mailto(rsync-bugs@samba.org)
-manpage(rsync)(1)(11 Nov 1998)()()
+manpage(rsync)(1)(25 Jan 2002)()()
manpagename(rsync)(faster, flexible replacement for rcp)
manpagesynopsis()
-rsync [options] [user@]host:path path
+rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... [USER@]HOST:DEST
-rsync [options] path [user@]host:path
+rsync [OPTION]... [USER@]HOST:SRC DEST
-rsync [options] path path
+rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... DEST
-rsync [options] [user@]host::module[/path] path
+rsync [OPTION]... [USER@]HOST::SRC [DEST]
-rsync [options] path [user@]host::module[/path]
+rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... [USER@]HOST::DEST
-rsync [options] rsync://[user@]host[:port]/module/path path
+rsync [OPTION]... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/SRC [DEST]
+
+rsync [OPTION]... SRC [SRC]... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/DEST
manpagedescription()
rsync is a program that behaves in much the same way that rcp does,
but has many more options and uses the rsync remote-update protocol to
-greatly speedup file transfers when the destination file already
+greatly speed up file transfers when the destination file already
exists.
The rsync remote-update protocol allows rsync to transfer just the
manpagesection(GENERAL)
-There are six different ways of using rsync. They are:
+There are eight different ways of using rsync. They are:
itemize(
it() for copying local files. This is invoked when neither
single : separator.
it() for copying from a remote machine to the local machine
- using a remote shell program. This is invoked when the local path
+ using a remote shell program. This is invoked when the source
contains a : separator.
it() for copying from a remote rsync server to the local
it() for copying from the local machine to a remote rsync
server. This is invoked when the destination path contains a ::
- separator.
+ separator or a rsync:// URL.
+
+ it() for copying from a remote machine using a remote shell
+ program as the transport, using rsync server on the remote
+ machine. This is invoked when the source path contains a ::
+ separator and the --rsh=COMMAND (aka "-e COMMAND") option is
+ also provided.
+
+ it() for copying from the local machine to a remote machine
+ using a remote shell program as the transport, using rsync
+ server on the remote machine. This is invoked when the
+ destination path contains a :: separator and the
+ --rsh=COMMMAND option is also provided.
it() for listing files on a remote machine. This is done the
same way as rsync transfers except that you leave off the
See the file README for installation instructions.
-Once installed you can use rsync to any machine that you can use rsh
-to. rsync uses rsh for its communications, unless both the source and
-destination are local.
+Once installed, you can use rsync to any machine that you can access via
+a remote shell (as well as some that you can access using the rsync
+daemon-mode protocol). For remote transfers, rsync typically uses rsh
+for its communications, but it may have been configured to use a
+different remote shell by default, such as ssh.
-You can also specify an alternative to rsh, by either using the -e
+You can also specify any remote shell you like, either by using the -e
command line option, or by setting the RSYNC_RSH environment variable.
One common substitute is to use ssh, which offers a high degree of
manpagesection(CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC SERVER)
-It is also possible to use rsync without using rsh or ssh as the
+It is also possible to use rsync without a remote shell as the
transport. In this case you will connect to a remote rsync server
running on TCP port 873.
-Using rsync in this way is the same as using it with rsh or ssh except
+You may establish the connection via a web proxy by setting the
+environment variable RSYNC_PROXY to a hostname:port pair pointing to
+your web proxy. Note that your web proxy's configuration must allow
+proxying to port 873.
+
+Using rsync in this way is the same as using it with a remote shell except
that:
itemize(
it() you use a double colon :: instead of a single colon to
- separate the hostname from the path.
+ separate the hostname from the path or a rsync:// URL.
it() the remote server may print a message of the day when you
connect.
Some paths on the remote server may require authentication. If so then
you will receive a password prompt when you connect. You can avoid the
password prompt by setting the environment variable RSYNC_PASSWORD to
-the password you want to use. This may be useful when scripting rsync.
+the password you want to use or using the --password-file option. This
+may be useful when scripting rsync.
+
+WARNING: On some systems environment variables are visible to all
+users. On those systems using --password-file is recommended.
+
+manpagesection(CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC SERVER OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM)
+
+It is sometimes useful to be able to set up file transfers using rsync
+server capabilities on the remote machine, while still using rsh or
+ssh for transport. This is especially useful when you want to connect
+to a remote machine via ssh (for encryption or to get through a
+firewall), but you still want to have access to the rsync server
+features (see RUNNING AN RSYNC SERVER OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM,
+below).
+
+From the user's perspective, using rsync in this way is the same as
+using it to connect to an rsync server, except that you must
+explicitly set the remote shell program on the command line with
+--rsh=COMMAND. (Setting RSYNC_RSH in the environment will not turn on
+this functionality.)
+
+In order to distinguish between the remote-shell user and the rsync
+server user, you can use '-l user' on your remote-shell command:
+
+quote(rsync -av --rsh="ssh -l ssh-user" rsync-user@host::module[/path] local-path)
+
+The "ssh-user" will be used at the ssh level; the "rsync-user" will be
+used to check against the rsyncd.conf on the remote host.
manpagesection(RUNNING AN RSYNC SERVER)
called /etc/rsyncd.conf. Please see the rsyncd.conf(5) man page for more
information.
+manpagesection(RUNNING AN RSYNC SERVER OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM)
+
+See the rsyncd.conf(5) man page for full information on the rsync
+server configuration file.
