files in a remote module named "src":
204 > rsync -av host::src /dest
206 Some modules on the remote daemon may require authentication. If so, you will
207 receive a password prompt when you connect. You can avoid the password prompt
208 by setting the environment variable RSYNC_PASSWORD to the password you want to
209 use or using the `--password-file` option. This may be useful when scripting
212 WARNING: On some systems environment variables are visible to all users. On
213 those systems using `--password-file` is recommended.
215 You may establish the connection via a web proxy by setting the environment
216 variable RSYNC_PROXY to a hostname:port pair pointing to your web proxy. Note
217 that your web proxy's configuration must support proxy connections to port 873.
219 You may also establish a daemon connection using a program as a proxy by
220 setting the environment variable RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG to the commands you wish to
221 run in place of making a direct socket connection. The string may contain the
222 escape "%H" to represent the hostname specified in the rsync command (so use
223 "%%" if you need a single "%" in your string). For example:
225 > export RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG='ssh proxyhost nc %H 873'
226 > rsync -av targethost1::module/src/ /dest/
227 > rsync -av rsync://targethost2/module/src/ /dest/
229 The command specified above uses ssh to run nc (netcat) on a proxyhost, which
230 forwards all data to port 873 (the rsync daemon) on the targethost (%H).
232 Note also that if the RSYNC_SHELL environment variable is set, that program
233 will be used to run the RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG command instead of using the default
234 shell of the **system()** call.
236 # USING RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION
238 It is sometimes useful to use various features of an rsync daemon (such as
239 named modules) without actually allowing any new socket connections into a
240 system (other than what is already required to allow remote-shell access).
241 Rsync supports connecting to a host using a remote shell and then spawning a
242 single-use "daemon" server that expects to read its config file in the home dir
243 of the remote user. This can be useful if you want to encrypt a daemon-style
244 transfer's data, but since the daemon is started up fresh by the remote user,
245 you may not be able to use features such as chroot or change the uid used by
246 the daemon. (For another way to encrypt a daemon transfer, consider using ssh
247 to tunnel a local port to a remote machine and configure a normal rsync daemon
248 on that remote host to only allow connections from "localhost".)
250 From the user's perspective, a daemon transfer via a remote-shell connection
251 uses nearly the same command-line syntax as a normal rsync-daemon transfer,
252 with the only exception being that you must explicitly set the remote shell
253 program on the command-line with the `--rsh=COMMAND` option. (Setting the
254 RSYNC_RSH in the environment will not turn on this functionality.) For example:
256 > rsync -av --rsh=ssh host::module /dest
258 If you need to specify a different remote-shell user, keep in mind that the
259 user@ prefix in front of the host is specifying the rsync-user value (for a
260 module that requires user-based authentication). This means that you must give
261 the '-l user' option to ssh when specifying the remote-shell, as in this
262 example that uses the short version of the `--rsh` option:
264 > rsync -av -e "ssh -l ssh-user" rsync-user@host::module /dest
266 The "ssh-user" will be used at the ssh level; the "rsync-user" will be used to
267 log-in to the "module".
269 # STARTING AN RSYNC DAEMON TO ACCEPT CONNECTIONS
271 In order to connect to an rsync daemon, the remote system needs to have a
272 daemon already running (or it needs to have configured something like inetd to
273 spawn an rsync daemon for incoming connections on a particular port). For full
274 information on how to start a daemon that will handling incoming socket
275 connections, see the **rsyncd.conf**(5) man page -- that is the config file for
276 the daemon, and it contains the full details for how to run the daemon
277 (including stand-alone and inetd configurations).
279 If you're using one of the remote-shell transports for the transfer, there is
280 no need to manually start an rsync daemon.
282 # SORTED TRANSFER ORDER
284 Rsync always sorts the specified filenames into its internal transfer list.
285 This handles the merging together of the contents of identically named
286 directories, makes it easy to remove duplicate filenames, and may confuse
287 someone when the files are transferred in a different order than what was given
290 If you need a particular file to be transferred prior to another, either
291 separate the files into different rsync calls, or consider using
292 `--delay-updates` (which doesn't affect the sorted transfer order, but does
293 make the final file-updating phase happen much more rapidly).
297 Here are some examples of how I use rsync.
299 To backup my wife's home directory, which consists of large MS Word files and
300 mail folders, I use a cron job that runs
302 > rsync -Cavz . arvidsjaur:backup
304 each night over a PPP connection to a duplicate directory on my machine
307 To synchronize my samba source trees I use the following Makefile targets:
310 > rsync -avuzb --exclude '*~' samba:samba/ .
312 > rsync -Cavuzb . samba:samba/
315 This allows me to sync with a CVS directory at the other end of the connection.
316 I then do CVS operations on the remote machine, which saves a lot of time as
317 the remote CVS protocol isn't very efficient.
319 I mirror a directory between my "old" and "new" ftp sites with the command:
321 > rsync -az -e ssh --delete ~ftp/pub/samba nimbus:"~ftp/pub/tridge"
323 This is launched from cron every few hours.
327 Here is a short summary of the options available in rsync. Please refer to the
328 detailed description below for a complete description.
330 [comment]: # (help-rsync.h)
331 [comment]: # (Keep these short enough that they'll be under 80 chars when indented by 8 chars.)
334 --verbose, -v increase verbosity
335 --info=FLAGS fine-grained informational verbosity
336 --debug=FLAGS fine-grained debug verbosity
337 --msgs2stderr output messages directly to stderr
338 --quiet, -q suppress non-error messages
339 --no-motd suppress daemon-mode MOTD
340 --checksum, -c skip based on checksum, not mod-time & size
341 --archive, -a archive mode; equals -rlptgoD (no -H,-A,-X)
342 --no-OPTION turn off an implied OPTION (e.g. --no-D)
343 --recursive, -r recurse into directories
344 --relative, -R use relative path names
345 --no-implied-dirs don't send implied dirs with --relative
346 --backup, -b make backups (see --suffix & --backup-dir)
347 --backup-dir=DIR make backups into hierarchy based in DIR
348 --suffix=SUFFIX backup suffix (default ~ w/o --backup-dir)
349 --update, -u skip files that are newer on the receiver
350 --inplace update destination files in-place
351 --append append data onto shorter files
352 --append-verify --append w/old data in file checksum
353 --dirs, -d transfer directories without recursing
354 --links, -l copy symlinks as symlinks
355 --copy-links, -L transform symlink into referent file/dir
356 --copy-unsafe-links only "unsafe" symlinks are transformed
357 --safe-links ignore symlinks that point outside the tree
358 --munge-links munge symlinks to make them safe & unusable
359 --copy-dirlinks, -k transform symlink to dir into referent dir
360 --keep-dirlinks, -K treat symlinked dir on receiver as dir
361 --hard-links, -H preserve hard links
362 --perms, -p preserve permissions
363 --executability, -E preserve executability
364 --chmod=CHMOD affect file and/or directory permissions
365 --acls, -A preserve ACLs (implies --perms)
366 --xattrs, -X preserve extended attributes
367 --owner, -o preserve owner (super-user only)
368 --group, -g preserve group
369 --devices preserve device files (super-user only)
370 --specials preserve special files
371 -D same as --devices --specials
372 --times, -t preserve modification times
373 --atimes, -U preserve access (use) times
374 --open-noatime avoid changing the atime on opened files
375 --crtimes, -N preserve create times (newness)
376 --omit-dir-times, -O omit directories from --times
377 --omit-link-times, -J omit symlinks from --times
378 --super receiver attempts super-user activities
379 --fake-super store/recover privileged attrs using xattrs
380 --sparse, -S turn sequences of nulls into sparse blocks
381 --preallocate allocate dest files before writing them
382 --write-devices write to devices as files (implies --inplace)
383 --dry-run, -n perform a trial run with no changes made
384 --whole-file, -W copy files whole (w/o delta-xfer algorithm)
385 --checksum-choice=STR choose the checksum algorithm (aka --cc)
386 --one-file-system, -x don't cross filesystem boundaries
387 --block-size=SIZE, -B force a fixed checksum block-size
388 --rsh=COMMAND, -e specify the remote shell to use
389 --rsync-path=PROGRAM specify the rsync to run on remote machine
390 --existing skip creating new files on receiver
391 --ignore-existing skip updating files that exist on receiver
392 --remove-source-files sender removes synchronized files (non-dir)
393 --del an alias for --delete-during
394 --delete delete extraneous files from dest dirs
395 --delete-before receiver deletes before xfer, not during
396 --delete-during receiver deletes during the transfer
397 --delete-delay find deletions during, delete after
398 --delete-after receiver deletes after transfer, not during
399 --delete-excluded also delete excluded files from dest dirs
400 --ignore-missing-args ignore missing source args without error
401 --delete-missing-args delete missing source args from destination
402 --ignore-errors delete even if there are I/O errors
403 --force force deletion of dirs even if not empty
404 --max-delete=NUM don't delete more than NUM files
405 --max-size=SIZE don't transfer any file larger than SIZE
406 --min-size=SIZE don't transfer any file smaller than SIZE
407 --max-alloc=SIZE change a limit relating to memory alloc
408 --partial keep partially transferred files
409 --partial-dir=DIR put a partially transferred file into DIR
410 --delay-updates put all updated files into place at end
411 --prune-empty-dirs, -m prune empty directory chains from file-list
412 --numeric-ids don't map uid/gid values by user/group name
413 --usermap=STRING custom username mapping
414 --groupmap=STRING custom groupname mapping
415 --chown=USER:GROUP simple username/groupname mapping
416 --timeout=SECONDS set I/O timeout in seconds
417 --contimeout=SECONDS set daemon connection timeout in seconds
418 --ignore-times, -I don't skip files that match size and time
419 --size-only skip files that match in size
420 --modify-window=NUM, -@ set the accuracy for mod-time comparisons
421 --temp-dir=DIR, -T create temporary files in directory DIR
422 --fuzzy, -y find similar file for basis if no dest file
423 --compare-dest=DIR also compare destination files relative to DIR
424 --copy-dest=DIR ... and include copies of unchanged files
425 --link-dest=DIR hardlink to files in DIR when unchanged
426 --compress, -z compress file data during the transfer
427 --compress-choice=STR choose the compression algorithm (aka --zc)
428 --compress-level=NUM explicitly set compression level (aka --zl)
429 --skip-compress=LIST skip compressing files with suffix in LIST
430 --cvs-exclude, -C auto-ignore files in the same way CVS does
431 --filter=RULE, -f add a file-filtering RULE
432 -F same as --filter='dir-merge /.rsync-filter'
433 repeated: --filter='- .rsync-filter'
434 --exclude=PATTERN exclude files matching PATTERN
435 --exclude-from=FILE read exclude patterns from FILE
436 --include=PATTERN don't exclude files matching PATTERN
437 --include-from=FILE read include patterns from FILE
438 --files-from=FILE read list of source-file names from FILE
439 --from0, -0 all *-from/filter files are delimited by 0s
440 --protect-args, -s no space-splitting; wildcard chars only
441 --copy-as=USER[:GROUP] specify user & optional group for the copy
442 --address=ADDRESS bind address for outgoing socket to daemon
443 --port=PORT specify double-colon alternate port number
444 --sockopts=OPTIONS specify custom TCP options
445 --blocking-io use blocking I/O for the remote shell
446 --outbuf=N|L|B set out buffering to None, Line, or Block
447 --stats give some file-transfer stats
448 --8-bit-output, -8 leave high-bit chars unescaped in output
449 --human-readable, -h output numbers in a human-readable format
450 --progress show progress during transfer
451 -P same as --partial --progress
452 --itemize-changes, -i output a change-summary for all updates
453 --remote-option=OPT, -M send OPTION to the remote side only
454 --out-format=FORMAT output updates using the specified FORMAT
455 --log-file=FILE log what we're doing to the specified FILE
456 --log-file-format=FMT log updates using the specified FMT
457 --password-file=FILE read daemon-access password from FILE
458 --early-input=FILE use FILE for daemon's early exec input
459 --list-only list the files instead of copying them
460 --bwlimit=RATE limit socket I/O bandwidth
461 --stop-after=MINS Stop rsync after MINS minutes have elapsed
462 --stop-at=y-m-dTh:m Stop rsync at the specified point in time
463 --write-batch=FILE write a batched update to FILE
464 --only-write-batch=FILE like --write-batch but w/o updating dest
465 --read-batch=FILE read a batched update from FILE
466 --protocol=NUM force an older protocol version to be used
467 --iconv=CONVERT_SPEC request charset conversion of filenames
468 --checksum-seed=NUM set block/file checksum seed (advanced)
469 --ipv4, -4 prefer IPv4
470 --ipv6, -6 prefer IPv6
471 --version, -V print the version + other info and exit
472 --help, -h (*) show this help (* -h is help only on its own)
475 Rsync can also be run as a daemon, in which case the following options are
478 [comment]: # (help-rsyncd.h)
481 --daemon run as an rsync daemon
482 --address=ADDRESS bind to the specified address
483 --bwlimit=RATE limit socket I/O bandwidth
484 --config=FILE specify alternate rsyncd.conf file
485 --dparam=OVERRIDE, -M override global daemon config parameter
486 --no-detach do not detach from the parent
487 --port=PORT listen on alternate port number
488 --log-file=FILE override the "log file" setting
489 --log-file-format=FMT override the "log format" setting
490 --sockopts=OPTIONS specify custom TCP options
491 --verbose, -v increase verbosity
492 --ipv4, -4 prefer IPv4
493 --ipv6, -6 prefer IPv6
494 --help, -h show this help (when used with --daemon)
499 Rsync accepts both long (double-dash + word) and short (single-dash + letter)
500 options. The full list of the available options are described below. If an
501 option can be specified in more than one way, the choices are comma-separated.
502 Some options only have a long variant, not a short. If the option takes a
503 parameter, the parameter is only listed after the long variant, even though it
504 must also be specified for the short. When specifying a parameter, you can
505 either use the form `--option=param` or replace the '=' with whitespace. The
506 parameter may need to be quoted in some manner for it to survive the shell's
507 command-line parsing. Keep in mind that a leading tilde (`~`) in a filename is
508 substituted by your shell, so `--option=~/foo` will not change the tilde into
509 your home directory (remove the '=' for that).
511 [comment]: # (An OL starting at 0 is converted into a DL by the parser.)
513 0. `--help`, `-h` `(*)`
515 Print a short help page describing the options available in rsync and exit.
516 (*) The `-h` short option will only invoke `--help` when used without other
517 options since it normally means `--human-readable`.
521 Print the rsync version plus other info and exit.
523 The output includes the default list of checksum algorithms, the default
524 list of compression algorithms, a list of compiled-in capabilities, a link
525 to the rsync web site, and some license/copyright info.
529 This option increases the amount of information you are given during the
530 transfer. By default, rsync works silently. A single `-v` will give you
531 information about what files are being transferred and a brief summary at
532 the end. Two `-v` options will give you information on what files are
533 being skipped and slightly more information at the end. More than two `-v`
534 options should only be used if you are debugging rsync.
536 In a modern rsync, the `-v` option is equivalent to the setting of groups
537 of `--info` and `--debug` options. You can choose to use these newer
538 options in addition to, or in place of using `--verbose`, as any
539 fine-grained settings override the implied settings of `-v`. Both `--info`
540 and `--debug` have a way to ask for help that tells you exactly what flags
541 are set for each increase in verbosity.
543 However, do keep in mind that a daemon's "`max verbosity`" setting will limit
544 how high of a level the various individual flags can be set on the daemon
545 side. For instance, if the max is 2, then any info and/or debug flag that
546 is set to a higher value than what would be set by `-vv` will be downgraded
547 to the `-vv` level in the daemon's logging.
551 This option lets you have fine-grained control over the information output
552 you want to see. An individual flag name may be followed by a level
553 number, with 0 meaning to silence that output, 1 being the default output
554 level, and higher numbers increasing the output of that flag (for those
555 that support higher levels). Use `--info=help` to see all the available
556 flag names, what they output, and what flag names are added for each
557 increase in the verbose level. Some examples:
559 > rsync -a --info=progress2 src/ dest/
560 > rsync -avv --info=stats2,misc1,flist0 src/ dest/
562 Note that `--info=name`'s output is affected by the `--out-format` and
563 `--itemize-changes` (`-i`) options. See those options for more information
564 on what is output and when.
566 This option was added to 3.1.0, so an older rsync on the server side might
567 reject your attempts at fine-grained control (if one or more flags needed
568 to be send to the server and the server was too old to understand them).
569 See also the "`max verbosity`" caveat above when dealing with a daemon.
573 This option lets you have fine-grained control over the debug output you
574 want to see. An individual flag name may be followed by a level number,
575 with 0 meaning to silence that output, 1 being the default output level,
576 and higher numbers increasing the output of that flag (for those that
577 support higher levels). Use `--debug=help` to see all the available flag
578 names, what they output, and what flag names are added for each increase in
579 the verbose level. Some examples:
581 > rsync -avvv --debug=none src/ dest/
582 > rsync -avA --del --debug=del2,acl src/ dest/
584 Note that some debug messages will only be output when `--msgs2stderr` is
585 specified, especially those pertaining to I/O and buffer debugging.
587 Beginning in 3.2.0, this option is no longer auto-forwared to the server
588 side in order to allow you to specify different debug values for each side
589 of the transfer, as well as to specify a new debug option that is only
590 present in one of the rsync versions. If you want to duplicate the same
591 option on both sides, using brace expansion is an easy way to save you some
592 typing. This works in zsh and bash:
594 > rsync -aiv {-M,}--debug=del2 src/ dest/
598 This option changes rsync to send all its output directly to stderr rather
599 than to send messages to the client side via the protocol. The protocol
600 allows rsync to output normal messages via stdout and errors via stderr,
601 but it can delay messages behind a slew of data.
603 One case where this is helpful is when sending really large files, since
604 errors that happen on a remote receiver tend to get delayed until after the
605 file's data is fully sent. It is also helpful for debugging, since it
606 helps to avoid overpopulating the protocol data with extra message data.
608 The option does not affect the remote side of a transfer without using
609 `--remote-option`, e.g. `-M--msgs2stderr` or `{-M,}--msgs2stderr`.
611 Also keep in mind that connecting to a normal (non-remote-shell) daemon
612 does not have a stderr channel to send messages back to the client side, so
613 a modern rsync only allows the option on a remote-shell-run daemon.
615 This option has the side-effect of making stderr output get line-buffered
616 so that the merging of the output of 3 programs happens in a more readable
621 This option decreases the amount of information you are given during the
622 transfer, notably suppressing information messages from the remote server.
623 This option is useful when invoking rsync from cron.
627 This option affects the information that is output by the client at the
628 start of a daemon transfer. This suppresses the message-of-the-day (MOTD)
629 text, but it also affects the list of modules that the daemon sends in
630 response to the "rsync host::" request (due to a limitation in the rsync
631 protocol), so omit this option if you want to request the list of modules
634 0. `--ignore-times`, `-I`
636 Normally rsync will skip any files that are already the same size and have
637 the same modification timestamp. This option turns off this "quick check"
638 behavior, causing all files to be updated.
642 This modifies rsync's "quick check" algorithm for finding files that need
643 to be transferred, changing it from the default of transferring files with
644 either a changed size or a changed last-modified time to just looking for
645 files that have changed in size. This is useful when starting to use rsync
646 after using another mirroring system which may not preserve timestamps
649 0. `--modify-window=NUM`, `-@`
651 When comparing two timestamps, rsync treats the timestamps as being equal
652 if they differ by no more than the modify-window value. The default is 0,
653 which matches just integer seconds. If you specify a negative value (and
654 the receiver is at least version 3.1.3) then nanoseconds will also be taken
655 into account. Specifying 1 is useful for copies to/from MS Windows FAT
656 filesystems, because FAT represents times with a 2-second resolution
657 (allowing times to differ from the original by up to 1 second).
659 If you want all your transfers to default to comparing nanoseconds, you can
660 create a `~/.popt` file and put these lines in it:
662 > rsync alias -a -a@-1
663 > rsync alias -t -t@-1
665 With that as the default, you'd need to specify `--modify-window=0` (aka
666 `-@0`) to override it and ignore nanoseconds, e.g. if you're copying
667 between ext3 and ext4, or if the receiving rsync is older than 3.1.3.
