mailto(rsync-bugs@samba.org)
-manpage(rsyncd.conf)(5)(29 Jun 2008)()()
+manpage(rsyncd.conf)(5)(28 Jan 2018)()()
manpagename(rsyncd.conf)(configuration file for rsync in daemon mode)
manpagesynopsis()
trailing whitespace in a parameter value is discarded. Internal whitespace
within a parameter value is retained verbatim.
-Any line beginning with a hash (#) is ignored, as are lines containing
-only whitespace.
+Any line bf(beginning) with a hash (#) is ignored, as are lines containing
+only whitespace. (If a hash occurs after anything other than leading
+whitespace, it is considered a part of the line's content.)
Any line ending in a \ is "continued" on the next line in the
customary UNIX fashion.
The first parameters in the file (before a [module] header) are the
global parameters.
+Rsync also allows for the use of a "[global]" module name to indicate the
+start of one or more global-parameter sections (the name must be lower case).
You may also include any module parameters in the global part of the
config file in which case the supplied value will override the
default for that parameter.
-startdit()
+You may use references to environment variables in the values of parameters.
+String parameters will have %VAR% references expanded as late as possible (when
+the string is used in the program), allowing for the use of variables that
+rsync sets at connection time, such as RSYNC_USER_NAME. Non-string parameters
+(such as true/false settings) are expanded when read from the config file. If
+a variable does not exist in the environment, or if a sequence of characters is
+not a valid reference (such as an un-paired percent sign), the raw characters
+are passed through unchanged. This helps with backward compatibility and
+safety (e.g. expanding a non-existent %VAR% to an empty string in a path could
+result in a very unsafe path). The safest way to insert a literal % into a
+value is to use %%.
+
+description(
+
dit(bf(motd file)) This parameter allows you to specify a
"message of the day" to display to clients on each connect. This
usually contains site information and any legal notices. The default
special socket options are set. These settings can also be specified
via the bf(--sockopts) command-line option.
-enddit()
+dit(bf(listen backlog)) You can override the default backlog value when the
+daemon listens for connections. It defaults to 5.
+
+)
manpagesection(MODULE PARAMETERS)
name contains whitespace, each internal sequence of whitespace will be
changed into a single space, while leading or trailing whitespace will be
discarded.
+Also, the name cannot be "global" as that exact name indicates that
+global parameters follow (see above).
+
+As with GLOBAL PARAMETERS, you may use references to environment variables in
+the values of parameters. See the GLOBAL PARAMETERS section for more details.
-startdit()
+description(
dit(bf(comment)) This parameter specifies a description string
that is displayed next to the module name when clients obtain a list
filesystem to make available in this module. You must specify this parameter
for each module in tt(rsyncd.conf).
+You may base the path's value off of an environment variable by surrounding
+the variable name with percent signs. You can even reference a variable
+that is set by rsync when the user connects.
+For example, this would use the authorizing user's name in the path:
+
+verb( path = /home/%RSYNC_USER_NAME% )
+
+It is fine if the path includes internal spaces -- they will be retained
+verbatim (which means that you shouldn't try to escape them). If your final
+directory has a trailing space (and this is somehow not something you wish to
+fix), append a trailing slash to the path to avoid losing the trailing
+whitespace.
+
dit(bf(use chroot)) If "use chroot" is true, the rsync daemon will chroot
to the "path" before starting the file transfer with the client. This has
the advantage of extra protection against possible implementation security
had omitted the dot-dir, the chroot would have used the whole path, and the
inside-chroot path would have been "/".
-When "use chroot" is false or the inside-chroot path is not "/", rsync will:
-(1) munge symlinks by
+When both "use chroot" and "daemon chroot" are false, OR the inside-chroot path
+of "use chroot" is not "/", rsync will: (1) munge symlinks by
default for security reasons (see "munge symlinks" for a way to turn this
off, but only if you trust your users), (2) substitute leading slashes in
absolute paths with the module's path (so that options such as
The default for "use chroot" is true, and is the safer choice (especially
if the module is not read-only).