+
+Several configuration options will not be available unless the remote
+user is root (e.g. chroot, setuid/setgid, etc.). There is no need to
+configure inetd or the services map to include the rsync server port
+if you run an rsync server only via a remote shell program.
+
+To run an rsync server out of a single-use ssh key, use the
+"command=em(COMMAND)" syntax in the remote user's
+authorized_keys entry, where command would be
+
+quote(rsync --server --daemon .)
+
+NOTE: rsync's argument parsing expects the trailing ".", so make sure
+that it's there. If you want to use a rsyncd.conf(5)-style
+configuration file other than /etc/rsyncd.conf, you can added a
+--config-file option to the em(command):
+
+quote(rsync --server --daemon --config-file=em(file) .)
+
manpagesection(EXAMPLES)
Here are some examples of how I use rsync.
to the detailed description below for a complete description.
verb(
-Usage: rsync [OPTION]... SRC [USER@]HOST:DEST
- or rsync [OPTION]... [USER@]HOST:SRC DEST
- or rsync [OPTION]... SRC DEST
- or rsync [OPTION]... [USER@]HOST::SRC [DEST]
- or rsync [OPTION]... SRC [USER@]HOST::DEST
- or rsync [OPTION]... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/SRC [DEST]
-
-Options
-v, --verbose increase verbosity
+ -q, --quiet decrease verbosity
-c, --checksum always checksum
-a, --archive archive mode
-r, --recursive recurse into directories
-R, --relative use relative path names
- -b, --backup make backups (default ~ extension)
+ -b, --backup make backups (default ~ suffix)
+ --backup-dir make backups into this directory
+ --suffix=SUFFIX define backup suffix
-u, --update update only (don't overwrite newer files)
- -l, --links preserve soft links
- -L, --copy-links treat soft links like regular files
+ -l, --links copy symlinks as symlinks
+ -L, --copy-links copy the referent of symlinks
+ --copy-unsafe-links copy links outside the source tree
--safe-links ignore links outside the destination tree
-H, --hard-links preserve hard links
-p, --perms preserve permissions
-S, --sparse handle sparse files efficiently
-n, --dry-run show what would have been transferred
-W, --whole-file copy whole files, no incremental checks
+ --no-whole-file turn off --whole-file
-x, --one-file-system don't cross filesystem boundaries
- -B, --block-size=SIZE checksum blocking size
- -e, --rsh=COMMAND specify rsh replacement
+ -B, --block-size=SIZE checksum blocking size (default 700)
+ -e, --rsh=COMMAND specify the remote shell to use
--rsync-path=PATH specify path to rsync on the remote machine
-C, --cvs-exclude auto ignore files in the same way CVS does
+ --existing only update files that already exist
+ --ignore-existing ignore files that already exist on the receiving side
--delete delete files that don't exist on the sending side
+ --delete-excluded also delete excluded files on the receiving side
+ --delete-after delete after transferring, not before
+ --ignore-errors delete even if there are IO errors
+ --max-delete=NUM don't delete more than NUM files
--partial keep partially transferred files
--force force deletion of directories even if not empty
--numeric-ids don't map uid/gid values by user/group name
--timeout=TIME set IO timeout in seconds
-I, --ignore-times don't exclude files that match length and time
+ --size-only only use file size when determining if a file should be transferred
+ --modify-window=NUM Timestamp window (seconds) for file match (default=0)
-T --temp-dir=DIR create temporary files in directory DIR
--compare-dest=DIR also compare destination files relative to DIR
+ --link-dest=DIR create hardlinks to DIR for unchanged files
+ -P equivalent to --partial --progress
-z, --compress compress file data
--exclude=PATTERN exclude files matching PATTERN
- --exclude-from=FILE exclude files listed in FILE
+ --exclude-from=FILE exclude patterns listed in FILE
--include=PATTERN don't exclude files matching PATTERN
- --include-from=FILE don't exclude files listed in FILE
- --suffix=SUFFIX override backup suffix
+ --include-from=FILE don't exclude patterns listed in FILE
--version print version number
--daemon run as a rsync daemon
+ --no-detach do not detach from the parent
+ --address=ADDRESS bind to the specified address
--config=FILE specify alternate rsyncd.conf file
--port=PORT specify alternate rsyncd port number
+ --blocking-io use blocking IO for the remote shell
+ --no-blocking-io turn off --blocking-io
--stats give some file transfer stats
--progress show progress during transfer
--log-format=FORMAT log file transfers using specified format
+ --password-file=FILE get password from FILE
+ --bwlimit=KBPS limit I/O bandwidth, KBytes per second
+ --read-batch=PREFIX read batch fileset starting with PREFIX
+ --write-batch=PREFIX write batch fileset starting with PREFIX
-h, --help show this help screen
+
+
)
manpageoptions()
rsync uses the GNU long options package. Many of the command line
options have two variants, one short and one long. These are shown
below, separated by commas. Some options only have a long variant.
+The '=' for options that take a parameter is optional; whitespace
+can be used instead.
startdit()
dit(bf(-h, --help)) Print a short help page describing the options
information at the end. More than two -v flags should only be used if
you are debugging rsync.
+dit(bf(-q, --quiet)) This option decreases the amount of information you
+are given during the transfer, notably suppressing information messages
+from the remote server. This flag is useful when invoking rsync from
+cron.
