mailto(rsync-bugs@samba.org)
-manpage(rsync)(1)(11 Oct 2007)()()
+manpage(rsync)(1)(10 Feb 2008)()()
manpagename(rsync)(a fast, versatile, remote (and local) file-copying tool)
manpagesynopsis()
Push: rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [USER@]HOST::DEST
rsync [OPTION...] SRC... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/DEST)
-Usages without a DEST list the source files instead of copying.
+Usages with just one SRC arg and no DEST arg will list the source files
+instead of copying.
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 speed up file transfers when the destination file is being
-updated.
-
-The rsync remote-update protocol allows rsync to transfer just the
-differences between two sets of files across the network connection, using
-an efficient checksum-search algorithm described in the technical
-report that accompanies this package.
-
-Rsync finds files that need to be transferred using a "quick check" algorithm
-that looks for files that have changed in size or in last-modified time (by
-default). Any changes in the other preserved attributes (as requested by
-options) are made on the destination file directly when the quick check
-indicates that the file's data does not need to be updated.
+Rsync is a fast and extraordinarily versatile file copying tool. It can
+copy locally, to/from another host over any remote shell, or to/from a
+remote rsync daemon. It offers a large number of options that control
+every aspect of its behavior and permit very flexible specification of the
+set of files to be copied. It is famous for its delta-transfer algorithm,
+which reduces the amount of data sent over the network by sending only the
+differences between the source files and the existing files in the
+destination. Rsync is widely used for backups and mirroring and as an
+improved copy command for everyday use.
+
+Rsync finds files that need to be transferred using a "quick check"
+algorithm (by default) that looks for files that have changed in size or
+in last-modified time. Any changes in the other preserved attributes (as
+requested by options) are made on the destination file directly when the
+quick check indicates that the file's data does not need to be updated.
Some of the additional features of rsync are:
rsync -av targethost1::module/src/ /dest/
rsync -av rsync:://targethost2/module/src/ /dest/ )
-The command specifed above uses ssh to run nc (netcat) on a proxyhost,
+The command specified above uses ssh to run nc (netcat) on a proxyhost,
which forwards all data to port 873 (the rsync daemon) on the targethost
(%H).
-u, --update skip files that are newer on the receiver
--inplace update destination files in-place
--append append data onto shorter files
- --append-verify --append w/old data in file cheksum
+ --append-verify --append w/old data in file checksum
-d, --dirs transfer directories without recursing
-l, --links copy symlinks as symlinks
-L, --copy-links transform symlink into referent file/dir
--super receiver attempts super-user activities
--fake-super store/recover privileged attrs using xattrs
-S, --sparse handle sparse files efficiently
- -n, --dry-run show what would have been transferred
- -W, --whole-file copy files whole (without rsync algorithm)
+ -n, --dry-run perform a trial run with no changes made
+ -W, --whole-file copy files whole (w/o delta-xfer algorithm)
-x, --one-file-system don't cross filesystem boundaries
-B, --block-size=SIZE force a fixed checksum block-size
-e, --rsh=COMMAND specify the remote shell to use
--delay-updates put all updated files into place at end
-m, --prune-empty-dirs prune empty directory chains from file-list
--numeric-ids don't map uid/gid values by user/group name
- --timeout=TIME set I/O timeout in seconds
+ --timeout=SECONDS set I/O timeout in seconds
+ --contimeout=SECONDS set daemon connection timeout in seconds
-I, --ignore-times don't skip files that match size and time
--size-only skip files that match in size
--modify-window=NUM compare mod-times with reduced accuracy
--only-write-batch=FILE like --write-batch but w/o updating dest
--read-batch=FILE read a batched update from FILE
--protocol=NUM force an older protocol version to be used
- --iconv=CONVERT_SPEC request charset conversion of filesnames
+ --iconv=CONVERT_SPEC request charset conversion of filenames
--checksum-seed=NUM set block/file checksum seed (advanced)
-4, --ipv4 prefer IPv4
-6, --ipv6 prefer IPv6
Note that rsync always verifies that each em(transferred) file was
correctly reconstructed on the receiving side by checking a whole-file
-checksum that is generated when as the file is transferred, but that
+checksum that is generated as the file is transferred, but that
automatic after-the-transfer verification has nothing to do with this
option's before-the-transfer "Does this file need to be updated?" check.
output a message to that effect for each one). If you specify both
bf(--dirs) and bf(--recursive), bf(--recursive) takes precedence.
