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diff --git a/rsync.1.html b/rsync.1.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..453b2cd --- /dev/null +++ b/rsync.1.html @@ -0,0 +1,4511 @@ +<html><head> +<title>rsync(1) manpage</title> +<meta charset="UTF-8"/> +<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Roboto&family=Roboto+Mono&display=swap" rel="stylesheet"> +<style> +body { + max-width: 50em; + margin: auto; +} +body, b, strong, u { + font-family: 'Roboto', sans-serif; +} +a.tgt { font-face: symbol; font-weight: 400; font-size: 70%; visibility: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: #ddd; padding: 0 4px; border: 0; } +a.tgt:after { content: '🔗'; } +a.tgt:hover { color: #444; background-color: #eaeaea; } +h1:hover > a.tgt, h2:hover > a.tgt, h3:hover > a.tgt, dt:hover > a.tgt { visibility: visible; } +code { + font-family: 'Roboto Mono', monospace; + font-weight: bold; + white-space: pre; +} +pre code { + display: block; + font-weight: normal; +} +blockquote pre code { + background: #f1f1f1; +} +dd p:first-of-type { + margin-block-start: 0em; +} +</style> +</head><body> +<h2 id="NAME">NAME<a href="#NAME" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>rsync -⁠ a fast, versatile, remote (and local) file-copying tool</p> +<h2 id="SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS<a href="#SYNOPSIS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<pre><code>Local: + rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [DEST] + +Access via remote shell: + Pull: + rsync [OPTION...] [USER@]HOST:SRC... [DEST] + Push: + rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [USER@]HOST:DEST + +Access via rsync daemon: + Pull: + rsync [OPTION...] [USER@]HOST::SRC... [DEST] + rsync [OPTION...] rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/SRC... [DEST] + Push: + rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [USER@]HOST::DEST + rsync [OPTION...] SRC... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/DEST) +</code></pre> +<p>Usages with just one SRC arg and no DEST arg will list the source files instead +of copying.</p> +<p>The online version of this manpage (that includes cross-linking of topics) +is available at <a href="https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/rsync.1">https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/rsync.1</a>.</p> +<h2 id="DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION<a href="#DESCRIPTION" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>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.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>Some of the additional features of rsync are:</p> +<ul> +<li>support for copying links, devices, owners, groups, and permissions</li> +<li>exclude and exclude-from options similar to GNU tar</li> +<li>a CVS exclude mode for ignoring the same files that CVS would ignore</li> +<li>can use any transparent remote shell, including ssh or rsh</li> +<li>does not require super-user privileges</li> +<li>pipelining of file transfers to minimize latency costs</li> +<li>support for anonymous or authenticated rsync daemons (ideal for mirroring)</li> +</ul> +<h2 id="GENERAL">GENERAL<a href="#GENERAL" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Rsync copies files either to or from a remote host, or locally on the current +host (it does not support copying files between two remote hosts).</p> +<p>There are two different ways for rsync to contact a remote system: using a +remote-shell program as the transport (such as ssh or rsh) or contacting an +rsync daemon directly via TCP. The remote-shell transport is used whenever the +source or destination path contains a single colon (:) separator after a host +specification. Contacting an rsync daemon directly happens when the source or +destination path contains a double colon (::) separator after a host +specification, OR when an rsync:// URL is specified (see also the <a href="#USING_RSYNC-DAEMON_FEATURES_VIA_A_REMOTE-SHELL_CONNECTION">USING +RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION</a> section for an +exception to this latter rule).</p> +<p>As a special case, if a single source arg is specified without a destination, +the files are listed in an output format similar to "<code>ls -l</code>".</p> +<p>As expected, if neither the source or destination path specify a remote host, +the copy occurs locally (see also the <a href="#opt--list-only"><code>--list-only</code></a> option).</p> +<p>Rsync refers to the local side as the client and the remote side as the server. +Don't confuse server with an rsync daemon. A daemon is always a server, but a +server can be either a daemon or a remote-shell spawned process.</p> +<h2 id="SETUP">SETUP<a href="#SETUP" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>See the file README.md for installation instructions.</p> +<p>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, a modern rsync uses ssh for its +communications, but it may have been configured to use a different remote shell +by default, such as rsh or remsh.</p> +<p>You can also specify any remote shell you like, either by using the <a href="#opt-e"><code>-e</code></a> +command line option, or by setting the <a href="#RSYNC_RSH"><code>RSYNC_RSH</code></a> environment variable.</p> +<p>Note that rsync must be installed on both the source and destination machines.</p> +<h2 id="USAGE">USAGE<a href="#USAGE" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>You use rsync in the same way you use rcp. You must specify a source and a +destination, one of which may be remote.</p> +<p>Perhaps the best way to explain the syntax is with some examples:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -t *.c foo:src/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This would transfer all files matching the pattern <code>*.c</code> from the current +directory to the directory src on the machine foo. If any of the files already +exist on the remote system then the rsync remote-update protocol is used to +update the file by sending only the differences in the data. Note that the +expansion of wildcards on the command-line (<code>*.c</code>) into a list of files is +handled by the shell before it runs rsync and not by rsync itself (exactly the +same as all other Posix-style programs).</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avz foo:src/bar /data/tmp +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This would recursively transfer all files from the directory src/bar on the +machine foo into the /data/tmp/bar directory on the local machine. The files +are transferred in archive mode, which ensures that symbolic links, devices, +attributes, permissions, ownerships, etc. are preserved in the transfer. +Additionally, compression will be used to reduce the size of data portions of +the transfer.</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avz foo:src/bar/ /data/tmp +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>A trailing slash on the source changes this behavior to avoid creating an +additional directory level at the destination. You can think of a trailing / +on a source as meaning "copy the contents of this directory" as opposed to +"copy the directory by name", but in both cases the attributes of the +containing directory are transferred to the containing directory on the +destination. In other words, each of the following commands copies the files +in the same way, including their setting of the attributes of /dest/foo:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av /src/foo /dest +rsync -av /src/foo/ /dest/foo +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Note also that host and module references don't require a trailing slash to +copy the contents of the default directory. For example, both of these copy +the remote directory's contents into "/dest":</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av host: /dest +rsync -av host::module /dest +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>You can also use rsync in local-only mode, where both the source and +destination don't have a ':' in the name. In this case it behaves like an +improved copy command.</p> +<p>Finally, you can list all the (listable) modules available from a particular +rsync daemon by leaving off the module name:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync somehost.mydomain.com:: +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<h2 id="COPYING_TO_A_DIFFERENT_NAME">COPYING TO A DIFFERENT NAME<a href="#COPYING_TO_A_DIFFERENT_NAME" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>When you want to copy a directory to a different name, use a trailing slash on +the source directory to put the contents of the directory into any destination +directory you like:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -ai foo/ bar/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Rsync also has the ability to customize a destination file's name when copying +a single item. The rules for this are:</p> +<ul> +<li>The transfer list must consist of a single item (either a file or an empty +directory)</li> +<li>The final element of the destination path must not exist as a directory</li> +<li>The destination path must not have been specified with a trailing slash</li> +</ul> +<p>Under those circumstances, rsync will set the name of the destination's single +item to the last element of the destination path. Keep in mind that it is best +to only use this idiom when copying a file and use the above trailing-slash +idiom when copying a directory.</p> +<p>The following example copies the <code>foo.c</code> file as <code>bar.c</code> in the <code>save</code> dir +(assuming that <code>bar.c</code> isn't a directory):</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -ai src/foo.c save/bar.c +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>The single-item copy rule might accidentally bite you if you unknowingly copy a +single item and specify a destination dir that doesn't exist (without using a +trailing slash). For example, if <code>src/*.c</code> matches one file and <code>save/dir</code> +doesn't exist, this will confuse you by naming the destination file <code>save/dir</code>:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -ai src/*.c save/dir +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>To prevent such an accident, either make sure the destination dir exists or +specify the destination path with a trailing slash:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -ai src/*.c save/dir/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<h2 id="SORTED_TRANSFER_ORDER">SORTED TRANSFER ORDER<a href="#SORTED_TRANSFER_ORDER" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Rsync always sorts the specified filenames into its internal transfer list. +This handles the merging together of the contents of identically named +directories, makes it easy to remove duplicate filenames. It can, however, +confuse someone when the files are transferred in a different order than what +was given on the command-line.</p> +<p>If you need a particular file to be transferred prior to another, either +separate the files into different rsync calls, or consider using +<a href="#opt--delay-updates"><code>--delay-updates</code></a> (which doesn't affect the sorted transfer order, but +does make the final file-updating phase happen much more rapidly).</p> +<h2 id="MULTI-HOST_SECURITY">MULTI-HOST SECURITY<a href="#MULTI-HOST_SECURITY" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Rsync takes steps to ensure that the file requests that are shared in a +transfer are protected against various security issues. Most of the potential +problems arise on the receiving side where rsync takes steps to ensure that the +list of files being transferred remains within the bounds of what was +requested.</p> +<p>Toward this end, rsync 3.1.2 and later have aborted when a file list contains +an absolute or relative path that tries to escape out of the top of the +transfer. Also, beginning with version 3.2.5, rsync does two more safety +checks of the file list to (1) ensure that no extra source arguments were added +into the transfer other than those that the client requested and (2) ensure +that the file list obeys the exclude rules that were sent to the sender.</p> +<p>For those that don't yet have a 3.2.5 client rsync (or those that want to be +extra careful), it is safest to do a copy into a dedicated destination +directory for the remote files when you don't trust the remote host. For +example, instead of doing an rsync copy into your home directory:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -aiv host1:dir1 ~ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Dedicate a "host1-files" dir to the remote content:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -aiv host1:dir1 ~/host1-files +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>See the <a href="#opt--trust-sender"><code>--trust-sender</code></a> option for additional details.</p> +<p>CAUTION: it is not particularly safe to use rsync to copy files from a +case-preserving filesystem to a case-ignoring filesystem. If you must perform +such a copy, you should either disable symlinks via <code>--no-links</code> or enable the +munging of symlinks via <a href="#opt--munge-links"><code>--munge-links</code></a> (and make sure you use the +right local or remote option). This will prevent rsync from doing potentially +dangerous things if a symlink name overlaps with a file or directory. It does +not, however, ensure that you get a full copy of all the files (since that may +not be possible when the names overlap). A potentially better solution is to +list all the source files and create a safe list of filenames that you pass to +the <a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a> option. Any files that conflict in name would need +to be copied to different destination directories using more than one copy.</p> +<p>While a copy of a case-ignoring filesystem to a case-ignoring filesystem can +work out fairly well, if no <code>--delete-during</code> or <code>--delete-before</code> option is +active, rsync can potentially update an existing file on the receiveing side +without noticing that the upper-/lower-case of the filename should be changed +to match the sender.</p> +<h2 id="ADVANCED_USAGE">ADVANCED USAGE<a href="#ADVANCED_USAGE" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>The syntax for requesting multiple files from a remote host is done by +specifying additional remote-host args in the same style as the first, or with +the hostname omitted. For instance, all these work:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -aiv host:file1 :file2 host:file{3,4} /dest/ +rsync -aiv host::modname/file{1,2} host::modname/extra /dest/ +rsync -aiv host::modname/first ::extra-file{1,2} /dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Note that a daemon connection only supports accessing one module per copy +command, so if the start of a follow-up path doesn't begin with the +modname of the first path, it is assumed to be a path in the module (such as +the extra-file1 & extra-file2 that are grabbed above).</p> +<p>Really old versions of rsync (2.6.9 and before) only allowed specifying one +remote-source arg, so some people have instead relied on the remote-shell +performing space splitting to break up an arg into multiple paths. Such +unintuitive behavior is no longer supported by default (though you can request +it, as described below).</p> +<p>Starting in 3.2.4, filenames are passed to a remote shell in such a way as to +preserve the characters you give it. Thus, if you ask for a file with spaces +in the name, that's what the remote rsync looks for:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -aiv host:'a simple file.pdf' /dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>If you use scripts that have been written to manually apply extra quoting to +the remote rsync args (or to require remote arg splitting), you can ask rsync +to let your script handle the extra escaping. This is done by either adding +the <a href="#opt--old-args"><code>--old-args</code></a> option to the rsync runs in the script (which requires +a new rsync) or exporting <a href="#RSYNC_OLD_ARGS">RSYNC_OLD_ARGS</a>=1 and <a href="#RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS">RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS</a>=0 +(which works with old or new rsync versions).</p> +<h2 id="CONNECTING_TO_AN_RSYNC_DAEMON">CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON<a href="#CONNECTING_TO_AN_RSYNC_DAEMON" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>It is also possible to use rsync without a remote shell as the transport. In +this case you will directly connect to a remote rsync daemon, typically using +TCP port 873. (This obviously requires the daemon to be running on the remote +system, so refer to the <a href="#STARTING_AN_RSYNC_DAEMON_TO_ACCEPT_CONNECTIONS">STARTING AN RSYNC DAEMON TO ACCEPT CONNECTIONS</a> +section below for information on that.)</p> +<p>Using rsync in this way is the same as using it with a remote shell except +that:</p> +<ul> +<li>Use either double-colon syntax or rsync:// URL syntax instead of the +single-colon (remote shell) syntax.</li> +<li>The first element of the "path" is actually a module name.</li> +<li>Additional remote source args can use an abbreviated syntax that omits the +hostname and/or the module name, as discussed in <a href="#ADVANCED_USAGE">ADVANCED USAGE</a>.</li> +<li>The remote daemon may print a "message of the day" when you connect.</li> +<li>If you specify only the host (with no module or path) then a list of +accessible modules on the daemon is output.</li> +<li>If you specify a remote source path but no destination, a listing of the +matching files on the remote daemon is output.</li> +<li>The <a href="#opt--rsh"><code>--rsh</code></a> (<code>-e</code>) option must be omitted to avoid changing the +connection style from using a socket connection to <a href="#USING_RSYNC-DAEMON_FEATURES_VIA_A_REMOTE-SHELL_CONNECTION">USING RSYNC-DAEMON +FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION</a>.</li> +</ul> +<p>An example that copies all the files in a remote module named "src":</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av host::src /dest +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Some modules on the remote daemon may require authentication. If so, you will +receive a password prompt when you connect. You can avoid the password prompt +by setting the environment variable <a href="#RSYNC_PASSWORD"><code>RSYNC_PASSWORD</code></a> to the password you +want to use or using the <a href="#opt--password-file"><code>--password-file</code></a> option. This may be useful +when scripting rsync.</p> +<p>WARNING: On some systems environment variables are visible to all users. On +those systems using <a href="#opt--password-file"><code>--password-file</code></a> is recommended.</p> +<p>You may establish the connection via a web proxy by setting the environment +variable <a href="#RSYNC_PROXY"><code>RSYNC_PROXY</code></a> to a hostname:port pair pointing to your web proxy. +Note that your web proxy's configuration must support proxy connections to port +873.</p> +<p>You may also establish a daemon connection using a program as a proxy by +setting the environment variable <a href="#RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG"><code>RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG</code></a> to the commands you +wish to run in place of making a direct socket connection. The string may +contain the escape "%H" to represent the hostname specified in the rsync +command (so use "%%" if you need a single "%" in your string). For example:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>export RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG='ssh proxyhost nc %H 873' +rsync -av targethost1::module/src/ /dest/ +rsync -av rsync://targethost2/module/src/ /dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>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).</p> +<p>Note also that if the <a href="#RSYNC_SHELL"><code>RSYNC_SHELL</code></a> environment variable is set, that +program will be used to run the <code>RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG</code> command instead of using +the default shell of the <strong>system()</strong> call.</p> +<h2 id="USING_RSYNC-DAEMON_FEATURES_VIA_A_REMOTE-SHELL_CONNECTION">USING RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION<a href="#USING_RSYNC-DAEMON_FEATURES_VIA_A_REMOTE-SHELL_CONNECTION" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>It is sometimes useful to use various features of an rsync daemon (such as +named modules) without actually allowing any new socket connections into a +system (other than what is already required to allow remote-shell access). +Rsync supports connecting to a host using a remote shell and then spawning a +single-use "daemon" server that expects to read its config file in the home dir +of the remote user. This can be useful if you want to encrypt a daemon-style +transfer's data, but since the daemon is started up fresh by the remote user, +you may not be able to use features such as chroot or change the uid used by +the daemon. (For another way to encrypt a daemon transfer, consider using ssh +to tunnel a local port to a remote machine and configure a normal rsync daemon +on that remote host to only allow connections from "localhost".)</p> +<p>From the user's perspective, a daemon transfer via a remote-shell connection +uses nearly the same command-line syntax as a normal rsync-daemon transfer, +with the only exception being that you must explicitly set the remote shell +program on the command-line with the <a href="#opt--rsh"><code>--rsh=COMMAND</code></a> option. (Setting the +RSYNC_RSH in the environment will not turn on this functionality.) For example:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av --rsh=ssh host::module /dest +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>If you need to specify a different remote-shell user, keep in mind that the +user@ prefix in front of the host is specifying the rsync-user value (for a +module that requires user-based authentication). This means that you must give +the '-⁠l user' option to ssh when specifying the remote-shell, as in this +example that uses the short version of the <a href="#opt--rsh"><code>--rsh</code></a> option:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av -e "ssh -l ssh-user" rsync-user@host::module /dest +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>The "ssh-user" will be used at the ssh level; the "rsync-user" will be used to +log-in to the "module".</p> +<p>In this setup, the daemon is started by the ssh command that is accessing the +system (which can be forced via the <code>~/.ssh/authorized_keys</code> file, if desired). +However, when accessing a daemon directly, it needs to be started beforehand.