669 0. `--checksum`, `-c`
671 This changes the way rsync checks if the files have been changed and are in
672 need of a transfer. Without this option, rsync uses a "quick check" that
673 (by default) checks if each file's size and time of last modification match
674 between the sender and receiver. This option changes this to compare a
675 128-bit checksum for each file that has a matching size. Generating the
676 checksums means that both sides will expend a lot of disk I/O reading all
677 the data in the files in the transfer, so this can slow things down
678 significantly (and this is prior to any reading that will be done to
679 transfer changed files)
681 The sending side generates its checksums while it is doing the file-system
682 scan that builds the list of the available files. The receiver generates
683 its checksums when it is scanning for changed files, and will checksum any
684 file that has the same size as the corresponding sender's file: files with
685 either a changed size or a changed checksum are selected for transfer.
687 Note that rsync always verifies that each _transferred_ file was correctly
688 reconstructed on the receiving side by checking a whole-file checksum that
689 is generated as the file is transferred, but that automatic
690 after-the-transfer verification has nothing to do with this option's
691 before-the-transfer "Does this file need to be updated?" check.
693 The checksum used is auto-negotiated between the client and the server, but
694 can be overridden using either the `--checksum-choice` (`--cc`) option or an
695 environment variable that is discussed in that option's section.
699 This is equivalent to `-rlptgoD`. It is a quick way of saying you want
700 recursion and want to preserve almost everything (with `-H` being a notable
701 omission). The only exception to the above equivalence is when
702 `--files-from` is specified, in which case `-r` is not implied.
704 Note that `-a` **does not preserve hardlinks**, because finding
705 multiply-linked files is expensive. You must separately specify `-H`.
709 You may turn off one or more implied options by prefixing the option name
710 with "no-". Not all options may be prefixed with a "no-": only options that
711 are implied by other options (e.g. `--no-D`, `--no-perms`) or have
712 different defaults in various circumstances (e.g. `--no-whole-file`,
713 `--no-blocking-io`, `--no-dirs`). You may specify either the short or the
714 long option name after the "no-" prefix (e.g. `--no-R` is the same as
717 For example: if you want to use `-a` (`--archive`) but don't want `-o`
718 (`--owner`), instead of converting `-a` into `-rlptgD`, you could specify
719 `-a --no-o` (or `-a --no-owner`).
721 The order of the options is important: if you specify `--no-r -a`, the
722 `-r` option would end up being turned on, the opposite of `-a --no-r`.
723 Note also that the side-effects of the `--files-from` option are NOT
724 positional, as it affects the default state of several options and slightly
725 changes the meaning of `-a` (see the `--files-from` option for more
728 0. `--recursive`, `-r`
730 This tells rsync to copy directories recursively. See also `--dirs` (`-d`).
732 Beginning with rsync 3.0.0, the recursive algorithm used is now an
733 incremental scan that uses much less memory than before and begins the
734 transfer after the scanning of the first few directories have been
735 completed. This incremental scan only affects our recursion algorithm, and
736 does not change a non-recursive transfer. It is also only possible when
737 both ends of the transfer are at least version 3.0.0.
739 Some options require rsync to know the full file list, so these options
740 disable the incremental recursion mode. These include: `--delete-before`,
741 `--delete-after`, `--prune-empty-dirs`, and `--delay-updates`. Because of
742 this, the default delete mode when you specify `--delete` is now
743 `--delete-during` when both ends of the connection are at least 3.0.0 (use
744 `--del` or `--delete-during` to request this improved deletion mode
745 explicitly). See also the `--delete-delay` option that is a better choice
746 than using `--delete-after`.
748 Incremental recursion can be disabled using the `--no-inc-recursive` option
749 or its shorter `--no-i-r` alias.
751 0. `--relative`, `-R`
753 Use relative paths. This means that the full path names specified on the
754 command line are sent to the server rather than just the last parts of the
755 filenames. This is particularly useful when you want to send several
756 different directories at the same time. For example, if you used this
759 > rsync -av /foo/bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/
761 would create a file named baz.c in /tmp/ on the remote machine. If instead
764 > rsync -avR /foo/bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/
766 then a file named /tmp/foo/bar/baz.c would be created on the remote
767 machine, preserving its full path. These extra path elements are called
768 "implied directories" (i.e. the "foo" and the "foo/bar" directories in the
771 Beginning with rsync 3.0.0, rsync always sends these implied directories as
772 real directories in the file list, even if a path element is really a
773 symlink on the sending side. This prevents some really unexpected behaviors
774 when copying the full path of a file that you didn't realize had a symlink
775 in its path. If you want to duplicate a server-side symlink, include both
776 the symlink via its path, and referent directory via its real path. If
777 you're dealing with an older rsync on the sending side, you may need to use
778 the `--no-implied-dirs` option.
780 It is also possible to limit the amount of path information that is sent as
781 implied directories for each path you specify. With a modern rsync on the
782 sending side (beginning with 2.6.7), you can insert a dot and a slash into
783 the source path, like this:
785 > rsync -avR /foo/./bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/
787 That would create /tmp/bar/baz.c on the remote machine. (Note that the dot
788 must be followed by a slash, so "/foo/." would not be abbreviated.) For
789 older rsync versions, you would need to use a chdir to limit the source
790 path. For example, when pushing files:
792 > (cd /foo; rsync -avR bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/)
794 (Note that the parens put the two commands into a sub-shell, so that the
795 "cd" command doesn't remain in effect for future commands.) If you're
796 pulling files from an older rsync, use this idiom (but only for a
797 non-daemon transfer):
799 > rsync -avR --rsync-path="cd /foo; rsync" \
800 > remote:bar/baz.c /tmp/
802 0. `--no-implied-dirs`
804 This option affects the default behavior of the `--relative` option. When
805 it is specified, the attributes of the implied directories from the source
806 names are not included in the transfer. This means that the corresponding
807 path elements on the destination system are left unchanged if they exist,
808 and any missing implied directories are created with default attributes.
809 This even allows these implied path elements to have big differences, such
810 as being a symlink to a directory on the receiving side.
812 For instance, if a command-line arg or a files-from entry told rsync to
813 transfer the file "path/foo/file", the directories "path" and "path/foo"
814 are implied when `--relative` is used. If "path/foo" is a symlink to "bar"
815 on the destination system, the receiving rsync would ordinarily delete
816 "path/foo", recreate it as a directory, and receive the file into the new
817 directory. With `--no-implied-dirs`, the receiving rsync updates
818 "path/foo/file" using the existing path elements, which means that the file
819 ends up being created in "path/bar". Another way to accomplish this link
820 preservation is to use the `--keep-dirlinks` option (which will also affect
821 symlinks to directories in the rest of the transfer).
823 When pulling files from an rsync older than 3.0.0, you may need to use this
824 option if the sending side has a symlink in the path you request and you
825 wish the implied directories to be transferred as normal directories.
829 With this option, preexisting destination files are renamed as each file is
830 transferred or deleted. You can control where the backup file goes and
831 what (if any) suffix gets appended using the `--backup-dir` and `--suffix`
834 Note that if you don't specify `--backup-dir`, (1) the `--omit-dir-times`
835 option will be forced on, and (2) if `--delete` is also in effect (without
836 `--delete-excluded`), rsync will add a "protect" filter-rule for the backup
837 suffix to the end of all your existing excludes (e.g. `-f "P *~"`). This
838 will prevent previously backed-up files from being deleted. Note that if
839 you are supplying your own filter rules, you may need to manually insert
840 your own exclude/protect rule somewhere higher up in the list so that it
841 has a high enough priority to be effective (e.g., if your rules specify a
842 trailing inclusion/exclusion of `*`, the auto-added rule would never be
845 0. `--backup-dir=DIR`
847 This implies the `--backup` option, and tells rsync to store all
848 backups in the specified directory on the receiving side. This can be used
849 for incremental backups. You can additionally specify a backup suffix
850 using the `--suffix` option (otherwise the files backed up in the specified
851 directory will keep their original filenames).
853 Note that if you specify a relative path, the backup directory will be
854 relative to the destination directory, so you probably want to specify
855 either an absolute path or a path that starts with "../". If an rsync
856 daemon is the receiver, the backup dir cannot go outside the module's path
857 hierarchy, so take extra care not to delete it or copy into it.
861 This option allows you to override the default backup suffix used with the
862 `--backup` (`-b`) option. The default suffix is a `~` if no `--backup-dir`
863 was specified, otherwise it is an empty string.
867 This forces rsync to skip any files which exist on the destination and have
868 a modified time that is newer than the source file. (If an existing
869 destination file has a modification time equal to the source file's, it
870 will be updated if the sizes are different.)
872 Note that this does not affect the copying of dirs, symlinks, or other
873 special files. Also, a difference of file format between the sender and
874 receiver is always considered to be important enough for an update, no
875 matter what date is on the objects. In other words, if the source has a
876 directory where the destination has a file, the transfer would occur
877 regardless of the timestamps.
879 This option is a transfer rule, not an exclude, so it doesn't affect the
880 data that goes into the file-lists, and thus it doesn't affect deletions.
881 It just limits the files that the receiver requests to be transferred.
885 This option changes how rsync transfers a file when its data needs to be
886 updated: instead of the default method of creating a new copy of the file
887 and moving it into place when it is complete, rsync instead writes the
888 updated data directly to the destination file.
890 This has several effects:
892 - Hard links are not broken. This means the new data will be visible
893 through other hard links to the destination file. Moreover, attempts to
894 copy differing source files onto a multiply-linked destination file will
895 result in a "tug of war" with the destination data changing back and
897 - In-use binaries cannot be updated (either the OS will prevent this from
898 happening, or binaries that attempt to swap-in their data will misbehave
900 - The file's data will be in an inconsistent state during the transfer and
901 will be left that way if the transfer is interrupted or if an update
903 - A file that rsync cannot write to cannot be updated. While a super user
904 can update any file, a normal user needs to be granted write permission
905 for the open of the file for writing to be successful.
906 - The efficiency of rsync's delta-transfer algorithm may be reduced if some
907 data in the destination file is overwritten before it can be copied to a
908 position later in the file. This does not apply if you use `--backup`,
909 since rsync is smart enough to use the backup file as the basis file for
912 WARNING: you should not use this option to update files that are being
913 accessed by others, so be careful when choosing to use this for a copy.
915 This option is useful for transferring large files with block-based changes
916 or appended data, and also on systems that are disk bound, not network
917 bound. It can also help keep a copy-on-write filesystem snapshot from
918 diverging the entire contents of a file that only has minor changes.
920 The option implies `--partial` (since an interrupted transfer does not
921 delete the file), but conflicts with `--partial-dir` and `--delay-updates`.
922 Prior to rsync 2.6.4 `--inplace` was also incompatible with
923 `--compare-dest` and `--link-dest`.
927 This causes rsync to update a file by appending data onto the end of the
928 file, which presumes that the data that already exists on the receiving
929 side is identical with the start of the file on the sending side. If a
930 file needs to be transferred and its size on the receiver is the same or
931 longer than the size on the sender, the file is skipped. This does not
932 interfere with the updating of a file's non-content attributes (e.g.
933 permissions, ownership, etc.) when the file does not need to be
934 transferred, nor does it affect the updating of any non-regular files.
937 The use of `--append` can be dangerous if you aren't 100% sure that the
938 files that are longer have only grown by the appending of data onto the
939 end. You should thus use include/exclude/filter rules to ensure that such
940 a transfer is only affecting files that you know to be growing via appended
945 This works just like the `--append` option, but the existing data on the
946 receiving side is included in the full-file checksum verification step,
947 which will cause a file to be resent if the final verification step fails
948 (rsync uses a normal, non-appending `--inplace` transfer for the resend).
949 It otherwise has the exact same caveats for files that have not grown
950 larger, so don't use this for a general copy.
952 Note: prior to rsync 3.0.0, the `--append` option worked like
953 `--append-verify`, so if you are interacting with an older rsync (or the
954 transfer is using a protocol prior to 30), specifying either append option
955 will initiate an `--append-verify` transfer.
959 Tell the sending side to include any directories that are encountered.
960 Unlike `--recursive`, a directory's contents are not copied unless the
961 directory name specified is "." or ends with a trailing slash (e.g. ".",
962 "dir/.", "dir/", etc.). Without this option or the `--recursive` option,
963 rsync will skip all directories it encounters (and output a message to that
964 effect for each one). If you specify both `--dirs` and `--recursive`,
965 `--recursive` takes precedence.
967 The `--dirs` option is implied by the `--files-from` option or the
968 `--list-only` option (including an implied `--list-only` usage) if
969 `--recursive` wasn't specified (so that directories are seen in the
970 listing). Specify `--no-dirs` (or `--no-d`) if you want to turn this off.
972 There is also a backward-compatibility helper option, `--old-dirs` (or
973 `--old-d`) that tells rsync to use a hack of `-r --exclude='/*/*'` to get
974 an older rsync to list a single directory without recursing.
978 When symlinks are encountered, recreate the symlink on the destination.
980 0. `--copy-links`, `-L`
982 When symlinks are encountered, the item that they point to (the referent)
983 is copied, rather than the symlink. In older versions of rsync, this
984 option also had the side-effect of telling the receiving side to follow
985 symlinks, such as symlinks to directories. In a modern rsync such as this
986 one, you'll need to specify `--keep-dirlinks` (`-K`) to get this extra
987 behavior. The only exception is when sending files to an rsync that is too
988 old to understand `-K` -- in that case, the `-L` option will still have the
989 side-effect of `-K` on that older receiving rsync.
991 0. `--copy-unsafe-links`
993 This tells rsync to copy the referent of symbolic links that point outside
994 the copied tree. Absolute symlinks are also treated like ordinary files,
995 and so are any symlinks in the source path itself when `--relative` is
996 used. This option has no additional effect if `--copy-links` was also
999 Note that the cut-off point is the top of the transfer, which is the part
1000 of the path that rsync isn't mentioning in the verbose output. If you copy
1001 "/src/subdir" to "/dest/" then the "subdir" directory is a name inside the
1002 transfer tree, not the top of the transfer (which is /src) so it is legal
1003 for created relative symlinks to refer to other names inside the /src and
1004 /dest directories. If you instead copy "/src/subdir/" (with a trailing
1005 slash) to "/dest/subdir" that would not allow symlinks to any files outside
1010 This tells rsync to ignore any symbolic links which point outside the
1011 copied tree. All absolute symlinks are also ignored. Using this option in
1012 conjunction with `--relative` may give unexpected results.
1016 This option tells rsync to (1) modify all symlinks on the receiving side in
1017 a way that makes them unusable but recoverable (see below), or (2) to
1018 unmunge symlinks on the sending side that had been stored in a munged
1019 state. This is useful if you don't quite trust the source of the data to
1020 not try to slip in a symlink to a unexpected place.
1022 The way rsync disables the use of symlinks is to prefix each one with the
1023 string "/rsyncd-munged/". This prevents the links from being used as long
1024 as that directory does not exist. When this option is enabled, rsync will
1025 refuse to run if that path is a directory or a symlink to a directory.
1027 The option only affects the client side of the transfer, so if you need it
1028 to affect the server, specify it via `--remote-option`. (Note that in a
1029 local transfer, the client side is the sender.)
1031 This option has no affect on a daemon, since the daemon configures whether
1032 it wants munged symlinks via its "`munge symlinks`" parameter. See also the
1033 "munge-symlinks" perl script in the support directory of the source code.
1035 0. `--copy-dirlinks`, `-k`
1037 This option causes the sending side to treat a symlink to a directory as
1038 though it were a real directory. This is useful if you don't want symlinks
1039 to non-directories to be affected, as they would be using `--copy-links`.
1041 Without this option, if the sending side has replaced a directory with a
1042 symlink to a directory, the receiving side will delete anything that is in
1043 the way of the new symlink, including a directory hierarchy (as long as
1044 `--force` or `--delete` is in effect).
1046 See also `--keep-dirlinks` for an analogous option for the receiving side.
1048 `--copy-dirlinks` applies to all symlinks to directories in the source. If
1049 you want to follow only a few specified symlinks, a trick you can use is to
1050 pass them as additional source args with a trailing slash, using
1051 `--relative` to make the paths match up right. For example:
1053 > rsync -r --relative src/./ src/./follow-me/ dest/
1055 This works because rsync calls **lstat**(2) on the source arg as given, and
1056 the trailing slash makes **lstat**(2) follow the symlink, giving rise to a
1057 directory in the file-list which overrides the symlink found during the
1060 0. `--keep-dirlinks`, `-K`
1062 This option causes the receiving side to treat a symlink to a directory as
1063 though it were a real directory, but only if it matches a real directory
1064 from the sender. Without this option, the receiver's symlink would be
1065 deleted and replaced with a real directory.
1067 For example, suppose you transfer a directory "foo" that contains a file
1068 "file", but "foo" is a symlink to directory "bar" on the receiver. Without
1069 `--keep-dirlinks`, the receiver deletes symlink "foo", recreates it as a
1070 directory, and receives the file into the new directory. With
1071 `--keep-dirlinks`, the receiver keeps the symlink and "file" ends up in
1074 One note of caution: if you use `--keep-dirlinks`, you must trust all the
1075 symlinks in the copy! If it is possible for an untrusted user to create
1076 their own symlink to any directory, the user could then (on a subsequent
1077 copy) replace the symlink with a real directory and affect the content of
1078 whatever directory the symlink references. For backup copies, you are
1079 better off using something like a bind mount instead of a symlink to modify
1080 your receiving hierarchy.
1082 See also `--copy-dirlinks` for an analogous option for the sending side.
1084 0. `--hard-links`, `-H`
1086 This tells rsync to look for hard-linked files in the source and link
1087 together the corresponding files on the destination. Without this option,
1088 hard-linked files in the source are treated as though they were separate
1091 This option does NOT necessarily ensure that the pattern of hard links on
1092 the destination exactly matches that on the source. Cases in which the
1093 destination may end up with extra hard links include the following:
1095 - If the destination contains extraneous hard-links (more linking than what
1096 is present in the source file list), the copying algorithm will not break
1097 them explicitly. However, if one or more of the paths have content
1098 differences, the normal file-update process will break those extra links
1099 (unless you are using the `--inplace` option).
1100 - If you specify a `--link-dest` directory that contains hard links, the
1101 linking of the destination files against the `--link-dest` files can
1102 cause some paths in the destination to become linked together due to the
1103 `--link-dest` associations.
1105 Note that rsync can only detect hard links between files that are inside
1106 the transfer set. If rsync updates a file that has extra hard-link
1107 connections to files outside the transfer, that linkage will be broken. If
1108 you are tempted to use the `--inplace` option to avoid this breakage, be
1109 very careful that you know how your files are being updated so that you are
1110 certain that no unintended changes happen due to lingering hard links (and
1111 see the `--inplace` option for more caveats).
1113 If incremental recursion is active (see `--recursive`), rsync may transfer
1114 a missing hard-linked file before it finds that another link for that
1115 contents exists elsewhere in the hierarchy. This does not affect the
1116 accuracy of the transfer (i.e. which files are hard-linked together), just
1117 its efficiency (i.e. copying the data for a new, early copy of a
1118 hard-linked file that could have been found later in the transfer in
1119 another member of the hard-linked set of files). One way to avoid this
1120 inefficiency is to disable incremental recursion using the
1121 `--no-inc-recursive` option.
1125 This option causes the receiving rsync to set the destination permissions
1126 to be the same as the source permissions. (See also the `--chmod` option
1127 for a way to modify what rsync considers to be the source permissions.)
1129 When this option is _off_, permissions are set as follows:
1131 - Existing files (including updated files) retain their existing
1132 permissions, though the `--executability` option might change just the
1133 execute permission for the file.
1134 - New files get their "normal" permission bits set to the source file's
1135 permissions masked with the receiving directory's default permissions
1136 (either the receiving process's umask, or the permissions specified via
1137 the destination directory's default ACL), and their special permission
1138 bits disabled except in the case where a new directory inherits a setgid
1139 bit from its parent directory.
1141 Thus, when `--perms` and `--executability` are both disabled, rsync's
1142 behavior is the same as that of other file-copy utilities, such as **cp**(1)
1145 In summary: to give destination files (both old and new) the source
1146 permissions, use `--perms`. To give new files the destination-default
1147 permissions (while leaving existing files unchanged), make sure that the
1148 `--perms` option is off and use `--chmod=ugo=rwX` (which ensures that all
1149 non-masked bits get enabled). If you'd care to make this latter behavior
1150 easier to type, you could define a popt alias for it, such as putting this
1151 line in the file `~/.popt` (the following defines the `-Z` option, and
1152 includes `--no-g` to use the default group of the destination dir):
1154 > rsync alias -Z --no-p --no-g --chmod=ugo=rwX
1156 You could then use this new option in a command such as this one:
1158 > rsync -avZ src/ dest/
1160 (Caveat: make sure that `-a` does not follow `-Z`, or it will re-enable the
1161 two `--no-*` options mentioned above.)