+
dit(bf(-I, --ignore-times)) Normally rsync will skip any files that are
already the same length and have the same time-stamp. This option turns
off this behavior.
+dit(bf(--size-only)) Normally rsync will skip any files that are
+already the same length and have the same time-stamp. With the
+--size-only option files will be skipped if they have the same size,
+regardless of timestamp. This is useful when starting to use rsync
+after using another mirroring system which may not preserve timestamps
+exactly.
+
+dit(bf(--modify-window)) When comparing two timestamps rsync treats
+the timestamps as being equal if they are within the value of
+modify_window. This is normally zero, but you may find it useful to
+set this to a larger value in some situations. In particular, when
+transferring to/from FAT filesystems which cannot represent times with
+a 1 second resolution this option is useful.
+
dit(bf(-c, --checksum)) This forces the sender to checksum all files using
a 128-bit MD4 checksum before transfer. The checksum is then
explicitly checked on the receiver and any files of the same name
which already exist and have the same checksum and size on the
receiver are skipped. This option can be quite slow.
-dit(bf(-a, --archive)) This is equivalent to -rlptDg. It is a quick way
-of saying you want recursion and want to preserve everything.
+dit(bf(-a, --archive)) This is equivalent to -rlptgoD. It is a quick
+way of saying you want recursion and want to preserve almost
+everything.
-Note: if the user launching rsync is root then the -o option (preserve
-uid) is also implied.
+Note however that bf(-a) bf(does not preserve hardlinks), because
+finding multiply-linked files is expensive. You must separately
+specify bf(-H).
-dit(bf(-r, --recursive)) This tells rsync to copy directories recursively.
+dit(bf(-r, --recursive)) This tells rsync to copy directories
+recursively. If you don't specify this then rsync won't copy
+directories at all.
dit(bf(-R, --relative)) Use relative paths. This means that the full path
names specified on the command line are sent to the server rather than
renamed with a ~ extension as each file is transferred. You can
control the backup suffix using the --suffix option.
+dit(bf(--backup-dir=DIR)) In combination with the --backup option, this
+tells rsync to store all backups in the specified directory. This is
+very useful for incremental backups. You can additionally
+specify a backup suffix using the --suffix option
+(otherwise the files backed up in the specified directory
+will keep their original filenames).
+
+dit(bf(--suffix=SUFFIX)) This option allows you to override the default
+backup suffix used with the -b option. The default is a ~.
+If --backup-dir and --suffix are both specified,
+the SUFFIX is appended to the filename even in the backup directory.
+
dit(bf(-u, --update)) This forces rsync to skip any files for which the
destination file already exists and has a date later than the source
file.
-dit(bf(-l, --links)) This tells rsync to recreate symbolic links on the
-remote system to be the same as the local system. Without this
-option, all symbolic links are skipped.
+dit(bf(-l, --links)) When symlinks are encountered, recreate the
+symlink on the destination.
+
+dit(bf(-L, --copy-links)) When symlinks are encountered, the file that
+they point to is copied, rather than the symlink.
-dit(bf(-L, --copy-links)) This tells rsync to treat symbolic links just
-like ordinary files.
+dit(bf(--copy-unsafe-links)) This tells rsync to copy the referent of
+symbolic links that point outside the source tree. Absolute symlinks
+are also treated like ordinary files, and so are any symlinks in the
+source path itself when --relative is used.
dit(bf(--safe-links)) This tells rsync to ignore any symbolic links
which point outside the destination tree. All absolute symlinks are
This option can be quite slow, so only use it if you need it.
dit(bf(-W, --whole-file)) With this option the incremental rsync algorithm
-is not used and the whole file is sent as-is instead. This may be
-useful when using rsync with a local machine.
+is not used and the whole file is sent as-is instead. The transfer may be
+faster if this option is used when the bandwidth between the source and
+target machines is higher than the bandwidth to disk (especially when the
+"disk" is actually a networked file system). This is the default when both
+the source and target are on the local machine.
-dit(bf(--partial)) By default, rsync will delete any partially
-transferred file if the transfer is interrupted. In some circumstances
-it is more desirable to keep partially transferred files. Using the
---partial option tells rsync to keep the partial file which should
-make a subsequent transfer of the rest of the file much faster.
+dit(bf(--no-whole-file)) Turn off --whole-file, for use when it is the
+default.
dit(bf(-p, --perms)) This option causes rsync to update the remote
permissions to be the same as the local permissions.
-dit(bf(-o, --owner)) This option causes rsync to update the remote owner
-of the file to be the same as the local owner. This is only available
-to the super-user. Note that if the source system is a daemon using chroot,
-the --numeric-ids option is implied because the source system cannot get
-access to the usernames.
+dit(bf(-o, --owner)) This option causes rsync to set the owner of the
+destination file to be the same as the source file. On most systems,
+only the super-user can set file ownership. Note that if the remote system
+is a daemon using chroot, the --numeric-ids option is implied because the
+remote system cannot get access to the usernames from /etc/passwd.
-dit(bf(-g, --group)) This option causes rsync to update the remote group
-of the file to be the same as the local group. Note that if the source
-system is a daemon using chroot, the --numeric-ids option is implied because
-the source system cannot get access to the group names.