</p> +<h2 id="STARTING_AN_RSYNC_DAEMON_TO_ACCEPT_CONNECTIONS">STARTING AN RSYNC DAEMON TO ACCEPT CONNECTIONS<a href="#STARTING_AN_RSYNC_DAEMON_TO_ACCEPT_CONNECTIONS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>In order to connect to an rsync daemon, the remote system needs to have a +daemon already running (or it needs to have configured something like inetd to +spawn an rsync daemon for incoming connections on a particular port). For full +information on how to start a daemon that will handling incoming socket +connections, see the <a href="rsyncd.conf.5"><strong>rsyncd.conf</strong>(5)</a> manpage -⁠-⁠ that is +the config file for the daemon, and it contains the full details for how to run +the daemon (including stand-alone and inetd configurations).</p> +<p>If you're using one of the remote-shell transports for the transfer, there is +no need to manually start an rsync daemon.</p> +<h2 id="EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES<a href="#EXAMPLES" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Here are some examples of how rsync can be used.</p> +<p>To backup a home directory, which consists of large MS Word files and mail +folders, a per-user cron job can be used that runs this each day:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -aiz . bkhost:backup/joe/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>To move some files from a remote host to the local host, you could run:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -aiv --remove-source-files rhost:/tmp/{file1,file2}.c ~/src/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<h2 id="OPTION_SUMMARY">OPTION SUMMARY<a href="#OPTION_SUMMARY" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Here is a short summary of the options available in rsync. Each option also +has its own detailed description later in this manpage.</p> +<pre><code>--verbose, -v increase verbosity +--info=FLAGS fine-grained informational verbosity +--debug=FLAGS fine-grained debug verbosity +--stderr=e|a|c change stderr output mode (default: errors) +--quiet, -q suppress non-error messages +--no-motd suppress daemon-mode MOTD +--checksum, -c skip based on checksum, not mod-time & size +--archive, -a archive mode is -rlptgoD (no -A,-X,-U,-N,-H) +--no-OPTION turn off an implied OPTION (e.g. --no-D) +--recursive, -r recurse into directories +--relative, -R use relative path names +--no-implied-dirs don't send implied dirs with --relative +--backup, -b make backups (see --suffix & --backup-dir) +--backup-dir=DIR make backups into hierarchy based in DIR +--suffix=SUFFIX backup suffix (default ~ w/o --backup-dir) +--update, -u 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 checksum +--dirs, -d transfer directories without recursing +--old-dirs, --old-d works like --dirs when talking to old rsync +--mkpath create destination's missing path components +--links, -l copy symlinks as symlinks +--copy-links, -L transform symlink into referent file/dir +--copy-unsafe-links only "unsafe" symlinks are transformed +--safe-links ignore symlinks that point outside the tree +--munge-links munge symlinks to make them safe & unusable +--copy-dirlinks, -k transform symlink to dir into referent dir +--keep-dirlinks, -K treat symlinked dir on receiver as dir +--hard-links, -H preserve hard links +--perms, -p preserve permissions +--executability, -E preserve executability +--chmod=CHMOD affect file and/or directory permissions +--acls, -A preserve ACLs (implies --perms) +--xattrs, -X preserve extended attributes +--owner, -o preserve owner (super-user only) +--group, -g preserve group +--devices preserve device files (super-user only) +--copy-devices copy device contents as a regular file +--write-devices write to devices as files (implies --inplace) +--specials preserve special files +-D same as --devices --specials +--times, -t preserve modification times +--atimes, -U preserve access (use) times +--open-noatime avoid changing the atime on opened files +--crtimes, -N preserve create times (newness) +--omit-dir-times, -O omit directories from --times +--omit-link-times, -J omit symlinks from --times +--super receiver attempts super-user activities +--fake-super store/recover privileged attrs using xattrs +--sparse, -S turn sequences of nulls into sparse blocks +--preallocate allocate dest files before writing them +--dry-run, -n perform a trial run with no changes made +--whole-file, -W copy files whole (w/o delta-xfer algorithm) +--checksum-choice=STR choose the checksum algorithm (aka --cc) +--one-file-system, -x don't cross filesystem boundaries +--block-size=SIZE, -B force a fixed checksum block-size +--rsh=COMMAND, -e specify the remote shell to use +--rsync-path=PROGRAM specify the rsync to run on remote machine +--existing skip creating new files on receiver +--ignore-existing skip updating files that exist on receiver +--remove-source-files sender removes synchronized files (non-dir) +--del an alias for --delete-during +--delete delete extraneous files from dest dirs +--delete-before receiver deletes before xfer, not during +--delete-during receiver deletes during the transfer +--delete-delay find deletions during, delete after +--delete-after receiver deletes after transfer, not during +--delete-excluded also delete excluded files from dest dirs +--ignore-missing-args ignore missing source args without error +--delete-missing-args delete missing source args from destination +--ignore-errors delete even if there are I/O errors +--force force deletion of dirs even if not empty +--max-delete=NUM don't delete more than NUM files +--max-size=SIZE don't transfer any file larger than SIZE +--min-size=SIZE don't transfer any file smaller than SIZE +--max-alloc=SIZE change a limit relating to memory alloc +--partial keep partially transferred files +--partial-dir=DIR put a partially transferred file into DIR +--delay-updates put all updated files into place at end +--prune-empty-dirs, -m prune empty directory chains from file-list +--numeric-ids don't map uid/gid values by user/group name +--usermap=STRING custom username mapping +--groupmap=STRING custom groupname mapping +--chown=USER:GROUP simple username/groupname mapping +--timeout=SECONDS set I/O timeout in seconds +--contimeout=SECONDS set daemon connection timeout in seconds +--ignore-times, -I don't skip files that match size and time +--size-only skip files that match in size +--modify-window=NUM, -@ set the accuracy for mod-time comparisons +--temp-dir=DIR, -T create temporary files in directory DIR +--fuzzy, -y find similar file for basis if no dest file +--compare-dest=DIR also compare destination files relative to DIR +--copy-dest=DIR ... and include copies of unchanged files +--link-dest=DIR hardlink to files in DIR when unchanged +--compress, -z compress file data during the transfer +--compress-choice=STR choose the compression algorithm (aka --zc) +--compress-level=NUM explicitly set compression level (aka --zl) +--skip-compress=LIST skip compressing files with suffix in LIST +--cvs-exclude, -C auto-ignore files in the same way CVS does +--filter=RULE, -f add a file-filtering RULE +-F same as --filter='dir-merge /.rsync-filter' + repeated: --filter='- .rsync-filter' +--exclude=PATTERN exclude files matching PATTERN +--exclude-from=FILE read exclude patterns from FILE +--include=PATTERN don't exclude files matching PATTERN +--include-from=FILE read include patterns from FILE +--files-from=FILE read list of source-file names from FILE +--from0, -0 all *-from/filter files are delimited by 0s +--old-args disable the modern arg-protection idiom +--secluded-args, -s use the protocol to safely send the args +--trust-sender trust the remote sender's file list +--copy-as=USER[:GROUP] specify user & optional group for the copy +--address=ADDRESS bind address for outgoing socket to daemon +--port=PORT specify double-colon alternate port number +--sockopts=OPTIONS specify custom TCP options +--blocking-io use blocking I/O for the remote shell +--outbuf=N|L|B set out buffering to None, Line, or Block +--stats give some file-transfer stats +--8-bit-output, -8 leave high-bit chars unescaped in output +--human-readable, -h output numbers in a human-readable format +--progress show progress during transfer +-P same as --partial --progress +--itemize-changes, -i output a change-summary for all updates +--remote-option=OPT, -M send OPTION to the remote side only +--out-format=FORMAT output updates using the specified FORMAT +--log-file=FILE log what we're doing to the specified FILE +--log-file-format=FMT log updates using the specified FMT +--password-file=FILE read daemon-access password from FILE +--early-input=FILE use FILE for daemon's early exec input +--list-only list the files instead of copying them +--bwlimit=RATE limit socket I/O bandwidth +--stop-after=MINS Stop rsync after MINS minutes have elapsed +--stop-at=y-m-dTh:m Stop rsync at the specified point in time +--fsync fsync every written file +--write-batch=FILE write a batched update to FILE +--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 filenames +--checksum-seed=NUM set block/file checksum seed (advanced) +--ipv4, -4 prefer IPv4 +--ipv6, -6 prefer IPv6 +--version, -V print the version + other info and exit +--help, -h (*) show this help (* -h is help only on its own) +</code></pre> +<p>Rsync can also be run as a daemon, in which case the following options are +accepted:</p> +<pre><code>--daemon run as an rsync daemon +--address=ADDRESS bind to the specified address +--bwlimit=RATE limit socket I/O bandwidth +--config=FILE specify alternate rsyncd.conf file +--dparam=OVERRIDE, -M override global daemon config parameter +--no-detach do not detach from the parent +--port=PORT listen on alternate port number +--log-file=FILE override the "log file" setting +--log-file-format=FMT override the "log format" setting +--sockopts=OPTIONS specify custom TCP options +--verbose, -v increase verbosity +--ipv4, -4 prefer IPv4 +--ipv6, -6 prefer IPv6 +--help, -h show this help (when used with --daemon) +</code></pre> +<h2 id="OPTIONS">OPTIONS<a href="#OPTIONS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Rsync accepts both long (double-dash + word) and short (single-dash + letter) +options. The full list of the available options are described below. If an +option can be specified in more than one way, the choices are comma-separated. +Some options only have a long variant, not a short.</p> +<p>If the option takes a parameter, the parameter is only listed after the long +variant, even though it must also be specified for the short. When specifying +a parameter, you can either use the form <code>--option=param</code>, <code>--option param</code>, +<code>-o=param</code>, <code>-o param</code>, or <code>-oparam</code> (the latter choices assume that your +option has a short variant).</p> +<p>The parameter may need to be quoted in some manner for it to survive the +shell's command-line parsing. Also keep in mind that a leading tilde (<code>~</code>) in +a pathname is substituted by your shell, so make sure that you separate the +option name from the pathname using a space if you want the local shell to +expand it.</p> +<dl> + +<dt id="opt--help"><code>--help</code><a href="#opt--help" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Print a short help page describing the options available in rsync and exit. +You can also use <code>-h</code> for <code>--help</code> when it is used without any other +options (since it normally means <a href="#opt--human-readable"><code>--human-readable</code></a>).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-V"></span><dt id="opt--version"><code>--version</code>, <code>-V</code><a href="#opt--version" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Print the rsync version plus other info and exit. When repeated, the +information is output is a JSON format that is still fairly readable +(client side only).</p> +<p>The output includes a list of compiled-in capabilities, a list of +optimizations, the default list of checksum algorithms, the default list of +compression algorithms, the default list of daemon auth digests, a link to +the rsync web site, and a few other items.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-v"></span><dt id="opt--verbose"><code>--verbose</code>, <code>-v</code><a href="#opt--verbose" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option increases the amount of information you are given during the +transfer. By default, rsync works silently. A single <code>-v</code> will give you +information about what files are being transferred and a brief summary at +the end. Two <code>-v</code> options will give you information on what files are +being skipped and slightly more information at the end. More than two <code>-v</code> +options should only be used if you are debugging rsync.</p> +<p>The end-of-run summary tells you the number of bytes sent to the remote +rsync (which is the receiving side on a local copy), the number of bytes +received from the remote host, and the average bytes per second of the +transferred data computed over the entire length of the rsync run. The +second line shows the total size (in bytes), which is the sum of all the +file sizes that rsync considered transferring. It also shows a "speedup" +value, which is a ratio of the total file size divided by the sum of the +sent and received bytes (which is really just a feel-good bigger-is-better +number). Note that these byte values can be made more (or less) +human-readable by using the <a href="#opt--human-readable"><code>--human-readable</code></a> (or +<code>--no-human-readable</code>) options.</p> +<p>In a modern rsync, the <code>-v</code> option is equivalent to the setting of groups +of <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info</code></a> and <a href="#opt--debug"><code>--debug</code></a> options. You can choose to use +these newer options in addition to, or in place of using <code>--verbose</code>, as +any fine-grained settings override the implied settings of <code>-v</code>. Both +<a href="#opt--info"><code>--info</code></a> and <a href="#opt--debug"><code>--debug</code></a> have a way to ask for help that +tells you exactly what flags are set for each increase in verbosity.</p> +<p>However, do keep in mind that a daemon's "<code>max verbosity</code>" setting will limit +how high of a level the various individual flags can be set on the daemon +side. For instance, if the max is 2, then any info and/or debug flag that +is set to a higher value than what would be set by <code>-vv</code> will be downgraded +to the <code>-vv</code> level in the daemon's logging.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--info"><code>--info=FLAGS</code><a href="#opt--info" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option lets you have fine-grained control over the information output +you want to see. An individual flag name may be followed by a level +number, with 0 meaning to silence that output, 1 being the default output +level, and higher numbers increasing the output of that flag (for those +that support higher levels). Use <code>--info=help</code> to see all the available +flag names, what they output, and what flag names are added for each +increase in the verbose level. Some examples:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -a --info=progress2 src/ dest/ +rsync -avv --info=stats2,misc1,flist0 src/ dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Note that <code>--info=name</code>'s output is affected by the <a href="#opt--out-format"><code>--out-format</code></a> +and <a href="#opt--itemize-changes"><code>--itemize-changes</code></a> (<code>-i</code>) options. See those options for more +information on what is output and when.</p> +<p>This option was added to 3.1.0, so an older rsync on the server side might +reject your attempts at fine-grained control (if one or more flags needed +to be send to the server and the server was too old to understand them). +See also the "<code>max verbosity</code>" caveat above when dealing with a daemon.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--debug"><code>--debug=FLAGS</code><a href="#opt--debug" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option lets you have fine-grained control over the debug output you +want to see. An individual flag name may be followed by a level number, +with 0 meaning to silence that output, 1 being the default output level, +and higher numbers increasing the output of that flag (for those that +support higher levels). Use <code>--debug=help</code> to see all the available flag +names, what they output, and what flag names are added for each increase in +the verbose level. Some examples:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avvv --debug=none src/ dest/ +rsync -avA --del --debug=del2,acl src/ dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Note that some debug messages will only be output when the <a href="#opt--stderr"><code>--stderr=all</code></a> +option is specified, especially those pertaining to I/O and buffer debugging.</p> +<p>Beginning in 3.2.0, this option is no longer auto-forwarded to the server +side in order to allow you to specify different debug values for each side +of the transfer, as well as to specify a new debug option that is only +present in one of the rsync versions. If you want to duplicate the same +option on both sides, using brace expansion is an easy way to save you some +typing. This works in zsh and bash:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -aiv {-M,}--debug=del2 src/ dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--stderr"><code>--stderr=errors|all|client</code><a href="#opt--stderr" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option controls which processes output to stderr and if info messages +are also changed to stderr. The mode strings can be abbreviated, so feel +free to use a single letter value. The 3 possible choices are:</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p><code>errors</code> -⁠ (the default) causes all the rsync processes to send an +error directly to stderr, even if the process is on the remote side of +the transfer. Info messages are sent to the client side via the protocol +stream. If stderr is not available (i.e. when directly connecting with a +daemon via a socket) errors fall back to being sent via the protocol +stream.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p><code>all</code> -⁠ causes all rsync messages (info and error) to get written +directly to stderr from all (possible) processes. This causes stderr to +become line-buffered (instead of raw) and eliminates the ability to +divide up the info and error messages by file handle. For those doing +debugging or using several levels of verbosity, this option can help to +avoid clogging up the transfer stream (which should prevent any chance of +a deadlock bug hanging things up). It also allows <a href="#opt--debug"><code>--debug</code></a> to +enable some extra I/O related messages.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p><code>client</code> -⁠ causes all rsync messages to be sent to the client side +via the protocol stream. One client process outputs all messages, with +errors on stderr and info messages on stdout. This <strong>was</strong> the default +in older rsync versions, but can cause error delays when a lot of +transfer data is ahead of the messages. If you're pushing files to an +older rsync, you may want to use <code>--stderr=all</code> since that idiom has +been around for several releases.</p> +</li> +</ul> +<p>This option was added in rsync 3.2.3. This version also began the +forwarding of a non-default setting to the remote side, though rsync uses +the backward-compatible options <code>--msgs2stderr</code> and <code>--no-msgs2stderr</code> to +represent the <code>all</code> and <code>client</code> settings, respectively. A newer rsync +will continue to accept these older option names to maintain compatibility.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-q"></span><dt id="opt--quiet"><code>--quiet</code>, <code>-q</code><a href="#opt--quiet" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option decreases the amount of information you are given during the +transfer, notably suppressing information messages from the remote server. +This option is useful when invoking rsync from cron.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--no-motd"><code>--no-motd</code><a href="#opt--no-motd" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option affects the information that is output by the client at the +start of a daemon transfer. This suppresses the message-of-the-day (MOTD) +text, but it also affects the list of modules that the daemon sends in +response to the "rsync host::" request (due to a limitation in the rsync +protocol), so omit this option if you want to request the list of modules +from the daemon.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-I"></span><dt id="opt--ignore-times"><code>--ignore-times</code>, <code>-I</code><a href="#opt--ignore-times" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Normally rsync will skip any files that are already the same size and have +the same modification timestamp. This option turns off this "quick check" +behavior, causing all files to be updated.</p> +<p>This option can be confusing compared to <a href="#opt--ignore-existing"><code>--ignore-existing</code></a> and +<a href="#opt--ignore-non-existing"><code>--ignore-non-existing</code></a> in that that they cause rsync to transfer +fewer files, while this option causes rsync to transfer more files.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--size-only"><code>--size-only</code><a href="#opt--size-only" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This modifies rsync's "quick check" algorithm for finding files that need +to be transferred, changing it from the default of transferring files with +either a changed size or a changed last-modified time to just looking for +files that have changed in size. This is useful when starting to use rsync +after using another mirroring system which may not preserve timestamps +exactly.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-_"></span><dt id="opt--modify-window"><code>--modify-window=NUM</code>, <code>-@</code><a href="#opt--modify-window" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>When comparing two timestamps, rsync treats the timestamps as being equal +if they differ by no more than the modify-window value. The default is 0, +which matches just integer seconds. If you specify a negative value (and +the receiver is at least version 3.1.3) then nanoseconds will also be taken +into account. Specifying 1 is useful for copies to/from MS Windows FAT +filesystems, because FAT represents times with a 2-second resolution +(allowing times to differ from the original by up to 1 second).</p> +<p>If you want all your transfers to default to comparing nanoseconds, you can +create a <code>~/.popt</code> file and put these lines in it:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync alias -a -a@-1 +rsync alias -t -t@-1 +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>With that as the default, you'd need to specify <code>--modify-window=0</code> (aka +<code>-@0</code>) to override it and ignore nanoseconds, e.g. if you're copying +between ext3 and ext4, or if the receiving rsync is older than 3.1.3.