1163 The preservation of the destination's setgid bit on newly-created
1164 directories when `--perms` is off was added in rsync 2.6.7. Older rsync
1165 versions erroneously preserved the three special permission bits for
1166 newly-created files when `--perms` was off, while overriding the
1167 destination's setgid bit setting on a newly-created directory. Default ACL
1168 observance was added to the ACL patch for rsync 2.6.7, so older (or
1169 non-ACL-enabled) rsyncs use the umask even if default ACLs are present.
1170 (Keep in mind that it is the version of the receiving rsync that affects
1173 0. `--executability`, `-E`
1175 This option causes rsync to preserve the executability (or
1176 non-executability) of regular files when `--perms` is not enabled. A
1177 regular file is considered to be executable if at least one 'x' is turned
1178 on in its permissions. When an existing destination file's executability
1179 differs from that of the corresponding source file, rsync modifies the
1180 destination file's permissions as follows:
1182 - To make a file non-executable, rsync turns off all its 'x' permissions.
1183 - To make a file executable, rsync turns on each 'x' permission that has a
1184 corresponding 'r' permission enabled.
1186 If `--perms` is enabled, this option is ignored.
1190 This option causes rsync to update the destination ACLs to be the same as
1191 the source ACLs. The option also implies `--perms`.
1193 The source and destination systems must have compatible ACL entries for
1194 this option to work properly. See the `--fake-super` option for a way to
1195 backup and restore ACLs that are not compatible.
1199 This option causes rsync to update the destination extended attributes to
1200 be the same as the source ones.
1202 For systems that support extended-attribute namespaces, a copy being done
1203 by a super-user copies all namespaces except system.\*. A normal user only
1204 copies the user.\* namespace. To be able to backup and restore non-user
1205 namespaces as a normal user, see the `--fake-super` option.
1207 The above name filtering can be overridden by using one or more filter
1208 options with the **x** modifier. When you specify an xattr-affecting
1209 filter rule, rsync requires that you do your own system/user filtering, as
1210 well as any additional filtering for what xattr names are copied and what
1211 names are allowed to be deleted. For example, to skip the system
1212 namespace, you could specify:
1214 > --filter='-x system.*'
1216 To skip all namespaces except the user namespace, you could specify a
1219 > --filter='-x! user.*'
1221 To prevent any attributes from being deleted, you could specify a
1222 receiver-only rule that excludes all names:
1226 Note that the `-X` option does not copy rsync's special xattr values (e.g.
1227 those used by `--fake-super`) unless you repeat the option (e.g. `-XX`).
1228 This "copy all xattrs" mode cannot be used with `--fake-super`.
1232 This option tells rsync to apply one or more comma-separated "chmod" modes
1233 to the permission of the files in the transfer. The resulting value is
1234 treated as though it were the permissions that the sending side supplied
1235 for the file, which means that this option can seem to have no effect on
1236 existing files if `--perms` is not enabled.
1238 In addition to the normal parsing rules specified in the **chmod**(1)
1239 manpage, you can specify an item that should only apply to a directory by
1240 prefixing it with a 'D', or specify an item that should only apply to a
1241 file by prefixing it with a 'F'. For example, the following will ensure
1242 that all directories get marked set-gid, that no files are other-writable,
1243 that both are user-writable and group-writable, and that both have
1244 consistent executability across all bits:
1246 > --chmod=Dg+s,ug+w,Fo-w,+X
1248 Using octal mode numbers is also allowed:
1250 > --chmod=D2775,F664
1252 It is also legal to specify multiple `--chmod` options, as each additional
1253 option is just appended to the list of changes to make.
1255 See the `--perms` and `--executability` options for how the resulting
1256 permission value can be applied to the files in the transfer.
1260 This option causes rsync to set the owner of the destination file to be the
1261 same as the source file, but only if the receiving rsync is being run as
1262 the super-user (see also the `--super` and `--fake-super` options). Without
1263 this option, the owner of new and/or transferred files are set to the
1264 invoking user on the receiving side.
1266 The preservation of ownership will associate matching names by default, but
1267 may fall back to using the ID number in some circumstances (see also the
1268 `--numeric-ids` option for a full discussion).
1272 This option causes rsync to set the group of the destination file to be the
1273 same as the source file. If the receiving program is not running as the
1274 super-user (or if `--no-super` was specified), only groups that the
1275 invoking user on the receiving side is a member of will be preserved.
1276 Without this option, the group is set to the default group of the invoking
1277 user on the receiving side.
1279 The preservation of group information will associate matching names by
1280 default, but may fall back to using the ID number in some circumstances
1281 (see also the `--numeric-ids` option for a full discussion).
1285 This option causes rsync to transfer character and block device files to
1286 the remote system to recreate these devices. This option has no effect if
1287 the receiving rsync is not run as the super-user (see also the `--super`
1288 and `--fake-super` options).
1292 This option causes rsync to transfer special files such as named sockets
1297 The `-D` option is equivalent to `--devices --specials`.
1299 0. `--write-devices`
1301 This tells rsync to treat a device on the receiving side as a regular file,
1302 allowing the writing of file data into a device.
1304 This option implies the `--inplace` option.
1306 Be careful using this, as you should know what devices are present on the
1307 receiving side of the transfer, especially if running rsync as root.
1309 This option is refused by an rsync daemon.
1313 This tells rsync to transfer modification times along with the files and
1314 update them on the remote system. Note that if this option is not used,
1315 the optimization that excludes files that have not been modified cannot be
1316 effective; in other words, a missing `-t` or `-a` will cause the next
1317 transfer to behave as if it used `-I`, causing all files to be updated
1318 (though rsync's delta-transfer algorithm will make the update fairly
1319 efficient if the files haven't actually changed, you're much better off
1324 This tells rsync to set the access (use) times of the destination files to
1325 the same value as the source files.
1327 If repeated, it also sets the `--open-noatime` option, which can help you
1328 to make the sending and receiving systems have the same access times on the
1329 transferred files without needing to run rsync an extra time after a file
1332 Note that some older rsync versions (prior to 3.2.0) may have been built
1333 with a pre-release `--atimes` patch that does not imply `--open-noatime`
1334 when this option is repeated.
1338 This tells rsync to open files with the O_NOATIME flag (on systems that
1339 support it) to avoid changing the access time of the files that are being
1340 transferred. If your OS does not support the O_NOATIME flag then rsync
1341 will silently ignore this option. Note also that some filesystems are
1342 mounted to avoid updating the atime on read access even without the
1343 O_NOATIME flag being set.
1345 0. `--crtimes`, `-N,`
1347 This tells rsync to set the create times (newness) of the destination
1348 files to the same value as the source files.
1350 0. `--omit-dir-times`, `-O`
1352 This tells rsync to omit directories when it is preserving modification
1353 times (see `--times`). If NFS is sharing the directories on the receiving
1354 side, it is a good idea to use `-O`. This option is inferred if you use
1355 `--backup` without `--backup-dir`.
1357 This option also has the side-effect of avoiding early creation of
1358 directories in incremental recursion copies. The default `--inc-recursive`
1359 copying normally does an early-create pass of all the sub-directories in a
1360 parent directory in order for it to be able to then set the modify time of
1361 the parent directory right away (without having to delay that until a bunch
1362 of recursive copying has finished). This early-create idiom is not
1363 necessary if directory modify times are not being preserved, so it is
1364 skipped. Since early-create directories don't have accurate mode, mtime,
1365 or ownership, the use of this option can help when someone wants to avoid
1366 these partially-finished directories.
1368 0. `--omit-link-times`, `-J`
1370 This tells rsync to omit symlinks when it is preserving modification times
1375 This tells the receiving side to attempt super-user activities even if the
1376 receiving rsync wasn't run by the super-user. These activities include:
1377 preserving users via the `--owner` option, preserving all groups (not just
1378 the current user's groups) via the `--groups` option, and copying devices
1379 via the `--devices` option. This is useful for systems that allow such
1380 activities without being the super-user, and also for ensuring that you
1381 will get errors if the receiving side isn't being run as the super-user.
1382 To turn off super-user activities, the super-user can use `--no-super`.
1386 When this option is enabled, rsync simulates super-user activities by
1387 saving/restoring the privileged attributes via special extended attributes
1388 that are attached to each file (as needed). This includes the file's owner
1389 and group (if it is not the default), the file's device info (device &
1390 special files are created as empty text files), and any permission bits
1391 that we won't allow to be set on the real file (e.g. the real file gets
1392 u-s,g-s,o-t for safety) or that would limit the owner's access (since the
1393 real super-user can always access/change a file, the files we create can
1394 always be accessed/changed by the creating user). This option also handles
1395 ACLs (if `--acls` was specified) and non-user extended attributes (if
1396 `--xattrs` was specified).
1398 This is a good way to backup data without using a super-user, and to store
1399 ACLs from incompatible systems.
1401 The `--fake-super` option only affects the side where the option is used.
1402 To affect the remote side of a remote-shell connection, use the
1403 `--remote-option` (`-M`) option:
1405 > rsync -av -M--fake-super /src/ host:/dest/
1407 For a local copy, this option affects both the source and the destination.
1408 If you wish a local copy to enable this option just for the destination
1409 files, specify `-M--fake-super`. If you wish a local copy to enable this
1410 option just for the source files, combine `--fake-super` with `-M--super`.
1412 This option is overridden by both `--super` and `--no-super`.
1414 See also the "`fake super`" setting in the daemon's rsyncd.conf file.
1418 Try to handle sparse files efficiently so they take up less space on the
1419 destination. If combined with `--inplace` the file created might not end
1420 up with sparse blocks with some combinations of kernel version and/or
1421 filesystem type. If `--whole-file` is in effect (e.g. for a local copy)
1422 then it will always work because rsync truncates the file prior to writing
1423 out the updated version.
1425 Note that versions of rsync older than 3.1.3 will reject the combination of
1426 `--sparse` and `--inplace`.
1430 This tells the receiver to allocate each destination file to its eventual
1431 size before writing data to the file. Rsync will only use the real
1432 filesystem-level preallocation support provided by Linux's **fallocate**(2)
1433 system call or Cygwin's **posix_fallocate**(3), not the slow glibc
1434 implementation that writes a null byte into each block.
1436 Without this option, larger files may not be entirely contiguous on the
1437 filesystem, but with this option rsync will probably copy more slowly. If
1438 the destination is not an extent-supporting filesystem (such as ext4, xfs,
1439 NTFS, etc.), this option may have no positive effect at all.
1441 If combined with `--sparse`, the file will only have sparse blocks (as
1442 opposed to allocated sequences of null bytes) if the kernel version and
1443 filesystem type support creating holes in the allocated data.
1445 0. `--dry-run`, `-n`
1447 This makes rsync perform a trial run that doesn't make any changes (and
1448 produces mostly the same output as a real run). It is most commonly used
1449 in combination with the `--verbose`, `-v` and/or `--itemize-changes`, `-i`
1450 options to see what an rsync command is going to do before one actually
1453 The output of `--itemize-changes` is supposed to be exactly the same on a
1454 dry run and a subsequent real run (barring intentional trickery and system
1455 call failures); if it isn't, that's a bug. Other output should be mostly
1456 unchanged, but may differ in some areas. Notably, a dry run does not send
1457 the actual data for file transfers, so `--progress` has no effect, the
1458 "bytes sent", "bytes received", "literal data", and "matched data"
1459 statistics are too small, and the "speedup" value is equivalent to a run
1460 where no file transfers were needed.
1462 0. `--whole-file`, `-W`
1464 This option disables rsync's delta-transfer algorithm, which causes all
1465 transferred files to be sent whole. The transfer may be faster if this
1466 option is used when the bandwidth between the source and destination
1467 machines is higher than the bandwidth to disk (especially when the "disk"
1468 is actually a networked filesystem). This is the default when both the
1469 source and destination are specified as local paths, but only if no
1470 batch-writing option is in effect.
1472 0. `--checksum-choice=STR`, `--cc=STR`
1474 This option overrides the checksum algorithms. If one algorithm name is
1475 specified, it is used for both the transfer checksums and (assuming
1476 `--checksum` is specified) the pre-transfer checksums. If two
1477 comma-separated names are supplied, the first name affects the transfer
1478 checksums, and the second name affects the pre-transfer checksums (`-c`).
1480 The checksum options that you may be able to use are:
1482 - `auto` (the default automatic choice)
1485 - `xxh64` (aka `xxhash`)
1490 Run `rsync --version` to see the default checksum list compiled into your
1491 version (which may differ from the list above).
1493 If "none" is specified for the first (or only) name, the `--whole-file`
1494 option is forced on and no checksum verification is performed on the
1495 transferred data. If "none" is specified for the second (or only) name,
1496 the `--checksum` option cannot be used.
1498 The "auto" option is the default, where rsync bases its algorithm choice on
1499 a negotiation between the client and the server as follows:
1501 When both sides of the transfer are at least 3.2.0, rsync chooses the first
1502 algorithm in the client's list of choices that is also in the server's list
1503 of choices. If no common checksum choice is found, rsync exits with
1504 an error. If the remote rsync is too old to support checksum negotiation,
1505 a value is chosen based on the protocol version (which chooses between MD5
1506 and various flavors of MD4 based on protocol age).
1508 The default order can be customized by setting the environment variable
1509 RSYNC_CHECKSUM_LIST to a space-separated list of acceptable checksum names.
1510 If the string contains a "`&`" character, it is separated into the "client
1511 string & server string", otherwise the same string
1512 applies to both. If the string (or string portion) contains no
1513 non-whitespace characters, the default checksum list is used. This method
1514 does not allow you to specify the transfer checksum separately from the
1515 pre-transfer checksum, and it discards "auto" and all unknown checksum
1516 names. A list with only invalid names results in a failed negotiation.
1518 The use of the `--checksum-choice` option overrides this environment list.
1520 0. `--one-file-system`, `-x`
1522 This tells rsync to avoid crossing a filesystem boundary when recursing.
1523 This does not limit the user's ability to specify items to copy from
1524 multiple filesystems, just rsync's recursion through the hierarchy of each
1525 directory that the user specified, and also the analogous recursion on the
1526 receiving side during deletion. Also keep in mind that rsync treats a
1527 "bind" mount to the same device as being on the same filesystem.
1529 If this option is repeated, rsync omits all mount-point directories from
1530 the copy. Otherwise, it includes an empty directory at each mount-point it
1531 encounters (using the attributes of the mounted directory because those of
1532 the underlying mount-point directory are inaccessible).
1534 If rsync has been told to collapse symlinks (via `--copy-links` or
1535 `--copy-unsafe-links`), a symlink to a directory on another device is
1536 treated like a mount-point. Symlinks to non-directories are unaffected by
1539 0. `--existing`, `--ignore-non-existing`
1541 This tells rsync to skip creating files (including directories) that do not
1542 exist yet on the destination. If this option is combined with the
1543 `--ignore-existing` option, no files will be updated (which can be useful
1544 if all you want to do is delete extraneous files).
1546 This option is a transfer rule, not an exclude, so it doesn't affect the
1547 data that goes into the file-lists, and thus it doesn't affect deletions.
1548 It just limits the files that the receiver requests to be transferred.
1550 0. `--ignore-existing`
1552 This tells rsync to skip updating files that already exist on the
1553 destination (this does _not_ ignore existing directories, or nothing would
1554 get done). See also `--existing`.
1556 This option is a transfer rule, not an exclude, so it doesn't affect the
1557 data that goes into the file-lists, and thus it doesn't affect deletions.
1558 It just limits the files that the receiver requests to be transferred.
1560 This option can be useful for those doing backups using the `--link-dest`
1561 option when they need to continue a backup run that got interrupted. Since
1562 a `--link-dest` run is copied into a new directory hierarchy (when it is
1563 used properly), using `--ignore-existing` will ensure that the
1564 already-handled files don't get tweaked (which avoids a change in
1565 permissions on the hard-linked files). This does mean that this option is
1566 only looking at the existing files in the destination hierarchy itself.
1568 0. `--remove-source-files`
1570 This tells rsync to remove from the sending side the files (meaning
1571 non-directories) that are a part of the transfer and have been successfully
1572 duplicated on the receiving side.
1574 Note that you should only use this option on source files that are
1575 quiescent. If you are using this to move files that show up in a
1576 particular directory over to another host, make sure that the finished
1577 files get renamed into the source directory, not directly written into it,
1578 so that rsync can't possibly transfer a file that is not yet fully written.
1579 If you can't first write the files into a different directory, you should
1580 use a naming idiom that lets rsync avoid transferring files that are not
1581 yet finished (e.g. name the file "foo.new" when it is written, rename it to
1582 "foo" when it is done, and then use the option `--exclude='*.new'` for the
1585 Starting with 3.1.0, rsync will skip the sender-side removal (and output an
1586 error) if the file's size or modify time has not stayed unchanged.
1590 This tells rsync to delete extraneous files from the receiving side (ones
1591 that aren't on the sending side), but only for the directories that are
1592 being synchronized. You must have asked rsync to send the whole directory
1593 (e.g. "`dir`" or "`dir/`") without using a wildcard for the directory's
1594 contents (e.g. "`dir/*`") since the wildcard is expanded by the shell and
1595 rsync thus gets a request to transfer individual files, not the files'
1596 parent directory. Files that are excluded from the transfer are also
1597 excluded from being deleted unless you use the `--delete-excluded` option
1598 or mark the rules as only matching on the sending side (see the
1599 include/exclude modifiers in the FILTER RULES section).
1601 Prior to rsync 2.6.7, this option would have no effect unless `--recursive`
1602 was enabled. Beginning with 2.6.7, deletions will also occur when `--dirs`
1603 (`-d`) is enabled, but only for directories whose contents are being
1606 This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very good idea to
1607 first try a run using the `--dry-run` option (`-n`) to see what files are
1608 going to be deleted.
1610 If the sending side detects any I/O errors, then the deletion of any files
1611 at the destination will be automatically disabled. This is to prevent
1612 temporary filesystem failures (such as NFS errors) on the sending side from
1613 causing a massive deletion of files on the destination. You can override
1614 this with the `--ignore-errors` option.
1616 The `--delete` option may be combined with one of the --delete-WHEN options
1617 without conflict, as well as `--delete-excluded`. However, if none of the
1618 `--delete-WHEN` options are specified, rsync will choose the
1619 `--delete-during` algorithm when talking to rsync 3.0.0 or newer, and the
1620 `--delete-before` algorithm when talking to an older rsync. See also
1621 `--delete-delay` and `--delete-after`.
1623 0. `--delete-before`
1625 Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be done before the
1626 transfer starts. See `--delete` (which is implied) for more details on
1629 Deleting before the transfer is helpful if the filesystem is tight for
1630 space and removing extraneous files would help to make the transfer
1631 possible. However, it does introduce a delay before the start of the
1632 transfer, and this delay might cause the transfer to timeout (if
1633 `--timeout` was specified). It also forces rsync to use the old,
1634 non-incremental recursion algorithm that requires rsync to scan all the
1635 files in the transfer into memory at once (see `--recursive`).
1637 0. `--delete-during`, `--del`
1639 Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be done incrementally
1640 as the transfer happens. The per-directory delete scan is done right
1641 before each directory is checked for updates, so it behaves like a more
1642 efficient `--delete-before`, including doing the deletions prior to any
1643 per-directory filter files being updated. This option was first added in
1644 rsync version 2.6.4. See `--delete` (which is implied) for more details on
1649 Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be computed during
1650 the transfer (like `--delete-during`), and then removed after the transfer
1651 completes. This is useful when combined with `--delay-updates` and/or
1652 `--fuzzy`, and is more efficient than using `--delete-after` (but can
1653 behave differently, since `--delete-after` computes the deletions in a
1654 separate pass after all updates are done). If the number of removed files
1655 overflows an internal buffer, a temporary file will be created on the
1656 receiving side to hold the names (it is removed while open, so you
1657 shouldn't see it during the transfer). If the creation of the temporary
1658 file fails, rsync will try to fall back to using `--delete-after` (which it
1659 cannot do if `--recursive` is doing an incremental scan). See `--delete`
1660 (which is implied) for more details on file-deletion.