+This option is implied by the bf(--list-only) option (including an implied
+bf(--list-only) usage) if bf(--recursive) wasn't specified (so that
+directories are seen in the listing). Specify bf(--no-dirs) (or bf(--no-d))
+if you want to override this. This option is also implied by
+bf(--files-from).
+
dit(bf(-l, --links)) When symlinks are encountered, recreate the
symlink on the destination.
bf(--keep-dirlinks), the receiver keeps the symlink and "file" ends up in
"bar".
+One note of caution: if you use bf(--keep-dirlinks), you must trust all
+the symlinks in the copy! If it is possible for an untrusted user to
+create their own symlink to any directory, the user could then (on a
+subsequent copy) replace the symlink with a real directory and affect the
+content of whatever directory the symlink references. For backup copies,
+you are better off using something like a bind mount instead of a symlink
+to modify your receiving hierarchy.
+
See also bf(--copy-dirlinks) for an analogous option for the sending side.
dit(bf(-H, --hard-links)) This tells rsync to look for hard-linked files in
side. Without this option, hard-linked files in the transfer are treated
as though they were separate files.
-Note that rsync can only detect hard links if both parts of the link
-are in the list of files being sent.
+When you are updating a non-empty destination, this option only ensures
+that files that are hard-linked together on the source are hard-linked
+together on the destination. It does NOT currently endeavor to break
+already existing hard links on the destination that do not exist between
+the source files. Note, however, that if one or more extra-linked files
+have content changes, they will become unlinked when updated (assuming you
+are not using the bf(--inplace) option).
+
+Note that rsync can only detect hard links between files that are inside
+the transfer set. If rsync updates a file that has extra hard-link
+connections to files outside the transfer, that linkage will be broken. If
+you are tempted to use the bf(--inplace) option to avoid this breakage, be
+very careful that you know how your files are being updated so that you are
+certain that no unintended changes happen due to lingering hard links (and
+see the bf(--inplace) option for more caveats).
If incremental recursion is active (see bf(--recursive)), rsync may transfer
-a missing hard-linked file before it finds that another link for the file
+a missing hard-linked file before it finds that another link for that contents
exists elsewhere in the hierarchy. This does not affect the accuracy of
the transfer, just its efficiency. One way to avoid this is to disable
incremental recursion using the bf(--no-inc-recursive) option.
bf(--perms) option is off and use bf(--chmod=ugo=rwX) (which ensures that
all non-masked bits get enabled). If you'd care to make this latter
behavior easier to type, you could define a popt alias for it, such as
-putting this line in the file ~/.popt (this defines the bf(-s) option,
+putting this line in the file ~/.popt (the following defines the bf(-Z) option,
and includes --no-g to use the default group of the destination dir):
-quote(tt( rsync alias -s --no-p --no-g --chmod=ugo=rwX))
+quote(tt( rsync alias -Z --no-p --no-g --chmod=ugo=rwX))
You could then use this new option in a command such as this one:
-quote(tt( rsync -asv src/ dest/))
+quote(tt( rsync -avZ src/ dest/))
-(Caveat: make sure that bf(-a) does not follow bf(-s), or it will re-enable
-the "--no-*" options.)
+(Caveat: make sure that bf(-a) does not follow bf(-Z), or it will re-enable
+the two "--no-*" options mentioned above.)
The preservation of the destination's setgid bit on newly-created
directories when bf(--perms) is off was added in rsync 2.6.7. Older rsync
This option also handles ACLs (if bf(--acls) was specified) and non-user
extended attributes (if bf(--xattrs) was specified).
-This is a good way to backup data withou using a super-user, and to store
+This is a good way to backup data without using a super-user, and to store
ACLs from incompatible systems.
The bf(--fake-super) option only affects the side where the option is used.
quote(tt( rsync -av --rsync-path="rsync --fake-super" /src/ host:/dest/))
Since there is only one "side" in a local copy, this option affects both
-the sending and recieving of files. You'll need to specify a copy using
+the sending and receiving of files. You'll need to specify a copy using
"localhost" if you need to avoid this, possibly using the "lsh" shell
script (from the support directory) as a substitute for an actual remote
shell (see bf(--rsh)).
filesystem. It doesn't seem to handle seeks over null regions
correctly and ends up corrupting the files.
-dit(bf(-n, --dry-run)) This tells rsync to not do any file transfers,
-instead it will just report the actions it would have taken.
-
-dit(bf(-W, --whole-file)) With this option the delta transfer algorithm
+dit(bf(-n, --dry-run)) This makes rsync perform a trial run that doesn't
+make any changes (and produces mostly the same output as a real run). It
+is most commonly used in combination with the bf(-v, --verbose) and/or
+bf(-i, --itemize-changes) options to see what an rsync command is going
+to do before one actually runs it.