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-c"></span><dt id="opt--checksum"><code>--checksum</code>, <code>-c</code><a href="#opt--checksum" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This changes the way rsync checks if the files have been changed and are in +need of a transfer. Without this option, rsync uses a "quick check" that +(by default) checks if each file's size and time of last modification match +between the sender and receiver. This option changes this to compare a +128-bit checksum for each file that has a matching size. Generating the +checksums means that both sides will expend a lot of disk I/O reading all +the data in the files in the transfer, so this can slow things down +significantly (and this is prior to any reading that will be done to +transfer changed files)</p> +<p>The sending side generates its checksums while it is doing the file-system +scan that builds the list of the available files. The receiver generates +its checksums when it is scanning for changed files, and will checksum any +file that has the same size as the corresponding sender's file: files with +either a changed size or a changed checksum are selected for transfer.</p> +<p>Note that rsync always verifies that each <u>transferred</u> file was correctly +reconstructed on the receiving side by checking a whole-file 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.</p> +<p>The checksum used is auto-negotiated between the client and the server, but +can be overridden using either the <a href="#opt--checksum-choice"><code>--checksum-choice</code></a> (<code>--cc</code>) +option or an environment variable that is discussed in that option's +section.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-a"></span><dt id="opt--archive"><code>--archive</code>, <code>-a</code><a href="#opt--archive" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This is equivalent to <code>-rlptgoD</code>. It is a quick way of saying you want +recursion and want to preserve almost everything. Be aware that it does +<strong>not</strong> include preserving ACLs (<code>-A</code>), xattrs (<code>-X</code>), atimes (<code>-U</code>), +crtimes (<code>-N</code>), nor the finding and preserving of hardlinks (<code>-H</code>).</p> +<p>The only exception to the above equivalence is when <a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a> +is specified, in which case <a href="#opt-r"><code>-r</code></a> is not implied.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--no-OPTION"><code>--no-OPTION</code><a href="#opt--no-OPTION" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>You may turn off one or more implied options by prefixing the option name +with "no-". Not all positive options have a negated opposite, but a lot +do, including those that can be used to disable an implied option (e.g. +<code>--no-D</code>, <code>--no-perms</code>) or have different defaults in various circumstances +(e.g. <a href="#opt--no-whole-file"><code>--no-whole-file</code></a>, <code>--no-blocking-io</code>, <code>--no-dirs</code>). Every +valid negated option accepts both the short and the long option name after +the "no-" prefix (e.g. <code>--no-R</code> is the same as <code>--no-relative</code>).</p> +<p>As an example, if you want to use <a href="#opt--archive"><code>--archive</code></a> (<code>-a</code>) but don't want +<a href="#opt--owner"><code>--owner</code></a> (<code>-o</code>), instead of converting <code>-a</code> into <code>-rlptgD</code>, you +can specify <code>-a --no-o</code> (aka <code>--archive --no-owner</code>).</p> +<p>The order of the options is important: if you specify <code>--no-r -a</code>, the <code>-r</code> +option would end up being turned on, the opposite of <code>-a --no-r</code>. Note +also that the side-effects of the <a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a> option are NOT +positional, as it affects the default state of several options and slightly +changes the meaning of <a href="#opt-a"><code>-a</code></a> (see the <a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a> option +for more details).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-r"></span><dt id="opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code>, <code>-r</code><a href="#opt--recursive" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to copy directories recursively. See also +<a href="#opt--dirs"><code>--dirs</code></a> (<code>-d</code>) for an option that allows the scanning of a single +directory.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#opt--inc-recursive"><code>--inc-recursive</code></a> option for a discussion of the +incremental recursion for creating the list of files to transfer.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--i-r"></span><dt id="opt--inc-recursive"><code>--inc-recursive</code>, <code>--i-r</code><a href="#opt--inc-recursive" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option explicitly enables on incremental recursion when scanning for +files, which is enabled by default when using the <a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a> +option and both sides of the transfer are running rsync 3.0.0 or newer.</p> +<p>Incremental recursion uses much less memory than non-incremental, while +also beginning the transfer more quickly (since it doesn't need to scan the +entire transfer hierarchy before it starts transferring files). If no +recursion is enabled in the source files, this option has no effect.</p> +<p>Some options require rsync to know the full file list, so these options +disable the incremental recursion mode. These include:</p> +<ul> +<li><a href="#opt--delete-before"><code>--delete-before</code></a> (the old default of <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a>)</li> +<li><a href="#opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code></a></li> +<li><a href="#opt--prune-empty-dirs"><code>--prune-empty-dirs</code></a></li> +<li><a href="#opt--delay-updates"><code>--delay-updates</code></a></li> +</ul> +<p>In order to make <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> compatible with incremental recursion, +rsync 3.0.0 made <a href="#opt--delete-during"><code>--delete-during</code></a> the default delete mode (which +was first added in 2.6.4).</p> +<p>One side-effect of incremental recursion is that any missing +sub-directories inside a recursively-scanned directory are (by default) +created prior to recursing into the sub-dirs. This earlier creation point +(compared to a non-incremental recursion) allows rsync to then set the +modify time of the finished directory right away (without having to delay +that until a bunch of recursive copying has finished). However, these +early directories don't yet have their completed mode, mtime, or ownership +set -⁠-⁠ they have more restrictive rights until the subdirectory's copying +actually begins. This early-creation idiom can be avoided by using the +<a href="#opt--omit-dir-times"><code>--omit-dir-times</code></a> option.</p> +<p>Incremental recursion can be disabled using the +<a href="#opt--no-inc-recursive"><code>--no-inc-recursive</code></a> (<code>--no-i-r</code>) option.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--no-i-r"></span><dt id="opt--no-inc-recursive"><code>--no-inc-recursive</code>, <code>--no-i-r</code><a href="#opt--no-inc-recursive" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Disables the new incremental recursion algorithm of the +<a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a> option. This makes rsync scan the full file list +before it begins to transfer files. See <a href="#opt--inc-recursive"><code>--inc-recursive</code></a> for more +info.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-R"></span><dt id="opt--relative"><code>--relative</code>, <code>-R</code><a href="#opt--relative" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Use relative paths. This means that the full path names specified on the +command line are sent to the server rather than just the last parts of the +filenames. This is particularly useful when you want to send several +different directories at the same time. For example, if you used this +command:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av /foo/bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>would create a file named baz.c in /tmp/ on the remote machine. If instead +you used</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avR /foo/bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>then a file named /tmp/foo/bar/baz.c would be created on the remote +machine, preserving its full path. These extra path elements are called +"implied directories" (i.e. the "foo" and the "foo/bar" directories in the +above example).</p> +<p>Beginning with rsync 3.0.0, rsync always sends these implied directories as +real directories in the file list, even if a path element is really a +symlink on the sending side. This prevents some really unexpected behaviors +when copying the full path of a file that you didn't realize had a symlink +in its path. If you want to duplicate a server-side symlink, include both +the symlink via its path, and referent directory via its real path. If +you're dealing with an older rsync on the sending side, you may need to use +the <a href="#opt--no-implied-dirs"><code>--no-implied-dirs</code></a> option.</p> +<p>It is also possible to limit the amount of path information that is sent as +implied directories for each path you specify. With a modern rsync on the +sending side (beginning with 2.6.7), you can insert a dot and a slash into +the source path, like this:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avR /foo/./bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>That would create /tmp/bar/baz.c on the remote machine. (Note that the dot +must be followed by a slash, so "/foo/." would not be abbreviated.) For +older rsync versions, you would need to use a chdir to limit the source +path. For example, when pushing files:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>(cd /foo; rsync -avR bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/) +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>(Note that the parens put the two commands into a sub-shell, so that the +"cd" command doesn't remain in effect for future commands.) If you're +pulling files from an older rsync, use this idiom (but only for a +non-daemon transfer):</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avR --rsync-path="cd /foo; rsync" \ + remote:bar/baz.c /tmp/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--no-implied-dirs"><code>--no-implied-dirs</code><a href="#opt--no-implied-dirs" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option affects the default behavior of the <a href="#opt--relative"><code>--relative</code></a> option. When +it is specified, the attributes of the implied directories from the source +names are not included in the transfer. This means that the corresponding +path elements on the destination system are left unchanged if they exist, +and any missing implied directories are created with default attributes. +This even allows these implied path elements to have big differences, such +as being a symlink to a directory on the receiving side.</p> +<p>For instance, if a command-line arg or a files-from entry told rsync to +transfer the file "path/foo/file", the directories "path" and "path/foo" +are implied when <a href="#opt--relative"><code>--relative</code></a> is used. If "path/foo" is a symlink to "bar" +on the destination system, the receiving rsync would ordinarily delete +"path/foo", recreate it as a directory, and receive the file into the new +directory. With <code>--no-implied-dirs</code>, the receiving rsync updates +"path/foo/file" using the existing path elements, which means that the file +ends up being created in "path/bar". Another way to accomplish this link +preservation is to use the <a href="#opt--keep-dirlinks"><code>--keep-dirlinks</code></a> option (which will also affect +symlinks to directories in the rest of the transfer).</p> +<p>When pulling files from an rsync older than 3.0.0, you may need to use this +option if the sending side has a symlink in the path you request and you +wish the implied directories to be transferred as normal directories.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-b"></span><dt id="opt--backup"><code>--backup</code>, <code>-b</code><a href="#opt--backup" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>With this option, preexisting destination files are renamed as each file is +transferred or deleted. You can control where the backup file goes and +what (if any) suffix gets appended using the <a href="#opt--backup-dir"><code>--backup-dir</code></a> and +<a href="#opt--suffix"><code>--suffix</code></a> options.</p> +<p>If you don't specify <a href="#opt--backup-dir"><code>--backup-dir</code></a>:</p> +<ol> +<li>the <a href="#opt--omit-dir-times"><code>--omit-dir-times</code></a> option will be forced on</li> +<li>the use of <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> (without <a href="#opt--delete-excluded"><code>--delete-excluded</code></a>), +causes rsync to add a "protect" <a href="#FILTER_RULES">filter-rule</a> for the +backup suffix to the end of all your existing filters that looks like +this: <code>-f "P *~"</code>. This rule prevents previously backed-up files from +being deleted.</li> +</ol> +<p>Note that if you are supplying your own filter rules, you may need to +manually insert your own exclude/protect rule somewhere higher up in the +list so that it has a high enough priority to be effective (e.g. if your +rules specify a trailing inclusion/exclusion of <code>*</code>, the auto-added rule +would never be reached).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--backup-dir"><code>--backup-dir=DIR</code><a href="#opt--backup-dir" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This implies the <a href="#opt--backup"><code>--backup</code></a> option, and tells rsync to store all +backups in the specified directory on the receiving side. This can be used +for incremental backups. You can additionally specify a backup suffix +using the <a href="#opt--suffix"><code>--suffix</code></a> option (otherwise the files backed up in the +specified directory will keep their original filenames).</p> +<p>Note that if you specify a relative path, the backup directory will be +relative to the destination directory, so you probably want to specify +either an absolute path or a path that starts with "../". If an rsync +daemon is the receiver, the backup dir cannot go outside the module's path +hierarchy, so take extra care not to delete it or copy into it.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--suffix"><code>--suffix=SUFFIX</code><a href="#opt--suffix" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option allows you to override the default backup suffix used with the +<a href="#opt--backup"><code>--backup</code></a> (<code>-b</code>) option. The default suffix is a <code>~</code> if no +<a href="#opt--backup-dir"><code>--backup-dir</code></a> was specified, otherwise it is an empty string.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-u"></span><dt id="opt--update"><code>--update</code>, <code>-u</code><a href="#opt--update" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This forces rsync to skip any files which exist on the destination and have +a modified time that is newer than the source file. (If an existing +destination file has a modification time equal to the source file's, it +will be updated if the sizes are different.)</p> +<p>Note that this does not affect the copying of dirs, symlinks, or other +special files. Also, a difference of file format between the sender and +receiver is always considered to be important enough for an update, no +matter what date is on the objects. In other words, if the source has a +directory where the destination has a file, the transfer would occur +regardless of the timestamps.</p> +<p>This option is a <a href="#TRANSFER_RULES">TRANSFER RULE</a>, so don't expect any +exclude side effects.</p> +<p>A caution for those that choose to combine <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a> with +<code>--update</code>: an interrupted transfer will leave behind a partial file on the +receiving side that has a very recent modified time, so re-running the +transfer will probably <strong>not</strong> continue the interrupted file. As such, it +is usually best to avoid combining this with<a href="#opt--inplace"> <code>--inplace</code></a> unless you +have implemented manual steps to handle any interrupted in-progress files.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code><a href="#opt--inplace" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option changes how rsync transfers a file when its data needs to be +updated: instead of the default method of creating a new copy of the file +and moving it into place when it is complete, rsync instead writes the +updated data directly to the destination file.</p> +<p>This has several effects:</p> +<ul> +<li>Hard links are not broken. This means the new data will be visible +through other hard links to the destination file. Moreover, attempts to +copy differing source files onto a multiply-linked destination file will +result in a "tug of war" with the destination data changing back and +forth.</li> +<li>In-use binaries cannot be updated (either the OS will prevent this from +happening, or binaries that attempt to swap-in their data will misbehave +or crash).</li> +<li>The file's data will be in an inconsistent state during the transfer and +will be left that way if the transfer is interrupted or if an update +fails.</li> +<li>A file that rsync cannot write to cannot be updated. While a super user +can update any file, a normal user needs to be granted write permission +for the open of the file for writing to be successful.</li> +<li>The efficiency of rsync's delta-transfer algorithm may be reduced if some +data in the destination file is overwritten before it can be copied to a +position later in the file. This does not apply if you use <a href="#opt--backup"><code>--backup</code></a>, +since rsync is smart enough to use the backup file as the basis file for +the transfer.</li> +</ul> +<p>WARNING: you should not use this option to update files that are being +accessed by others, so be careful when choosing to use this for a copy.</p> +<p>This option is useful for transferring large files with block-based changes +or appended data, and also on systems that are disk bound, not network +bound. It can also help keep a copy-on-write filesystem snapshot from +diverging the entire contents of a file that only has minor changes.</p> +<p>The option implies <a href="#opt--partial"><code>--partial</code></a> (since an interrupted transfer does +not delete the file), but conflicts with <a href="#opt--partial-dir"><code>--partial-dir</code></a> and +<a href="#opt--delay-updates"><code>--delay-updates</code></a>. Prior to rsync 2.6.4 <code>--inplace</code> was also +incompatible with <a href="#opt--compare-dest"><code>--compare-dest</code></a> and <a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--append"><code>--append</code><a href="#opt--append" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This special copy mode only works to efficiently update files that are +known to be growing larger where any existing content on the receiving side +is also known to be the same as the content on the sender. The use of +<code>--append</code> <strong>can be dangerous</strong> if you aren't 100% sure that all the files +in the transfer are shared, growing files. You should thus use filter +rules to ensure that you weed out any files that do not fit this criteria.</p> +<p>Rsync updates these growing file in-place without verifying any of the +existing content in the file (it only verifies the content that it is +appending). Rsync skips any files that exist on the receiving side that +are not shorter than the associated file on the sending side (which means +that new files are transferred). It also skips any files whose size on the +sending side gets shorter during the send negotiations (rsync warns about a +"diminished" file when this happens).</p> +<p>This does not interfere with the updating of a file's non-content +attributes (e.g. permissions, ownership, etc.) when the file does not need +to be transferred, nor does it affect the updating of any directories or +non-regular files.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--append-verify"><code>--append-verify</code><a href="#opt--append-verify" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This special copy mode works like <a href="#opt--append"><code>--append</code></a> except that all the +data in the file is included in the checksum verification (making it less +efficient but also potentially safer). This option <strong>can be dangerous</strong> if +you aren't 100% sure that all the files in the transfer are shared, growing +files. See the <a href="#opt--append"><code>--append</code></a> option for more details.</p> +<p>Note: prior to rsync 3.0.0, the <a href="#opt--append"><code>--append</code></a> option worked like +<code>--append-verify</code>, so if you are interacting with an older rsync (or the +transfer is using a protocol prior to 30), specifying either append option +will initiate an <code>--append-verify</code> transfer.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-d"></span><dt id="opt--dirs"><code>--dirs</code>, <code>-d</code><a href="#opt--dirs" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Tell the sending side to include any directories that are encountered. +Unlike <a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a>, a directory's contents are not copied unless +the directory name specified is "." or ends with a trailing slash (e.g. +".", "dir/.", "dir/", etc.). Without this option or the +<a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a> option, rsync will skip all directories it encounters +(and output a message to that effect for each one). If you specify both +<code>--dirs</code> and <a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a>, <code>--recursive</code> takes precedence.</p> +<p>The <code>--dirs</code> option is implied by the <a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a> option or the +<a href="#opt--list-only"><code>--list-only</code></a> option (including an implied <a href="#opt--list-only"><code>--list-only</code></a> +usage) if <a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a> wasn't specified (so that directories are +seen in the listing). Specify <code>--no-dirs</code> (or <code>--no-d</code>) if you want to +turn this off.</p> +<p>There is also a backward-compatibility helper option, <code>--old-dirs</code> +(<code>--old-d</code>) that tells rsync to use a hack of <code>-r --exclude='/*/*'</code> to get +an older rsync to list a single directory without recursing.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--mkpath"><code>--mkpath</code><a href="#opt--mkpath" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Create all missing path components of the destination path.