1664 Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be done after the
1665 transfer has completed. This is useful if you are sending new
1666 per-directory merge files as a part of the transfer and you want their
1667 exclusions to take effect for the delete phase of the current transfer. It
1668 also forces rsync to use the old, non-incremental recursion algorithm that
1669 requires rsync to scan all the files in the transfer into memory at once
1670 (see `--recursive`). See `--delete` (which is implied) for more details on
1673 0. `--delete-excluded`
1675 In addition to deleting the files on the receiving side that are not on the
1676 sending side, this tells rsync to also delete any files on the receiving
1677 side that are excluded (see `--exclude`). See the FILTER RULES section for
1678 a way to make individual exclusions behave this way on the receiver, and
1679 for a way to protect files from `--delete-excluded`. See `--delete` (which
1680 is implied) for more details on file-deletion.
1682 0. `--ignore-missing-args`
1684 When rsync is first processing the explicitly requested source files (e.g.
1685 command-line arguments or `--files-from` entries), it is normally an error
1686 if the file cannot be found. This option suppresses that error, and does
1687 not try to transfer the file. This does not affect subsequent
1688 vanished-file errors if a file was initially found to be present and later
1691 0. `--delete-missing-args`
1693 This option takes the behavior of (the implied) `--ignore-missing-args`
1694 option a step farther: each missing arg will become a deletion request of
1695 the corresponding destination file on the receiving side (should it exist).
1696 If the destination file is a non-empty directory, it will only be
1697 successfully deleted if `--force` or `--delete` are in effect. Other than
1698 that, this option is independent of any other type of delete processing.
1700 The missing source files are represented by special file-list entries which
1701 display as a "`*missing`" entry in the `--list-only` output.
1703 0. `--ignore-errors`
1705 Tells `--delete` to go ahead and delete files even when there are I/O
1710 This option tells rsync to delete a non-empty directory when it is to be
1711 replaced by a non-directory. This is only relevant if deletions are not
1712 active (see `--delete` for details).
1714 Note for older rsync versions: `--force` used to still be required when
1715 using `--delete-after`, and it used to be non-functional unless the
1716 `--recursive` option was also enabled.
1718 0. `--max-delete=NUM`
1720 This tells rsync not to delete more than NUM files or directories. If that
1721 limit is exceeded, all further deletions are skipped through the end of the
1722 transfer. At the end, rsync outputs a warning (including a count of the
1723 skipped deletions) and exits with an error code of 25 (unless some more
1724 important error condition also occurred).
1726 Beginning with version 3.0.0, you may specify `--max-delete=0` to be warned
1727 about any extraneous files in the destination without removing any of them.
1728 Older clients interpreted this as "unlimited", so if you don't know what
1729 version the client is, you can use the less obvious `--max-delete=-1` as a
1730 backward-compatible way to specify that no deletions be allowed (though
1731 really old versions didn't warn when the limit was exceeded).
1733 0. `--max-size=SIZE`
1735 This tells rsync to avoid transferring any file that is larger than the
1736 specified SIZE. A numeric value can be suffixed with a string to indicate
1737 the numeric units or left unqualified to specify bytes. Feel free to use a
1738 fractional value along with the units, such as `--max-size=1.5m`.
1740 This option is a transfer rule, not an exclude, so it doesn't affect the
1741 data that goes into the file-lists, and thus it doesn't affect deletions.
1742 It just limits the files that the receiver requests to be transferred.
1744 The first letter of a units string can be `B` (bytes), `K` (kilo), `M`
1745 (mega), `G` (giga), `T` (tera), or `P` (peta). If the string is a single
1746 char or has "ib" added to it (e.g. "G" or "GiB") then the units are
1747 multiples of 1024. If you use a two-letter suffix that ends with a "B"
1748 (e.g. "kb") then you get units that are multiples of 1000. The string's
1749 letters can be any mix of upper and lower-case that you want to use.
1751 Finally, if the string ends with either "+1" or "-1", it is offset by one
1752 byte in the indicated direction. The largest possible value is usually
1755 Examples: `--max-size=1.5mb-1` is 1499999 bytes, and `--max-size=2g+1` is
1758 Note that rsync versions prior to 3.1.0 did not allow `--max-size=0`.
1760 0. `--min-size=SIZE`
1762 This tells rsync to avoid transferring any file that is smaller than the
1763 specified SIZE, which can help in not transferring small, junk files. See
1764 the `--max-size` option for a description of SIZE and other information.
1766 Note that rsync versions prior to 3.1.0 did not allow `--min-size=0`.
1768 0. `--max-alloc=SIZE`
1770 By default rsync limits an individual malloc/realloc to about 1GB in size.
1771 For most people this limit works just fine and prevents a protocol error
1772 causing rsync to request massive amounts of memory. However, if you have
1773 many millions of files in a transfer, a large amount of server memory, and
1774 you don't want to split up your transfer into multiple parts, you can
1775 increase the per-allocation limit to something larger and rsync will
1776 consume more memory.
1778 Keep in mind that this is not a limit on the total size of allocated
1779 memory. It is a sanity-check value for each individual allocation.
1781 See the `--max-size` option for a description of how SIZE can be specified.
1782 The default suffix if none is given is bytes.
1784 Beginning in 3.2.3, a value of 0 specifies no limit.
1786 You can set a default value using the environment variable RSYNC_MAX_ALLOC
1787 using the same SIZE values as supported by this option. If the remote
1788 rsync doesn't understand the `--max-alloc` option, you can override an
1789 environmental value by specifying `--max-alloc=1g`, which will make rsync
1790 avoid sending the option to the remote side (because "1G" is the default).
1792 0. `--block-size=SIZE`, `-B`
1794 This forces the block size used in rsync's delta-transfer algorithm to a
1795 fixed value. It is normally selected based on the size of each file being
1796 updated. See the technical report for details.
1798 Beginning in 3.2.3 the SIZE can be specified with a suffix as detailed in
1799 the `--max-size` option. Older versions only accepted a byte count.
1801 0. `--rsh=COMMAND`, `-e`
1803 This option allows you to choose an alternative remote shell program to use
1804 for communication between the local and remote copies of rsync. Typically,
1805 rsync is configured to use ssh by default, but you may prefer to use rsh on
1808 If this option is used with `[user@]host::module/path`, then the remote
1809 shell _COMMAND_ will be used to run an rsync daemon on the remote host, and
1810 all data will be transmitted through that remote shell connection, rather
1811 than through a direct socket connection to a running rsync daemon on the
1812 remote host. See the section "USING RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A
1813 REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION" above.
1815 Beginning with rsync 3.2.0, the RSYNC_PORT environment variable will be set
1816 when a daemon connection is being made via a remote-shell connection. It
1817 is set to 0 if the default daemon port is being assumed, or it is set to
1818 the value of the rsync port that was specified via either the `--port`
1819 option or a non-empty port value in an rsync:// URL. This allows the
1820 script to discern if a non-default port is being requested, allowing for
1821 things such as an SSL or stunnel helper script to connect to a default or
1824 Command-line arguments are permitted in COMMAND provided that COMMAND is
1825 presented to rsync as a single argument. You must use spaces (not tabs or
1826 other whitespace) to separate the command and args from each other, and you
1827 can use single- and/or double-quotes to preserve spaces in an argument (but
1828 not backslashes). Note that doubling a single-quote inside a single-quoted
1829 string gives you a single-quote; likewise for double-quotes (though you
1830 need to pay attention to which quotes your shell is parsing and which
1831 quotes rsync is parsing). Some examples:
1834 > -e 'ssh -o "ProxyCommand nohup ssh firewall nc -w1 %h %p"'
1836 (Note that ssh users can alternately customize site-specific connect
1837 options in their .ssh/config file.)
1839 You can also choose the remote shell program using the RSYNC_RSH
1840 environment variable, which accepts the same range of values as `-e`.
1842 See also the `--blocking-io` option which is affected by this option.
1844 0. `--rsync-path=PROGRAM`
1846 Use this to specify what program is to be run on the remote machine to
1847 start-up rsync. Often used when rsync is not in the default remote-shell's
1848 path (e.g. `--rsync-path=/usr/local/bin/rsync`). Note that PROGRAM is run
1849 with the help of a shell, so it can be any program, script, or command
1850 sequence you'd care to run, so long as it does not corrupt the standard-in
1851 & standard-out that rsync is using to communicate.
1853 One tricky example is to set a different default directory on the remote
1854 machine for use with the `--relative` option. For instance:
1856 > rsync -avR --rsync-path="cd /a/b && rsync" host:c/d /e/
1858 0. `--remote-option=OPTION`, `-M`
1860 This option is used for more advanced situations where you want certain
1861 effects to be limited to one side of the transfer only. For instance, if
1862 you want to pass `--log-file=FILE` and `--fake-super` to the remote system,
1863 specify it like this:
1865 > rsync -av -M --log-file=foo -M--fake-super src/ dest/
1867 If you want to have an option affect only the local side of a transfer when
1868 it normally affects both sides, send its negation to the remote side. Like
1871 > rsync -av -x -M--no-x src/ dest/
1873 Be cautious using this, as it is possible to toggle an option that will
1874 cause rsync to have a different idea about what data to expect next over
1875 the socket, and that will make it fail in a cryptic fashion.
1877 Note that it is best to use a separate `--remote-option` for each option
1878 you want to pass. This makes your usage compatible with the
1879 `--protect-args` option. If that option is off, any spaces in your remote
1880 options will be split by the remote shell unless you take steps to protect
1883 When performing a local transfer, the "local" side is the sender and the
1884 "remote" side is the receiver.
1886 Note some versions of the popt option-parsing library have a bug in them
1887 that prevents you from using an adjacent arg with an equal in it next to a
1888 short option letter (e.g. `-M--log-file=/tmp/foo`). If this bug affects
1889 your version of popt, you can use the version of popt that is included with
1892 0. `--cvs-exclude`, `-C`
1894 This is a useful shorthand for excluding a broad range of files that you
1895 often don't want to transfer between systems. It uses a similar algorithm
1896 to CVS to determine if a file should be ignored.
1898 The exclude list is initialized to exclude the following items (these
1899 initial items are marked as perishable -- see the FILTER RULES section):
1901 [comment]: # (This list gets used for the default-cvsignore.h file.)
1940 then, files listed in a $HOME/.cvsignore are added to the list and any
1941 files listed in the CVSIGNORE environment variable (all cvsignore names are
1942 delimited by whitespace).
1944 Finally, any file is ignored if it is in the same directory as a .cvsignore
1945 file and matches one of the patterns listed therein. Unlike rsync's
1946 filter/exclude files, these patterns are split on whitespace. See the
1947 **cvs**(1) manual for more information.
1949 If you're combining `-C` with your own `--filter` rules, you should note
1950 that these CVS excludes are appended at the end of your own rules,
1951 regardless of where the `-C` was placed on the command-line. This makes
1952 them a lower priority than any rules you specified explicitly. If you want
1953 to control where these CVS excludes get inserted into your filter rules,
1954 you should omit the `-C` as a command-line option and use a combination of
1955 `--filter=:C` and `--filter=-C` (either on your command-line or by putting
1956 the ":C" and "-C" rules into a filter file with your other rules). The
1957 first option turns on the per-directory scanning for the .cvsignore file.
1958 The second option does a one-time import of the CVS excludes mentioned
1961 0. `--filter=RULE`, `-f`
1963 This option allows you to add rules to selectively exclude certain files
1964 from the list of files to be transferred. This is most useful in
1965 combination with a recursive transfer.
1967 You may use as many `--filter` options on the command line as you like to
1968 build up the list of files to exclude. If the filter contains whitespace,
1969 be sure to quote it so that the shell gives the rule to rsync as a single
1970 argument. The text below also mentions that you can use an underscore to
1971 replace the space that separates a rule from its arg.
1973 See the FILTER RULES section for detailed information on this option.
1977 The `-F` option is a shorthand for adding two `--filter` rules to your
1978 command. The first time it is used is a shorthand for this rule:
1980 > --filter='dir-merge /.rsync-filter'
1982 This tells rsync to look for per-directory .rsync-filter files that have
1983 been sprinkled through the hierarchy and use their rules to filter the
1984 files in the transfer. If `-F` is repeated, it is a shorthand for this
1987 > --filter='exclude .rsync-filter'
1989 This filters out the .rsync-filter files themselves from the transfer.
1991 See the FILTER RULES section for detailed information on how these options
1994 0. `--exclude=PATTERN`
1996 This option is a simplified form of the `--filter` option that defaults to
1997 an exclude rule and does not allow the full rule-parsing syntax of normal
2000 See the FILTER RULES section for detailed information on this option.
2002 0. `--exclude-from=FILE`
2004 This option is related to the `--exclude` option, but it specifies a FILE
2005 that contains exclude patterns (one per line). Blank lines in the file and
2006 lines starting with '`;`' or '`#`' are ignored. If _FILE_ is '`-`', the
2007 list will be read from standard input.
2009 0. `--include=PATTERN`
2011 This option is a simplified form of the `--filter` option that defaults to
2012 an include rule and does not allow the full rule-parsing syntax of normal
2015 See the FILTER RULES section for detailed information on this option.
2017 0. `--include-from=FILE`
2019 This option is related to the `--include` option, but it specifies a FILE
2020 that contains include patterns (one per line). Blank lines in the file and
2021 lines starting with '`;`' or '`#`' are ignored. If _FILE_ is '`-`', the
2022 list will be read from standard input.
2024 0. `--files-from=FILE`
2026 Using this option allows you to specify the exact list of files to transfer
2027 (as read from the specified FILE or '`-`' for standard input). It also
2028 tweaks the default behavior of rsync to make transferring just the
2029 specified files and directories easier:
2031 - The `--relative` (`-R`) option is implied, which preserves the path
2032 information that is specified for each item in the file (use
2033 `--no-relative` or `--no-R` if you want to turn that off).
2034 - The `--dirs` (`-d`) option is implied, which will create directories
2035 specified in the list on the destination rather than noisily skipping
2036 them (use `--no-dirs` or `--no-d` if you want to turn that off).
2037 - The `--archive` (`-a`) option's behavior does not imply `--recursive`
2038 (`-r`), so specify it explicitly, if you want it.
2039 - These side-effects change the default state of rsync, so the position of
2040 the `--files-from` option on the command-line has no bearing on how other
2041 options are parsed (e.g. `-a` works the same before or after
2042 `--files-from`, as does `--no-R` and all other options).
2044 The filenames that are read from the FILE are all relative to the source
2045 dir -- any leading slashes are removed and no ".." references are allowed
2046 to go higher than the source dir. For example, take this command:
2048 > rsync -a --files-from=/tmp/foo /usr remote:/backup
2050 If /tmp/foo contains the string "bin" (or even "/bin"), the /usr/bin
2051 directory will be created as /backup/bin on the remote host. If it
2052 contains "bin/" (note the trailing slash), the immediate contents of the
2053 directory would also be sent (without needing to be explicitly mentioned in
2054 the file -- this began in version 2.6.4). In both cases, if the `-r`
2055 option was enabled, that dir's entire hierarchy would also be transferred
2056 (keep in mind that `-r` needs to be specified explicitly with
2057 `--files-from`, since it is not implied by `-a`). Also note that the
2058 effect of the (enabled by default) `--relative` option is to duplicate only
2059 the path info that is read from the file -- it does not force the
2060 duplication of the source-spec path (/usr in this case).
2062 In addition, the `--files-from` file can be read from the remote host
2063 instead of the local host if you specify a "host:" in front of the file
2064 (the host must match one end of the transfer). As a short-cut, you can
2065 specify just a prefix of ":" to mean "use the remote end of the transfer".
2068 > rsync -a --files-from=:/path/file-list src:/ /tmp/copy
2070 This would copy all the files specified in the /path/file-list file that
2071 was located on the remote "src" host.
2073 If the `--iconv` and `--protect-args` options are specified and the
2074 `--files-from` filenames are being sent from one host to another, the
2075 filenames will be translated from the sending host's charset to the
2076 receiving host's charset.
2078 NOTE: sorting the list of files in the `--files-from` input helps rsync to
2079 be more efficient, as it will avoid re-visiting the path elements that are
2080 shared between adjacent entries. If the input is not sorted, some path
2081 elements (implied directories) may end up being scanned multiple times, and
2082 rsync will eventually unduplicate them after they get turned into file-list
2087 This tells rsync that the rules/filenames it reads from a file are
2088 terminated by a null ('\\0') character, not a NL, CR, or CR+LF. This
2089 affects `--exclude-from`, `--include-from`, `--files-from`, and any merged
2090 files specified in a `--filter` rule. It does not affect `--cvs-exclude`
2091 (since all names read from a .cvsignore file are split on whitespace).
2093 0. `--protect-args`, `-s`
2095 This option sends all filenames and most options to the remote rsync
2096 without allowing the remote shell to interpret them. This means that
2097 spaces are not split in names, and any non-wildcard special characters are
2098 not translated (such as `~`, `$`, `;`, `&`, etc.). Wildcards are expanded
2099 on the remote host by rsync (instead of the shell doing it).
2101 If you use this option with `--iconv`, the args related to the remote side
2102 will also be translated from the local to the remote character-set. The
2103 translation happens before wild-cards are expanded. See also the
2104 `--files-from` option.
2106 You may also control this option via the RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS environment
2107 variable. If this variable has a non-zero value, this option will be
2108 enabled by default, otherwise it will be disabled by default. Either state
2109 is overridden by a manually specified positive or negative version of this
2110 option (note that `--no-s` and `--no-protect-args` are the negative
2111 versions). Since this option was first introduced in 3.0.0, you'll need to
2112 make sure it's disabled if you ever need to interact with a remote rsync
2113 that is older than that.
2115 Rsync can also be configured (at build time) to have this option enabled by
2116 default (with is overridden by both the environment and the command-line).
2117 Run `rsync --version` to check if this is the case, as it will display
2118 "default protect-args" or "optional protect-args" depending on how it was
2121 This option will eventually become a new default setting at some
2122 as-yet-undetermined point in the future.
2124 0. `--copy-as=USER[:GROUP]`
2126 This option instructs rsync to use the USER and (if specified after a
2127 colon) the GROUP for the copy operations. This only works if the user that
2128 is running rsync has the ability to change users. If the group is not
2129 specified then the user's default groups are used.
2131 This option can help to reduce the risk of an rsync being run as root into
2132 or out of a directory that might have live changes happening to it and you
2133 want to make sure that root-level read or write actions of system files are
2134 not possible. While you could alternatively run all of rsync as the
2135 specified user, sometimes you need the root-level host-access credentials
2136 to be used, so this allows rsync to drop root for the copying part of the
2137 operation after the remote-shell or daemon connection is established.
2139 The option only affects one side of the transfer unless the transfer is
2140 local, in which case it affects both sides. Use the `--remote-option` to
2141 affect the remote side, such as `-M--copy-as=joe`. For a local transfer,
2142 the lsh (or lsh.sh) support file provides a local-shell helper script that
2143 can be used to allow a "localhost:" or "lh:" host-spec to be specified
2144 without needing to setup any remote shells, allowing you to specify remote
2145 options that affect the side of the transfer that is using the host-spec
2146 (and using hostname "lh" avoids the overriding of the remote directory to
2147 the user's home dir).
2149 For example, the following rsync writes the local files as user "joe":
2151 > sudo rsync -aiv --copy-as=joe host1:backups/joe/ /home/joe/
2153 This makes all files owned by user "joe", limits the groups to those that
2154 are available to that user, and makes it impossible for the joe user to do
2155 a timed exploit of the path to induce a change to a file that the joe user
2156 has no permissions to change.
2158 The following command does a local copy into the "dest/" dir as user "joe"
2159 (assumimg you've installed support/lsh into a dir on your $PATH):
2161 > sudo rsync -aive lsh -M--copy-as=joe src/ lh:dest/
2163 0. `--temp-dir=DIR`, `-T`
2165 This option instructs rsync to use DIR as a scratch directory when creating
2166 temporary copies of the files transferred on the receiving side. The
2167 default behavior is to create each temporary file in the same directory as
2168 the associated destination file. Beginning with rsync 3.1.1, the temp-file
2169 names inside the specified DIR will not be prefixed with an extra dot
2170 (though they will still have a random suffix added).
2172 This option is most often used when the receiving disk partition does not
2173 have enough free space to hold a copy of the largest file in the transfer.