-When this parameter is enabled, rsync will not attempt to map users and groups
-by name (by default), but instead copy IDs as though bf(--numeric-ids) had
-been specified. In order to enable name-mapping, rsync needs to be able to
-use the standard library functions for looking up names and IDs (i.e.
-code(getpwuid()), code(getgrgid()), code(getpwname()), and code(getgrnam())).
-This means the rsync
-process in the chroot hierarchy will need to have access to the resources
-used by these library functions (traditionally /etc/passwd and
-/etc/group, but perhaps additional dynamic libraries as well).
-
-If you copy the necessary resources into the module's chroot area, you
+When this parameter is enabled, the "numeric-ids" option will also default to
+being enabled (disabling name lookups). See below for what a chroot needs in
+order for name lookups to succeed.
+
+If you copy library resources into the module's chroot area, you
should protect them through your OS's normal user/group or ACL settings (to
prevent the rsync module's user from being able to change them), and then
hide them from the user's view via "exclude" (see how in the discussion of
chroot area that is different from your normal system. For example, you
could abbreviate the list of users and groups.
+dit(bf(daemon chroot)) This parameter specifies a path to which the daemon will
+chroot before beginning communication with clients. Module paths (and any "use
+chroot" settings) will then be related to this one. This lets you choose if you
+want the whole daemon to be chrooted (with this setting), just the transfers to
+be chrooted (with "use chroot"), or both. Keep in mind that the "daemon chroot"
+area may need various OS/lib/etc files installed to allow the daemon to function.
+By default the daemon runs without any chrooting.
+
dit(bf(numeric ids)) Enabling this parameter disables the mapping
of users and groups by name for the current daemon module. This prevents
the daemon from trying to load any user/group-related files or libraries.
This enabling makes the transfer behave as if the client had passed
the bf(--numeric-ids) command-line option. By default, this parameter is
enabled for chroot modules and disabled for non-chroot modules.
+Also keep in mind that uid/gid preservation requires the module to be
+running as root (see "uid") or for "fake super" to be configured.
A chroot-enabled module should not have this parameter enabled unless you've
taken steps to ensure that the module has the necessary resources it needs
to translate names, and that it is not possible for a user to change those
-resources.
+resources. That includes being the code being able to call functions like
+code(getpwuid()), code(getgrgid()), code(getpwname()), and code(getgrnam()).
+You should test what libraries and config files are required for your OS
+and get those setup before starting to test name mapping in rsync.
dit(bf(munge symlinks)) This parameter tells rsync to modify
all symlinks in the same way as the (non-daemon-affecting)
bf(--munge-links) command-line option (using a method described below).
This should help protect your files from user trickery when
your daemon module is writable. The default is disabled when "use chroot"
-is on and the inside-chroot path is "/", otherwise it is enabled.
+is on with an inside-chroot path of "/", OR if "daemon chroot" is on,
+otherwise it is enabled.
If you disable this parameter on a daemon that is not read-only, there
are tricks that a user can play with uploaded symlinks to access
non-empty string (either set in the per-modules settings, or inherited
from the global settings).
+dit(bf(syslog tag)) This parameter allows you to specify the syslog
+tag to use when logging messages from the rsync daemon. The default is
+"rsyncd". This setting has no effect if the "log file" setting is a
+non-empty string (either set in the per-modules settings, or inherited
+from the global settings).
+
+For example, if you wanted each authenticated user's name to be
+included in the syslog tag, you could do something like this:
+
+verb( syslog tag = rsyncd.%RSYNC_USER_NAME%)
+
dit(bf(max verbosity)) This parameter allows you to control
the maximum amount of verbose information that you'll allow the daemon to
generate (since the information goes into the log file). The default is 1,
which allows the client to request one level of verbosity.