</p> +<p>By default, rsync allows only the final component of the destination path +to not exist, which is an attempt to help you to validate your destination +path. With this option, rsync creates all the missing destination-path +components, just as if <code>mkdir -p $DEST_PATH</code> had been run on the receiving +side.</p> +<p>When specifying a destination path, including a trailing slash ensures that +the whole path is treated as directory names to be created, even when the +file list has a single item. See the <a href="#COPYING_TO_A_DIFFERENT_NAME">COPYING TO A DIFFERENT NAME</a> +section for full details on how rsync decides if a final destination-path +component should be created as a directory or not.</p> +<p>If you would like the newly-created destination dirs to match the dirs on +the sending side, you should be using <a href="#opt--relative"><code>--relative</code></a> (<code>-R</code>) instead +of <code>--mkpath</code>. For instance, the following two commands result in the same +destination tree, but only the second command ensures that the +"some/extra/path" components match the dirs on the sending side:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -ai --mkpath host:some/extra/path/*.c some/extra/path/ +rsync -aiR host:some/extra/path/*.c ./ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-l"></span><dt id="opt--links"><code>--links</code>, <code>-l</code><a href="#opt--links" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Add symlinks to the transferred files instead of noisily ignoring them with +a "non-regular file" warning for each symlink encountered. You can +alternately silence the warning by specifying <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=nonreg0</code></a>.</p> +<p>The default handling of symlinks is to recreate each symlink's unchanged +value on the receiving side.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#SYMBOLIC_LINKS">SYMBOLIC LINKS</a> section for multi-option info.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-L"></span><dt id="opt--copy-links"><code>--copy-links</code>, <code>-L</code><a href="#opt--copy-links" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>The sender transforms each symlink encountered in the transfer into the +referent item, following the symlink chain to the file or directory that it +references. If a symlink chain is broken, an error is output and the file +is dropped from the transfer.</p> +<p>This option supersedes any other options that affect symlinks in the +transfer, since there are no symlinks left in the transfer.</p> +<p>This option does not change the handling of existing symlinks on the +receiving side, unlike versions of rsync prior to 2.6.3 which had the +side-effect of telling the receiving side to also follow symlinks. A +modern rsync won't forward this option to a remote receiver (since only the +sender needs to know about it), so this caveat should only affect someone +using an rsync client older than 2.6.7 (which is when <code>-L</code> stopped being +forwarded to the receiver).</p> +<p>See the <a href="#opt--keep-dirlinks"><code>--keep-dirlinks</code></a> (<code>-K</code>) if you need a symlink to a +directory to be treated as a real directory on the receiving side.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#SYMBOLIC_LINKS">SYMBOLIC LINKS</a> section for multi-option info.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--copy-unsafe-links"><code>--copy-unsafe-links</code><a href="#opt--copy-unsafe-links" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to copy the referent of symbolic links that point outside +the copied tree. Absolute symlinks are also treated like ordinary files, +and so are any symlinks in the source path itself when <a href="#opt--relative"><code>--relative</code></a> +is used.</p> +<p>Note that the cut-off point is the top of the transfer, which is the part +of the path that rsync isn't mentioning in the verbose output. If you copy +"/src/subdir" to "/dest/" then the "subdir" directory is a name inside the +transfer tree, not the top of the transfer (which is /src) so it is legal +for created relative symlinks to refer to other names inside the /src and +/dest directories. If you instead copy "/src/subdir/" (with a trailing +slash) to "/dest/subdir" that would not allow symlinks to any files outside +of "subdir".</p> +<p>Note that safe symlinks are only copied if <a href="#opt--links"><code>--links</code></a> was also +specified or implied. The <code>--copy-unsafe-links</code> option has no extra effect +when combined with <a href="#opt--copy-links"><code>--copy-links</code></a>.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#SYMBOLIC_LINKS">SYMBOLIC LINKS</a> section for multi-option info.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--safe-links"><code>--safe-links</code><a href="#opt--safe-links" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells the receiving rsync to ignore any symbolic links in the transfer +which point outside the copied tree. All absolute symlinks are also +ignored.</p> +<p>Since this ignoring is happening on the receiving side, it will still be +effective even when the sending side has munged symlinks (when it is using +<a href="#opt--munge-links"><code>--munge-links</code></a>). It also affects deletions, since the file being +present in the transfer prevents any matching file on the receiver from +being deleted when the symlink is deemed to be unsafe and is skipped.</p> +<p>This option must be combined with <a href="#opt--links"><code>--links</code></a> (or +<a href="#opt--archive"><code>--archive</code></a>) to have any symlinks in the transfer to conditionally +ignore. Its effect is superseded by <a href="#opt--copy-unsafe-links"><code>--copy-unsafe-links</code></a>.</p> +<p>Using this option in conjunction with <a href="#opt--relative"><code>--relative</code></a> may give +unexpected results.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#SYMBOLIC_LINKS">SYMBOLIC LINKS</a> section for multi-option info.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--munge-links"><code>--munge-links</code><a href="#opt--munge-links" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option affects just one side of the transfer and tells rsync to munge +symlink values when it is receiving files or unmunge symlink values when it +is sending files. The munged values make the symlinks unusable on disk but +allows the original contents of the symlinks to be recovered.</p> +<p>The server-side rsync often enables this option without the client's +knowledge, such as in an rsync daemon's configuration file or by an option +given to the rrsync (restricted rsync) script. When specified on the +client side, specify the option normally if it is the client side that +has/needs the munged symlinks, or use <code>-M--munge-links</code> to give the option +to the server when it has/needs the munged symlinks. Note that on a local +transfer, the client is the sender, so specifying the option directly +unmunges symlinks while specifying it as a remote option munges symlinks.</p> +<p>This option has no effect when sent to a daemon via <a href="#opt--remote-option"><code>--remote-option</code></a> +because the daemon configures whether it wants munged symlinks via its +"<code>munge symlinks</code>" parameter.</p> +<p>The symlink value is munged/unmunged once it is in the transfer, so any +option that transforms symlinks into non-symlinks occurs prior to the +munging/unmunging <strong>except</strong> for <a href="#opt--safe-links"><code>--safe-links</code></a>, which is a choice +that the receiver makes, so it bases its decision on the munged/unmunged +value. This does mean that if a receiver has munging enabled, that using +<a href="#opt--safe-links"><code>--safe-links</code></a> will cause all symlinks to be ignored (since they +are all absolute).</p> +<p>The method that rsync uses to munge the symlinks is to prefix each one's +value with the string "/rsyncd-munged/". This prevents the links from +being used as long as the directory does not exist. When this option is +enabled, rsync will refuse to run if that path is a directory or a symlink +to a directory (though it only checks at startup). See also the +"munge-symlinks" python script in the support directory of the source code +for a way to munge/unmunge one or more symlinks in-place.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-k"></span><dt id="opt--copy-dirlinks"><code>--copy-dirlinks</code>, <code>-k</code><a href="#opt--copy-dirlinks" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes the sending side to treat a symlink to a directory as +though it were a real directory. This is useful if you don't want symlinks +to non-directories to be affected, as they would be using +<a href="#opt--copy-links"><code>--copy-links</code></a>.</p> +<p>Without this option, if the sending side has replaced a directory with a +symlink to a directory, the receiving side will delete anything that is in +the way of the new symlink, including a directory hierarchy (as long as +<a href="#opt--force"><code>--force</code></a> or <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> is in effect).</p> +<p>See also <a href="#opt--keep-dirlinks"><code>--keep-dirlinks</code></a> for an analogous option for the +receiving side.</p> +<p><code>--copy-dirlinks</code> applies to all symlinks to directories in the source. If +you want to follow only a few specified symlinks, a trick you can use is to +pass them as additional source args with a trailing slash, using +<a href="#opt--relative"><code>--relative</code></a> to make the paths match up right. For example:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -r --relative src/./ src/./follow-me/ dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This works because rsync calls <strong>lstat</strong>(2) on the source arg as given, and +the trailing slash makes <strong>lstat</strong>(2) follow the symlink, giving rise to a +directory in the file-list which overrides the symlink found during the +scan of "src/./".</p> +<p>See the <a href="#SYMBOLIC_LINKS">SYMBOLIC LINKS</a> section for multi-option info.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-K"></span><dt id="opt--keep-dirlinks"><code>--keep-dirlinks</code>, <code>-K</code><a href="#opt--keep-dirlinks" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes the receiving side to treat a symlink to a directory as +though it were a real directory, but only if it matches a real directory +from the sender. Without this option, the receiver's symlink would be +deleted and replaced with a real directory.</p> +<p>For example, suppose you transfer a directory "foo" that contains a file +"file", but "foo" is a symlink to directory "bar" on the receiver. Without +<code>--keep-dirlinks</code>, the receiver deletes symlink "foo", recreates it as a +directory, and receives the file into the new directory. With +<code>--keep-dirlinks</code>, the receiver keeps the symlink and "file" ends up in +"bar".</p> +<p>One note of caution: if you use <code>--keep-dirlinks</code>, you must trust all the +symlinks in the copy or enable the <a href="#opt--munge-links"><code>--munge-links</code></a> option on the +receiving side! If it is possible for an untrusted user to create their +own symlink to any real 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.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#opt--copy-dirlinks"><code>--copy-dirlinks</code></a> for an analogous option for the sending +side.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#SYMBOLIC_LINKS">SYMBOLIC LINKS</a> section for multi-option info.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-H"></span><dt id="opt--hard-links"><code>--hard-links</code>, <code>-H</code><a href="#opt--hard-links" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to look for hard-linked files in the source and link +together the corresponding files on the destination. Without this option, +hard-linked files in the source are treated as though they were separate +files.</p> +<p>This option does NOT necessarily ensure that the pattern of hard links on +the destination exactly matches that on the source. Cases in which the +destination may end up with extra hard links include the following:</p> +<ul> +<li>If the destination contains extraneous hard-links (more linking than what +is present in the source file list), the copying algorithm will not break +them explicitly. However, if one or more of the paths have content +differences, the normal file-update process will break those extra links +(unless you are using the <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a> option).</li> +<li>If you specify a <a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a> directory that contains hard +links, the linking of the destination files against the +<a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a> files can cause some paths in the destination to +become linked together due to the <a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a> associations.</li> +</ul> +<p>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 <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a> 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 <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a> option for more caveats).</p> +<p>If incremental recursion is active (see <a href="#opt--inc-recursive"><code>--inc-recursive</code></a>), rsync +may transfer 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 (i.e. which files are hard-linked together), +just its efficiency (i.e. copying the data for a new, early copy of a +hard-linked file that could have been found later in the transfer in +another member of the hard-linked set of files). One way to avoid this +inefficiency is to disable incremental recursion using the +<a href="#opt--no-inc-recursive"><code>--no-inc-recursive</code></a> option.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-p"></span><dt id="opt--perms"><code>--perms</code>, <code>-p</code><a href="#opt--perms" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes the receiving rsync to set the destination permissions +to be the same as the source permissions. (See also the <a href="#opt--chmod"><code>--chmod</code></a> +option for a way to modify what rsync considers to be the source +permissions.)</p> +<p>When this option is <u>off</u>, permissions are set as follows:</p> +<ul> +<li>Existing files (including updated files) retain their existing +permissions, though the <a href="#opt--executability"><code>--executability</code></a> option might change +just the execute permission for the file.</li> +<li>New files get their "normal" permission bits set to the source file's +permissions masked with the receiving directory's default permissions +(either the receiving process's umask, or the permissions specified via +the destination directory's default ACL), and their special permission +bits disabled except in the case where a new directory inherits a setgid +bit from its parent directory.</li> +</ul> +<p>Thus, when <code>--perms</code> and <a href="#opt--executability"><code>--executability</code></a> are both disabled, rsync's +behavior is the same as that of other file-copy utilities, such as <strong>cp</strong>(1) +and <strong>tar</strong>(1).</p> +<p>In summary: to give destination files (both old and new) the source +permissions, use <code>--perms</code>. To give new files the destination-default +permissions (while leaving existing files unchanged), make sure that the +<code>--perms</code> option is off and use <a href="#opt--chmod"><code>--chmod=ugo=rwX</code></a> (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 <code>~/.popt</code> (the following defines the <code>-Z</code> +option, and includes <code>--no-g</code> to use the default group of the destination +dir):</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code> rsync alias -Z --no-p --no-g --chmod=ugo=rwX +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>You could then use this new option in a command such as this one:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code> rsync -avZ src/ dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>(Caveat: make sure that <code>-a</code> does not follow <code>-Z</code>, or it will re-enable the +two <code>--no-*</code> options mentioned above.)</p> +<p>The preservation of the destination's setgid bit on newly-created +directories when <code>--perms</code> is off was added in rsync 2.6.7. Older rsync +versions erroneously preserved the three special permission bits for +newly-created files when <code>--perms</code> was off, while overriding the +destination's setgid bit setting on a newly-created directory. Default ACL +observance was added to the ACL patch for rsync 2.6.7, so older (or +non-ACL-enabled) rsyncs use the umask even if default ACLs are present. +(Keep in mind that it is the version of the receiving rsync that affects +these behaviors.)</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-E"></span><dt id="opt--executability"><code>--executability</code>, <code>-E</code><a href="#opt--executability" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes rsync to preserve the executability (or +non-executability) of regular files when <a href="#opt--perms"><code>--perms</code></a> is not enabled. +A regular file is considered to be executable if at least one 'x' is turned +on in its permissions. When an existing destination file's executability +differs from that of the corresponding source file, rsync modifies the +destination file's permissions as follows:</p> +<ul> +<li>To make a file non-executable, rsync turns off all its 'x' permissions.</li> +<li>To make a file executable, rsync turns on each 'x' permission that has a +corresponding 'r' permission enabled.</li> +</ul> +<p>If <a href="#opt--perms"><code>--perms</code></a> is enabled, this option is ignored.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-A"></span><dt id="opt--acls"><code>--acls</code>, <code>-A</code><a href="#opt--acls" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes rsync to update the destination ACLs to be the same as +the source ACLs. The option also implies <a href="#opt--perms"><code>--perms</code></a>.</p> +<p>The source and destination systems must have compatible ACL entries for +this option to work properly. See the <a href="#opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code></a> option for a +way to backup and restore ACLs that are not compatible.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-X"></span><dt id="opt--xattrs"><code>--xattrs</code>, <code>-X</code><a href="#opt--xattrs" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes rsync to update the destination extended attributes to +be the same as the source ones.</p> +<p>For systems that support extended-attribute namespaces, a copy being done +by a super-user copies all namespaces except system.*. A normal user only +copies the user.* namespace. To be able to backup and restore non-user +namespaces as a normal user, see the <a href="#opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code></a> option.</p> +<p>The above name filtering can be overridden by using one or more filter +options with the <strong>x</strong> modifier. When you specify an xattr-affecting +filter rule, rsync requires that you do your own system/user filtering, as +well as any additional filtering for what xattr names are copied and what +names are allowed to be deleted. For example, to skip the system +namespace, you could specify:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--filter='-x system.*' +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>To skip all namespaces except the user namespace, you could specify a +negated-user match:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--filter='-x! user.*' +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>To prevent any attributes from being deleted, you could specify a +receiver-only rule that excludes all names:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--filter='-xr *' +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Note that the <code>-X</code> option does not copy rsync's special xattr values (e.g. +those used by <a href="#opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code></a>) unless you repeat the option (e.g. <code>-XX</code>). +This "copy all xattrs" mode cannot be used with <a href="#opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code></a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--chmod"><code>--chmod=CHMOD</code><a href="#opt--chmod" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells rsync to apply one or more comma-separated "chmod" modes +to the permission of the files in the transfer. The resulting value is +treated as though it were the permissions that the sending side supplied +for the file, which means that this option can seem to have no effect on +existing files if <a href="#opt--perms"><code>--perms</code></a> is not enabled.</p> +<p>In addition to the normal parsing rules specified in the <strong>chmod</strong>(1) +manpage, you can specify an item that should only apply to a directory by +prefixing it with a 'D', or specify an item that should only apply to a +file by prefixing it with a 'F'. For example, the following will ensure +that all directories get marked set-gid, that no files are other-writable, +that both are user-writable and group-writable, and that both have +consistent executability across all bits:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--chmod=Dg+s,ug+w,Fo-w,+X +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Using octal mode numbers is also allowed:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--chmod=D2775,F664 +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>It is also legal to specify multiple <code>--chmod</code> options, as each additional +option is just appended to the list of changes to make.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#opt--perms"><code>--perms</code></a> and <a href="#opt--executability"><code>--executability</code></a> options for how the +resulting permission value can be applied to the files in the transfer.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-o"></span><dt id="opt--owner"><code>--owner</code>, <code>-o</code><a href="#opt--owner" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes rsync to set the owner of the destination file to be the +same as the source file, but only if the receiving rsync is being run as +the super-user (see also the <a href="#opt--super"><code>--super</code></a> and <a href="#opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code></a> +options). Without this option, the owner of new and/or transferred files +are set to the invoking user on the receiving side.</p> +<p>The preservation of ownership will associate matching names by default, but +may fall back to using the ID number in some circumstances (see also the +<a href="#opt--numeric-ids"><code>--numeric-ids</code></a> option for a full discussion).