+dit(bf(-g, --group)) This option causes rsync to set the group of the
+destination file to be the same as the source file. If the receiving
+program is not running as the super-user, only groups that the
+receiver is a member of will be preserved (by group name, not group id
+number).
dit(bf(-D, --devices)) This option causes rsync to transfer character and
block device information to the remote system to recreate these
boundaries when recursing. This is useful for transferring the
contents of only one filesystem.
-dit(bf(--delete)) This tells rsync to delete any files on the receiving
-side that aren't on the sending side. This option can be dangerous if
-used incorrectly!
+dit(bf(--existing)) This tells rsync not to create any new files -
+only update files that already exist on the destination.
+
+dit(bf(--ignore-existing))
+This tells rsync not to update files that already exist on
+the destination.
+
+dit(bf(--max-delete=NUM)) This tells rsync not to delete more than NUM
+files or directories. This is useful when mirroring very large trees
+to prevent disasters.
-It is a very good idea to run first using the dry run option (-n) to
-see what files would be deleted to make sure important files aren't
-listed.
+dit(bf(--delete)) This tells rsync to delete any files on the receiving
+side that aren't on the sending side. Files that are excluded from
+transfer are excluded from being deleted unless you use --delete-excluded.
-rsync 1.6.4 changed the behavior of --delete to make it less
-dangerous. rsync now only scans directories on the receiving side
-that are explicitly transferred from the sending side. Only files in
-these directories are deleted.
+This option has no effect if directory recursion is not selected.
-Still, it is probably easy to get burnt with this option. The moral
-of the story is to use the -n option until you get used to the
-behavior of --delete.
+This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very good idea
+to run first using the dry run option (-n) to see what files would be
+deleted to make sure important files aren't listed.
If the sending side detects any IO errors then the deletion of any
files at the destination will be automatically disabled. This is to
prevent temporary filesystem failures (such as NFS errors) on the
sending side causing a massive deletion of files on the
-destination.
+destination. You can override this with the --ignore-errors option.
-dit(bf(--force)) This options tells rsync to delete directories even if
-they are not empty. This applies to both the --delete option and to
-cases where rsync tries to copy a normal file but the destination
-contains a directory of the same name. Normally rsync will refuse to
-do a recursive directory deletion in such cases, by using --force
-the recursive deletion will be done.
+dit(bf(--delete-excluded)) In addition to deleting the files on the
+receiving side that are not on the sending side, this tells rsync to also
+delete any files on the receiving side that are excluded (see --exclude).
+Implies --delete.
+
+dit(bf(--delete-after)) By default rsync does file deletions before
+transferring files to try to ensure that there is sufficient space on
+the receiving filesystem. If you want to delete after transferring
+then use the --delete-after switch. Implies --delete.
-Use this option with caution!
+dit(bf(--ignore-errors)) Tells --delete to go ahead and delete files
+even when there are IO errors.
-dit(bf(-B , --block_size BLOCKSIZE)) This controls the block size used in
+dit(bf(--force)) This options tells rsync to delete directories even if
+they are not empty when they are to be replaced by non-directories. This
+is only relevant without --delete because deletions are now done depth-first.
+Requires the --recursive option (which is implied by -a) to have any effect.
+
+dit(bf(-B , --block-size=BLOCKSIZE)) This controls the block size used in
the rsync algorithm. See the technical report for details.
-dit(bf(-e, --rsh COMMAND)) This option allows you to choose an alternative
+dit(bf(-e, --rsh=COMMAND)) This option allows you to choose an alternative
remote shell program to use for communication between the local and
-remote copies of rsync. By default, rsync will use rsh, but you may
-like to instead use ssh because of its high security.
+remote copies of rsync. Typically, rsync is configured to use rsh by
+default, but you may prefer to use ssh because of its high security.
+
+If this option is used with bf([user@]host::module/path), then the
+remote shell em(COMMMAND) will be used to run an rsync server on the
+remote host, and all data will be transmitted through that remote
+shell connection, rather than through a direct socket connection to a
+running rsync server on the remote host. See the section "CONNECTING
+TO AN RSYNC SERVER OVER A REMOTE SHELL PROGRAM" above.
+
+Command-line arguments are permitted in COMMAND provided that COMMAND is
+presented to rsync as a single argument. For example:
+
+quote(-e "ssh -p 2234")
+
+(Note that ssh users can alternately customize site-specific connect
+options in their .ssh/config file.)
You can also choose the remote shell program using the RSYNC_RSH
-environment variable.
+environment variable, which accepts the same range of values as -e.
-dit(bf(--rsync-path PATH)) Use this to specify the path to the copy of
-rsync on the remote machine. Useful when it's not in your path.
+See also the --blocking-io option which is affected by this option.
-dit(bf(--exclude pattern)) This option allows you to selectively exclude
+dit(bf(--rsync-path=PATH)) Use this to specify the path to the copy of
+rsync on the remote machine. Useful when it's not in your path. Note
+that this is the full path to the binary, not just the directory that
+the binary is in.
+
+dit(bf(--exclude=PATTERN)) This option allows you to selectively exclude
certain files from the list of files to be transferred. This is most
useful in combination with a recursive transfer.
See the section on exclude patterns for information on the syntax of
this option.
-dit(bf(--exclude-from FILE)) This option is similar to the --exclude
-option, but instead it adds all filenames listed in the file FILE to
-the exclude list.