+
+The output of bf(--itemize-changes) is supposed to be exactly the same on a
+dry run and a subsequent real run (barring intentional trickery and system
+call failures); if it isn't, that's a bug. Other output is the same to the
+extent practical, but may differ in some areas. Notably, a dry run does not
+send the actual data for file transfers, so bf(--progress) has no effect,
+the "bytes sent", "bytes received", "literal data", and "matched data"
+statistics are too small, and the "speedup" value is equivalent to a run
+where no file transfers are needed.
+
+dit(bf(-W, --whole-file)) With this option the delta-transfer algorithm
is not used and the whole file is sent as-is instead. The transfer may be
faster if this option is used when the bandwidth between the source and
destination machines is higher than the bandwidth to disk (especially when the
was enabled. Beginning with 2.6.7, deletions will also occur when bf(--dirs)
(bf(-d)) is enabled, but only for directories whose contents are being copied.
-This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very good idea
-to run first using the bf(--dry-run) option (bf(-n)) to see what files would be
-deleted to make sure important files aren't listed.
+This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very good idea to
+first try a run using the bf(--dry-run) option (bf(-n)) to see what files are
+going to be deleted.
If the sending side detects any I/O errors, then the deletion of any
files at the destination will be automatically disabled. This is to
initial items are marked as perishable -- see the FILTER RULES section):
quote(quote(tt(RCS SCCS CVS CVS.adm RCSLOG cvslog.* tags TAGS .make.state
-.nse_depinfo *~ #* .#* ,* _$* *$ *.old *.bak *.BAK *.orig *.rej
-.del-* *.a *.olb *.o *.obj *.so *.exe *.Z *.elc *.ln core .svn/ .bzr/)))
+.nse_depinfo *~ #* .#* ,* _$* *$ *.old *.bak *.BAK *.orig *.rej .del-*
+*.a *.olb *.o *.obj *.so *.exe *.Z *.elc *.ln core .svn/ .git/ .bzr/)))
then, files listed in a $HOME/.cvsignore are added to the list and any
files listed in the CVSIGNORE environment variable (all cvsignore names
most useful in combination with a recursive transfer.
You may use as many bf(--filter) options on the command line as you like
-to build up the list of files to exclude.
+to build up the list of files to exclude. If the filter contains whitespace,
+be sure to quote it so that the shell gives the rule to rsync as a single
+argument. The text below also mentions that you can use an underscore to
+replace the space that separates a rule from its arg.
See the FILTER RULES section for detailed information on this option.
expanded on the remote host by rsync (instead of the shell doing it).
If you use this option with bf(--iconv), the args will also be translated
-from the local to the remote character set. The translation happens before
+from the local to the remote character-set. The translation happens before
wild-cards are expanded. See also the bf(--files-from) option.
dit(bf(-T, --temp-dir=DIR)) This option instructs rsync to use DIR as a
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(--contimeout)) This option allows you to set the amount of time
+that rsync will wait for its connection to an rsync daemon to succeed.
+If the timeout is reached, rsync exits with an error.
+
dit(bf(--address)) By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address when
connecting to an rsync daemon. The bf(--address) option allows you to
specify a specific IP address (or hostname) to bind to. See also this
file for accessing an rsync daemon. The file must not be world readable.
It should contain just the password as a single line.
+This option does not supply a password to a remote shell transport such as
+ssh; to learn how to do that, consult the remote shell's documentation.
When accessing an rsync daemon using a remote shell as the transport, this
option only comes into effect after the remote shell finishes its
authentication (i.e. if you have also specified a password in the daemon's
instead of transferred. This option is inferred if there is a single source
arg and no destination specified, so its main uses are: (1) to turn a copy
command that includes a
-destination arg into a file-listing command, (2) to be able to specify more
-than one local source arg (note: be sure to include the destination), or
-(3) to avoid the automatically added "bf(-r --exclude='/*/*')" options that
-rsync usually uses as a compatibility kluge when generating a non-recursive
-listing. Caution: keep in mind that a source arg with a wild-card is expanded
-by the shell into multiple args, so it is never safe to try to list such an arg
+destination arg into a file-listing command, or (2) to be able to specify
+more than one source arg (note: be sure to include the destination).