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-g"></span><dt id="opt--group"><code>--group</code>, <code>-g</code><a href="#opt--group" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>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 (or if <code>--no-super</code> was specified), only groups that the +invoking user on the receiving side is a member of will be preserved. +Without this option, the group is set to the default group of the invoking +user on the receiving side.</p> +<p>The preservation of group information will associate matching names by +default, but may fall back to using the ID number in some circumstances +(see also the <a href="#opt--numeric-ids"><code>--numeric-ids</code></a> option for a full discussion).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--devices"><code>--devices</code><a href="#opt--devices" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes rsync to transfer character and block device files to +the remote system to recreate these devices. If the receiving rsync is not +being run as the super-user, rsync silently skips creating the device files +(see also the <a href="#opt--super"><code>--super</code></a> and <a href="#opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code></a> options).</p> +<p>By default, rsync generates a "non-regular file" warning for each device +file encountered when this option is not set. You can silence the warning +by specifying <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=nonreg0</code></a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--specials"><code>--specials</code><a href="#opt--specials" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes rsync to transfer special files, such as named sockets +and fifos. If the receiving rsync is not being run as the super-user, +rsync silently skips creating the special files (see also the +<a href="#opt--super"><code>--super</code></a> and <a href="#opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code></a> options).</p> +<p>By default, rsync generates a "non-regular file" warning for each special +file encountered when this option is not set. You can silence the warning +by specifying <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=nonreg0</code></a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt-D"><code>-D</code><a href="#opt-D" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>The <code>-D</code> option is equivalent to "<a href="#opt--devices"><code>--devices</code></a> +<a href="#opt--specials"><code>--specials</code></a>".</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--copy-devices"><code>--copy-devices</code><a href="#opt--copy-devices" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to treat a device on the sending side as a regular file, +allowing it to be copied to a normal destination file (or another device +if <code>--write-devices</code> was also specified).</p> +<p>This option is refused by default by an rsync daemon.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--write-devices"><code>--write-devices</code><a href="#opt--write-devices" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to treat a device on the receiving side as a regular file, +allowing the writing of file data into a device.</p> +<p>This option implies the <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a> option.</p> +<p>Be careful using this, as you should know what devices are present on the +receiving side of the transfer, especially when running rsync as root.</p> +<p>This option is refused by default by an rsync daemon.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-t"></span><dt id="opt--times"><code>--times</code>, <code>-t</code><a href="#opt--times" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to transfer modification times along with the files and +update them on the remote system. Note that if this option is not used, +the optimization that excludes files that have not been modified cannot be +effective; in other words, a missing <code>-t</code> (or <a href="#opt-a"><code>-a</code></a>) will cause the +next transfer to behave as if it used <a href="#opt--ignore-times"><code>--ignore-times</code></a> (<code>-I</code>), +causing all files to be updated (though rsync's delta-transfer algorithm +will make the update fairly efficient if the files haven't actually +changed, you're much better off using <code>-t</code>).</p> +<p>A modern rsync that is using transfer protocol 30 or 31 conveys a modify +time using up to 8-bytes. If rsync is forced to speak an older protocol +(perhaps due to the remote rsync being older than 3.0.0) a modify time is +conveyed using 4-bytes. Prior to 3.2.7, these shorter values could convey +a date range of 13-Dec-1901 to 19-Jan-2038. Beginning with 3.2.7, these +4-byte values now convey a date range of 1-Jan-1970 to 7-Feb-2106. If you +have files dated older than 1970, make sure your rsync executables are +upgraded so that the full range of dates can be conveyed.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-U"></span><dt id="opt--atimes"><code>--atimes</code>, <code>-U</code><a href="#opt--atimes" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to set the access (use) times of the destination files to +the same value as the source files.</p> +<p>If repeated, it also sets the <a href="#opt--open-noatime"><code>--open-noatime</code></a> option, which can help you +to make the sending and receiving systems have the same access times on the +transferred files without needing to run rsync an extra time after a file +is transferred.</p> +<p>Note that some older rsync versions (prior to 3.2.0) may have been built +with a pre-release <code>--atimes</code> patch that does not imply +<a href="#opt--open-noatime"><code>--open-noatime</code></a> when this option is repeated.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--open-noatime"><code>--open-noatime</code><a href="#opt--open-noatime" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to open files with the O_NOATIME flag (on systems that +support it) to avoid changing the access time of the files that are being +transferred. If your OS does not support the O_NOATIME flag then rsync +will silently ignore this option. Note also that some filesystems are +mounted to avoid updating the atime on read access even without the +O_NOATIME flag being set.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-N_"></span><dt id="opt--crtimes"><code>--crtimes</code>, <code>-N,</code><a href="#opt--crtimes" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to set the create times (newness) of the destination +files to the same value as the source files.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-O"></span><dt id="opt--omit-dir-times"><code>--omit-dir-times</code>, <code>-O</code><a href="#opt--omit-dir-times" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to omit directories when it is preserving modification, +access, and create times. If NFS is sharing the directories on the receiving +side, it is a good idea to use <code>-O</code>. This option is inferred if you use +<a href="#opt--backup"><code>--backup</code></a> without <a href="#opt--backup-dir"><code>--backup-dir</code></a>.</p> +<p>This option also has the side-effect of avoiding early creation of missing +sub-directories when incremental recursion is enabled, as discussed in the +<a href="#opt--inc-recursive"><code>--inc-recursive</code></a> section.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-J"></span><dt id="opt--omit-link-times"><code>--omit-link-times</code>, <code>-J</code><a href="#opt--omit-link-times" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to omit symlinks when it is preserving modification, +access, and create times.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--super"><code>--super</code><a href="#opt--super" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells the receiving side to attempt super-user activities even if the +receiving rsync wasn't run by the super-user. These activities include: +preserving users via the <a href="#opt--owner"><code>--owner</code></a> option, preserving all groups +(not just the current user's groups) via the <a href="#opt--group"><code>--group</code></a> option, and +copying devices via the <a href="#opt--devices"><code>--devices</code></a> option. This is useful for +systems that allow such activities without being the super-user, and also +for ensuring that you will get errors if the receiving side isn't being run +as the super-user. To turn off super-user activities, the super-user can +use <code>--no-super</code>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code><a href="#opt--fake-super" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>When this option is enabled, rsync simulates super-user activities by +saving/restoring the privileged attributes via special extended attributes +that are attached to each file (as needed). This includes the file's owner +and group (if it is not the default), the file's device info (device & +special files are created as empty text files), and any permission bits +that we won't allow to be set on the real file (e.g. the real file gets +u-s,g-s,o-t for safety) or that would limit the owner's access (since the +real super-user can always access/change a file, the files we create can +always be accessed/changed by the creating user). This option also handles +ACLs (if <a href="#opt--acls"><code>--acls</code></a> was specified) and non-user extended attributes +(if <a href="#opt--xattrs"><code>--xattrs</code></a> was specified).</p> +<p>This is a good way to backup data without using a super-user, and to store +ACLs from incompatible systems.</p> +<p>The <code>--fake-super</code> option only affects the side where the option is used. +To affect the remote side of a remote-shell connection, use the +<a href="#opt--remote-option"><code>--remote-option</code></a> (<code>-M</code>) option:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av -M--fake-super /src/ host:/dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>For a local copy, this option affects both the source and the destination. +If you wish a local copy to enable this option just for the destination +files, specify <code>-M--fake-super</code>. If you wish a local copy to enable this +option just for the source files, combine <code>--fake-super</code> with <code>-M--super</code>.</p> +<p>This option is overridden by both <a href="#opt--super"><code>--super</code></a> and <code>--no-super</code>.</p> +<p>See also the <a href="rsyncd.conf.5#fake_super"><code>fake super</code></a> setting in the +daemon's rsyncd.conf file.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-S"></span><dt id="opt--sparse"><code>--sparse</code>, <code>-S</code><a href="#opt--sparse" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Try to handle sparse files efficiently so they take up less space on the +destination. If combined with <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a> the file created might +not end up with sparse blocks with some combinations of kernel version +and/or filesystem type. If <a href="#opt--whole-file"><code>--whole-file</code></a> is in effect (e.g. for a +local copy) then it will always work because rsync truncates the file prior +to writing out the updated version.</p> +<p>Note that versions of rsync older than 3.1.3 will reject the combination of +<code>--sparse</code> and <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--preallocate"><code>--preallocate</code><a href="#opt--preallocate" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells the receiver to allocate each destination file to its eventual +size before writing data to the file. Rsync will only use the real +filesystem-level preallocation support provided by Linux's <strong>fallocate</strong>(2) +system call or Cygwin's <strong>posix_fallocate</strong>(3), not the slow glibc +implementation that writes a null byte into each block.</p> +<p>Without this option, larger files may not be entirely contiguous on the +filesystem, but with this option rsync will probably copy more slowly. If +the destination is not an extent-supporting filesystem (such as ext4, xfs, +NTFS, etc.), this option may have no positive effect at all.</p> +<p>If combined with <a href="#opt--sparse"><code>--sparse</code></a>, the file will only have sparse blocks +(as opposed to allocated sequences of null bytes) if the kernel version and +filesystem type support creating holes in the allocated data.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-n"></span><dt id="opt--dry-run"><code>--dry-run</code>, <code>-n</code><a href="#opt--dry-run" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>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 <a href="#opt--verbose"><code>--verbose</code></a> (<code>-v</code>) and/or +<a href="#opt--itemize-changes"><code>--itemize-changes</code></a> (<code>-i</code>) options to see what an rsync command is +going to do before one actually runs it.</p> +<p>The output of <a href="#opt--itemize-changes"><code>--itemize-changes</code></a> 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 should +be mostly unchanged, but may differ in some areas. Notably, a dry run does +not send the actual data for file transfers, so <a href="#opt--progress"><code>--progress</code></a> 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 were needed.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-W"></span><dt id="opt--whole-file"><code>--whole-file</code>, <code>-W</code><a href="#opt--whole-file" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option disables rsync's delta-transfer algorithm, which causes all +transferred files to be sent whole. 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 "disk" +is actually a networked filesystem). This is the default when both the +source and destination are specified as local paths, but only if no +batch-writing option is in effect.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--no-W"></span><dt id="opt--no-whole-file"><code>--no-whole-file</code>, <code>--no-W</code><a href="#opt--no-whole-file" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Disable whole-file updating when it is enabled by default for a local +transfer. This usually slows rsync down, but it can be useful if you are +trying to minimize the writes to the destination file (if combined with +<a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a>) or for testing the checksum-based update algorithm.</p> +<p>See also the <a href="#opt--whole-file"><code>--whole-file</code></a> option.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--cc"></span><dt id="opt--checksum-choice"><code>--checksum-choice=STR</code>, <code>--cc=STR</code><a href="#opt--checksum-choice" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option overrides the checksum algorithms. If one algorithm name is +specified, it is used for both the transfer checksums and (assuming +<a href="#opt--checksum"><code>--checksum</code></a> is specified) the pre-transfer checksums. If two +comma-separated names are supplied, the first name affects the transfer +checksums, and the second name affects the pre-transfer checksums (<code>-c</code>).</p> +<p>The checksum options that you may be able to use are:</p> +<ul> +<li><code>auto</code> (the default automatic choice)</li> +<li><code>xxh128</code></li> +<li><code>xxh3</code></li> +<li><code>xxh64</code> (aka <code>xxhash</code>)</li> +<li><code>md5</code></li> +<li><code>md4</code></li> +<li><code>sha1</code></li> +<li><code>none</code></li> +</ul> +<p>Run <code>rsync --version</code> to see the default checksum list compiled into your +version (which may differ from the list above).</p> +<p>If "none" is specified for the first (or only) name, the <a href="#opt--whole-file"><code>--whole-file</code></a> +option is forced on and no checksum verification is performed on the +transferred data. If "none" is specified for the second (or only) name, +the <a href="#opt--checksum"><code>--checksum</code></a> option cannot be used.</p> +<p>The "auto" option is the default, where rsync bases its algorithm choice on +a negotiation between the client and the server as follows:</p> +<p>When both sides of the transfer are at least 3.2.0, rsync chooses the first +algorithm in the client's list of choices that is also in the server's list +of choices. If no common checksum choice is found, rsync exits with +an error. If the remote rsync is too old to support checksum negotiation, +a value is chosen based on the protocol version (which chooses between MD5 +and various flavors of MD4 based on protocol age).</p> +<p>The default order can be customized by setting the environment variable +<a href="#RSYNC_CHECKSUM_LIST"><code>RSYNC_CHECKSUM_LIST</code></a> to a space-separated list of acceptable checksum +names. If the string contains a "<code>&</code>" character, it is separated into the +"client string & server string", otherwise the same string applies to both. +If the string (or string portion) contains no non-whitespace characters, +the default checksum list is used. This method does not allow you to +specify the transfer checksum separately from the pre-transfer checksum, +and it discards "auto" and all unknown checksum names. A list with only +invalid names results in a failed negotiation.</p> +<p>The use of the <code>--checksum-choice</code> option overrides this environment list.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-x"></span><dt id="opt--one-file-system"><code>--one-file-system</code>, <code>-x</code><a href="#opt--one-file-system" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to avoid crossing a filesystem boundary when recursing. +This does not limit the user's ability to specify items to copy from +multiple filesystems, just rsync's recursion through the hierarchy of each +directory that the user specified, and also the analogous recursion on the +receiving side during deletion. Also keep in mind that rsync treats a +"bind" mount to the same device as being on the same filesystem.</p> +<p>If this option is repeated, rsync omits all mount-point directories from +the copy. Otherwise, it includes an empty directory at each mount-point it +encounters (using the attributes of the mounted directory because those of +the underlying mount-point directory are inaccessible).</p> +<p>If rsync has been told to collapse symlinks (via <a href="#opt--copy-links"><code>--copy-links</code></a> or +<a href="#opt--copy-unsafe-links"><code>--copy-unsafe-links</code></a>), a symlink to a directory on another device +is treated like a mount-point. Symlinks to non-directories are unaffected +by this option.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--existing"></span><dt id="opt--ignore-non-existing"><code>--ignore-non-existing</code>, <code>--existing</code><a href="#opt--ignore-non-existing" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to skip creating files (including directories) that do not +exist yet on the destination. If this option is combined with the +<a href="#opt--ignore-existing"><code>--ignore-existing</code></a> option, no files will be updated (which can be +useful if all you want to do is delete extraneous files).</p> +<p>This option is a <a href="#TRANSFER_RULES">TRANSFER RULE</a>, so don't expect any +exclude side effects.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--ignore-existing"><code>--ignore-existing</code><a href="#opt--ignore-existing" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to skip updating files that already exist on the +destination (this does <u>not</u> ignore existing directories, or nothing would +get done). See also <a href="#opt--ignore-non-existing"><code>--ignore-non-existing</code></a>.</p> +<p>This option is a <a href="#TRANSFER_RULES">TRANSFER RULE</a>, so don't expect any +exclude side effects.</p> +<p>This option can be useful for those doing backups using the +<a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a> option when they need to continue a backup run that +got interrupted. Since a <a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a> run is copied into a new +directory hierarchy (when it is used properly), using [<code>--ignore-existing</code> +will ensure that the already-handled files don't get tweaked (which avoids +a change in permissions on the hard-linked files). This does mean that +this option is only looking at the existing files in the destination +hierarchy itself.</p> +<p>When <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=skip2</code></a> is used rsync will output "FILENAME exists +(INFO)" messages where the INFO indicates one of "type change", "sum +change" (requires <a href="#opt-c"><code>-c</code></a>), "file change" (based on the quick check), +"attr change", or "uptodate". Using <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=skip1</code></a> (which is also +implied by 2 <a href="#opt-v"><code>-v</code></a> options) outputs the exists message without the +INFO suffix.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--remove-source-files"><code>--remove-source-files</code><a href="#opt--remove-source-files" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to remove from the sending side the files (meaning +non-directories) that are a part of the transfer and have been successfully +duplicated on the receiving side.</p> +<p>Note that you should only use this option on source files that are +quiescent. If you are using this to move files that show up in a +particular directory over to another host, make sure that the finished +files get renamed into the source directory, not directly written into it, +so that rsync can't possibly transfer a file that is not yet fully written. +If you can't first write the files into a different directory, you should +use a naming idiom that lets rsync avoid transferring files that are not +yet finished (e.g. name the file "foo.new" when it is written, rename it to +"foo" when it is done, and then use the option <a href="#opt--exclude"><code>--exclude='*.new'</code></a> +for the rsync transfer).</p> +<p>Starting with 3.1.0, rsync will skip the sender-side removal (and output an +error) if the file's size or modify time has not stayed unchanged.</p> +<p>Starting with 3.2.6, a local rsync copy will ensure that the sender does +not remove a file the receiver just verified, such as when the user +accidentally makes the source and destination directory the same path.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--delete"><code>--delete</code><a href="#opt--delete" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to delete extraneous files from the receiving side (ones +that aren't on the sending side), but only for the directories that are +being synchronized. You must have asked rsync to send the whole directory +(e.g. "<code>dir</code>" or "<code>dir/</code>") without using a wildcard for the directory's +contents (e.g. "<code>dir/*</code>") since the wildcard is expanded by the shell and +rsync thus gets a request to transfer individual files, not the files' +parent directory. Files that are excluded from the transfer are also +excluded from being deleted unless you use the <a href="#opt--delete-excluded"><code>--delete-excluded</code></a> +option or mark the rules as only matching on the sending side (see the +include/exclude modifiers in the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> section).