+dit(bf(--exclude-from=FILE)) This option is similar to the --exclude
+option, but instead it adds all exclude patterns listed in the file
+FILE to the exclude list. Blank lines in FILE and lines starting with
+';' or '#' are ignored.
+If em(FILE) is bf(-) the list will be read from standard input.
+
-dit(bf(--include pattern)) This option tells rsync to not exclude the
+dit(bf(--include=PATTERN)) This option tells rsync to not exclude the
specified pattern of filenames. This is useful as it allows you to
build up quite complex exclude/include rules.
See the section of exclude patterns for information on the syntax of
this option.
-dit(bf(--include-from FILE)) This specifies a list of include patterns
+dit(bf(--include-from=FILE)) This specifies a list of include patterns
from a file.
+If em(FILE) is bf(-) the list will be read from standard input.
+
dit(bf(-C, --cvs-exclude)) This is a useful shorthand for excluding a
broad range of files that you often don't want to transfer between
then files listed in a $HOME/.cvsignore are added to the list and any
files listed in the CVSIGNORE environment variable (space delimited).
-Finally in each directory any files listed in the .cvsignore file in
-that directory are added to the list.
+Finally, any file is ignored if it is in the same directory as a
+.cvsignore file and matches one of the patterns listed therein. See
+the bf(cvs(1)) manual for more information.
-dit(bf(--suffix SUFFIX)) This option allows you to override the default
-backup suffix used with the -b option. The default is a ~.
-
-dit(bf(--csum-length LENGTH)) By default the primary checksum used in
+dit(bf(--csum-length=LENGTH)) By default the primary checksum used in
rsync is a very strong 16 byte MD4 checksum. In most cases you will
find that a truncated version of this checksum is quite efficient, and
this will decrease the size of the checksum data sent over the link,
if a 2nd pass is required with a longer block checksum. Only use this
option if you have read the source code and know what you are doing.
-dit(bf(-T, --temp-dir DIR)) This option instructs rsync to use DIR as a
+dit(bf(-T, --temp-dir=DIR)) This option instructs rsync to use DIR as a
scratch directory when creating temporary copies of the files
transferred on the receiving side. The default behavior is to create
the temporary files in the receiving directory.
-dit(bf(--compare-dest DIR)) This option instructs rsync to use DIR as an
-additional directory to compare destination files against when doing
-transfers. This is useful for doing transfers to a new destination while
-leaving existing files intact, and then doing a flash-cutover when all
-files have been successfully transferred (for example by moving directories
-around and removing the old directory, although this requires also doing
-the transfer with -I to avoid skipping files that haven't changed). This
-option increases the usefulness of --partial because partially transferred
-files will remain in the new temporary destination until they have a chance
-to be completed. If DIR is a relative path, it is relative to the
-destination directory.
+dit(bf(--compare-dest=DIR)) This option instructs rsync to use DIR on
+the destination machine as an additional directory to compare destination
+files against when doing transfers. This is useful for doing transfers to
+a new destination while leaving existing files intact, and then doing a
+flash-cutover when all files have been successfully transferred (for
+example by moving directories around and removing the old directory,
+although this requires also doing the transfer with -I to avoid skipping
+files that haven't changed). This option increases the usefulness of
+--partial because partially transferred files will remain in the new
+temporary destination until they have a chance to be completed. If DIR is
+a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
+
+dit(bf(--link-dest=DIR)) This option behaves like bf(--compare-dest) but
+also will create hard links from em(DIR) to the destination directory for
+unchanged files. Files with changed ownership or permissions will not be
+linked.
dit(bf(-z, --compress)) With this option, rsync compresses any data from
-the source file(s) which it sends to the destination machine. This
+the files that it sends to the destination machine. This
option is useful on slow links. The compression method used is the
same method that gzip uses.
0 are never mapped via user/group names even if the --numeric-ids
option is not specified.
-If the source system is a daemon using chroot, or if a user or group name
-does not exist on the destination system, then the numeric id from the
-source system is used instead.
+If the source system is a daemon using chroot, or if a user or group
+name does not exist on the destination system, then the numeric id
+from the source system is used instead.
dit(bf(--timeout=TIMEOUT)) This option allows you to set a maximum IO
timeout in seconds. If no data is transferred for the specified time
then rsync will exit. The default is 0, which means no timeout.
-dit(bf(--daemon)) This tells rsync that it is to run as a rsync
-daemon. If standard input is a socket then rsync will assume that it
-is being run via inetd, otherwise it will detach from the current
-terminal and become a background daemon. The daemon will read the
-config file (/etc/rsyncd.conf) on each connect made by a client and
-respond to requests accordingly. See the rsyncd.conf(5) man page for more
-details.
-
-dit(bf(--config FILE)) This specifies an alternate config file than
+dit(bf(--daemon)) This tells rsync that it is to run as a daemon. The
+daemon may be accessed using the bf(host::module) or
+bf(rsync://host/module/) syntax.
+
+If standard input is a socket then rsync will assume that it is being
+run via inetd, otherwise it will detach from the current terminal and
+become a background daemon. The daemon will read the config file
+(/etc/rsyncd.conf) on each connect made by a client and respond to
+requests accordingly. See the rsyncd.conf(5) man page for more
+details.