+This also affects the user's ability to request higher levels of bf(--info) and
+bf(--debug) logging. If the max value is 2, then no info and/or debug value
+that is higher than what would be set by bf(-vv) will be honored by the daemon
+in its logging. To see how high of a verbosity level you need to accept for a
+particular info/debug level, refer to "rsync --info=help" and "rsync --debug=help".
+For instance, it takes max-verbosity 4 to be able to output debug TIME2 and FLIST3.
+
dit(bf(lock file)) This parameter specifies the file to use to
support the "max connections" parameter. The rsync daemon uses record
locking on this file to ensure that the max connections limit is not
be possible if file permissions on the daemon side allow them. The default
is for all modules to be read only.
+Note that "auth users" can override this setting on a per-user basis.
+
dit(bf(write only)) This parameter determines whether clients
will be able to download files or not. If "write only" is true then any
attempted downloads will fail. If "write only" is false then downloads
will be possible if file permissions on the daemon side allow them. The
default is for this parameter to be disabled.
+Helpful hint: you probably want to specify "refuse options = delete" for a
+write-only module.
+
+)
+description(
+
dit(bf(list)) This parameter determines whether this module is
listed when the client asks for a listing of available modules. In addition,
if this is false, the daemon will pretend the module does not exist
switch to the system's "nobody" user. The default for a non-super-user is to
not try to change the user. See also the "gid" parameter.
+The RSYNC_USER_NAME environment variable may be used to request that rsync run
+as the authorizing user. For example, if you want a rsync to run as the same
+user that was received for the rsync authentication, this setup is useful:
+
+verb( uid = %RSYNC_USER_NAME%
+ gid = * )
+
dit(bf(gid)) This parameter specifies one or more group names/IDs that will be
used when accessing the module. The first one will be the default group, and
any extra ones be set as supplemental groups. You may also specify a "*" as
group attributes (and indeed, your OS may not allow a non-super-user to try to
change their group settings).
+dit(bf(daemon uid)) This parameter specifies a uid under which the daemon will
+run. The daemon usually runs as user root, and when this is left unset the user
+is left unchanged. See also the "uid" parameter.
+
+dit(bf(daemon gid)) This parameter specifies a gid under which the daemon will
+run. The daemon usually runs as group root, and when this is left unset, the
+group is left unchanged. See also the "gid" parameter.
+
dit(bf(fake super)) Setting "fake super = yes" for a module causes the
-daemon side to behave as if the bf(--fake-user) command-line option had
+daemon side to behave as if the bf(--fake-super) command-line option had
been specified. This allows the full attributes of a file to be stored
without having to have the daemon actually running as root.
See the description of the bf(--chmod) rsync option and the bf(chmod)(1)
manpage for information on the format of this string.
-dit(bf(auth users)) This parameter specifies a comma and
-space-separated list of usernames that will be allowed to connect to
+dit(bf(auth users)) This parameter specifies a comma and/or space-separated
+list of authorization rules. In its simplest form, you list the usernames
+that will be allowed to connect to
this module. The usernames do not need to exist on the local
-system. The usernames may also contain shell wildcard characters. If
+system. The rules may contain shell wildcard characters that will be matched
+against the username provided by the client for authentication. If
"auth users" is set then the client will be challenged to supply a
username and password to connect to the module. A challenge response
authentication protocol is used for this exchange. The plain text
"secrets file" parameter. The default is for all users to be able to
connect without a password (this is called "anonymous rsync").
-See also the "CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON OVER A REMOTE SHELL
-PROGRAM" section in bf(rsync)(1) for information on how handle an
+In addition to username matching, you can specify groupname matching via a '@'
+prefix. When using groupname matching, the authenticating username must be a
+real user on the system, or it will be assumed to be a member of no groups.
+For example, specifying "@rsync" will match the authenticating user if the
+named user is a member of the rsync group.
+
+Finally, options may be specified after a colon (:). The options allow you to
+"deny" a user or a group, set the access to "ro" (read-only), or set the access
+to "rw" (read/write). Setting an auth-rule-specific ro/rw setting overrides
+the module's "read only" setting.