2174 In this case (i.e. when the scratch directory is on a different disk
2175 partition), rsync will not be able to rename each received temporary file
2176 over the top of the associated destination file, but instead must copy it
2177 into place. Rsync does this by copying the file over the top of the
2178 destination file, which means that the destination file will contain
2179 truncated data during this copy. If this were not done this way (even if
2180 the destination file were first removed, the data locally copied to a
2181 temporary file in the destination directory, and then renamed into place)
2182 it would be possible for the old file to continue taking up disk space (if
2183 someone had it open), and thus there might not be enough room to fit the
2184 new version on the disk at the same time.
2186 If you are using this option for reasons other than a shortage of disk
2187 space, you may wish to combine it with the `--delay-updates` option, which
2188 will ensure that all copied files get put into subdirectories in the
2189 destination hierarchy, awaiting the end of the transfer. If you don't have
2190 enough room to duplicate all the arriving files on the destination
2191 partition, another way to tell rsync that you aren't overly concerned about
2192 disk space is to use the `--partial-dir` option with a relative path;
2193 because this tells rsync that it is OK to stash off a copy of a single file
2194 in a subdir in the destination hierarchy, rsync will use the partial-dir as
2195 a staging area to bring over the copied file, and then rename it into place
2196 from there. (Specifying a `--partial-dir` with an absolute path does not
2197 have this side-effect.)
2201 This option tells rsync that it should look for a basis file for any
2202 destination file that is missing. The current algorithm looks in the same
2203 directory as the destination file for either a file that has an identical
2204 size and modified-time, or a similarly-named file. If found, rsync uses
2205 the fuzzy basis file to try to speed up the transfer.
2207 If the option is repeated, the fuzzy scan will also be done in any matching
2208 alternate destination directories that are specified via `--compare-dest`,
2209 `--copy-dest`, or `--link-dest`.
2211 Note that the use of the `--delete` option might get rid of any potential
2212 fuzzy-match files, so either use `--delete-after` or specify some filename
2213 exclusions if you need to prevent this.
2215 0. `--compare-dest=DIR`
2217 This option instructs rsync to use _DIR_ on the destination machine as an
2218 additional hierarchy to compare destination files against doing transfers
2219 (if the files are missing in the destination directory). If a file is
2220 found in _DIR_ that is identical to the sender's file, the file will NOT be
2221 transferred to the destination directory. This is useful for creating a
2222 sparse backup of just files that have changed from an earlier backup. This
2223 option is typically used to copy into an empty (or newly created)
2226 Beginning in version 2.6.4, multiple `--compare-dest` directories may be
2227 provided, which will cause rsync to search the list in the order specified
2228 for an exact match. If a match is found that differs only in attributes, a
2229 local copy is made and the attributes updated. If a match is not found, a
2230 basis file from one of the _DIRs_ will be selected to try to speed up the
2233 If _DIR_ is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
2234 See also `--copy-dest` and `--link-dest`.
2236 NOTE: beginning with version 3.1.0, rsync will remove a file from a
2237 non-empty destination hierarchy if an exact match is found in one of the
2238 compare-dest hierarchies (making the end result more closely match a fresh
2241 0. `--copy-dest=DIR`
2243 This option behaves like `--compare-dest`, but rsync will also copy
2244 unchanged files found in _DIR_ to the destination directory using a local
2245 copy. This is useful for doing transfers to a new destination while
2246 leaving existing files intact, and then doing a flash-cutover when all
2247 files have been successfully transferred.
2249 Multiple `--copy-dest` directories may be provided, which will cause rsync
2250 to search the list in the order specified for an unchanged file. If a
2251 match is not found, a basis file from one of the _DIRs_ will be selected to
2252 try to speed up the transfer.
2254 If _DIR_ is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
2255 See also `--compare-dest` and `--link-dest`.
2257 0. `--link-dest=DIR`
2259 This option behaves like `--copy-dest`, but unchanged files are hard linked
2260 from _DIR_ to the destination directory. The files must be identical in
2261 all preserved attributes (e.g. permissions, possibly ownership) in order
2262 for the files to be linked together. An example:
2264 > rsync -av --link-dest=$PWD/prior_dir host:src_dir/ new_dir/
2266 If file's aren't linking, double-check their attributes. Also check if
2267 some attributes are getting forced outside of rsync's control, such a mount
2268 option that squishes root to a single user, or mounts a removable drive
2269 with generic ownership (such as OS X's "Ignore ownership on this volume"
2272 Beginning in version 2.6.4, multiple `--link-dest` directories may be
2273 provided, which will cause rsync to search the list in the order specified
2274 for an exact match (there is a limit of 20 such directories). If a match
2275 is found that differs only in attributes, a local copy is made and the
2276 attributes updated. If a match is not found, a basis file from one of the
2277 _DIRs_ will be selected to try to speed up the transfer.
2279 This option works best when copying into an empty destination hierarchy, as
2280 existing files may get their attributes tweaked, and that can affect
2281 alternate destination files via hard-links. Also, itemizing of changes can
2282 get a bit muddled. Note that prior to version 3.1.0, an
2283 alternate-directory exact match would never be found (nor linked into the
2284 destination) when a destination file already exists.
2286 Note that if you combine this option with `--ignore-times`, rsync will not
2287 link any files together because it only links identical files together as a
2288 substitute for transferring the file, never as an additional check after
2289 the file is updated.
2291 If _DIR_ is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
2292 See also `--compare-dest` and `--copy-dest`.
2294 Note that rsync versions prior to 2.6.1 had a bug that could prevent
2295 `--link-dest` from working properly for a non-super-user when `-o` was
2296 specified (or implied by `-a`). You can work-around this bug by avoiding
2297 the `-o` option when sending to an old rsync.
2299 0. `--compress`, `-z`
2301 With this option, rsync compresses the file data as it is sent to the
2302 destination machine, which reduces the amount of data being transmitted --
2303 something that is useful over a slow connection.
2305 Rsync supports multiple compression methods and will choose one for you
2306 unless you force the choice using the `--compress-choice` (`--zc`) option.
2308 Run `rsync --version` to see the default compress list compiled into your
2311 When both sides of the transfer are at least 3.2.0, rsync chooses the first
2312 algorithm in the client's list of choices that is also in the server's list
2313 of choices. If no common compress choice is found, rsync exits with
2314 an error. If the remote rsync is too old to support checksum negotiation,
2315 its list is assumed to be "zlib".
2317 The default order can be customized by setting the environment variable
2318 RSYNC_COMPRESS_LIST to a space-separated list of acceptable compression
2319 names. If the string contains a "`&`" character, it is separated into the
2320 "client string & server string", otherwise the same string applies to both.
2321 If the string (or string portion) contains no
2322 non-whitespace characters, the default compress list is used. Any unknown
2323 compression names are discarded from the list, but a list with only invalid
2324 names results in a failed negotiation.
2326 There are some older rsync versions that were configured to reject a `-z`
2327 option and require the use of `-zz` because their compression library was
2328 not compatible with the default zlib compression method. You can usually
2329 ignore this weirdness unless the rsync server complains and tells you to
2332 See also the `--skip-compress` option for the default list of file suffixes
2333 that will trasnferred with no (or minimal) compression.
2335 0. `--compress-choice=STR`, `--zc=STR`
2337 This option can be used to override the automatic negotiation of the
2338 compression algorithm that occurs when `--compress` is used. The option
2339 implies `--compress` unless "none" was specified, which instead implies
2342 The compression options that you may be able to use are:
2350 Run `rsync --version` to see the default compress list compiled into your
2351 version (which may differ from the list above).
2353 Note that if you see an error about an option named `--old-compress` or
2354 `--new-compress`, this is rsync trying to send the `--compress-choice=zlib`
2355 or `--compress-choice=zlibx` option in a backward-compatible manner that
2356 more rsync versions understand. This error indicates that the older rsync
2357 version on the server will not allow you to force the compression type.
2359 Note that the "zlibx" compression algorithm is just the "zlib" algorithm
2360 with matched data excluded from the compression stream (to try to make it
2361 more compatible with an external zlib implementation).
2363 0. `--compress-level=NUM`, `--zl=NUM`
2365 Explicitly set the compression level to use (see `--compress`, `-z`)
2366 instead of letting it default. The `--compress` option is implied as long
2367 as the level chosen is not a "don't compress" level for the compression
2368 algorithm that is in effect (e.g. zlib compression treats level 0 as
2371 The level values vary depending on the checksum in effect. Because rsync
2372 will negotiate a checksum choice by default (when the remote rsync is new
2373 enough), it can be good to combine this option with a `--compress-choice`
2374 (`--zc`) option unless you're sure of the choice in effect. For example:
2376 > rsync -aiv --zc=zstd --zl=22 host:src/ dest/
2378 For zlib & zlibx compression the valid values are from 1 to 9 with 6 being
2379 the default. Specifying 0 turns compression off, and specifying -1 chooses
2382 For zstd compression the valid values are from -131072 to 22 with 3 being
2383 the default. Specifying 0 chooses the default of 3.
2385 For lz4 compression there are no levels, so the value is always 0.
2387 If you specify a too-large or too-small value, the number is silently
2388 limited to a valid value. This allows you to specify something like
2389 `--zl=999999999` and be assured that you'll end up with the maximum
2390 compression level no matter what algorithm was chosen.
2392 If you want to know the compression level that is in effect, specify
2393 `--debug=nstr` to see the "negotiated string" results. This will report
2394 something like "`Client compress: zstd (level 3)`" (along with the checksum
2397 0. `--skip-compress=LIST`
2399 Override the list of file suffixes that will be compressed as little as
2400 possible. Rsync sets the compression level on a per-file basis based on
2401 the file's suffix. If the compression algorithm has an "off" level (such
2402 as zlib/zlibx) then no compression occurs for those files. Other
2403 algorithms that support changing the streaming level on-the-fly will have
2404 the level minimized to reduces the CPU usage as much as possible for a
2405 matching file. At this time, only zlib & zlibx compression support this
2406 changing of levels on a per-file basis.
2408 The **LIST** should be one or more file suffixes (without the dot) separated
2409 by slashes (`/`). You may specify an empty string to indicate that no files
2412 Simple character-class matching is supported: each must consist of a list
2413 of letters inside the square brackets (e.g. no special classes, such as
2414 "[:alpha:]", are supported, and '-' has no special meaning).
2416 The characters asterisk (`*`) and question-mark (`?`) have no special meaning.
2418 Here's an example that specifies 6 suffixes to skip (since 1 of the 5 rules
2419 matches 2 suffixes):
2421 > --skip-compress=gz/jpg/mp[34]/7z/bz2
2423 The default file suffixes in the skip-compress list in this version of
2426 [comment]: # (This list gets used for the default-dont-compress.h file.)
2489 This list will be replaced by your `--skip-compress` list in all but one
2490 situation: a copy from a daemon rsync will add your skipped suffixes to its
2491 list of non-compressing files (and its list may be configured to a
2496 With this option rsync will transfer numeric group and user IDs rather than
2497 using user and group names and mapping them at both ends.
2499 By default rsync will use the username and groupname to determine what
2500 ownership to give files. The special uid 0 and the special group 0 are
2501 never mapped via user/group names even if the `--numeric-ids` option is not
2504 If a user or group has no name on the source system or it has no match on
2505 the destination system, then the numeric ID from the source system is used
2506 instead. See also the comments on the "`use chroot`" setting in the
2507 rsyncd.conf manpage for information on how the chroot setting affects
2508 rsync's ability to look up the names of the users and groups and what you
2511 0. `--usermap=STRING`, `--groupmap=STRING`
2513 These options allow you to specify users and groups that should be mapped
2514 to other values by the receiving side. The **STRING** is one or more
2515 **FROM**:**TO** pairs of values separated by commas. Any matching **FROM**
2516 value from the sender is replaced with a **TO** value from the receiver.
2517 You may specify usernames or user IDs for the **FROM** and **TO** values,
2518 and the **FROM** value may also be a wild-card string, which will be
2519 matched against the sender's names (wild-cards do NOT match against ID
2520 numbers, though see below for why a '`*`' matches everything). You may
2521 instead specify a range of ID numbers via an inclusive range: LOW-HIGH.
2524 > --usermap=0-99:nobody,wayne:admin,*:normal --groupmap=usr:1,1:usr
2526 The first match in the list is the one that is used. You should specify
2527 all your user mappings using a single `--usermap` option, and/or all your
2528 group mappings using a single `--groupmap` option.
2530 Note that the sender's name for the 0 user and group are not transmitted to
2531 the receiver, so you should either match these values using a 0, or use the
2532 names in effect on the receiving side (typically "root"). All other
2533 **FROM** names match those in use on the sending side. All **TO** names
2534 match those in use on the receiving side.
2536 Any IDs that do not have a name on the sending side are treated as having
2537 an empty name for the purpose of matching. This allows them to be matched
2538 via a "`*`" or using an empty name. For instance:
2540 > --usermap=:nobody --groupmap=*:nobody
2542 When the `--numeric-ids` option is used, the sender does not send any
2543 names, so all the IDs are treated as having an empty name. This means that
2544 you will need to specify numeric **FROM** values if you want to map these
2545 nameless IDs to different values.
2547 For the `--usermap` option to have any effect, the `-o` (`--owner`) option
2548 must be used (or implied), and the receiver will need to be running as a
2549 super-user (see also the `--fake-super` option). For the `--groupmap`
2550 option to have any effect, the `-g` (`--groups`) option must be used (or
2551 implied), and the receiver will need to have permissions to set that group.
2553 0. `--chown=USER:GROUP`
2555 This option forces all files to be owned by USER with group GROUP. This is
2556 a simpler interface than using `--usermap` and `--groupmap` directly, but
2557 it is implemented using those options internally, so you cannot mix them.
2558 If either the USER or GROUP is empty, no mapping for the omitted user/group
2559 will occur. If GROUP is empty, the trailing colon may be omitted, but if
2560 USER is empty, a leading colon must be supplied.
2562 If you specify "`--chown=foo:bar`", this is exactly the same as specifying
2563 "`--usermap=*:foo --groupmap=*:bar`", only easier.
2565 0. `--timeout=SECONDS`
2567 This option allows you to set a maximum I/O timeout in seconds. If no data
2568 is transferred for the specified time then rsync will exit. The default is
2569 0, which means no timeout.
2571 0. `--contimeout=SECONDS`
2573 This option allows you to set the amount of time that rsync will wait for
2574 its connection to an rsync daemon to succeed. If the timeout is reached,
2575 rsync exits with an error.
2577 0. `--address=ADDRESS`
2579 By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address when connecting to an
2580 rsync daemon. The `--address` option allows you to specify a specific IP
2581 address (or hostname) to bind to. See also this option in the `--daemon`
2586 This specifies an alternate TCP port number to use rather than the default
2587 of 873. This is only needed if you are using the double-colon (::) syntax
2588 to connect with an rsync daemon (since the URL syntax has a way to specify
2589 the port as a part of the URL). See also this option in the `--daemon`
2592 0. `--sockopts=OPTIONS`
2594 This option can provide endless fun for people who like to tune their
2595 systems to the utmost degree. You can set all sorts of socket options
2596 which may make transfers faster (or slower!). Read the man page for the
2597 `setsockopt()` system call for details on some of the options you may be
2598 able to set. By default no special socket options are set. This only
2599 affects direct socket connections to a remote rsync daemon.
2601 This option also exists in the `--daemon` mode section.
2605 This tells rsync to use blocking I/O when launching a remote shell
2606 transport. If the remote shell is either rsh or remsh, rsync defaults to
2607 using blocking I/O, otherwise it defaults to using non-blocking I/O. (Note
2608 that ssh prefers non-blocking I/O.)
2612 This sets the output buffering mode. The mode can be None (aka
2613 Unbuffered), Line, or Block (aka Full). You may specify as little as a
2614 single letter for the mode, and use upper or lower case.
2616 The main use of this option is to change Full buffering to Line buffering
2617 when rsync's output is going to a file or pipe.
2619 0. `--itemize-changes`, `-i`
2621 Requests a simple itemized list of the changes that are being made to each
2622 file, including attribute changes. This is exactly the same as specifying
2623 `--out-format='%i %n%L'`. If you repeat the option, unchanged files will
2624 also be output, but only if the receiving rsync is at least version 2.6.7
2625 (you can use `-vv` with older versions of rsync, but that also turns on the
2626 output of other verbose messages).
2628 The "%i" escape has a cryptic output that is 11 letters long. The general
2629 format is like the string `YXcstpoguax`, where **Y** is replaced by the type
2630 of update being done, **X** is replaced by the file-type, and the other
2631 letters represent attributes that may be output if they are being modified.
2633 The update types that replace the **Y** are as follows:
2635 - A `<` means that a file is being transferred to the remote host (sent).
2636 - A `>` means that a file is being transferred to the local host
2638 - A `c` means that a local change/creation is occurring for the item (such
2639 as the creation of a directory or the changing of a symlink, etc.).
2640 - A `h` means that the item is a hard link to another item (requires
2642 - A `.` means that the item is not being updated (though it might have
2643 attributes that are being modified).
2644 - A `*` means that the rest of the itemized-output area contains a message
2647 The file-types that replace the **X** are: `f` for a file, a `d` for a
2648 directory, an `L` for a symlink, a `D` for a device, and a `S` for a
2649 special file (e.g. named sockets and fifos).
2651 The other letters in the string indicate if some attributes of the file
2652 have changed, as follows:
2654 - "`.`" - the attribute is unchanged.
2655 - "`+`" - the file is newly created.
2656 - "`Â `" - all the attributes are unchanged (all dots turn to spaces).
2657 - "`?`" - the change is unknown (when the remote rsync is old).
2658 - A letter indicates an attribute is being updated.
2660 The attribute that is associated with each letter is as follows:
2662 - A `c` means either that a regular file has a different checksum (requires
2663 `--checksum`) or that a symlink, device, or special file has a changed
2664 value. Note that if you are sending files to an rsync prior to 3.0.1,
2665 this change flag will be present only for checksum-differing regular
2667 - A `s` means the size of a regular file is different and will be updated
2668 by the file transfer.
2669 - A `t` means the modification time is different and is being updated to
2670 the sender's value (requires `--times`). An alternate value of `T` means
2671 that the modification time will be set to the transfer time, which
2672 happens when a file/symlink/device is updated without `--times` and when
2673 a symlink is changed and the receiver can't set its time. (Note: when
2674 using an rsync 3.0.0 client, you might see the `s` flag combined with `t`
2675 instead of the proper `T` flag for this time-setting failure.)
2676 - A `p` means the permissions are different and are being updated to the
2677 sender's value (requires `--perms`).
2678 - An `o` means the owner is different and is being updated to the sender's
2679 value (requires `--owner` and super-user privileges).
2680 - A `g` means the group is different and is being updated to the sender's
2681 value (requires `--group` and the authority to set the group).
2682 - A `u`|`n`|`b` indicates the following information: `u` means the access
2683 (use) time is different and is being updated to the sender's value
2684 (requires `--atimes`); `n` means the create time (newness) is different
2685 and is being updated to the sender's value (requires `--crtimes`); `b`
2686 means that both the access and create times are being updated.
2687 - The `a` means that the ACL information is being changed.
2688 - The `x` means that the extended attribute information is being changed.
2690 One other output is possible: when deleting files, the "%i" will output the
2691 string "`*deleting`" for each item that is being removed (assuming that you
2692 are talking to a recent enough rsync that it logs deletions instead of
2693 outputting them as a verbose message).
2695 0. `--out-format=FORMAT`
2697 This allows you to specify exactly what the rsync client outputs to the
2698 user on a per-update basis. The format is a text string containing
2699 embedded single-character escape sequences prefixed with a percent (%)
2700 character. A default format of "%n%L" is assumed if either `--info=name`
2701 or `-v` is specified (this tells you just the name of the file and, if the
2702 item is a link, where it points). For a full list of the possible escape
2703 characters, see the "`log format`" setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage.
2705 Specifying the `--out-format` option implies the `--info=name` option,
2706 which will mention each file, dir, etc. that gets updated in a significant
2707 way (a transferred file, a recreated symlink/device, or a touched
2708 directory). In addition, if the itemize-changes escape (%i) is included in
2709 the string (e.g. if the `--itemize-changes` option was used), the logging
2710 of names increases to mention any item that is changed in any way (as long
2711 as the receiving side is at least 2.6.4). See the `--itemize-changes`
2712 option for a description of the output of "%i".
