4 rsync is a replacement for rcp that has many more features.
6 rsyns uses the "rsync algorithm" which provides a very fast method for
7 bringing remote files into sync. It does this by sending just the
8 differences in the files across the link, without requiring that both
9 sets of files are present at one of the ends of the link beforehand.
10 At first glance this may seem impossible because the calculation of
11 diffs between two files normally requires local access to both
14 A technical report describing the rsync algorithm is included with
21 Basically you use rsync just like rcp, but rsync has many additional options.
23 Here is a brief description of available options:
25 -v, --verbose increase verbosity
26 -c, --checksum always checksum
27 -a, --archive archive mode (same as -rlptDog)
28 -r, --recursive recurse into directories
29 -b, --backup make backups (default ~ extension)
30 -u, --update update only (don't overwrite newer files)
31 -l, --links preserve soft links
32 -H, --hard-links preserve hard links
33 -p, --perms preserve permissions
34 -o, --owner preserve owner (root only)
35 -g, --group preserve group
36 -D, --devices preserve devices (root only)
37 -t, --times preserve times
38 -S, --sparse handle sparse files efficiently
39 -n, --dry-run show what would have been transferred
40 -x, --one-file-system don't cross filesystem boundaries
41 -B, --block-size SIZE checksum blocking size
42 -e, --rsh COMMAND specify rsh replacement
43 --rsync-path PATH specify path to rsync on the remote machine
44 -C, --cvs-exclude auto ignore files in the same way CVS does
45 --delete delete files that don't exist on the sending side
46 -I, --ignore-times don't exclude files that match length and time
47 -z, --compress compress file data
48 --exclude FILE exclude file FILE
49 --exclude-from FILE exclude files listed in FILE
50 --suffix SUFFIX override backup suffix
51 --version print version number
57 Rsync uses rsh or ssh for communication. It does not need to be setuid
58 and requires no special privilages for installation. It does not
59 require a inetd entry or a daemon. You must, however, have a working
60 rsh or ssh system. Using ssh is recommended for its security
63 To install rsync, first run the "configure" script. This will create a
64 Makefile and config.h appropriate for your system. Then type
67 Once built put a copy of rsync in your search path on the local and
68 remote systems (or use "make install"). That's it!
74 There is a mailing list for the discussion of rsync and its
75 applications. It is open to anyone to join. I will announce new
76 versions on this list.
78 To join the mailing list send mail to listproc@samba.anu.edu.au with
79 no subject and a body of "subscribe rsync Your Name".
81 To send mail to everyone on the list send it to rsync@samba.anu.edu.au
87 Rsync was written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras, and is
88 available under the GPL.
90 Andrew.Tridgell@anu.edu.au
97 The main ftp site for rsync is ftp://samba.anu.edu.au/pub/rsync
99 A european mirror of this directory is available at
100 ftp://sunsite.auc.dk/pub/unix/rsync