</p> +<p>Prior to rsync 2.6.7, this option would have no effect unless +<a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a> was enabled. Beginning with 2.6.7, deletions will +also occur when <a href="#opt--dirs"><code>--dirs</code></a> (<code>-d</code>) is enabled, but only for +directories whose contents are being copied.</p> +<p>This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very good idea to +first try a run using the <a href="#opt--dry-run"><code>--dry-run</code></a> (<code>-n</code>) option to see what +files are going to be deleted.</p> +<p>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 prevent +temporary filesystem failures (such as NFS errors) on the sending side from +causing a massive deletion of files on the destination. You can override +this with the <a href="#opt--ignore-errors"><code>--ignore-errors</code></a> option.</p> +<p>The <code>--delete</code> option may be combined with one of the -⁠-⁠delete-WHEN options +without conflict, as well as <a href="#opt--delete-excluded"><code>--delete-excluded</code></a>. However, if none +of the <code>--delete-WHEN</code> options are specified, rsync will choose the +<a href="#opt--delete-during"><code>--delete-during</code></a> algorithm when talking to rsync 3.0.0 or newer, +or the <a href="#opt--delete-before"><code>--delete-before</code></a> algorithm when talking to an older rsync. +See also <a href="#opt--delete-delay"><code>--delete-delay</code></a> and <a href="#opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code></a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--delete-before"><code>--delete-before</code><a href="#opt--delete-before" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be done before the +transfer starts. See <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> (which is implied) for more +details on file-deletion.</p> +<p>Deleting before the transfer is helpful if the filesystem is tight for +space and removing extraneous files would help to make the transfer +possible. However, it does introduce a delay before the start of the +transfer, and this delay might cause the transfer to timeout (if +<a href="#opt--timeout"><code>--timeout</code></a> was specified). It also forces rsync to use the old, +non-incremental recursion algorithm that requires rsync to scan all the +files in the transfer into memory at once (see <a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a>).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--del"></span><dt id="opt--delete-during"><code>--delete-during</code>, <code>--del</code><a href="#opt--delete-during" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be done incrementally +as the transfer happens. The per-directory delete scan is done right +before each directory is checked for updates, so it behaves like a more +efficient <a href="#opt--delete-before"><code>--delete-before</code></a>, including doing the deletions prior to +any per-directory filter files being updated. This option was first added +in rsync version 2.6.4. See <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> (which is implied) for more +details on file-deletion.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--delete-delay"><code>--delete-delay</code><a href="#opt--delete-delay" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be computed during +the transfer (like <a href="#opt--delete-during"><code>--delete-during</code></a>), and then removed after the +transfer completes. This is useful when combined with +<a href="#opt--delay-updates"><code>--delay-updates</code></a> and/or <a href="#opt--fuzzy"><code>--fuzzy</code></a>, and is more efficient +than using <a href="#opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code></a> (but can behave differently, since +<a href="#opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code></a> computes the deletions in a separate pass after +all updates are done). If the number of removed files overflows an +internal buffer, a temporary file will be created on the receiving side to +hold the names (it is removed while open, so you shouldn't see it during +the transfer). If the creation of the temporary file fails, rsync will try +to fall back to using <a href="#opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code></a> (which it cannot do if +<a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a> is doing an incremental scan). See +<a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> (which is implied) for more details on file-deletion.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code><a href="#opt--delete-after" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be done after the +transfer has completed. This is useful if you are sending new +per-directory merge files as a part of the transfer and you want their +exclusions to take effect for the delete phase of the current transfer. It +also forces rsync to use the old, non-incremental recursion algorithm that +requires rsync to scan all the files in the transfer into memory at once +(see <a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a>). See <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> (which is implied) for +more details on file-deletion.</p> +<p>See also the <a href="#opt--delete-delay"><code>--delete-delay</code></a> option that might be a faster choice +for those that just want the deletions to occur at the end of the transfer.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--delete-excluded"><code>--delete-excluded</code><a href="#opt--delete-excluded" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option turns any unqualified exclude/include rules into server-side +rules that do not affect the receiver's deletions.</p> +<p>By default, an exclude or include has both a server-side effect (to "hide" +and "show" files when building the server's file list) and a receiver-side +effect (to "protect" and "risk" files when deletions are occurring). Any +rule that has no modifier to specify what sides it is executed on will be +instead treated as if it were a server-side rule only, avoiding any +"protect" effects of the rules.</p> +<p>A rule can still apply to both sides even with this option specified if the +rule is given both the sender & receiver modifier letters (e.g., <code>-f'-sr foo'</code>). Receiver-side protect/risk rules can also be explicitly specified +to limit the deletions. This saves you from having to edit a bunch of +<code>-f'- foo'</code> rules into <code>-f'-s foo'</code> (aka <code>-f'H foo'</code>) rules (not to mention +the corresponding includes).</p> +<p>See the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> section for more information. See +<a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> (which is implied) for more details on deletion.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--ignore-missing-args"><code>--ignore-missing-args</code><a href="#opt--ignore-missing-args" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>When rsync is first processing the explicitly requested source files (e.g. +command-line arguments or <a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a> entries), it is normally +an error if the file cannot be found. This option suppresses that error, +and does not try to transfer the file. This does not affect subsequent +vanished-file errors if a file was initially found to be present and later +is no longer there.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--delete-missing-args"><code>--delete-missing-args</code><a href="#opt--delete-missing-args" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option takes the behavior of the (implied) +<a href="#opt--ignore-missing-args"><code>--ignore-missing-args</code></a> option a step farther: each missing arg +will become a deletion request of the corresponding destination file on the +receiving side (should it exist). If the destination file is a non-empty +directory, it will only be successfully deleted if <a href="#opt--force"><code>--force</code></a> or +<a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> are in effect. Other than that, this option is +independent of any other type of delete processing.</p> +<p>The missing source files are represented by special file-list entries which +display as a "<code>*missing</code>" entry in the <a href="#opt--list-only"><code>--list-only</code></a> output.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--ignore-errors"><code>--ignore-errors</code><a href="#opt--ignore-errors" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Tells <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> to go ahead and delete files even when there are +I/O errors.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--force"><code>--force</code><a href="#opt--force" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells rsync to delete a non-empty directory when it is to be +replaced by a non-directory. This is only relevant if deletions are not +active (see <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> for details).</p> +<p>Note for older rsync versions: <code>--force</code> used to still be required when +using <a href="#opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code></a>, and it used to be non-functional unless the +<a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a> option was also enabled.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--max-delete"><code>--max-delete=NUM</code><a href="#opt--max-delete" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync not to delete more than NUM files or directories. If that +limit is exceeded, all further deletions are skipped through the end of the +transfer. At the end, rsync outputs a warning (including a count of the +skipped deletions) and exits with an error code of 25 (unless some more +important error condition also occurred).</p> +<p>Beginning with version 3.0.0, you may specify <code>--max-delete=0</code> to be warned +about any extraneous files in the destination without removing any of them. +Older clients interpreted this as "unlimited", so if you don't know what +version the client is, you can use the less obvious <code>--max-delete=-1</code> as a +backward-compatible way to specify that no deletions be allowed (though +really old versions didn't warn when the limit was exceeded).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--max-size"><code>--max-size=SIZE</code><a href="#opt--max-size" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to avoid transferring any file that is larger than the +specified SIZE. A numeric value can be suffixed with a string to indicate +the numeric units or left unqualified to specify bytes. Feel free to use a +fractional value along with the units, such as <code>--max-size=1.5m</code>.</p> +<p>This option is a <a href="#TRANSFER_RULES">TRANSFER RULE</a>, so don't expect any +exclude side effects.</p> +<p>The first letter of a units string can be <code>B</code> (bytes), <code>K</code> (kilo), <code>M</code> +(mega), <code>G</code> (giga), <code>T</code> (tera), or <code>P</code> (peta). If the string is a single +char or has "ib" added to it (e.g. "G" or "GiB") then the units are +multiples of 1024. If you use a two-letter suffix that ends with a "B" +(e.g. "kb") then you get units that are multiples of 1000. The string's +letters can be any mix of upper and lower-case that you want to use.</p> +<p>Finally, if the string ends with either "+1" or "-⁠1", it is offset by one +byte in the indicated direction. The largest possible value is usually +<code>8192P-1</code>.</p> +<p>Examples: <code>--max-size=1.5mb-1</code> is 1499999 bytes, and <code>--max-size=2g+1</code> is +2147483649 bytes.</p> +<p>Note that rsync versions prior to 3.1.0 did not allow <code>--max-size=0</code>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--min-size"><code>--min-size=SIZE</code><a href="#opt--min-size" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to avoid transferring any file that is smaller than the +specified SIZE, which can help in not transferring small, junk files. See +the <a href="#opt--max-size"><code>--max-size</code></a> option for a description of SIZE and other info.</p> +<p>Note that rsync versions prior to 3.1.0 did not allow <code>--min-size=0</code>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--max-alloc"><code>--max-alloc=SIZE</code><a href="#opt--max-alloc" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>By default rsync limits an individual malloc/realloc to about 1GB in size. +For most people this limit works just fine and prevents a protocol error +causing rsync to request massive amounts of memory. However, if you have +many millions of files in a transfer, a large amount of server memory, and +you don't want to split up your transfer into multiple parts, you can +increase the per-allocation limit to something larger and rsync will +consume more memory.</p> +<p>Keep in mind that this is not a limit on the total size of allocated +memory. It is a sanity-check value for each individual allocation.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#opt--max-size"><code>--max-size</code></a> option for a description of how SIZE can be +specified. The default suffix if none is given is bytes.</p> +<p>Beginning in 3.2.3, a value of 0 specifies no limit.</p> +<p>You can set a default value using the environment variable +<a href="#RSYNC_MAX_ALLOC"><code>RSYNC_MAX_ALLOC</code></a> using the same SIZE values as supported by this +option. If the remote rsync doesn't understand the <code>--max-alloc</code> option, +you can override an environmental value by specifying <code>--max-alloc=1g</code>, +which will make rsync avoid sending the option to the remote side (because +"1G" is the default).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-B"></span><dt id="opt--block-size"><code>--block-size=SIZE</code>, <code>-B</code><a href="#opt--block-size" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This forces the block size used in rsync's delta-transfer algorithm to a +fixed value. It is normally selected based on the size of each file being +updated. See the technical report for details.</p> +<p>Beginning in 3.2.3 the SIZE can be specified with a suffix as detailed in +the <a href="#opt--max-size"><code>--max-size</code></a> option. Older versions only accepted a byte count.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-e"></span><dt id="opt--rsh"><code>--rsh=COMMAND</code>, <code>-e</code><a href="#opt--rsh" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option allows you to choose an alternative remote shell program to use +for communication between the local and remote copies of rsync. Typically, +rsync is configured to use ssh by default, but you may prefer to use rsh on +a local network.</p> +<p>If this option is used with <code>[user@]host::module/path</code>, then the remote +shell <u>COMMAND</u> will be used to run an rsync daemon 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 daemon on the +remote host. See the <a href="#USING_RSYNC-DAEMON_FEATURES_VIA_A_REMOTE-SHELL_CONNECTION">USING RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL +CONNECTION</a> section above.</p> +<p>Beginning with rsync 3.2.0, the <a href="#RSYNC_PORT"><code>RSYNC_PORT</code></a> environment variable will +be set when a daemon connection is being made via a remote-shell +connection. It is set to 0 if the default daemon port is being assumed, or +it is set to the value of the rsync port that was specified via either the +<a href="#opt--port"><code>--port</code></a> option or a non-empty port value in an <code>rsync://</code> URL. +This allows the script to discern if a non-default port is being requested, +allowing for things such as an SSL or stunnel helper script to connect to a +default or alternate port.</p> +<p>Command-line arguments are permitted in COMMAND provided that COMMAND is +presented to rsync as a single argument. You must use spaces (not tabs or +other whitespace) to separate the command and args from each other, and you +can use single- and/or double-quotes to preserve spaces in an argument (but +not backslashes). Note that doubling a single-quote inside a single-quoted +string gives you a single-quote; likewise for double-quotes (though you +need to pay attention to which quotes your shell is parsing and which +quotes rsync is parsing). Some examples:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>-e 'ssh -p 2234' +-e 'ssh -o "ProxyCommand nohup ssh firewall nc -w1 %h %p"' +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>(Note that ssh users can alternately customize site-specific connect +options in their .ssh/config file.)</p> +<p>You can also choose the remote shell program using the <a href="#RSYNC_RSH"><code>RSYNC_RSH</code></a> +environment variable, which accepts the same range of values as <code>-e</code>.</p> +<p>See also the <a href="#opt--blocking-io"><code>--blocking-io</code></a> option which is affected by this +option.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--rsync-path"><code>--rsync-path=PROGRAM</code><a href="#opt--rsync-path" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Use this to specify what program is to be run on the remote machine to +start-up rsync. Often used when rsync is not in the default remote-shell's +path (e.g. <code>--rsync-path=/usr/local/bin/rsync</code>). Note that PROGRAM is run +with the help of a shell, so it can be any program, script, or command +sequence you'd care to run, so long as it does not corrupt the standard-in +& standard-out that rsync is using to communicate.</p> +<p>One tricky example is to set a different default directory on the remote +machine for use with the <a href="#opt--relative"><code>--relative</code></a> option. For instance:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avR --rsync-path="cd /a/b && rsync" host:c/d /e/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-M"></span><dt id="opt--remote-option"><code>--remote-option=OPTION</code>, <code>-M</code><a href="#opt--remote-option" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option is used for more advanced situations where you want certain +effects to be limited to one side of the transfer only. For instance, if +you want to pass <a href="#opt--log-file"><code>--log-file=FILE</code></a> and <a href="#opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code></a> to +the remote system, specify it like this:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av -M --log-file=foo -M--fake-super src/ dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>If you want to have an option affect only the local side of a transfer when +it normally affects both sides, send its negation to the remote side. Like +this:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av -x -M--no-x src/ dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Be cautious using this, as it is possible to toggle an option that will +cause rsync to have a different idea about what data to expect next over +the socket, and that will make it fail in a cryptic fashion.</p> +<p>Note that you should use a separate <code>-M</code> option for each remote option you +want to pass. On older rsync versions, the presence of any spaces in the +remote-option arg could cause it to be split into separate remote args, but +this requires the use of <a href="#opt--old-args"><code>--old-args</code></a> in a modern rsync.</p> +<p>When performing a local transfer, the "local" side is the sender and the +"remote" side is the receiver.</p> +<p>Note some versions of the popt option-parsing library have a bug in them +that prevents you from using an adjacent arg with an equal in it next to a +short option letter (e.g. <code>-M--log-file=/tmp/foo</code>). If this bug affects +your version of popt, you can use the version of popt that is included with +rsync.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-C"></span><dt id="opt--cvs-exclude"><code>--cvs-exclude</code>, <code>-C</code><a href="#opt--cvs-exclude" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This is a useful shorthand for excluding a broad range of files that you +often don't want to transfer between systems. It uses a similar algorithm +to CVS to determine if a file should be ignored.</p> +<p>The exclude list is initialized to exclude the following items (these +initial items are marked as perishable -⁠-⁠ see the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> +section):</p> +<blockquote> +<p><code>RCS</code> +<code>SCCS</code> +<code>CVS</code> +<code>CVS.adm</code> +<code>RCSLOG</code> +<code>cvslog.*</code> +<code>tags</code> +<code>TAGS</code> +<code>.make.state</code> +<code>.nse_depinfo</code> +<code>*~</code> +<code>#*</code> +<code>.#*</code> +<code>,*</code> +<code>_$*</code> +<code>*$</code> +<code>*.old</code> +<code>*.bak</code> +<code>*.BAK</code> +<code>*.orig</code> +<code>*.rej</code> +<code>.del-*</code> +<code>*.a</code> +<code>*.olb</code> +<code>*.o</code> +<code>*.obj</code> +<code>*.so</code> +<code>*.exe</code> +<code>*.Z</code> +<code>*.elc</code> +<code>*.ln</code> +<code>core</code> +<code>.svn/</code> +<code>.git/</code> +<code>.hg/</code> +<code>.bzr/</code></p> +</blockquote> +<p>then, files listed in a $HOME/.cvsignore are added to the list and any +files listed in the CVSIGNORE environment variable (all cvsignore names are +delimited by whitespace).</p> +<p>Finally, any file is ignored if it is in the same directory as a .cvsignore +file and matches one of the patterns listed therein. Unlike rsync's +filter/exclude files, these patterns are split on whitespace. See the +<strong>cvs</strong>(1) manual for more information.</p> +<p>If you're combining <code>-C</code> with your own <a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter</code></a> rules, you should +note that these CVS excludes are appended at the end of your own rules, +regardless of where the <code>-C</code> was placed on the command-line. This makes +them a lower priority than any rules you specified explicitly. If you want +to control where these CVS excludes get inserted into your filter rules, +you should omit the <code>-C</code> as a command-line option and use a combination of +<a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter=:C</code></a> and <a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter=-C</code></a> (either on your +command-line or by putting the ":C" and "-⁠C" rules into a filter file with +your other rules). The first option turns on the per-directory scanning +for the .cvsignore file. The second option does a one-time import of the +CVS excludes mentioned above.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-f"></span><dt id="opt--filter"><code>--filter=RULE</code>, <code>-f</code><a href="#opt--filter" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option allows you to add rules to selectively exclude certain files +from the list of files to be transferred. This is most useful in +combination with a recursive transfer.