+
+Be sure to put the rules in the order you want them to be matched, because the
+checking stops at the first matching user or group, and that is the only auth
+that is checked. For example:
+
+verb( auth users = joe:deny @guest:deny admin:rw @rsync:ro susan joe sam )
+
+In the above rule, user joe will be denied access no matter what. Any user
+that is in the group "guest" is also denied access. The user "admin" gets
+access in read/write mode, but only if the admin user is not in group "guest"
+(because the admin user-matching rule would never be reached if the user is in
+group "guest"). Any other user who is in group "rsync" will get read-only
+access. Finally, users susan, joe, and sam get the ro/rw setting of the
+module, but only if the user didn't match an earlier group-matching rule.
+
+If you need to specify a user or group name with a space in it, start your list
+with a comma to indicate that the list should only be split on commas (though
+leading and trailing whitespace will also be removed, and empty entries are
+just ignored). For example:
+
+verb( auth users = , joe:deny, @Some Group:deny, admin:rw, @RO Group:ro )
+
+See the description of the secrets file for how you can have per-user passwords
+as well as per-group passwords. It also explains how a user can authenticate
+using their user password or (when applicable) a group password, depending on
+what rule is being authenticated.
+
+See also the section entitled "USING RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE
+SHELL CONNECTION" in bf(rsync)(1) for information on how handle an
rsyncd.conf-level username that differs from the remote-shell-level
username when using a remote shell to connect to an rsync daemon.
-dit(bf(secrets file)) This parameter specifies the name of
-a file that contains the username:password pairs used for
-authenticating this module. This file is only consulted if the "auth
-users" parameter is specified. The file is line based and contains
-username:password pairs separated by a single colon. Any line starting
-with a hash (#) is considered a comment and is skipped. The passwords
-can contain any characters but be warned that many operating systems
-limit the length of passwords that can be typed at the client end, so
-you may find that passwords longer than 8 characters don't work.
+dit(bf(secrets file)) This parameter specifies the name of a file that contains
+the username:password and/or @groupname:password pairs used for authenticating
+this module. This file is only consulted if the "auth users" parameter is
+specified. The file is line-based and contains one name:password pair per
+line. Any line has a hash (#) as the very first character on the line is
+considered a comment and is skipped. The passwords can contain any characters
+but be warned that many operating systems limit the length of passwords that
+can be typed at the client end, so you may find that passwords longer than 8
+characters don't work.
+
+The use of group-specific lines are only relevant when the module is being
+authorized using a matching "@groupname" rule. When that happens, the user
+can be authorized via either their "username:password" line or the
+"@groupname:password" line for the group that triggered the authentication.
+
+It is up to you what kind of password entries you want to include, either
+users, groups, or both. The use of group rules in "auth users" does not
+require that you specify a group password if you do not want to use shared
+passwords.
There is no default for the "secrets file" parameter, you must choose a name
(such as tt(/etc/rsyncd.secrets)). The file must normally not be readable
-by "other"; see "strict modes".
+by "other"; see "strict modes". If the file is not found or is rejected, no
+logins for a "user auth" module will be possible.
dit(bf(strict modes)) This parameter determines whether or not
the permissions on the secrets file will be checked. If "strict modes" is
false, the check is not performed. The default is true. This parameter
was added to accommodate rsync running on the Windows operating system.
-dit(bf(hosts allow)) This parameter allows you to specify a
-list of patterns that are matched against a connecting clients
-hostname and IP address. If none of the patterns match then the
+)
+description(
+
+dit(bf(hosts allow)) This parameter allows you to specify a list of comma-
+and/or whitespace-separated patterns that are matched against a connecting
+client's hostname and IP address. If none of the patterns match, then the
connection is rejected.