+Caution: keep in mind that a source arg with a wild-card is expanded by the
+shell into multiple args, so it is never safe to try to list such an arg
without using this option. For example:
verb( rsync -av --list-only foo* dest/)
+Compatibility note: when requesting a remote listing of files from an rsync
+that is version 2.6.3 or older, you may encounter an error if you ask for a
+non-recursive listing. This is because a file listing implies the bf(--dirs)
+option w/o bf(--recursive), and older rsyncs don't have that option. To
+avoid this problem, either specify the bf(--no-dirs) option (if you don't
+need to expand a directory's content), or turn on recursion and exclude
+the content of subdirectories: bf(-r --exclude='/*/*').
+
dit(bf(--bwlimit=KBPS)) This option allows you to specify a maximum
transfer rate in kilobytes per second. This option is most effective when
using rsync with large files (several megabytes and up). Due to the nature
sets using this option. Using a CONVERT_SPEC of "." tells rsync to look up
the default character-set via the locale setting. Alternately, you can
fully specify what conversion to do by giving a local and a remote charset
-separated by a comma (local first), e.g. bf(--iconv=utf8,iso88591).
-Finally, you can specify a CONVERT_SPEC of "-" to turn off any conversion.
+separated by a comma in the order bf(--iconv=LOCAL,REMOTE), e.g.
+bf(--iconv=utf8,iso88591). This order ensures that the option
+will stay the same whether you're pushing or pulling files.
+Finally, you can specify either bf(--no-iconv) or a CONVERT_SPEC of "-"
+to turn off any conversion.
The default setting of this option is site-specific, and can also be
affected via the RSYNC_ICONV environment variable.
+For a list of what charset names your local iconv library supports, you can
+run "iconv --list".
+
If you specify the bf(--protect-args) option (bf(-s)), rsync will translate
the filenames you specify on the command-line that are being sent to the
remote host. See also the bf(--files-from) option.
For instance, you can specify extra include/exclude rules if there are
filename differences on the two sides that need to be accounted for.
+When you pass an bf(--iconv) option to an rsync daemon that allows it, the
+daemon uses the charset specified in its "charset" configuration parameter
+regardless of the remote charset you actually pass. Thus, you may feel free to
+specify just the local charset for a daemon transfer (e.g. bf(--iconv=utf8)).
+
dit(bf(-4, --ipv4) or bf(-6, --ipv6)) Tells rsync to prefer IPv4/IPv6
when creating sockets. This only affects sockets that rsync has direct
control over, such as the outgoing socket when directly contacting an
dit(bf(24)) Partial transfer due to vanished source files
dit(bf(25)) The --max-delete limit stopped deletions
dit(bf(30)) Timeout in data send/receive
+dit(bf(35)) Timeout waiting for daemon connection
enddit()
manpagesection(ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES)
dit(bf(RSYNC_PASSWORD)) Setting RSYNC_PASSWORD to the required
password allows you to run authenticated rsync connections to an rsync
daemon without user intervention. Note that this does not supply a
-password to a shell transport such as ssh.
+password to a remote shell transport such as ssh; to learn how to do that,
+consult the remote shell's documentation.
dit(bf(USER) or bf(LOGNAME)) The USER or LOGNAME environment variables
are used to determine the default username sent to an rsync daemon.
If neither is set, the username defaults to "nobody".
manpagesection(VERSION)
-This man page is current for version 3.0.0pre2 of rsync.
+This man page is current for version 3.0.0pre9 of rsync.
manpagesection(INTERNAL OPTIONS)
url(ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync)(ftp://rsync.samba.org/pub/rsync).
We would be delighted to hear from you if you like this program.
+Please contact the mailing-list at rsync@lists.samba.org.
This program uses the excellent zlib compression library written by
Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler.
manpagesection(THANKS)
-Thanks to Richard Brent, Brendan Mackay, Bill Waite, Stephen Rothwell
-and David Bell for helpful suggestions, patches and testing of rsync.
-I've probably missed some people, my apologies if I have.
+Especial thanks go out to: John Van Essen, Matt McCutchen, Wesley W. Terpstra,
+David Dykstra, Jos Backus, Sebastian Krahmer, Martin Pool, and our
+gone-but-not-forgotten compadre, J.W. Schultz.
-Especial thanks also to: David Dykstra, Jos Backus, Sebastian Krahmer,
-Martin Pool, Wayne Davison, J.W. Schultz.
+Thanks also to Richard Brent, Brendan Mackay, Bill Waite, Stephen Rothwell
+and David Bell. I've probably missed some people, my apologies if I have.
manpageauthor()
rsync was originally written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras.
-Many people have later contributed to it.
+Many people have later contributed to it. It is currently maintained
+by Wayne Davison.
Mailing lists for support and development are available at
url(http://lists.samba.org)(lists.samba.org)
git.samba.org / rsync.git / blobdiff