2714 Rsync will output the out-format string prior to a file's transfer unless
2715 one of the transfer-statistic escapes is requested, in which case the
2716 logging is done at the end of the file's transfer. When this late logging
2717 is in effect and `--progress` is also specified, rsync will also output the
2718 name of the file being transferred prior to its progress information
2719 (followed, of course, by the out-format output).
2721 0. `--log-file=FILE`
2723 This option causes rsync to log what it is doing to a file. This is
2724 similar to the logging that a daemon does, but can be requested for the
2725 client side and/or the server side of a non-daemon transfer. If specified
2726 as a client option, transfer logging will be enabled with a default format
2727 of "%i %n%L". See the `--log-file-format` option if you wish to override
2730 Here's a example command that requests the remote side to log what is
2733 > rsync -av --remote-option=--log-file=/tmp/rlog src/ dest/
2735 This is very useful if you need to debug why a connection is closing
2738 0. `--log-file-format=FORMAT`
2740 This allows you to specify exactly what per-update logging is put into the
2741 file specified by the `--log-file` option (which must also be specified for
2742 this option to have any effect). If you specify an empty string, updated
2743 files will not be mentioned in the log file. For a list of the possible
2744 escape characters, see the "`log format`" setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage.
2746 The default FORMAT used if `--log-file` is specified and this option is not
2751 This tells rsync to print a verbose set of statistics on the file transfer,
2752 allowing you to tell how effective rsync's delta-transfer algorithm is for
2753 your data. This option is equivalent to `--info=stats2` if combined with 0
2754 or 1 `-v` options, or `--info=stats3` if combined with 2 or more `-v`
2757 The current statistics are as follows:
2759 - `Number of files` is the count of all "files" (in the generic sense),
2760 which includes directories, symlinks, etc. The total count will be
2761 followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero). For
2762 example: "(reg: 5, dir: 3, link: 2, dev: 1, special: 1)" lists the totals
2763 for regular files, directories, symlinks, devices, and special files. If
2764 any of value is 0, it is completely omitted from the list.
2765 - `Number of created files` is the count of how many "files" (generic
2766 sense) were created (as opposed to updated). The total count will be
2767 followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero).
2768 - `Number of deleted files` is the count of how many "files" (generic
2769 sense) were created (as opposed to updated). The total count will be
2770 followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero).
2771 Note that this line is only output if deletions are in effect, and only
2772 if protocol 31 is being used (the default for rsync 3.1.x).
2773 - `Number of regular files transferred` is the count of normal files that
2774 were updated via rsync's delta-transfer algorithm, which does not include
2775 dirs, symlinks, etc. Note that rsync 3.1.0 added the word "regular" into
2777 - `Total file size` is the total sum of all file sizes in the transfer.
2778 This does not count any size for directories or special files, but does
2779 include the size of symlinks.
2780 - `Total transferred file size` is the total sum of all files sizes for
2781 just the transferred files.
2782 - `Literal data` is how much unmatched file-update data we had to send to
2783 the receiver for it to recreate the updated files.
2784 - `Matched data` is how much data the receiver got locally when recreating
2786 - `File list size` is how big the file-list data was when the sender sent
2787 it to the receiver. This is smaller than the in-memory size for the file
2788 list due to some compressing of duplicated data when rsync sends the
2790 - `File list generation time` is the number of seconds that the sender
2791 spent creating the file list. This requires a modern rsync on the
2792 sending side for this to be present.
2793 - `File list transfer time` is the number of seconds that the sender spent
2794 sending the file list to the receiver.
2795 - `Total bytes sent` is the count of all the bytes that rsync sent from the
2796 client side to the server side.
2797 - `Total bytes received` is the count of all non-message bytes that rsync
2798 received by the client side from the server side. "Non-message" bytes
2799 means that we don't count the bytes for a verbose message that the server
2800 sent to us, which makes the stats more consistent.
2802 0. `--8-bit-output`, `-8`
2804 This tells rsync to leave all high-bit characters unescaped in the output
2805 instead of trying to test them to see if they're valid in the current
2806 locale and escaping the invalid ones. All control characters (but never
2807 tabs) are always escaped, regardless of this option's setting.
2809 The escape idiom that started in 2.6.7 is to output a literal backslash
2810 (`\`) and a hash (`#`), followed by exactly 3 octal digits. For example, a
2811 newline would output as "`\#012`". A literal backslash that is in a
2812 filename is not escaped unless it is followed by a hash and 3 digits (0-9).
2814 0. `--human-readable`, `-h`
2816 Output numbers in a more human-readable format. There are 3 possible
2817 levels: (1) output numbers with a separator between each set of 3 digits
2818 (either a comma or a period, depending on if the decimal point is
2819 represented by a period or a comma); (2) output numbers in units of 1000
2820 (with a character suffix for larger units -- see below); (3) output
2821 numbers in units of 1024.
2823 The default is human-readable level 1. Each `-h` option increases the
2824 level by one. You can take the level down to 0 (to output numbers as pure
2825 digits) by specifying the `--no-human-readable` (`--no-h`) option.
2827 The unit letters that are appended in levels 2 and 3 are: `K` (kilo), `M`
2828 (mega), `G` (giga), `T` (tera), or `P` (peta). For example, a 1234567-byte
2829 file would output as 1.23M in level-2 (assuming that a period is your local
2832 Backward compatibility note: versions of rsync prior to 3.1.0 do not
2833 support human-readable level 1, and they default to level 0. Thus,
2834 specifying one or two `-h` options will behave in a comparable manner in
2835 old and new versions as long as you didn't specify a `--no-h` option prior
2836 to one or more `-h` options. See the `--list-only` option for one
2841 By default, rsync will delete any partially transferred file if the
2842 transfer is interrupted. In some circumstances it is more desirable to
2843 keep partially transferred files. Using the `--partial` option tells rsync
2844 to keep the partial file which should make a subsequent transfer of the
2845 rest of the file much faster.
2847 0. `--partial-dir=DIR`
2849 A better way to keep partial files than the `--partial` option is to
2850 specify a _DIR_ that will be used to hold the partial data (instead of
2851 writing it out to the destination file). On the next transfer, rsync will
2852 use a file found in this dir as data to speed up the resumption of the
2853 transfer and then delete it after it has served its purpose.
2855 Note that if `--whole-file` is specified (or implied), any partial-dir file
2856 that is found for a file that is being updated will simply be removed
2857 (since rsync is sending files without using rsync's delta-transfer
2860 Rsync will create the _DIR_ if it is missing (just the last dir -- not the
2861 whole path). This makes it easy to use a relative path (such as
2862 "`--partial-dir=.rsync-partial`") to have rsync create the
2863 partial-directory in the destination file's directory when needed, and then
2864 remove it again when the partial file is deleted. Note that the directory
2865 is only removed if it is a relative pathname, as it is expected that an
2866 absolute path is to a directory that is reserved for partial-dir work.
2868 If the partial-dir value is not an absolute path, rsync will add an exclude
2869 rule at the end of all your existing excludes. This will prevent the
2870 sending of any partial-dir files that may exist on the sending side, and
2871 will also prevent the untimely deletion of partial-dir items on the
2872 receiving side. An example: the above `--partial-dir` option would add the
2873 equivalent of "`-f '-p .rsync-partial/'`" at the end of any other filter
2876 If you are supplying your own exclude rules, you may need to add your own
2877 exclude/hide/protect rule for the partial-dir because (1) the auto-added
2878 rule may be ineffective at the end of your other rules, or (2) you may wish
2879 to override rsync's exclude choice. For instance, if you want to make
2880 rsync clean-up any left-over partial-dirs that may be lying around, you
2881 should specify `--delete-after` and add a "risk" filter rule, e.g.
2882 `-f 'R .rsync-partial/'`. (Avoid using `--delete-before` or
2883 `--delete-during` unless you don't need rsync to use any of the left-over
2884 partial-dir data during the current run.)
2886 IMPORTANT: the `--partial-dir` should not be writable by other users or it
2887 is a security risk. E.g. AVOID "/tmp".
2889 You can also set the partial-dir value the RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR environment
2890 variable. Setting this in the environment does not force `--partial` to be
2891 enabled, but rather it affects where partial files go when `--partial` is
2892 specified. For instance, instead of using `--partial-dir=.rsync-tmp` along
2893 with `--progress`, you could set RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR=.rsync-tmp in your
2894 environment and then just use the `-P` option to turn on the use of the
2895 .rsync-tmp dir for partial transfers. The only times that the `--partial`
2896 option does not look for this environment value are (1) when `--inplace`
2897 was specified (since `--inplace` conflicts with `--partial-dir`), and (2)
2898 when `--delay-updates` was specified (see below).
2900 When a modern rsync resumes the transfer of a file in the partial-dir, that
2901 partial file is now updated in-place instead of creating yet another
2902 tmp-file copy (so it maxes out at dest + tmp instead of dest + partial +
2903 tmp). This requires both ends of the transfer to be at least version
2906 For the purposes of the daemon-config's "`refuse options`" setting,
2907 `--partial-dir` does _not_ imply `--partial`. This is so that a refusal of
2908 the `--partial` option can be used to disallow the overwriting of
2909 destination files with a partial transfer, while still allowing the safer
2910 idiom provided by `--partial-dir`.
2912 0. `--delay-updates`
2914 This option puts the temporary file from each updated file into a holding
2915 directory until the end of the transfer, at which time all the files are
2916 renamed into place in rapid succession. This attempts to make the updating
2917 of the files a little more atomic. By default the files are placed into a
2918 directory named `.~tmp~` in each file's destination directory, but if
2919 you've specified the `--partial-dir` option, that directory will be used
2920 instead. See the comments in the `--partial-dir` section for a discussion
2921 of how this `.~tmp~` dir will be excluded from the transfer, and what you
2922 can do if you want rsync to cleanup old `.~tmp~` dirs that might be lying
2923 around. Conflicts with `--inplace` and `--append`.
2925 This option uses more memory on the receiving side (one bit per file
2926 transferred) and also requires enough free disk space on the receiving side
2927 to hold an additional copy of all the updated files. Note also that you
2928 should not use an absolute path to `--partial-dir` unless (1) there is no
2929 chance of any of the files in the transfer having the same name (since all
2930 the updated files will be put into a single directory if the path is
2931 absolute) and (2) there are no mount points in the hierarchy (since the
2932 delayed updates will fail if they can't be renamed into place).
2934 See also the "atomic-rsync" perl script in the "support" subdir for an
2935 update algorithm that is even more atomic (it uses `--link-dest` and a
2936 parallel hierarchy of files).
2938 0. `--prune-empty-dirs`, `-m`
2940 This option tells the receiving rsync to get rid of empty directories from
2941 the file-list, including nested directories that have no non-directory
2942 children. This is useful for avoiding the creation of a bunch of useless
2943 directories when the sending rsync is recursively scanning a hierarchy of
2944 files using include/exclude/filter rules.
2946 Note that the use of transfer rules, such as the `--min-size` option, does
2947 not affect what goes into the file list, and thus does not leave
2948 directories empty, even if none of the files in a directory match the
2951 Because the file-list is actually being pruned, this option also affects
2952 what directories get deleted when a delete is active. However, keep in
2953 mind that excluded files and directories can prevent existing items from
2954 being deleted due to an exclude both hiding source files and protecting
2955 destination files. See the perishable filter-rule option for how to avoid
2958 You can prevent the pruning of certain empty directories from the file-list
2959 by using a global "protect" filter. For instance, this option would ensure
2960 that the directory "emptydir" was kept in the file-list:
2962 > --filter 'protect emptydir/'
2964 Here's an example that copies all .pdf files in a hierarchy, only creating
2965 the necessary destination directories to hold the .pdf files, and ensures
2966 that any superfluous files and directories in the destination are removed
2967 (note the hide filter of non-directories being used instead of an exclude):
2969 > rsync -avm --del --include='*.pdf' -f 'hide,! */' src/ dest
2971 If you didn't want to remove superfluous destination files, the more
2972 time-honored options of `--include='*/' --exclude='*'` would work
2973 fine in place of the hide-filter (if that is more natural to you).
2977 This option tells rsync to print information showing the progress of the
2978 transfer. This gives a bored user something to watch. With a modern rsync
2979 this is the same as specifying `--info=flist2,name,progress`, but any
2980 user-supplied settings for those info flags takes precedence (e.g.
2981 "`--info=flist0 --progress`").
2983 While rsync is transferring a regular file, it updates a progress line that
2986 > 782448 63% 110.64kB/s 0:00:04
2988 In this example, the receiver has reconstructed 782448 bytes or 63% of the
2989 sender's file, which is being reconstructed at a rate of 110.64 kilobytes
2990 per second, and the transfer will finish in 4 seconds if the current rate
2991 is maintained until the end.
2993 These statistics can be misleading if rsync's delta-transfer algorithm is
2994 in use. For example, if the sender's file consists of the basis file
2995 followed by additional data, the reported rate will probably drop
2996 dramatically when the receiver gets to the literal data, and the transfer
2997 will probably take much longer to finish than the receiver estimated as it
2998 was finishing the matched part of the file.
3000 When the file transfer finishes, rsync replaces the progress line with a
3001 summary line that looks like this:
3003 > 1,238,099 100% 146.38kB/s 0:00:08 (xfr#5, to-chk=169/396)
3005 In this example, the file was 1,238,099 bytes long in total, the average
3006 rate of transfer for the whole file was 146.38 kilobytes per second over
3007 the 8 seconds that it took to complete, it was the 5th transfer of a
3008 regular file during the current rsync session, and there are 169 more files
3009 for the receiver to check (to see if they are up-to-date or not) remaining
3010 out of the 396 total files in the file-list.
3012 In an incremental recursion scan, rsync won't know the total number of
3013 files in the file-list until it reaches the ends of the scan, but since it
3014 starts to transfer files during the scan, it will display a line with the
3015 text "ir-chk" (for incremental recursion check) instead of "to-chk" until
3016 the point that it knows the full size of the list, at which point it will
3017 switch to using "to-chk". Thus, seeing "ir-chk" lets you know that the
3018 total count of files in the file list is still going to increase (and each
3019 time it does, the count of files left to check will increase by the number
3020 of the files added to the list).
3024 The `-P` option is equivalent to `--partial --progress`. Its purpose is
3025 to make it much easier to specify these two options for a long transfer
3026 that may be interrupted.
3028 There is also a `--info=progress2` option that outputs statistics based on
3029 the whole transfer, rather than individual files. Use this flag without
3030 outputting a filename (e.g. avoid `-v` or specify `--info=name0`) if you
3031 want to see how the transfer is doing without scrolling the screen with a
3032 lot of names. (You don't need to specify the `--progress` option in order
3033 to use `--info=progress2`.)
3035 Finally, you can get an instant progress report by sending rsync a signal
3036 of either SIGINFO or SIGVTALRM. On BSD systems, a SIGINFO is generated by
3037 typing a Ctrl+T (Linux doesn't currently support a SIGINFO signal). When
3038 the client-side process receives one of those signals, it sets a flag to
3039 output a single progress report which is output when the current file
3040 transfer finishes (so it may take a little time if a big file is being
3041 handled when the signal arrives). A filename is output (if needed)
3042 followed by the `--info=progress2` format of progress info. If you don't
3043 know which of the 3 rsync processes is the client process, it's OK to
3044 signal all of them (since the non-client processes ignore the signal).
3046 CAUTION: sending SIGVTALRM to an older rsync (pre-3.2.0) will kill it.
3048 0. `--password-file=FILE`
3050 This option allows you to provide a password for accessing an rsync daemon
3051 via a file or via standard input if **FILE** is `-`. The file should
3052 contain just the password on the first line (all other lines are ignored).
3053 Rsync will exit with an error if **FILE** is world readable or if a
3054 root-run rsync command finds a non-root-owned file.
3056 This option does not supply a password to a remote shell transport such as
3057 ssh; to learn how to do that, consult the remote shell's documentation.
3058 When accessing an rsync daemon using a remote shell as the transport, this
3059 option only comes into effect after the remote shell finishes its
3060 authentication (i.e. if you have also specified a password in the daemon's
3063 0. `--early-input=FILE`
3065 This option allows rsync to send up to 5K of data to the "early exec"
3066 script on its stdin. One possible use of this data is to give the script a
3067 secret that can be used to mount an encrypted filesystem (which you should
3068 unmount in the the "post-xfer exec" script).
3070 The daemon must be at least version 3.2.1.
3074 This option will cause the source files to be listed instead of
3075 transferred. This option is inferred if there is a single source arg and
3076 no destination specified, so its main uses are: (1) to turn a copy command
3077 that includes a destination arg into a file-listing command, or (2) to be
3078 able to specify more than one source arg (note: be sure to include the
3079 destination). Caution: keep in mind that a source arg with a wild-card is
3080 expanded by the shell into multiple args, so it is never safe to try to
3081 list such an arg without using this option. For example:
3083 > rsync -av --list-only foo* dest/
3085 Starting with rsync 3.1.0, the sizes output by `--list-only` are affected
3086 by the `--human-readable` option. By default they will contain digit
3087 separators, but higher levels of readability will output the sizes with
3088 unit suffixes. Note also that the column width for the size output has
3089 increased from 11 to 14 characters for all human-readable levels. Use
3090 `--no-h` if you want just digits in the sizes, and the old column width of
3093 Compatibility note: when requesting a remote listing of files from an rsync
3094 that is version 2.6.3 or older, you may encounter an error if you ask for a
3095 non-recursive listing. This is because a file listing implies the `--dirs`
3096 option w/o `--recursive`, and older rsyncs don't have that option. To
3097 avoid this problem, either specify the `--no-dirs` option (if you don't
3098 need to expand a directory's content), or turn on recursion and exclude the
3099 content of subdirectories: `-r --exclude='/*/*'`.
3103 This option allows you to specify the maximum transfer rate for the data
3104 sent over the socket, specified in units per second. The RATE value can be
3105 suffixed with a string to indicate a size multiplier, and may be a
3106 fractional value (e.g. "`--bwlimit=1.5m`"). If no suffix is specified, the
3107 value will be assumed to be in units of 1024 bytes (as if "K" or "KiB" had
3108 been appended). See the `--max-size` option for a description of all the
3109 available suffixes. A value of 0 specifies no limit.
3111 For backward-compatibility reasons, the rate limit will be rounded to the
3112 nearest KiB unit, so no rate smaller than 1024 bytes per second is
3115 Rsync writes data over the socket in blocks, and this option both limits
3116 the size of the blocks that rsync writes, and tries to keep the average
3117 transfer rate at the requested limit. Some burstiness may be seen where
3118 rsync writes out a block of data and then sleeps to bring the average rate
3121 Due to the internal buffering of data, the `--progress` option may not be
3122 an accurate reflection on how fast the data is being sent. This is because
3123 some files can show up as being rapidly sent when the data is quickly
3124 buffered, while other can show up as very slow when the flushing of the
3125 output buffer occurs. This may be fixed in a future version.
3127 0. `--stop-after=MINS
3129 This option tells rsync to stop copying when the specified number of
3130 minutes has elapsed.
3132 Rsync also accepts an earlier version of this option: `--time-limit=MINS`.
3134 For maximal flexibility, rsync does not communicate this option to the
3135 remote rsync since it is usually enough that one side of the connection
3136 quits as specified. This allows the option's use even when only one side
3137 of the connection supports it. You can tell the remote side about the time
3138 limit using `--remote-option` (`-M`), should the need arise.
3140 0. `--stop-at=y-m-dTh:m
3142 This option tells rsync to stop copying when the specified point in time
3143 has been reached. The date & time can be fully specified in a numeric
3144 format of year-month-dayThour:minute (e.g. 2000-12-31T23:59) in the local
3145 timezone. You may choose to separate the date numbers using slashes
3148 The value can also be abbreviated in a variety of ways, such as specifying
3149 a 2-digit year and/or leaving off various values. In all cases, the value
3150 will be taken to be the next possible point in time where the supplied
3151 information matches. If the value specifies the current time or a past
3152 time, rsync exits with an error.
3154 For example, "1-30" specifies the next January 30th (at midnight local
3155 time), "14:00" specifies the next 2 P.M., "1" specifies the next 1st of the
3156 month at midnight, "31" specifies the next month where we can stop on its
3157 31st day, and ":59" specifies the next 59th minute after the hour.