Each pattern can be in one of five forms:
IP address and maskaddr is the netmask in dotted decimal notation for IPv4,
or similar for IPv6, e.g. ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:: instead of /64. All IP
addresses which match the masked IP address will be allowed in.
- it() a hostname. The hostname as determined by a reverse lookup will
- be matched (case insensitive) against the pattern. Only an exact
- match is allowed in. This only works if "reverse lookup" is enabled
- (the default).
- it() a hostname pattern using wildcards. These are matched using the
- same rules as normal unix filename matching. If the pattern matches
- then the client is allowed in.
+ it() a hostname pattern using wildcards. If the hostname of the connecting IP
+ (as determined by a reverse lookup) matches the wildcarded name (using the
+ same rules as normal unix filename matching), the client is allowed in. This
+ only works if "reverse lookup" is enabled (the default).
+ it() a hostname. A plain hostname is matched against the reverse DNS of the
+ connecting IP (if "reverse lookup" is enabled), and/or the IP of the given
+ hostname is matched against the connecting IP (if "forward lookup" is
+ enabled, as it is by default). Any match will be allowed in.
))
Note IPv6 link-local addresses can have a scope in the address specification:
The default is no "hosts allow" parameter, which means all hosts can connect.
-dit(bf(hosts deny)) This parameter allows you to specify a
-list of patterns that are matched against a connecting clients
-hostname and IP address. If the pattern matches then the connection is
+dit(bf(hosts deny)) This parameter allows you to specify a list of comma-
+and/or whitespace-separated patterns that are matched against a connecting
+clients hostname and IP address. If the pattern matches then the connection is
rejected. See the "hosts allow" parameter for more information.
The default is no "hosts deny" parameter, which means all hosts can connect.
avoid the lookup. Thus, you probably want to disable it globally and then
enable it for modules that need the information.
+dit(bf(forward lookup)) Controls whether the daemon performs a forward lookup
+on any hostname specified in an hosts allow/deny setting. By default this is
+enabled, allowing the use of an explicit hostname that would not be returned
+by reverse DNS of the connecting IP.
+
dit(bf(ignore errors)) This parameter tells rsyncd to
ignore I/O errors on the daemon when deciding whether to run the delete
phase of the transfer. Normally rsync skips the bf(--delete) step if any
The single-character escapes that are understood are as follows:
quote(itemization(
- it() %a the remote IP address
+ it() %a the remote IP address (only available for a daemon)
it() %b the number of bytes actually transferred
it() %B the permission bits of the file (e.g. rwxrwxrwt)
it() %c the total size of the block checksums received for the basis file (only when sending)
- it() %C the full-file MD5 checksum if bf(--checksum) is enabled or a file was transferred (only for protocol 30 or above).
+ it() %C the full-file checksum if it is known for the file. For older rsync protocols/versions, the checksum was salted, and is thus not a useful value (and is not displayed when that is the case). For the checksum to output for a file, either the bf(--checksum) option must be in-effect or the file must have been transferred without a salted checksum being used. See the bf(--checksum-choice) option for a way to choose the algorithm.
it() %f the filename (long form on sender; no trailing "/")
it() %G the gid of the file (decimal) or "DEFAULT"
- it() %h the remote host name
+ it() %h the remote host name (only available for a daemon)
it() %i an itemized list of what is being updated
it() %l the length of the file in bytes
it() %L the string " -> SYMLINK", " => HARDLINK", or "" (where bf(SYMLINK) or bf(HARDLINK) is a filename)
rsync versions. For instance, deleted files were only output as verbose
messages prior to rsync 2.6.4.
+)
+description(
+
dit(bf(timeout)) This parameter allows you to override the
clients choice for I/O timeout for this module. Using this parameter you
can ensure that rsync won't wait on a dead client forever. The timeout
for the "dont compress" parameter changes the default when the daemon is
the sender.
+)
+description(
+
dit(bf(pre-xfer exec), bf(post-xfer exec)) You may specify a command to be run
before and/or after the transfer. If the bf(pre-xfer exec) command fails, the
-transfer is aborted before it begins.