+
+dit(bf(--no-detach)) When running as a daemon, this option instructs
+rsync to not detach itself and become a background process. This
+option is required when running as a service on Cygwin, and may also
+be useful when rsync is supervised by a program such as
+bf(daemontools) or AIX's bf(System Resource Controller).
+bf(--no-detach) is also recommended when rsync is run under a
+debugger. This option has no effect if rsync is run from inetd or
+sshd.
+
+dit(bf(--address)) By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address
+when run as a daemon with the --daemon option or when connecting to a
+rsync server. The --address option allows you to specify a specific IP
+address (or hostname) to bind to. This makes virtual hosting possible
+in conjunction with the --config option.
+
+dit(bf(--config=FILE)) This specifies an alternate config file than
the default /etc/rsyncd.conf. This is only relevant when --daemon is
specified.
-dit(bf(--port PORT)) This specifies an alternate TCP port number to use
+dit(bf(--port=PORT)) This specifies an alternate TCP port number to use
rather than the default port 873.
+dit(bf(--blocking-io)) This tells rsync to use blocking IO when launching
+a remote shell transport. If -e or --rsh are not specified or are set to
+the default "rsh", this defaults to blocking IO, otherwise it defaults to
+non-blocking IO. You may find the --blocking-io option is needed for some
+remote shells that can't handle non-blocking IO. (Note that ssh prefers
+non-blocking IO.)
+
+dit(bf(--no-blocking-io)) Turn off --blocking-io, for use when it is the
+default.
+
dit(bf(--log-format=FORMAT)) This allows you to specify exactly what the
rsync client logs to stdout on a per-file basis. The log format is
specified using the same format conventions as the log format option in
dit(bf(--stats)) This tells rsync to print a verbose set of statistics
on the file transfer, allowing you to tell how effective the rsync
-algorithm is for your data. This option only works in conjunction with
-the -v (verbose) option.
+algorithm is for your data.
+
+dit(bf(--partial)) By default, rsync will delete any partially
+transferred file if the transfer is interrupted. In some circumstances
+it is more desirable to keep partially transferred files. Using the
+--partial option tells rsync to keep the partial file which should
+make a subsequent transfer of the rest of the file much faster.
dit(bf(--progress)) This option tells rsync to print information
showing the progress of the transfer. This gives a bored user
something to watch.
+This option is normally combined with -v. Using this option without
+the -v option will produce weird results on your display.
+
+dit(bf(-P)) The -P option is equivalent to --partial --progress. I
+found myself typing that combination quite often so I created an
+option to make it easier.
+
+dit(bf(--password-file)) This option allows you to provide a password
+in a file for accessing a remote rsync server. Note that this option
+is only useful when accessing a rsync server using the built in
+transport, not when using a remote shell as the transport. The file
+must not be world readable. It should contain just the password as a
+single line.
+
+dit(bf(--bwlimit=KBPS)) This option allows you to specify a maximum
+transfer rate in kilobytes per second. This option is most effective when
+using rsync with large files (several megabytes and up). Due to the nature
+of rsync transfers, blocks of data are sent, then if rsync determines the
+transfer was too fast, it will wait before sending the next data block. The
+result is an average transfer rate equalling the specified limit. A value
+of zero specifies no limit.
+
+dit(bf(--write-batch=PREFIX)) Generate a set of files that can be
+transferred as a batch update. Each filename in the set starts with
+PREFIX. See the "BATCH MODE" section for details.
+
+dit(bf(--read-batch=PREFIX)) Apply a previously generated change batch,
+using the fileset whose filenames start with PREFIX. See the "BATCH
+MODE" section for details.
+
enddit()
manpagesection(EXCLUDE PATTERNS)
The exclude and include patterns specified to rsync allow for flexible
selection of which files to transfer and which files to skip.
-rsync builds a ordered list of include/exclude options as specified on
+rsync builds an ordered list of include/exclude options as specified on
the command line. When a filename is encountered, rsync checks the
name against each exclude/include pattern in turn. The first matching
-pattern is acted on. If it is an exclude pattern than that file is
+pattern is acted on. If it is an exclude pattern, then that file is
skipped. If it is an include pattern then that filename is not
skipped. If no matching include/exclude pattern is found then the
filename is not skipped.
+Note that when used with -r (which is implied by -a), every subcomponent of
+every path is visited from top down, so include/exclude patterns get
+applied recursively to each subcomponent.
+
+Note also that the --include and --exclude options take one pattern
+each. To add multiple patterns use the --include-from and
+--exclude-from options or multiple --include and --exclude options.
+
The patterns can take several forms. The rules are:
itemize(
it() if the pattern starts with a / then it is matched against the
start of the filename, otherwise it is matched against the end of
- the filename. Thus /foo would match a file called foo
- at the base of the tree whereas foo would match any file
- called foo anywhere in the tree.
+ the filename. Thus "/foo" would match a file called "foo" at the base of
+ the tree. On the other hand, "foo" would match any file called "foo"
+ anywhere in the tree because the algorithm is applied recursively from
+ top down; it behaves as if each path component gets a turn at being the
+ end of the file name.
it() if the pattern ends with a / then it will only match a
directory, not a file, link or device.
it() if the pattern contains a wildcard character from the set
- *?[ then regular expression matching is applied using the
- normal shell filename matching rules. Otherwise a simple string
- match is used.
+ *?[ then expression matching is applied using the shell filename
+ matching rules. Otherwise a simple string match is used.