3159 For maximal flexibility, rsync does not communicate this option to the
3160 remote rsync since it is usually enough that one side of the connection
3161 quits as specified. This allows the option's use even when only one side
3162 of the connection supports it. You can tell the remote side about the time
3163 limit using `--remote-option` (`-M`), should the need arise. Do keep in
3164 mind that the remote host may have a different default timezone than your
3167 0. `--write-batch=FILE`
3169 Record a file that can later be applied to another identical destination
3170 with `--read-batch`. See the "BATCH MODE" section for details, and also
3171 the `--only-write-batch` option.
3173 This option overrides the negotiated checksum & compress lists and always
3174 negotiates a choice based on old-school md5/md4/zlib choices. If you want
3175 a more modern choice, use the `--checksum-choice` (`--cc`) and/or
3176 `--compress-choice` (`--zc`) options.
3178 0. `--only-write-batch=FILE`
3180 Works like `--write-batch`, except that no updates are made on the
3181 destination system when creating the batch. This lets you transport the
3182 changes to the destination system via some other means and then apply the
3183 changes via `--read-batch`.
3185 Note that you can feel free to write the batch directly to some portable
3186 media: if this media fills to capacity before the end of the transfer, you
3187 can just apply that partial transfer to the destination and repeat the
3188 whole process to get the rest of the changes (as long as you don't mind a
3189 partially updated destination system while the multi-update cycle is
3192 Also note that you only save bandwidth when pushing changes to a remote
3193 system because this allows the batched data to be diverted from the sender
3194 into the batch file without having to flow over the wire to the receiver
3195 (when pulling, the sender is remote, and thus can't write the batch).
3197 0. `--read-batch=FILE`
3199 Apply all of the changes stored in FILE, a file previously generated by
3200 `--write-batch`. If _FILE_ is `-`, the batch data will be read from
3201 standard input. See the "BATCH MODE" section for details.
3205 Force an older protocol version to be used. This is useful for creating a
3206 batch file that is compatible with an older version of rsync. For
3207 instance, if rsync 2.6.4 is being used with the `--write-batch` option, but
3208 rsync 2.6.3 is what will be used to run the `--read-batch` option, you
3209 should use "--protocol=28" when creating the batch file to force the older
3210 protocol version to be used in the batch file (assuming you can't upgrade
3211 the rsync on the reading system).
3213 0. `--iconv=CONVERT_SPEC`
3215 Rsync can convert filenames between character sets using this option.
3216 Using a CONVERT_SPEC of "." tells rsync to look up the default
3217 character-set via the locale setting. Alternately, you can fully specify
3218 what conversion to do by giving a local and a remote charset separated by a
3219 comma in the order `--iconv=LOCAL,REMOTE`, e.g. `--iconv=utf8,iso88591`.
3220 This order ensures that the option will stay the same whether you're
3221 pushing or pulling files. Finally, you can specify either `--no-iconv` or
3222 a CONVERT_SPEC of "-" to turn off any conversion. The default setting of
3223 this option is site-specific, and can also be affected via the RSYNC_ICONV
3224 environment variable.
3226 For a list of what charset names your local iconv library supports, you can
3227 run "`iconv --list`".
3229 If you specify the `--protect-args` option (`-s`), rsync will translate the
3230 filenames you specify on the command-line that are being sent to the remote
3231 host. See also the `--files-from` option.
3233 Note that rsync does not do any conversion of names in filter files
3234 (including include/exclude files). It is up to you to ensure that you're
3235 specifying matching rules that can match on both sides of the transfer.
3236 For instance, you can specify extra include/exclude rules if there are
3237 filename differences on the two sides that need to be accounted for.
3239 When you pass an `--iconv` option to an rsync daemon that allows it, the
3240 daemon uses the charset specified in its "charset" configuration parameter
3241 regardless of the remote charset you actually pass. Thus, you may feel
3242 free to specify just the local charset for a daemon transfer (e.g.
3245 0. `--ipv4`, `-4` or `--ipv6`, `-6`
3247 Tells rsync to prefer IPv4/IPv6 when creating sockets or running ssh. This
3248 affects sockets that rsync has direct control over, such as the outgoing
3249 socket when directly contacting an rsync daemon, as well as the forwarding
3250 of the `-4` or `-6` option to ssh when rsync can deduce that ssh is being
3251 used as the remote shell. For other remote shells you'll need to specify
3252 the "`--rsh SHELL -4`" option directly (or whatever ipv4/ipv6 hint options
3255 These options also exist in the `--daemon` mode section.
3257 If rsync was complied without support for IPv6, the `--ipv6` option will
3258 have no effect. The `rsync --version` output will contain "`no IPv6`" if
3261 0. `--checksum-seed=NUM`
3263 Set the checksum seed to the integer NUM. This 4 byte checksum seed is
3264 included in each block and MD4 file checksum calculation (the more modern
3265 MD5 file checksums don't use a seed). By default the checksum seed is
3266 generated by the server and defaults to the current **time**(). This
3267 option is used to set a specific checksum seed, which is useful for
3268 applications that want repeatable block checksums, or in the case where the
3269 user wants a more random checksum seed. Setting NUM to 0 causes rsync to
3270 use the default of **time**() for checksum seed.
3274 The options allowed when starting an rsync daemon are as follows:
3278 This tells rsync that it is to run as a daemon. The daemon you start
3279 running may be accessed using an rsync client using the `host::module` or
3280 `rsync://host/module/` syntax.
3282 If standard input is a socket then rsync will assume that it is being run
3283 via inetd, otherwise it will detach from the current terminal and become a
3284 background daemon. The daemon will read the config file (rsyncd.conf) on
3285 each connect made by a client and respond to requests accordingly. See the
3286 **rsyncd.conf**(5) man page for more details.
3288 0. `--address=ADDRESS`
3290 By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address when run as a daemon
3291 with the `--daemon` option. The `--address` option allows you to specify a
3292 specific IP address (or hostname) to bind to. This makes virtual hosting
3293 possible in conjunction with the `--config` option. See also the "address"
3294 global option in the rsyncd.conf manpage.
3298 This option allows you to specify the maximum transfer rate for the data
3299 the daemon sends over the socket. The client can still specify a smaller
3300 `--bwlimit` value, but no larger value will be allowed. See the client
3301 version of this option (above) for some extra details.
3305 This specifies an alternate config file than the default. This is only
3306 relevant when `--daemon` is specified. The default is /etc/rsyncd.conf
3307 unless the daemon is running over a remote shell program and the remote
3308 user is not the super-user; in that case the default is rsyncd.conf in the
3309 current directory (typically $HOME).
3311 0. `--dparam=OVERRIDE`, `-M`
3313 This option can be used to set a daemon-config parameter when starting up
3314 rsync in daemon mode. It is equivalent to adding the parameter at the end
3315 of the global settings prior to the first module's definition. The
3316 parameter names can be specified without spaces, if you so desire. For
3319 > rsync --daemon -M pidfile=/path/rsync.pid
3323 When running as a daemon, this option instructs rsync to not detach itself
3324 and become a background process. This option is required when running as a
3325 service on Cygwin, and may also be useful when rsync is supervised by a
3326 program such as `daemontools` or AIX's `System Resource Controller`.
3327 `--no-detach` is also recommended when rsync is run under a debugger. This
3328 option has no effect if rsync is run from inetd or sshd.
3332 This specifies an alternate TCP port number for the daemon to listen on
3333 rather than the default of 873. See also the "port" global option in the
3334 rsyncd.conf manpage.
3336 0. `--log-file=FILE`
3338 This option tells the rsync daemon to use the given log-file name instead
3339 of using the "`log file`" setting in the config file.
3341 0. `--log-file-format=FORMAT`
3343 This option tells the rsync daemon to use the given FORMAT string instead
3344 of using the "`log format`" setting in the config file. It also enables
3345 "`transfer logging`" unless the string is empty, in which case transfer
3346 logging is turned off.
3350 This overrides the `socket options` setting in the rsyncd.conf file and has
3353 0. `--verbose`, `-v`
3355 This option increases the amount of information the daemon logs during its
3356 startup phase. After the client connects, the daemon's verbosity level
3357 will be controlled by the options that the client used and the
3358 "`max verbosity`" setting in the module's config section.
3360 0. `--ipv4`, `-4` or `--ipv6`, `-6`
3362 Tells rsync to prefer IPv4/IPv6 when creating the incoming sockets that the
3363 rsync daemon will use to listen for connections. One of these options may
3364 be required in older versions of Linux to work around an IPv6 bug in the
3365 kernel (if you see an "address already in use" error when nothing else is
3366 using the port, try specifying `--ipv6` or `--ipv4` when starting the
3369 These options also exist in the regular rsync options section.
3371 If rsync was complied without support for IPv6, the `--ipv6` option will
3372 have no effect. The `rsync --version` output will contain "`no IPv6`" if
3377 When specified after `--daemon`, print a short help page describing the
3378 options available for starting an rsync daemon.
3382 The filter rules allow for flexible selection of which files to transfer
3383 (include) and which files to skip (exclude). The rules either directly specify
3384 include/exclude patterns or they specify a way to acquire more include/exclude
3385 patterns (e.g. to read them from a file).
3387 As the list of files/directories to transfer is built, rsync checks each name
3388 to be transferred against the list of include/exclude patterns in turn, and the
3389 first matching pattern is acted on: if it is an exclude pattern, then that file
3390 is skipped; if it is an include pattern then that filename is not skipped; if
3391 no matching pattern is found, then the filename is not skipped.
3393 Rsync builds an ordered list of filter rules as specified on the command-line.
3394 Filter rules have the following syntax:
3396 > RULE [PATTERN_OR_FILENAME]
3397 > RULE,MODIFIERS [PATTERN_OR_FILENAME]
3399 You have your choice of using either short or long RULE names, as described
3400 below. If you use a short-named rule, the ',' separating the RULE from the
3401 MODIFIERS is optional. The PATTERN or FILENAME that follows (when present)
3402 must come after either a single space or an underscore (\_). Here are the
3403 available rule prefixes:
3405 0. `exclude, '-'` specifies an exclude pattern.
3406 0. `include, '+'` specifies an include pattern.
3407 0. `merge, '.'` specifies a merge-file to read for more rules.
3408 0. `dir-merge, ':'` specifies a per-directory merge-file.
3409 0. `hide, 'H'` specifies a pattern for hiding files from the transfer.
3410 0. `show, 'S'` files that match the pattern are not hidden.
3411 0. `protect, 'P'` specifies a pattern for protecting files from deletion.
3412 0. `risk, 'R'` files that match the pattern are not protected.
3413 0. `clear, '!'` clears the current include/exclude list (takes no arg)
3415 When rules are being read from a file, empty lines are ignored, as are comment
3416 lines that start with a "#".
3418 [comment]: # (Remember that markdown strips spaces from start/end of ` ... ` sequences!)
3419 [comment]: # (Thus, the `x ` sequences below use a literal non-breakable space!)
3421 Note that the `--include` & `--exclude` command-line options do not allow the
3422 full range of rule parsing as described above -- they only allow the
3423 specification of include / exclude patterns plus a "`!`" token to clear the
3424 list (and the normal comment parsing when rules are read from a file). If a
3425 pattern does not begin with "`-Â `" (dash, space) or "`+Â `" (plus, space), then
3426 the rule will be interpreted as if "`+Â `" (for an include option) or "`-Â `"
3427 (for an exclude option) were prefixed to the string. A `--filter` option, on
3428 the other hand, must always contain either a short or long rule name at the
3431 Note also that the `--filter`, `--include`, and `--exclude` options take one
3432 rule/pattern each. To add multiple ones, you can repeat the options on the
3433 command-line, use the merge-file syntax of the `--filter` option, or the
3434 `--include-from` / `--exclude-from` options.
3436 # INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERN RULES
3438 You can include and exclude files by specifying patterns using the "+", "-",
3439 etc. filter rules (as introduced in the FILTER RULES section above). The
3440 include/exclude rules each specify a pattern that is matched against the names
3441 of the files that are going to be transferred. These patterns can take several
3444 - if the pattern starts with a `/` then it is anchored to a particular spot in
3445 the hierarchy of files, otherwise it is matched against the end of the
3446 pathname. This is similar to a leading `^` in regular expressions. Thus
3447 `/foo` would match a name of "foo" at either the "root of the transfer" (for
3448 a global rule) or in the merge-file's directory (for a per-directory rule).
3449 An unqualified `foo` would match a name of "foo" anywhere in the tree because
3450 the algorithm is applied recursively from the top down; it behaves as if each
3451 path component gets a turn at being the end of the filename. Even the
3452 unanchored "sub/foo" would match at any point in the hierarchy where a "foo"
3453 was found within a directory named "sub". See the section on ANCHORING
3454 INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERNS for a full discussion of how to specify a pattern
3455 that matches at the root of the transfer.
3456 - if the pattern ends with a `/` then it will only match a directory, not a
3457 regular file, symlink, or device.
3458 - rsync chooses between doing a simple string match and wildcard matching by
3459 checking if the pattern contains one of these three wildcard characters:
3460 '`*`', '`?`', and '`[`' .
3461 - a '`*`' matches any path component, but it stops at slashes.
3462 - use '`**`' to match anything, including slashes.
3463 - a '`?`' matches any character except a slash (`/`).
3464 - a '`[`' introduces a character class, such as `[a-z]` or `[[:alpha:]]`.
3465 - in a wildcard pattern, a backslash can be used to escape a wildcard
3466 character, but it is matched literally when no wildcards are present. This
3467 means that there is an extra level of backslash removal when a pattern
3468 contains wildcard characters compared to a pattern that has none. e.g. if
3469 you add a wildcard to "`foo\bar`" (which matches the backslash) you would
3470 need to use "`foo\\bar*`" to avoid the "`\b`" becoming just "b".
3471 - if the pattern contains a `/` (not counting a trailing /) or a "`**`", then it
3472 is matched against the full pathname, including any leading directories. If
3473 the pattern doesn't contain a `/` or a "`**`", then it is matched only against
3474 the final component of the filename. (Remember that the algorithm is applied
3475 recursively so "full filename" can actually be any portion of a path from the
3476 starting directory on down.)
3477 - a trailing "`dir_name/***`" will match both the directory (as if "dir_name/"
3478 had been specified) and everything in the directory (as if "`dir_name/**`"
3479 had been specified). This behavior was added in version 2.6.7.
3481 Note that, when using the `--recursive` (`-r`) option (which is implied by
3482 `-a`), every subdir component of every path is visited left to right, with each
3483 directory having a chance for exclusion before its content. In this way
3484 include/exclude patterns are applied recursively to the pathname of each node
3485 in the filesystem's tree (those inside the transfer). The exclude patterns
3486 short-circuit the directory traversal stage as rsync finds the files to send.
3488 For instance, to include "`/foo/bar/baz`", the directories "`/foo`" and "`/foo/bar`"
3489 must not be excluded. Excluding one of those parent directories prevents the
3490 examination of its content, cutting off rsync's recursion into those paths and
3491 rendering the include for "`/foo/bar/baz`" ineffectual (since rsync can't match
3492 something it never sees in the cut-off section of the directory hierarchy).
3494 The concept path exclusion is particularly important when using a trailing '`*`'
3495 rule. For instance, this won't work:
3497 > + /some/path/this-file-will-not-be-found
3498 > + /file-is-included
3501 This fails because the parent directory "some" is excluded by the '`*`' rule, so
3502 rsync never visits any of the files in the "some" or "some/path" directories.
3503 One solution is to ask for all directories in the hierarchy to be included by
3504 using a single rule: "`+ */`" (put it somewhere before the "`- *`" rule), and
3505 perhaps use the `--prune-empty-dirs` option. Another solution is to add
3506 specific include rules for all the parent dirs that need to be visited. For
3507 instance, this set of rules works fine:
3511 > + /some/path/this-file-is-found
3512 > + /file-also-included
3515 Here are some examples of exclude/include matching:
3517 - "`- *.o`" would exclude all names matching `*.o`
3518 - "`- /foo`" would exclude a file (or directory) named foo in the transfer-root
3520 - "`- foo/`" would exclude any directory named foo
3521 - "`- /foo/*/bar`" would exclude any file named bar which is at two levels
3522 below a directory named foo in the transfer-root directory
3523 - "`- /foo/**/bar`" would exclude any file named bar two or more levels below a
3524 directory named foo in the transfer-root directory
3525 - The combination of "`+ */`", "`+ *.c`", and "`- *`" would include all
3526 directories and C source files but nothing else (see also the
3527 `--prune-empty-dirs` option)
3528 - The combination of "`+ foo/`", "`+ foo/bar.c`", and "`- *`" would include
3529 only the foo directory and foo/bar.c (the foo directory must be explicitly
3530 included or it would be excluded by the "`*`")
3532 The following modifiers are accepted after a "`+`" or "`-`":
3534 - A `/` specifies that the include/exclude rule should be matched against the
3535 absolute pathname of the current item. For example, "`-/ /etc/passwd`" would
3536 exclude the passwd file any time the transfer was sending files from the
3537 "/etc" directory, and "-/ subdir/foo" would always exclude "foo" when it is
3538 in a dir named "subdir", even if "foo" is at the root of the current
3540 - A `!` specifies that the include/exclude should take effect if the pattern
3541 fails to match. For instance, "`-! */`" would exclude all non-directories.
3542 - A `C` is used to indicate that all the global CVS-exclude rules should be
3543 inserted as excludes in place of the "-C". No arg should follow.
3544 - An `s` is used to indicate that the rule applies to the sending side. When a
3545 rule affects the sending side, it prevents files from being transferred. The
3546 default is for a rule to affect both sides unless `--delete-excluded` was
3547 specified, in which case default rules become sender-side only. See also the
3548 hide (H) and show (S) rules, which are an alternate way to specify
3549 sending-side includes/excludes.
3550 - An `r` is used to indicate that the rule applies to the receiving side. When
3551 a rule affects the receiving side, it prevents files from being deleted. See
3552 the `s` modifier for more info. See also the protect (P) and risk (R) rules,
3553 which are an alternate way to specify receiver-side includes/excludes.
3554 - A `p` indicates that a rule is perishable, meaning that it is ignored in
3555 directories that are being deleted. For instance, the `-C` option's default
3556 rules that exclude things like "CVS" and "`*.o`" are marked as perishable,
3557 and will not prevent a directory that was removed on the source from being
3558 deleted on the destination.
3559 - An `x` indicates that a rule affects xattr names in xattr copy/delete
3560 operations (and is thus ignored when matching file/dir names). If no
3561 xattr-matching rules are specified, a default xattr filtering rule is used
3562 (see the `--xattrs` option).
3564 # MERGE-FILE FILTER RULES
3566 You can merge whole files into your filter rules by specifying either a merge
3567 (.) or a dir-merge (:) filter rule (as introduced in the FILTER RULES section
3570 There are two kinds of merged files -- single-instance ('.') and per-directory
3571 (':'). A single-instance merge file is read one time, and its rules are
3572 incorporated into the filter list in the place of the "." rule. For
3573 per-directory merge files, rsync will scan every directory that it traverses
3574 for the named file, merging its contents when the file exists into the current
3575 list of inherited rules. These per-directory rule files must be created on the
3576 sending side because it is the sending side that is being scanned for the
3577 available files to transfer. These rule files may also need to be transferred
3578 to the receiving side if you want them to affect what files don't get deleted
3579 (see PER-DIRECTORY RULES AND DELETE below).
3583 > merge /etc/rsync/default.rules
3584 > . /etc/rsync/default.rules
3585 > dir-merge .per-dir-filter
3586 > dir-merge,n- .non-inherited-per-dir-excludes
3587 > :n- .non-inherited-per-dir-excludes
3589 The following modifiers are accepted after a merge or dir-merge rule:
3591 - A `-` specifies that the file should consist of only exclude patterns, with
3592 no other rule-parsing except for in-file comments.
3593 - A `+` specifies that the file should consist of only include patterns, with
3594 no other rule-parsing except for in-file comments.
3595 - A `C` is a way to specify that the file should be read in a CVS-compatible
3596 manner. This turns on 'n', 'w', and '-', but also allows the list-clearing
3597 token (!) to be specified. If no filename is provided, ".cvsignore" is
3599 - A `e` will exclude the merge-file name from the transfer; e.g. "dir-merge,e
3600 .rules" is like "dir-merge .rules" and "- .rules".
3601 - An `n` specifies that the rules are not inherited by subdirectories.
3602 - A `w` specifies that the rules are word-split on whitespace instead of the
3603 normal line-splitting. This also turns off comments. Note: the space that
3604 separates the prefix from the rule is treated specially, so "- foo + bar" is
3605 parsed as two rules (assuming that prefix-parsing wasn't also disabled).