+transfer is aborted before it begins. Any output from the script on stdout (up
+to several KB) will be displayed to the user when aborting, but is NOT
+displayed if the script returns success. Any output from the script on stderr
+goes to the daemon's stderr, which is typically discarded (though see
+--no-detatch option for a way to see the stderr output, which can assist with
+debugging).
The following environment variables will be set, though some are
specific to the pre-xfer or the post-xfer environment:
it() bf(RSYNC_USER_NAME): The accessing user's name (empty if no user).
it() bf(RSYNC_PID): A unique number for this transfer.
it() bf(RSYNC_REQUEST): (pre-xfer only) The module/path info specified
- by the user (note that the user can specify multiple source files,
- so the request can be something like "mod/path1 mod/path2", etc.).
+ by the user. Note that the user can specify multiple source files,
+ so the request can be something like "mod/path1 mod/path2", etc.
it() bf(RSYNC_ARG#): (pre-xfer only) The pre-request arguments are set
- in these numbered values. RSYNC_ARG0 is always "rsyncd", and the last
- value contains a single period.
+ in these numbered values. RSYNC_ARG0 is always "rsyncd", followed by
+ the options that were used in RSYNC_ARG1, and so on. There will be a
+ value of "." indicating that the options are done and the path args
+ are beginning -- these contain similar information to RSYNC_REQUEST,
+ but with values separated and the module name stripped off.
it() bf(RSYNC_EXIT_STATUS): (post-xfer only) the server side's exit value.
This will be 0 for a successful run, a positive value for an error that the
server generated, or a -1 if rsync failed to exit properly. Note that an
are run using the permissions of the user that started the daemon (not the
module's uid/gid setting) without any chroot restrictions.
-enddit()
+These settings honor 2 environment variables: use RSYNC_SHELL to set a shell to
+use when running the command (which otherwise uses your system() call's default
+shell), and use RSYNC_NO_XFER_EXEC to disable both options completely.
+
+)
manpagesection(CONFIG DIRECTIVES)
other files, etc.
When an bf(&include) or bf(&merge) directive refers to a directory, it will read
-in all the bf(*.conf) files contained inside that directory (without any
+in all the bf(*.conf) or bf(*.inc) files (respectively) that are contained inside
+that directory (without any
recursive scanning), with the files sorted into alpha order. So, if you have a
directory named "rsyncd.d" with the files "foo.conf", "bar.conf", and
"baz.conf" inside it, this directive:
The advantage of the bf(&include) directive is that you can define one or more
modules in a separate file without worrying about unintended side-effects
-between the self-contained module files. For instance, this is a useful
-/etc/rsyncd.conf file:
+between the self-contained module files.
+
+The advantage of the bf(&merge) directive is that you can load config snippets
+that can be included into multiple module definitions, and you can also set
+global values that will affect connections (such as bf(motd file)), or globals
+that will affect other include files.
+
+For example, this is a useful /etc/rsyncd.conf file:
verb( port = 873
log file = /var/log/rsync.log
pid file = /var/lock/rsync.lock
+ &merge /etc/rsyncd.d
&include /etc/rsyncd.d )
-The advantage of the bf(&merge) directive is that you can load config snippets
-that can be included into multiple module definitions.
+This would merge any /etc/rsyncd.d/*.inc files (for global values that should
+stay in effect), and then include any /etc/rsyncd.d/*.conf files (defining
+modules without any global-value cross-talk).
manpagesection(AUTHENTICATION STRENGTH)
manpagesection(VERSION)
-This man page is current for version 3.0.3 of rsync.
+This man page is current for version 3.1.3 of rsync.
manpagesection(CREDITS)
-rsync is distributed under the GNU public license. See the file
+rsync is distributed under the GNU General Public License. See the file
COPYING for details.
The primary ftp site for rsync is
git.samba.org / rsync.git / blobdiff