+
+ it() if the pattern includes a double asterisk "**" then all wildcards in
+ the pattern will match slashes, otherwise they will stop at slashes.
it() if the pattern contains a / (not counting a trailing /) then it
is matched against the full filename, including any leading
directory. If the pattern doesn't contain a / then it is matched
- only against the final component of the filename.
+ only against the final component of the filename. Again, remember
+ that the algorithm is applied recursively so "full filename" can
+ actually be any portion of a path.
it() if the pattern starts with "+ " (a plus followed by a space)
- then it is always considered a include pattern, even if specified as
+ then it is always considered an include pattern, even if specified as
part of an exclude option. The "+ " part is discarded before matching.
it() if the pattern starts with "- " (a minus followed by a space)
- then it is always considered a exclude pattern, even if specified as
+ then it is always considered an exclude pattern, even if specified as
part of an include option. The "- " part is discarded before matching.
it() if the pattern is a single exclamation mark ! then the current
- exclude list is reset, removing all previous exclude patterns.
+ include/exclude list is reset, removing all previously defined patterns.
)
The +/- rules are most useful in exclude lists, allowing you to have a
single exclude list that contains both include and exclude options.
-Here are some examples:
+If you end an exclude list with --exclude '*', note that since the
+algorithm is applied recursively that unless you explicitly include
+parent directories of files you want to include then the algorithm
+will stop at the parent directories and never see the files below
+them. To include all directories, use --include '*/' before the
+--exclude '*'.
+
+Here are some exclude/include examples:
itemize(
it() --exclude "*.o" would exclude all filenames matching *.o
it() --exclude "/foo" would exclude a file in the base directory called foo
it() --exclude "foo/" would exclude any directory called foo
+ it() --exclude "/foo/*/bar" would exclude any file called bar two
+ levels below a base directory called foo
+ it() --exclude "/foo/**/bar" would exclude any file called bar two
+ or more levels below a base directory called foo
it() --include "*/" --include "*.c" --exclude "*" would include all
- directories and C source files.
+ directories and C source files
+ it() --include "foo/" --include "foo/bar.c" --exclude "*" would include
+ only foo/bar.c (the foo/ directory must be explicitly included or
+ it would be excluded by the "*")
)
+manpagesection(BATCH MODE)
+
+bf(Note:) Batch mode should be considered experimental in this version
+of rsync. The interface or behaviour may change before it stabilizes.
+
+Batch mode can be used to apply the same set of updates to many
+identical systems. Suppose one has a tree which is replicated on a
+number of hosts. Now suppose some changes have been made to this
+source tree and those changes need to be propagated to the other
+hosts. In order to do this using batch mode, rsync is run with the
+write-batch option to apply the changes made to the source tree to one
+of the destination trees. The write-batch option causes the rsync
+client to store the information needed to repeat this operation against
+other destination trees in a batch update fileset (see below). The
+filename of each file in the fileset starts with a prefix specified by
+the user as an argument to the write-batch option. This fileset is
+then copied to each remote host, where rsync is run with the read-batch
+option, again specifying the same prefix, and the destination tree.
+Rsync updates the destination tree using the information stored in the
+batch update fileset.
+
+The fileset consists of 4 files:
+
+itemize(
+it() bf(<prefix>.rsync_argvs) command-line arguments
+it() bf(<prefix>.rsync_flist) rsync internal file metadata
+it() bf(<prefix>.rsync_csums) rsync checksums
+it() bf(<prefix>.rsync_delta) data blocks for file update & change
+)
+
+The .rsync_argvs file contains a command-line suitable for updating a
+destination tree using that batch update fileset. It can be executed
+using a Bourne(-like) shell, optionally passing in an alternate
+destination tree pathname which is then used instead of the original
+path. This is useful when the destination tree path differs from the
+original destination tree path.
+
+Generating the batch update fileset once saves having to perform the
+file status, checksum and data block generation more than once when
+updating multiple destination trees. Multicast transport protocols can
+be used to transfer the batch update files in parallel to many hosts at
+once, instead of sending the same data to every host individually.
+
+Example:
+
+verb(
+$ rsync --write_batch=pfx -a /source/dir/ /adest/dir/
+$ rcp pfx.rsync_* remote:
+$ rsh remote rsync --read_batch=pfx -a /bdest/dir/
+# or alternatively
+$ rsh remote ./pfx.rsync_argvs /bdest/dir/
+)
+
+In this example, rsync is used to update /adest/dir/ with /source/dir/
+and the information to repeat this operation is stored in the files
+pfx.rsync_*. These files are then copied to the machine named "remote".
+Rsync is then invoked on "remote" to update /bdest/dir/ the same way as
+/adest/dir/. The last line shows the rsync_argvs file being used to
+invoke rsync.
+
+Caveats:
+
+The read-batch option expects the destination tree it is meant to update
+to be identical to the destination tree that was used to create the
+batch update fileset. When a difference between the destination trees
+is encountered the update will fail at that point, leaving the
+destination tree in a partially updated state. In that case, rsync can
+be used in its regular (non-batch) mode of operation to fix up the
+destination tree.
+
+The rsync version used on all destinations should be identical to the
+one used on the original destination.
+
+The -z/--compress option does not work in batch mode and yields a usage
+error. A separate compression tool can be used instead to reduce the
+size of the batch update files for transport to the destination.