3606 - You may also specify any of the modifiers for the "+" or "-" rules (above) in
3607 order to have the rules that are read in from the file default to having that
3608 modifier set (except for the `!` modifier, which would not be useful). For
3609 instance, "merge,-/ .excl" would treat the contents of .excl as absolute-path
3610 excludes, while "dir-merge,s .filt" and ":sC" would each make all their
3611 per-directory rules apply only on the sending side. If the merge rule
3612 specifies sides to affect (via the `s` or `r` modifier or both), then the
3613 rules in the file must not specify sides (via a modifier or a rule prefix
3616 Per-directory rules are inherited in all subdirectories of the directory where
3617 the merge-file was found unless the 'n' modifier was used. Each subdirectory's
3618 rules are prefixed to the inherited per-directory rules from its parents, which
3619 gives the newest rules a higher priority than the inherited rules. The entire
3620 set of dir-merge rules are grouped together in the spot where the merge-file
3621 was specified, so it is possible to override dir-merge rules via a rule that
3622 got specified earlier in the list of global rules. When the list-clearing rule
3623 ("!") is read from a per-directory file, it only clears the inherited rules for
3624 the current merge file.
3626 Another way to prevent a single rule from a dir-merge file from being inherited
3627 is to anchor it with a leading slash. Anchored rules in a per-directory
3628 merge-file are relative to the merge-file's directory, so a pattern "/foo"
3629 would only match the file "foo" in the directory where the dir-merge filter
3632 Here's an example filter file which you'd specify via `--filter=". file":`
3634 > merge /home/user/.global-filter
3641 This will merge the contents of the /home/user/.global-filter file at the start
3642 of the list and also turns the ".rules" filename into a per-directory filter
3643 file. All rules read in prior to the start of the directory scan follow the
3644 global anchoring rules (i.e. a leading slash matches at the root of the
3647 If a per-directory merge-file is specified with a path that is a parent
3648 directory of the first transfer directory, rsync will scan all the parent dirs
3649 from that starting point to the transfer directory for the indicated
3650 per-directory file. For instance, here is a common filter (see `-F`):
3652 > --filter=': /.rsync-filter'
3654 That rule tells rsync to scan for the file .rsync-filter in all directories
3655 from the root down through the parent directory of the transfer prior to the
3656 start of the normal directory scan of the file in the directories that are sent
3657 as a part of the transfer. (Note: for an rsync daemon, the root is always the
3658 same as the module's "path".)
3660 Some examples of this pre-scanning for per-directory files:
3662 > rsync -avF /src/path/ /dest/dir
3663 > rsync -av --filter=': ../../.rsync-filter' /src/path/ /dest/dir
3664 > rsync -av --filter=': .rsync-filter' /src/path/ /dest/dir
3666 The first two commands above will look for ".rsync-filter" in "/" and "/src"
3667 before the normal scan begins looking for the file in "/src/path" and its
3668 subdirectories. The last command avoids the parent-dir scan and only looks for
3669 the ".rsync-filter" files in each directory that is a part of the transfer.
3671 If you want to include the contents of a ".cvsignore" in your patterns, you
3672 should use the rule ":C", which creates a dir-merge of the .cvsignore file, but
3673 parsed in a CVS-compatible manner. You can use this to affect where the
3674 `--cvs-exclude` (`-C`) option's inclusion of the per-directory .cvsignore file
3675 gets placed into your rules by putting the ":C" wherever you like in your
3676 filter rules. Without this, rsync would add the dir-merge rule for the
3677 .cvsignore file at the end of all your other rules (giving it a lower priority
3678 than your command-line rules). For example:
3681 > cat <<EOT | rsync -avC --filter='. -' a/ b
3686 > rsync -avC --include=foo.o -f :C --exclude='*.old' a/ b
3689 Both of the above rsync commands are identical. Each one will merge all the
3690 per-directory .cvsignore rules in the middle of the list rather than at the
3691 end. This allows their dir-specific rules to supersede the rules that follow
3692 the :C instead of being subservient to all your rules. To affect the other CVS
3693 exclude rules (i.e. the default list of exclusions, the contents of
3694 $HOME/.cvsignore, and the value of $CVSIGNORE) you should omit the `-C`
3695 command-line option and instead insert a "-C" rule into your filter rules; e.g.
3698 # LIST-CLEARING FILTER RULE
3700 You can clear the current include/exclude list by using the "!" filter rule (as
3701 introduced in the FILTER RULES section above). The "current" list is either
3702 the global list of rules (if the rule is encountered while parsing the filter
3703 options) or a set of per-directory rules (which are inherited in their own
3704 sub-list, so a subdirectory can use this to clear out the parent's rules).
3706 # ANCHORING INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERNS
3708 As mentioned earlier, global include/exclude patterns are anchored at the "root
3709 of the transfer" (as opposed to per-directory patterns, which are anchored at
3710 the merge-file's directory). If you think of the transfer as a subtree of
3711 names that are being sent from sender to receiver, the transfer-root is where
3712 the tree starts to be duplicated in the destination directory. This root
3713 governs where patterns that start with a / match.
3715 Because the matching is relative to the transfer-root, changing the trailing
3716 slash on a source path or changing your use of the `--relative` option affects
3717 the path you need to use in your matching (in addition to changing how much of
3718 the file tree is duplicated on the destination host). The following examples
3721 Let's say that we want to match two source files, one with an absolute
3722 path of "/home/me/foo/bar", and one with a path of "/home/you/bar/baz".
3723 Here is how the various command choices differ for a 2-source transfer:
3726 > Example cmd: rsync -a /home/me /home/you /dest
3727 > +/- pattern: /me/foo/bar
3728 > +/- pattern: /you/bar/baz
3729 > Target file: /dest/me/foo/bar
3730 > Target file: /dest/you/bar/baz
3734 > Example cmd: rsync -a /home/me/ /home/you/ /dest
3735 > +/- pattern: /foo/bar (note missing "me")
3736 > +/- pattern: /bar/baz (note missing "you")
3737 > Target file: /dest/foo/bar
3738 > Target file: /dest/bar/baz
3742 > Example cmd: rsync -a --relative /home/me/ /home/you /dest
3743 > +/- pattern: /home/me/foo/bar (note full path)
3744 > +/- pattern: /home/you/bar/baz (ditto)
3745 > Target file: /dest/home/me/foo/bar
3746 > Target file: /dest/home/you/bar/baz
3750 > Example cmd: cd /home; rsync -a --relative me/foo you/ /dest
3751 > +/- pattern: /me/foo/bar (starts at specified path)
3752 > +/- pattern: /you/bar/baz (ditto)
3753 > Target file: /dest/me/foo/bar
3754 > Target file: /dest/you/bar/baz
3757 The easiest way to see what name you should filter is to just
3758 look at the output when using `--verbose` and put a / in front of the name
3759 (use the `--dry-run` option if you're not yet ready to copy any files).
3761 # PER-DIRECTORY RULES AND DELETE
3763 Without a delete option, per-directory rules are only relevant on the sending
3764 side, so you can feel free to exclude the merge files themselves without
3765 affecting the transfer. To make this easy, the 'e' modifier adds this exclude
3766 for you, as seen in these two equivalent commands:
3768 > rsync -av --filter=': .excl' --exclude=.excl host:src/dir /dest
3769 > rsync -av --filter=':e .excl' host:src/dir /dest
3771 However, if you want to do a delete on the receiving side AND you want some
3772 files to be excluded from being deleted, you'll need to be sure that the
3773 receiving side knows what files to exclude. The easiest way is to include the
3774 per-directory merge files in the transfer and use `--delete-after`, because
3775 this ensures that the receiving side gets all the same exclude rules as the
3776 sending side before it tries to delete anything:
3778 > rsync -avF --delete-after host:src/dir /dest
3780 However, if the merge files are not a part of the transfer, you'll need to
3781 either specify some global exclude rules (i.e. specified on the command line),
3782 or you'll need to maintain your own per-directory merge files on the receiving
3783 side. An example of the first is this (assume that the remote .rules files
3784 exclude themselves):
3786 > rsync -av --filter=': .rules' --filter='. /my/extra.rules'
3787 > --delete host:src/dir /dest
3789 In the above example the extra.rules file can affect both sides of the
3790 transfer, but (on the sending side) the rules are subservient to the rules
3791 merged from the .rules files because they were specified after the
3792 per-directory merge rule.
3794 In one final example, the remote side is excluding the .rsync-filter files from
3795 the transfer, but we want to use our own .rsync-filter files to control what
3796 gets deleted on the receiving side. To do this we must specifically exclude
3797 the per-directory merge files (so that they don't get deleted) and then put
3798 rules into the local files to control what else should not get deleted. Like
3799 one of these commands:
3802 > rsync -av --filter=':e /.rsync-filter' --delete \
3803 > host:src/dir /dest
3804 > rsync -avFF --delete host:src/dir /dest
3809 Batch mode can be used to apply the same set of updates to many identical
3810 systems. Suppose one has a tree which is replicated on a number of hosts. Now
3811 suppose some changes have been made to this source tree and those changes need
3812 to be propagated to the other hosts. In order to do this using batch mode,
3813 rsync is run with the write-batch option to apply the changes made to the
3814 source tree to one of the destination trees. The write-batch option causes the
3815 rsync client to store in a "batch file" all the information needed to repeat
3816 this operation against other, identical destination trees.
3818 Generating the batch file once saves having to perform the file status,
3819 checksum, and data block generation more than once when updating multiple
3820 destination trees. Multicast transport protocols can be used to transfer the
3821 batch update files in parallel to many hosts at once, instead of sending the
3822 same data to every host individually.
3824 To apply the recorded changes to another destination tree, run rsync with the
3825 read-batch option, specifying the name of the same batch file, and the
3826 destination tree. Rsync updates the destination tree using the information
3827 stored in the batch file.
3829 For your convenience, a script file is also created when the write-batch option
3830 is used: it will be named the same as the batch file with ".sh" appended. This
3831 script file contains a command-line suitable for updating a destination tree
3832 using the associated batch file. It can be executed using a Bourne (or
3833 Bourne-like) shell, optionally passing in an alternate destination tree
3834 pathname which is then used instead of the original destination path. This is
3835 useful when the destination tree path on the current host differs from the one
3836 used to create the batch file.
3840 > $ rsync --write-batch=foo -a host:/source/dir/ /adest/dir/
3841 > $ scp foo* remote:
3842 > $ ssh remote ./foo.sh /bdest/dir/
3844 > $ rsync --write-batch=foo -a /source/dir/ /adest/dir/
3845 > $ ssh remote rsync --read-batch=- -a /bdest/dir/ <foo
3847 In these examples, rsync is used to update /adest/dir/ from /source/dir/ and
3848 the information to repeat this operation is stored in "foo" and "foo.sh". The
3849 host "remote" is then updated with the batched data going into the directory
3850 /bdest/dir. The differences between the two examples reveals some of the
3851 flexibility you have in how you deal with batches:
3853 - The first example shows that the initial copy doesn't have to be local -- you
3854 can push or pull data to/from a remote host using either the remote-shell
3855 syntax or rsync daemon syntax, as desired.
3856 - The first example uses the created "foo.sh" file to get the right rsync
3857 options when running the read-batch command on the remote host.
3858 - The second example reads the batch data via standard input so that the batch
3859 file doesn't need to be copied to the remote machine first. This example
3860 avoids the foo.sh script because it needed to use a modified `--read-batch`
3861 option, but you could edit the script file if you wished to make use of it
3862 (just be sure that no other option is trying to use standard input, such as
3863 the "`--exclude-from=-`" option).
3867 The read-batch option expects the destination tree that it is updating to be
3868 identical to the destination tree that was used to create the batch update
3869 fileset. When a difference between the destination trees is encountered the
3870 update might be discarded with a warning (if the file appears to be up-to-date
3871 already) or the file-update may be attempted and then, if the file fails to
3872 verify, the update discarded with an error. This means that it should be safe
3873 to re-run a read-batch operation if the command got interrupted. If you wish
3874 to force the batched-update to always be attempted regardless of the file's
3875 size and date, use the `-I` option (when reading the batch). If an error
3876 occurs, the destination tree will probably be in a partially updated state. In
3877 that case, rsync can be used in its regular (non-batch) mode of operation to
3878 fix up the destination tree.
3880 The rsync version used on all destinations must be at least as new as the one
3881 used to generate the batch file. Rsync will die with an error if the protocol
3882 version in the batch file is too new for the batch-reading rsync to handle.
3883 See also the `--protocol` option for a way to have the creating rsync generate
3884 a batch file that an older rsync can understand. (Note that batch files
3885 changed format in version 2.6.3, so mixing versions older than that with newer
3886 versions will not work.)
3888 When reading a batch file, rsync will force the value of certain options to
3889 match the data in the batch file if you didn't set them to the same as the
3890 batch-writing command. Other options can (and should) be changed. For
3891 instance `--write-batch` changes to `--read-batch`, `--files-from` is dropped,
3892 and the `--filter` / `--include` / `--exclude` options are not needed unless
3893 one of the `--delete` options is specified.
3895 The code that creates the BATCH.sh file transforms any filter/include/exclude
3896 options into a single list that is appended as a "here" document to the shell
3897 script file. An advanced user can use this to modify the exclude list if a
3898 change in what gets deleted by `--delete` is desired. A normal user can ignore
3899 this detail and just use the shell script as an easy way to run the appropriate
3900 `--read-batch` command for the batched data.
3902 The original batch mode in rsync was based on "rsync+", but the latest
3903 version uses a new implementation.
3907 Three basic behaviors are possible when rsync encounters a symbolic
3908 link in the source directory.
3910 By default, symbolic links are not transferred at all. A message "skipping
3911 non-regular" file is emitted for any symlinks that exist.
3913 If `--links` is specified, then symlinks are recreated with the same target on
3914 the destination. Note that `--archive` implies `--links`.
3916 If `--copy-links` is specified, then symlinks are "collapsed" by
3917 copying their referent, rather than the symlink.
3919 Rsync can also distinguish "safe" and "unsafe" symbolic links. An example
3920 where this might be used is a web site mirror that wishes to ensure that the
3921 rsync module that is copied does not include symbolic links to `/etc/passwd` in
3922 the public section of the site. Using `--copy-unsafe-links` will cause any
3923 links to be copied as the file they point to on the destination. Using
3924 `--safe-links` will cause unsafe links to be omitted altogether. (Note that you
3925 must specify `--links` for `--safe-links` to have any effect.)
3927 Symbolic links are considered unsafe if they are absolute symlinks
3928 (start with `/`), empty, or if they contain enough ".."
3929 components to ascend from the directory being copied.
3931 Here's a summary of how the symlink options are interpreted. The list is in
3932 order of precedence, so if your combination of options isn't mentioned, use the
3933 first line that is a complete subset of your options:
3935 0. `--copy-links` Turn all symlinks into normal files (leaving no symlinks for
3936 any other options to affect).
3937 0. `--links --copy-unsafe-links` Turn all unsafe symlinks into files and
3938 duplicate all safe symlinks.
3939 0. `--copy-unsafe-links` Turn all unsafe symlinks into files, noisily skip all
3941 0. `--links --safe-links` Duplicate safe symlinks and skip unsafe ones.
3942 0. `--links` Duplicate all symlinks.
3946 rsync occasionally produces error messages that may seem a little cryptic. The
3947 one that seems to cause the most confusion is "protocol version mismatch -- is
3950 This message is usually caused by your startup scripts or remote shell facility
3951 producing unwanted garbage on the stream that rsync is using for its transport.
3952 The way to diagnose this problem is to run your remote shell like this:
3954 > ssh remotehost /bin/true > out.dat
3956 then look at out.dat. If everything is working correctly then out.dat should
3957 be a zero length file. If you are getting the above error from rsync then you
3958 will probably find that out.dat contains some text or data. Look at the
3959 contents and try to work out what is producing it. The most common cause is
3960 incorrectly configured shell startup scripts (such as .cshrc or .profile) that
3961 contain output statements for non-interactive logins.
3963 If you are having trouble debugging filter patterns, then try specifying the
3964 `-vv` option. At this level of verbosity rsync will show why each individual
3965 file is included or excluded.
3970 0. **1** Syntax or usage error
3971 0. **2** Protocol incompatibility
3972 0. **3** Errors selecting input/output files, dirs
3973 0. **4** Requested action not supported: an attempt was made to manipulate
3974 64-bit files on a platform that cannot support them; or an option was
3975 specified that is supported by the client and not by the server.
3976 0. **5** Error starting client-server protocol
3977 0. **6** Daemon unable to append to log-file
3978 0. **10** Error in socket I/O
3979 0. **11** Error in file I/O
3980 0. **12** Error in rsync protocol data stream
3981 0. **13** Errors with program diagnostics
3982 0. **14** Error in IPC code
3983 0. **20** Received SIGUSR1 or SIGINT
3984 0. **21** Some error returned by **waitpid()**
3985 0. **22** Error allocating core memory buffers
3986 0. **23** Partial transfer due to error
3987 0. **24** Partial transfer due to vanished source files
3988 0. **25** The --max-delete limit stopped deletions
3989 0. **30** Timeout in data send/receive
3990 0. **35** Timeout waiting for daemon connection
3992 # ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
3996 The CVSIGNORE environment variable supplements any ignore patterns in
3997 .cvsignore files. See the `--cvs-exclude` option for more details.
4001 Specify a default `--iconv` setting using this environment variable. (First
4002 supported in 3.0.0.)
4004 0. `RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS`
4006 Specify a non-zero numeric value if you want the `--protect-args` option to
4007 be enabled by default, or a zero value to make sure that it is disabled by
4008 default. (First supported in 3.1.0.)
4012 The RSYNC_RSH environment variable allows you to override the default shell
4013 used as the transport for rsync. Command line options are permitted after
4014 the command name, just as in the `-e` option.
4018 The RSYNC_PROXY environment variable allows you to redirect your rsync
4019 client to use a web proxy when connecting to a rsync daemon. You should
4020 set RSYNC_PROXY to a hostname:port pair.
4024 Setting RSYNC_PASSWORD to the required password allows you to run
4025 authenticated rsync connections to an rsync daemon without user
4026 intervention. Note that this does not supply a password to a remote shell
4027 transport such as ssh; to learn how to do that, consult the remote shell's
4030 0. `USER` or `LOGNAME`
4032 The USER or LOGNAME environment variables are used to determine the default
4033 username sent to an rsync daemon. If neither is set, the username defaults
4038 The HOME environment variable is used to find the user's default .cvsignore
4043 /etc/rsyncd.conf or rsyncd.conf
4047 **rsync-ssl**(1), **rsyncd.conf**(5)
4051 times are transferred as \*nix time_t values
4053 When transferring to FAT filesystems rsync may re-sync
4055 See the comments on the `--modify-window` option.
4057 file permissions, devices, etc. are transferred as native numerical
4060 see also the comments on the `--delete` option
4062 Please report bugs! See the web site at <https://rsync.samba.org/>.
4066 This man page is current for version @VERSION@ of rsync.
4070 The options `--server` and `--sender` are used internally by rsync, and should
4071 never be typed by a user under normal circumstances. Some awareness of these
4072 options may be needed in certain scenarios, such as when setting up a login
4073 that can only run an rsync command. For instance, the support directory of the
4074 rsync distribution has an example script named rrsync (for restricted rsync)
4075 that can be used with a restricted ssh login.
4079 rsync is distributed under the GNU General Public License. See the file
4080 COPYING for details.
4082 A web site is available at <https://rsync.samba.org/>. The site includes an
4083 FAQ-O-Matic which may cover questions unanswered by this manual page.
4085 We would be delighted to hear from you if you like this program. Please
4086 contact the mailing-list at <rsync@lists.samba.org>.
4088 This program uses the excellent zlib compression library written by Jean-loup
4089 Gailly and Mark Adler.
4093 Special thanks go out to: John Van Essen, Matt McCutchen, Wesley W. Terpstra,
4094 David Dykstra, Jos Backus, Sebastian Krahmer, Martin Pool, and our
4095 gone-but-not-forgotten compadre, J.W. Schultz.
4097 Thanks also to Richard Brent, Brendan Mackay, Bill Waite, Stephen Rothwell and
4098 David Bell. I've probably missed some people, my apologies if I have.
4102 rsync was originally written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras. Many
4103 people have later contributed to it. It is currently maintained by Wayne
4106 Mailing lists for support and development are available at
4107 <https://lists.samba.org/>.