</p> +<p>You may use as many <code>--filter</code> options on the command line as you like 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.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> section for detailed information on this option.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt-F"><code>-F</code><a href="#opt-F" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>The <code>-F</code> option is a shorthand for adding two <a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter</code></a> rules to +your command. The first time it is used is a shorthand for this rule:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--filter='dir-merge /.rsync-filter' +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This tells rsync to look for per-directory .rsync-filter files that have +been sprinkled through the hierarchy and use their rules to filter the +files in the transfer. If <code>-F</code> is repeated, it is a shorthand for this +rule:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--filter='exclude .rsync-filter' +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This filters out the .rsync-filter files themselves from the transfer.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> section for detailed information on how these +options work.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--exclude"><code>--exclude=PATTERN</code><a href="#opt--exclude" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option is a simplified form of the <a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter</code></a> option that +specifies an exclude rule and does not allow the full rule-parsing syntax +of normal filter rules. This is equivalent to specifying <code>-f'- PATTERN'</code>.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> section for detailed information on this option.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--exclude-from"><code>--exclude-from=FILE</code><a href="#opt--exclude-from" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option is related to the <a href="#opt--exclude"><code>--exclude</code></a> option, but it specifies +a FILE that contains exclude patterns (one per line). Blank lines in the +file are ignored, as are whole-line comments that start with '<code>;</code>' or '<code>#</code>' +(filename rules that contain those characters are unaffected).</p> +<p>If a line begins with "<code>- </code>" (dash, space) or "<code>+ </code>" (plus, space), then +the type of rule is being explicitly specified as an exclude or an include +(respectively). Any rules without such a prefix are taken to be an exclude.</p> +<p>If a line consists of just "<code>!</code>", then the current filter rules are cleared +before adding any further rules.</p> +<p>If <u>FILE</u> is '<code>-</code>', the list will be read from standard input.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--include"><code>--include=PATTERN</code><a href="#opt--include" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option is a simplified form of the <a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter</code></a> option that +specifies an include rule and does not allow the full rule-parsing syntax +of normal filter rules. This is equivalent to specifying <code>-f'+ PATTERN'</code>.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> section for detailed information on this option.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--include-from"><code>--include-from=FILE</code><a href="#opt--include-from" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option is related to the <a href="#opt--include"><code>--include</code></a> option, but it specifies +a FILE that contains include patterns (one per line). Blank lines in the +file are ignored, as are whole-line comments that start with '<code>;</code>' or '<code>#</code>' +(filename rules that contain those characters are unaffected).</p> +<p>If a line begins with "<code>- </code>" (dash, space) or "<code>+ </code>" (plus, space), then +the type of rule is being explicitly specified as an exclude or an include +(respectively). Any rules without such a prefix are taken to be an include.</p> +<p>If a line consists of just "<code>!</code>", then the current filter rules are cleared +before adding any further rules.</p> +<p>If <u>FILE</u> is '<code>-</code>', the list will be read from standard input.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--files-from"><code>--files-from=FILE</code><a href="#opt--files-from" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Using this option allows you to specify the exact list of files to transfer +(as read from the specified FILE or '<code>-</code>' for standard input). It also +tweaks the default behavior of rsync to make transferring just the +specified files and directories easier:</p> +<ul> +<li>The <a href="#opt--relative"><code>--relative</code></a> (<code>-R</code>) option is implied, which preserves the +path information that is specified for each item in the file (use +<code>--no-relative</code> or <code>--no-R</code> if you want to turn that off).</li> +<li>The <a href="#opt--dirs"><code>--dirs</code></a> (<code>-d</code>) option is implied, which will create +directories specified in the list on the destination rather than noisily +skipping them (use <code>--no-dirs</code> or <code>--no-d</code> if you want to turn that off).</li> +<li>The <a href="#opt--archive"><code>--archive</code></a> (<code>-a</code>) option's behavior does not imply +<a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a> (<code>-r</code>), so specify it explicitly, if you want it.</li> +<li>These side-effects change the default state of rsync, so the position of +the <code>--files-from</code> option on the command-line has no bearing on how other +options are parsed (e.g. <a href="#opt-a"><code>-a</code></a> works the same before or after +<code>--files-from</code>, as does <code>--no-R</code> and all other options).</li> +</ul> +<p>The filenames that are read from the FILE are all relative to the source +dir -⁠-⁠ any leading slashes are removed and no ".." references are allowed +to go higher than the source dir. For example, take this command:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -a --files-from=/tmp/foo /usr remote:/backup +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>If /tmp/foo contains the string "bin" (or even "/bin"), the /usr/bin +directory will be created as /backup/bin on the remote host. If it +contains "bin/" (note the trailing slash), the immediate contents of the +directory would also be sent (without needing to be explicitly mentioned in +the file -⁠-⁠ this began in version 2.6.4). In both cases, if the +<a href="#opt-r"><code>-r</code></a> option was enabled, that dir's entire hierarchy would also be +transferred (keep in mind that <a href="#opt-r"><code>-r</code></a> needs to be specified +explicitly with <code>--files-from</code>, since it is not implied by <a href="#opt-a"><code>-a</code></a>. +Also note that the effect of the (enabled by default) <a href="#opt-r"><code>-r</code></a> option +is to duplicate only the path info that is read from the file -⁠-⁠ it does +not force the duplication of the source-spec path (/usr in this case).</p> +<p>In addition, the <code>--files-from</code> file can be read from the remote host +instead of the local host if you specify a "host:" in front of the file +(the host must match one end of the transfer). As a short-cut, you can +specify just a prefix of ":" to mean "use the remote end of the transfer". +For example:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -a --files-from=:/path/file-list src:/ /tmp/copy +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This would copy all the files specified in the /path/file-list file that +was located on the remote "src" host.</p> +<p>If the <a href="#opt--iconv"><code>--iconv</code></a> and <a href="#opt--secluded-args"><code>--secluded-args</code></a> options are specified +and the <code>--files-from</code> filenames are being sent from one host to another, +the filenames will be translated from the sending host's charset to the +receiving host's charset.</p> +<p>NOTE: sorting the list of files in the <code>--files-from</code> input helps rsync to +be more efficient, as it will avoid re-visiting the path elements that are +shared between adjacent entries. If the input is not sorted, some path +elements (implied directories) may end up being scanned multiple times, and +rsync will eventually unduplicate them after they get turned into file-list +elements.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-0"></span><dt id="opt--from0"><code>--from0</code>, <code>-0</code><a href="#opt--from0" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync that the rules/filenames it reads from a file are +terminated by a null ('\0') character, not a NL, CR, or CR+LF. This +affects <a href="#opt--exclude-from"><code>--exclude-from</code></a>, <a href="#opt--include-from"><code>--include-from</code></a>, +<a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a>, and any merged files specified in a +<a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter</code></a> rule. It does not affect <a href="#opt--cvs-exclude"><code>--cvs-exclude</code></a> (since +all names read from a .cvsignore file are split on whitespace).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--old-args"><code>--old-args</code><a href="#opt--old-args" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells rsync to stop trying to protect the arg values on the +remote side from unintended word-splitting or other misinterpretation. +It also allows the client to treat an empty arg as a "." instead of +generating an error.</p> +<p>The default in a modern rsync is for "shell-active" characters (including +spaces) to be backslash-escaped in the args that are sent to the remote +shell. The wildcard characters <code>*</code>, <code>?</code>, <code>[</code>, & <code>]</code> are not escaped in +filename args (allowing them to expand into multiple filenames) while being +protected in option args, such as <a href="#opt--usermap"><code>--usermap</code></a>.</p> +<p>If you have a script that wants to use old-style arg splitting in its +filenames, specify this option once. If the remote shell has a problem +with any backslash escapes at all, specify this option twice.</p> +<p>You may also control this setting via the <a href="#RSYNC_OLD_ARGS"><code>RSYNC_OLD_ARGS</code></a> environment +variable. If it has the value "1", rsync will default to a single-option +setting. If it has the value "2" (or more), rsync will default to a +repeated-option setting. If it is "0", you'll get the default escaping +behavior. The environment is always overridden by manually specified +positive or negative options (the negative is <code>--no-old-args</code>).</p> +<p>Note that this option also disables the extra safety check added in 3.2.5 +that ensures that a remote sender isn't including extra top-level items in +the file-list that you didn't request. This side-effect is necessary +because we can't know for sure what names to expect when the remote shell +is interpreting the args.</p> +<p>This option conflicts with the <a href="#opt--secluded-args"><code>--secluded-args</code></a> option.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-s"></span><dt id="opt--secluded-args"><code>--secluded-args</code>, <code>-s</code><a href="#opt--secluded-args" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option sends all filenames and most options to the remote rsync via +the protocol (not the remote shell command line) which avoids letting the +remote shell modify them. Wildcards are expanded on the remote host by +rsync instead of a shell.</p> +<p>This is similar to the default backslash-escaping of args that was added +in 3.2.4 (see <a href="#opt--old-args"><code>--old-args</code></a>) in that it prevents things like space +splitting and unwanted special-character side-effects. However, it has the +drawbacks of being incompatible with older rsync versions (prior to 3.0.0) +and of being refused by restricted shells that want to be able to inspect +all the option values for safety.</p> +<p>This option is useful for those times that you need the argument's +character set to be converted for the remote host, if the remote shell is +incompatible with the default backslash-escpaing method, or there is some +other reason that you want the majority of the options and arguments to +bypass the command-line of the remote shell.</p> +<p>If you combine this option with <a href="#opt--iconv"><code>--iconv</code></a>, the args related to the +remote side will be translated from the local to the remote character-set. +The translation happens before wild-cards are expanded. See also the +<a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a> option.</p> +<p>You may also control this setting via the <a href="#RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS"><code>RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS</code></a> +environment variable. If it has a non-zero value, this setting will be +enabled by default, otherwise it will be disabled by default. Either state +is overridden by a manually specified positive or negative version of this +option (note that <code>--no-s</code> and <code>--no-secluded-args</code> are the negative +versions). This environment variable is also superseded by a non-zero +<a href="#RSYNC_OLD_ARGS"><code>RSYNC_OLD_ARGS</code></a> export.</p> +<p>This option conflicts with the <a href="#opt--old-args"><code>--old-args</code></a> option.</p> +<p>This option used to be called <code>--protect-args</code> (before 3.2.6) and that +older name can still be used (though specifying it as <code>-s</code> is always the +easiest and most compatible choice).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--trust-sender"><code>--trust-sender</code><a href="#opt--trust-sender" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option disables two extra validation checks that a local client +performs on the file list generated by a remote sender. This option should +only be used if you trust the sender to not put something malicious in the +file list (something that could possibly be done via a modified rsync, a +modified shell, or some other similar manipulation).</p> +<p>Normally, the rsync client (as of version 3.2.5) runs two extra validation +checks when pulling files from a remote rsync:</p> +<ul> +<li>It verifies that additional arg items didn't get added at the top of the +transfer.</li> +<li>It verifies that none of the items in the file list are names that should +have been excluded (if filter rules were specified).</li> +</ul> +<p>Note that various options can turn off one or both of these checks if the +option interferes with the validation. For instance:</p> +<ul> +<li>Using a per-directory filter file reads filter rules that only the server +knows about, so the filter checking is disabled.</li> +<li>Using the <a href="#opt--old-args"><code>--old-args</code></a> option allows the sender to manipulate the +requested args, so the arg checking is disabled.</li> +<li>Reading the files-from list from the server side means that the client +doesn't know the arg list, so the arg checking is disabled.</li> +<li>Using <a href="#opt--read-batch"><code>--read-batch</code></a> disables both checks since the batch file's +contents will have been verified when it was created.</li> +</ul> +<p>This option may help an under-powered client server if the extra pattern +matching is slowing things down on a huge transfer. It can also be used to +work around a currently-unknown bug in the verification logic for a transfer +from a trusted sender.</p> +<p>When using this option it is a good idea to specify a dedicated destination +directory, as discussed in the <a href="#MULTI-HOST_SECURITY">MULTI-HOST SECURITY</a> section.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--copy-as"><code>--copy-as=USER[:GROUP]</code><a href="#opt--copy-as" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option instructs rsync to use the USER and (if specified after a +colon) the GROUP for the copy operations. This only works if the user that +is running rsync has the ability to change users. If the group is not +specified then the user's default groups are used.</p> +<p>This option can help to reduce the risk of an rsync being run as root into +or out of a directory that might have live changes happening to it and you +want to make sure that root-level read or write actions of system files are +not possible. While you could alternatively run all of rsync as the +specified user, sometimes you need the root-level host-access credentials +to be used, so this allows rsync to drop root for the copying part of the +operation after the remote-shell or daemon connection is established.</p> +<p>The option only affects one side of the transfer unless the transfer is +local, in which case it affects both sides. Use the +<a href="#opt--remote-option"><code>--remote-option</code></a> to affect the remote side, such as +<code>-M--copy-as=joe</code>. For a local transfer, the lsh (or lsh.sh) support file +provides a local-shell helper script that can be used to allow a +"localhost:" or "lh:" host-spec to be specified without needing to setup +any remote shells, allowing you to specify remote options that affect the +side of the transfer that is using the host-spec (and using hostname "lh" +avoids the overriding of the remote directory to the user's home dir).</p> +<p>For example, the following rsync writes the local files as user "joe":</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>sudo rsync -aiv --copy-as=joe host1:backups/joe/ /home/joe/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This makes all files owned by user "joe", limits the groups to those that +are available to that user, and makes it impossible for the joe user to do +a timed exploit of the path to induce a change to a file that the joe user +has no permissions to change.</p> +<p>The following command does a local copy into the "dest/" dir as user "joe" +(assuming you've installed support/lsh into a dir on your $PATH):</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>sudo rsync -aive lsh -M--copy-as=joe src/ lh:dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-T"></span><dt id="opt--temp-dir"><code>--temp-dir=DIR</code>, <code>-T</code><a href="#opt--temp-dir" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>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 each temporary file in the same directory as +the associated destination file. Beginning with rsync 3.1.1, the temp-file +names inside the specified DIR will not be prefixed with an extra dot +(though they will still have a random suffix added).</p> +<p>This option is most often used when the receiving disk partition does not +have enough free space to hold a copy of the largest file in the transfer. +In this case (i.e. when the scratch directory is on a different disk +partition), rsync will not be able to rename each received temporary file +over the top of the associated destination file, but instead must copy it +into place. Rsync does this by copying the file over the top of the +destination file, which means that the destination file will contain +truncated data during this copy. If this were not done this way (even if +the destination file were first removed, the data locally copied to a +temporary file in the destination directory, and then renamed into place) +it would be possible for the old file to continue taking up disk space (if +someone had it open), and thus there might not be enough room to fit the +new version on the disk at the same time.</p> +<p>If you are using this option for reasons other than a shortage of disk +space, you may wish to combine it with the <a href="#opt--delay-updates"><code>--delay-updates</code></a> +option, which will ensure that all copied files get put into subdirectories +in the destination hierarchy, awaiting the end of the transfer. If you +don't have enough room to duplicate all the arriving files on the +destination partition, another way to tell rsync that you aren't overly +concerned about disk space is to use the <a href="#opt--partial-dir"><code>--partial-dir</code></a> option +with a relative path; because this tells rsync that it is OK to stash off a +copy of a single file in a subdir in the destination hierarchy, rsync will +use the partial-dir as a staging area to bring over the copied file, and +then rename it into place from there. (Specifying a <a href="#opt--partial-dir"><code>--partial-dir</code></a> +with an absolute path does not have this side-effect.)</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-y"></span><dt id="opt--fuzzy"><code>--fuzzy</code>, <code>-y</code><a href="#opt--fuzzy" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells rsync that it should look for a basis file for any +destination file that is missing. The current algorithm looks in the same +directory as the destination file for either a file that has an identical +size and modified-time, or a similarly-named file. If found, rsync uses +the fuzzy basis file to try to speed up the transfer.</p> +<p>If the option is repeated, the fuzzy scan will also be done in any matching +alternate destination directories that are specified via +<a href="#opt--compare-dest"><code>--compare-dest</code></a>, <a href="#opt--copy-dest"><code>--copy-dest</code></a>, or <a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a>.</p> +<p>Note that the use of the <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> option might get rid of any +potential fuzzy-match files, so either use <a href="#opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code></a> or +specify some filename exclusions if you need to prevent this.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--compare-dest"><code>--compare-dest=DIR</code><a href="#opt--compare-dest" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option instructs rsync to use <u>DIR</u> on the destination machine as an +additional hierarchy to compare destination files against doing transfers +(if the files are missing in the destination directory). If a file is +found in <u>DIR</u> that is identical to the sender's file, the file will NOT be +transferred to the destination directory. This is useful for creating a +sparse backup of just files that have changed from an earlier backup. This +option is typically used to copy into an empty (or newly created) +directory.</p> +<p>Beginning in version 2.6.4, multiple <code>--compare-dest</code> directories may be +provided, which will cause rsync to search the list in the order specified +for an exact match. If a match is found that differs only in attributes, a +local copy is made and the attributes updated. If a match is not found, a +basis file from one of the <u>DIRs</u> will be selected to try to speed up the +transfer.</p> +<p>If <u>DIR</u> is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory. +See also <a href="#opt--copy-dest"><code>--copy-dest</code></a> and <a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a>.