+
+The -n/--dryrun option does not work in batch mode and yields a runtime
+error.
+
+See bf(http://www.ils.unc.edu/i2dsi/unc_rsync+.html) for papers and technical
+reports.
+
+manpagesection(SYMBOLIC LINKS)
+
+Three basic behaviours are possible when rsync encounters a symbolic
+link in the source directory.
+
+By default, symbolic links are not transferred at all. A message
+"skipping non-regular" file is emitted for any symlinks that exist.
+
+If bf(--links) is specified, then symlinks are recreated with the same
+target on the destination. Note that bf(--archive) implies
+bf(--links).
+
+If bf(--copy-links) is specified, then symlinks are "collapsed" by
+copying their referent, rather than the symlink.
+
+rsync also distinguishes "safe" and "unsafe" symbolic links. An
+example where this might be used is a web site mirror that wishes
+ensure the rsync module they copy does not include symbolic links to
+bf(/etc/passwd) in the public section of the site. Using
+bf(--copy-unsafe-links) will cause any links to be copied as the file
+they point to on the destination. Using bf(--safe-links) will cause
+unsafe links to be ommitted altogether.
+
+Symbolic links are considered unsafe if they are absolute symlinks
+(start with bf(/)), empty, or if they contain enough bf("..")
+components to ascend from the directory being copied.
+
manpagesection(DIAGNOSTICS)
rsync occasionally produces error messages that may seem a little
)
then look at out.dat. If everything is working correctly then out.dat
-should be a zero length file. You you are getting the above error from
+should be a zero length file. If you are getting the above error from
rsync then you will probably find that out.dat contains some text or
data. Look at the contents and try to work out what is producing
it. The most common cause is incorrectly configured shell startup
scripts (such as .cshrc or .profile) that contain output statements
for non-interactive logins.
+If you are having trouble debugging include and exclude patterns, then
+try specifying the -vv option. At this level of verbosity rsync will
+show why each individual file is included or excluded.
+
+manpagesection(EXIT VALUES)
+
+startdit()
+dit(bf(RERR_SYNTAX 1)) Syntax or usage error
+dit(bf(RERR_PROTOCOL 2)) Protocol incompatibility
+dit(bf(RERR_FILESELECT 3)) Errors selecting input/output files, dirs
+
+dit(bf(RERR_UNSUPPORTED 4)) Requested action not supported: an attempt
+was made to manipulate 64-bit files on a platform that cannot support
+them; or an option was speciifed that is supported by the client and
+not by the server.
+
+dit(bf(RERR_SOCKETIO 10)) Error in socket IO
+dit(bf(RERR_FILEIO 11)) Error in file IO
+dit(bf(RERR_STREAMIO 12)) Error in rsync protocol data stream
+dit(bf(RERR_MESSAGEIO 13)) Errors with program diagnostics
+dit(bf(RERR_IPC 14)) Error in IPC code
+dit(bf(RERR_SIGNAL 20)) Received SIGUSR1 or SIGINT
+dit(bf(RERR_WAITCHILD 21)) Some error returned by waitpid()
+dit(bf(RERR_MALLOC 22)) Error allocating core memory buffers
+dit(bf(RERR_TIMEOUT 30)) Timeout in data send/receive
+enddit()
+
manpagesection(ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES)
startdit()
more details.
dit(bf(RSYNC_RSH)) The RSYNC_RSH environment variable allows you to
-override the default shell used as the transport for rsync. This can
-be used instead of the -e option.
+override the default shell used as the transport for rsync. Command line
+options are permitted after the command name, just as in the -e option.
+
+dit(bf(RSYNC_PROXY)) The RSYNC_PROXY environment variable allows you to
+redirect your rsync client to use a web proxy when connecting to a
+rsync daemon. You should set RSYNC_PROXY to a hostname:port pair.
dit(bf(RSYNC_PASSWORD)) Setting RSYNC_PASSWORD to the required
password allows you to run authenticated rsync connections to a rsync
COPYING for details.
A WEB site is available at
-url(http://rsync.samba.org/)(http://rsync.samba.org/)
+url(http://rsync.samba.org/)(http://rsync.samba.org/). The site
+includes an FAQ-O-Matic which may cover questions unanswered by this
+manual page.
The primary ftp site for rsync is
url(ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync)(ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync).
manpagesection(THANKS)
Thanks to Richard Brent, Brendan Mackay, Bill Waite, Stephen Rothwell
-and David Bell for helpful suggestions and testing of rsync. I've
-probably missed some people, my apologies if I have.
+and David Bell for helpful suggestions, patches and testing of rsync.
+I've probably missed some people, my apologies if I have.
+
+Especial thanks also to: David Dykstra, Jos Backus, Sebastian Krahmer.
manpageauthor()
-rsync was written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras. They may be
-contacted via email at tridge@samba.org and
-Paul.Mackerras@cs.anu.edu.au
+rsync was written by Andrew Tridgell <tridge@samba.org> and Paul
+Mackerras.
+
+rsync is now maintained by Martin Pool <mbp@samba.org>.
+
+Mailing lists for support and development are available at
+url(http://lists.samba.org)(lists.samba.org)
+If you suspect you have found a security vulnerability in rsync,
+please send it directly to Martin Pool and Andrew Tridgell. For other
+enquiries, please use the mailing list.
git.samba.org / rsync.git / blobdiff