</p> +<p>NOTE: beginning with version 3.1.0, rsync will remove a file from a +non-empty destination hierarchy if an exact match is found in one of the +compare-dest hierarchies (making the end result more closely match a fresh +copy).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--copy-dest"><code>--copy-dest=DIR</code><a href="#opt--copy-dest" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option behaves like <a href="#opt--compare-dest"><code>--compare-dest</code></a>, but rsync will also copy +unchanged files found in <u>DIR</u> to the destination directory using a local +copy. 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.</p> +<p>Multiple <code>--copy-dest</code> directories may be provided, which will cause rsync +to search the list in the order specified for an unchanged file. If a +match is not found, a basis file from one of the <u>DIRs</u> will be selected to +try to speed up the transfer.</p> +<p>If <u>DIR</u> is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory. +See also <a href="#opt--compare-dest"><code>--compare-dest</code></a> and <a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest=DIR</code><a href="#opt--link-dest" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option behaves like <a href="#opt--copy-dest"><code>--copy-dest</code></a>, but unchanged files are +hard linked from <u>DIR</u> to the destination directory. The files must be +identical in all preserved attributes (e.g. permissions, possibly +ownership) in order for the files to be linked together. An example:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av --link-dest=$PWD/prior_dir host:src_dir/ new_dir/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>If files aren't linking, double-check their attributes. Also check if +some attributes are getting forced outside of rsync's control, such a mount +option that squishes root to a single user, or mounts a removable drive +with generic ownership (such as OS X's "Ignore ownership on this volume" +option).</p> +<p>Beginning in version 2.6.4, multiple <code>--link-dest</code> directories may be +provided, which will cause rsync to search the list in the order specified +for an exact match (there is a limit of 20 such directories). If a match +is found that differs only in attributes, a local copy is made and the +attributes updated. If a match is not found, a basis file from one of the +<u>DIRs</u> will be selected to try to speed up the transfer.</p> +<p>This option works best when copying into an empty destination hierarchy, as +existing files may get their attributes tweaked, and that can affect +alternate destination files via hard-links. Also, itemizing of changes can +get a bit muddled. Note that prior to version 3.1.0, an +alternate-directory exact match would never be found (nor linked into the +destination) when a destination file already exists.</p> +<p>Note that if you combine this option with <a href="#opt--ignore-times"><code>--ignore-times</code></a>, rsync will not +link any files together because it only links identical files together as a +substitute for transferring the file, never as an additional check after +the file is updated.</p> +<p>If <u>DIR</u> is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory. +See also <a href="#opt--compare-dest"><code>--compare-dest</code></a> and <a href="#opt--copy-dest"><code>--copy-dest</code></a>.</p> +<p>Note that rsync versions prior to 2.6.1 had a bug that could prevent +<code>--link-dest</code> from working properly for a non-super-user when +<a href="#opt--owner"><code>--owner</code></a> (<code>-o</code>) was specified (or implied). You can work-around +this bug by avoiding the <code>-o</code> option (or using <code>--no-o</code>) when sending to an +old rsync.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-z"></span><dt id="opt--compress"><code>--compress</code>, <code>-z</code><a href="#opt--compress" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>With this option, rsync compresses the file data as it is sent to the +destination machine, which reduces the amount of data being transmitted -⁠-⁠ +something that is useful over a slow connection.</p> +<p>Rsync supports multiple compression methods and will choose one for you +unless you force the choice using the <a href="#opt--compress-choice"><code>--compress-choice</code></a> (<code>--zc</code>) +option.</p> +<p>Run <code>rsync --version</code> to see the default compress list compiled into your +version.</p> +<p>When both sides of the transfer are at least 3.2.0, rsync chooses the first +algorithm in the client's list of choices that is also in the server's list +of choices. If no common compress choice is found, rsync exits with +an error. If the remote rsync is too old to support checksum negotiation, +its list is assumed to be "zlib".</p> +<p>The default order can be customized by setting the environment variable +<a href="#RSYNC_COMPRESS_LIST"><code>RSYNC_COMPRESS_LIST</code></a> to a space-separated list of acceptable +compression names. If the string contains a "<code>&</code>" character, it is +separated into the "client string & server string", otherwise the same +string applies to both. If the string (or string portion) contains no +non-whitespace characters, the default compress list is used. Any unknown +compression names are discarded from the list, but a list with only invalid +names results in a failed negotiation.</p> +<p>There are some older rsync versions that were configured to reject a <code>-z</code> +option and require the use of <code>-zz</code> because their compression library was +not compatible with the default zlib compression method. You can usually +ignore this weirdness unless the rsync server complains and tells you to +specify <code>-zz</code>.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--zc"></span><dt id="opt--compress-choice"><code>--compress-choice=STR</code>, <code>--zc=STR</code><a href="#opt--compress-choice" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option can be used to override the automatic negotiation of the +compression algorithm that occurs when <a href="#opt--compress"><code>--compress</code></a> is used. The +option implies <a href="#opt--compress"><code>--compress</code></a> unless "none" was specified, which +instead implies <code>--no-compress</code>.</p> +<p>The compression options that you may be able to use are:</p> +<ul> +<li><code>zstd</code></li> +<li><code>lz4</code></li> +<li><code>zlibx</code></li> +<li><code>zlib</code></li> +<li><code>none</code></li> +</ul> +<p>Run <code>rsync --version</code> to see the default compress list compiled into your +version (which may differ from the list above).</p> +<p>Note that if you see an error about an option named <code>--old-compress</code> or +<code>--new-compress</code>, this is rsync trying to send the <code>--compress-choice=zlib</code> +or <code>--compress-choice=zlibx</code> option in a backward-compatible manner that +more rsync versions understand. This error indicates that the older rsync +version on the server will not allow you to force the compression type.</p> +<p>Note that the "zlibx" compression algorithm is just the "zlib" algorithm +with matched data excluded from the compression stream (to try to make it +more compatible with an external zlib implementation).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--zl"></span><dt id="opt--compress-level"><code>--compress-level=NUM</code>, <code>--zl=NUM</code><a href="#opt--compress-level" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Explicitly set the compression level to use (see <a href="#opt--compress"><code>--compress</code></a>, +<code>-z</code>) instead of letting it default. The <a href="#opt--compress"><code>--compress</code></a> option is +implied as long as the level chosen is not a "don't compress" level for the +compression algorithm that is in effect (e.g. zlib compression treats level +0 as "off").</p> +<p>The level values vary depending on the checksum in effect. Because rsync +will negotiate a checksum choice by default (when the remote rsync is new +enough), it can be good to combine this option with a +<a href="#opt--compress-choice"><code>--compress-choice</code></a> (<code>--zc</code>) option unless you're sure of the +choice in effect. For example:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -aiv --zc=zstd --zl=22 host:src/ dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>For zlib & zlibx compression the valid values are from 1 to 9 with 6 being +the default. Specifying <code>--zl=0</code> turns compression off, and specifying +<code>--zl=-1</code> chooses the default level of 6.</p> +<p>For zstd compression the valid values are from -⁠131072 to 22 with 3 being +the default. Specifying 0 chooses the default of 3.</p> +<p>For lz4 compression there are no levels, so the value is always 0.</p> +<p>If you specify a too-large or too-small value, the number is silently +limited to a valid value. This allows you to specify something like +<code>--zl=999999999</code> and be assured that you'll end up with the maximum +compression level no matter what algorithm was chosen.</p> +<p>If you want to know the compression level that is in effect, specify +<a href="#opt--debug"><code>--debug=nstr</code></a> to see the "negotiated string" results. This will +report something like "<code>Client compress: zstd (level 3)</code>" (along with the +checksum choice in effect).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--skip-compress"><code>--skip-compress=LIST</code><a href="#opt--skip-compress" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p><strong>NOTE:</strong> no compression method currently supports per-file compression +changes, so this option has no effect.</p> +<p>Override the list of file suffixes that will be compressed as little as +possible. Rsync sets the compression level on a per-file basis based on +the file's suffix. If the compression algorithm has an "off" level, then +no compression occurs for those files. Other algorithms that support +changing the streaming level on-the-fly will have the level minimized to +reduces the CPU usage as much as possible for a matching file.</p> +<p>The <strong>LIST</strong> should be one or more file suffixes (without the dot) separated +by slashes (<code>/</code>). You may specify an empty string to indicate that no files +should be skipped.</p> +<p>Simple character-class matching is supported: each must consist of a list +of letters inside the square brackets (e.g. no special classes, such as +"[:alpha:]", are supported, and '-⁠' has no special meaning).</p> +<p>The characters asterisk (<code>*</code>) and question-mark (<code>?</code>) have no special meaning.</p> +<p>Here's an example that specifies 6 suffixes to skip (since 1 of the 5 rules +matches 2 suffixes):</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--skip-compress=gz/jpg/mp[34]/7z/bz2 +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>The default file suffixes in the skip-compress list in this version of +rsync are:</p> +<blockquote> +<p>3g2 +3gp +7z +aac +ace +apk +avi +bz2 +deb +dmg +ear +f4v +flac +flv +gpg +gz +iso +jar +jpeg +jpg +lrz +lz +lz4 +lzma +lzo +m1a +m1v +m2a +m2ts +m2v +m4a +m4b +m4p +m4r +m4v +mka +mkv +mov +mp1 +mp2 +mp3 +mp4 +mpa +mpeg +mpg +mpv +mts +odb +odf +odg +odi +odm +odp +ods +odt +oga +ogg +ogm +ogv +ogx +opus +otg +oth +otp +ots +ott +oxt +png +qt +rar +rpm +rz +rzip +spx +squashfs +sxc +sxd +sxg +sxm +sxw +sz +tbz +tbz2 +tgz +tlz +ts +txz +tzo +vob +war +webm +webp +xz +z +zip +zst</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This list will be replaced by your <code>--skip-compress</code> list in all but one +situation: a copy from a daemon rsync will add your skipped suffixes to its +list of non-compressing files (and its list may be configured to a +different default).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--numeric-ids"><code>--numeric-ids</code><a href="#opt--numeric-ids" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>With this option rsync will transfer numeric group and user IDs rather than +using user and group names and mapping them at both ends.</p> +<p>By default rsync will use the username and groupname to determine what +ownership to give files. The special uid 0 and the special group 0 are +never mapped via user/group names even if the <code>--numeric-ids</code> option is not +specified.</p> +<p>If a user or group has no name on the source system or it has no match on +the destination system, then the numeric ID from the source system is used +instead. See also the <a href="rsyncd.conf.5#use_chroot"><code>use chroot</code></a> setting +in the rsyncd.conf manpage for some comments on how the chroot setting +affects rsync's ability to look up the names of the users and groups and +what you can do about it.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--groupmap"></span><dt id="opt--usermap"><code>--usermap=STRING</code>, <code>--groupmap=STRING</code><a href="#opt--usermap" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>These options allow you to specify users and groups that should be mapped +to other values by the receiving side. The <strong>STRING</strong> is one or more +<strong>FROM</strong>:<strong>TO</strong> pairs of values separated by commas. Any matching <strong>FROM</strong> +value from the sender is replaced with a <strong>TO</strong> value from the receiver. +You may specify usernames or user IDs for the <strong>FROM</strong> and <strong>TO</strong> values, +and the <strong>FROM</strong> value may also be a wild-card string, which will be +matched against the sender's names (wild-cards do NOT match against ID +numbers, though see below for why a '<code>*</code>' matches everything). You may +instead specify a range of ID numbers via an inclusive range: LOW-HIGH. +For example:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--usermap=0-99:nobody,wayne:admin,*:normal --groupmap=usr:1,1:usr +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>The first match in the list is the one that is used. You should specify +all your user mappings using a single <code>--usermap</code> option, and/or all your +group mappings using a single <code>--groupmap</code> option.</p> +<p>Note that the sender's name for the 0 user and group are not transmitted to +the receiver, so you should either match these values using a 0, or use the +names in effect on the receiving side (typically "root"). All other +<strong>FROM</strong> names match those in use on the sending side. All <strong>TO</strong> names +match those in use on the receiving side.</p> +<p>Any IDs that do not have a name on the sending side are treated as having +an empty name for the purpose of matching. This allows them to be matched +via a "<code>*</code>" or using an empty name. For instance:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--usermap=:nobody --groupmap=*:nobody +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>When the <a href="#opt--numeric-ids"><code>--numeric-ids</code></a> option is used, the sender does not send any +names, so all the IDs are treated as having an empty name. This means that +you will need to specify numeric <strong>FROM</strong> values if you want to map these +nameless IDs to different values.</p> +<p>For the <code>--usermap</code> option to work, the receiver will need to be running as +a super-user (see also the <a href="#opt--super"><code>--super</code></a> and <a href="#opt--fake-super"><code>--fake-super</code></a> +options). For the <code>--groupmap</code> option to work, the receiver will need to +have permissions to set that group.</p> +<p>Starting with rsync 3.2.4, the <code>--usermap</code> option implies the +<a href="#opt--owner"><code>--owner</code></a> (<code>-o</code>) option while the <code>--groupmap</code> option implies the +<a href="#opt--group"><code>--group</code></a> (<code>-g</code>) option (since rsync needs to have those options +enabled for the mapping options to work).</p> +<p>An older rsync client may need to use <a href="#opt-s"><code>-s</code></a> to avoid a complaint +about wildcard characters, but a modern rsync handles this automatically.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--chown"><code>--chown=USER:GROUP</code><a href="#opt--chown" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option forces all files to be owned by USER with group GROUP. This is +a simpler interface than using <a href="#opt--usermap"><code>--usermap</code></a> & <a href="#opt--groupmap"><code>--groupmap</code></a> +directly, but it is implemented using those options internally so they +cannot be mixed. If either the USER or GROUP is empty, no mapping for the +omitted user/group will occur. If GROUP is empty, the trailing colon may +be omitted, but if USER is empty, a leading colon must be supplied.</p> +<p>If you specify "<code>--chown=foo:bar</code>", this is exactly the same as specifying +"<code>--usermap=*:foo --groupmap=*:bar</code>", only easier (and with the same +implied <a href="#opt--owner"><code>--owner</code></a> and/or <a href="#opt--group"><code>--group</code></a> options).</p> +<p>An older rsync client may need to use <a href="#opt-s"><code>-s</code></a> to avoid a complaint +about wildcard characters, but a modern rsync handles this automatically.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--timeout"><code>--timeout=SECONDS</code><a href="#opt--timeout" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option allows you to set a maximum I/O timeout in seconds. If no data +is transferred for the specified time then rsync will exit. The default is +0, which means no timeout.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--contimeout"><code>--contimeout=SECONDS</code><a href="#opt--contimeout" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>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.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--address"><code>--address=ADDRESS</code><a href="#opt--address" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address when connecting to an +rsync daemon. The <code>--address</code> option allows you to specify a specific IP +address (or hostname) to bind to.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#dopt--address">the daemon version of the <code>--address</code> option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--port"><code>--port=PORT</code><a href="#opt--port" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This specifies an alternate TCP port number to use rather than the default +of 873. This is only needed if you are using the double-colon (::) syntax +to connect with an rsync daemon (since the URL syntax has a way to specify +the port as a part of the URL).</p> +<p>See also <a href="#dopt--port">the daemon version of the <code>--port</code> option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--sockopts"><code>--sockopts=OPTIONS</code><a href="#opt--sockopts" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option can provide endless fun for people who like to tune their +systems to the utmost degree. You can set all sorts of socket options +which may make transfers faster (or slower!). Read the manpage for the +<code>setsockopt()</code> system call for details on some of the options you may be +able to set. By default no special socket options are set. This only +affects direct socket connections to a remote rsync daemon.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#dopt--sockopts">the daemon version of the <code>--sockopts</code> option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--blocking-io"><code>--blocking-io</code><a href="#opt--blocking-io" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to use blocking I/O when launching a remote shell +transport. If the remote shell is either rsh or remsh, rsync defaults to +using blocking I/O, otherwise it defaults to using non-blocking I/O. (Note +that ssh prefers non-blocking I/O.)</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--outbuf"><code>--outbuf=MODE</code><a href="#opt--outbuf" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This sets the output buffering mode. The mode can be None (aka +Unbuffered), Line, or Block (aka Full). You may specify as little as a +single letter for the mode, and use upper or lower case.</p> +<p>The main use of this option is to change Full buffering to Line buffering +when rsync's output is going to a file or pipe.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-i"></span><dt id="opt--itemize-changes"><code>--itemize-changes</code>, <code>-i</code><a href="#opt--itemize-changes" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Requests a simple itemized list of the changes that are being made to each +file, including attribute changes. This is exactly the same as specifying +<a href="#opt--out-format"><code>--out-format='%i %n%L'</code></a>. If you repeat the option, unchanged +files will also be output, but only if the receiving rsync is at least +version 2.6.7 (you can use <code>-vv</code> with older versions of rsync, but that +also turns on the output of other verbose messages).</p> +<p>The "%i" escape has a cryptic output that is 11 letters long. The general +format is like the string <code>YXcstpoguax</code>, where <strong>Y</strong> is replaced by the type +of update being done, <strong>X</strong> is replaced by the file-type, and the other +letters represent attributes that may be output if they are being modified.</p> +<p>The update types that replace the <strong>Y</strong> are as follows:</p> +<ul> +<li>A <code><</code> means that a file is being transferred to the remote host (sent).</li> +<li>A <code>></code> means that a file is being transferred to the local host +(received).</li> +<li>A <code>c</code> means that a local change/creation is occurring for the item (such +as the creation of a directory or the changing of a symlink, etc.).</li> +<li>A <code>h</code> means that the item is a hard link to another item (requires +<a href="#opt--hard-links"><code>--hard-links</code></a>).</li> +<li>A <code>.</code> means that the item is not being updated (though it might have +attributes that are being modified).</li> +<li>A <code>*</code> means that the rest of the itemized-output area contains a message +(e.g. "deleting").</li> +</ul> +<p>The file-types that replace the <strong>X</strong> are: <code>f</code> for a file, a <code>d</code> for a +directory, an <code>L</code> for a symlink, a <code>D</code> for a device, and a <code>S</code> for a +special file (e.g. named sockets and fifos).</p> +<p>The other letters in the string indicate if some attributes of the file +have changed, as follows:</p> +<ul> +<li>"<code>.</code>" -⁠ the attribute is unchanged.</li> +<li>"<code>+</code>" -⁠ the file is newly created.</li> +<li>"<code> </code>" -⁠ all the attributes are unchanged (all dots turn to spaces).</li> +<li>"<code>?</code>" -⁠ the change is unknown (when the remote rsync is old).</li> +<li>A letter indicates an attribute is being updated.</li> +</ul> +<p>The attribute that is associated with each letter is as follows:</p> +<ul> +<li>A <code>c</code> means either that a regular file has a different checksum (requires +<a href="#opt--checksum"><code>--checksum</code></a>) or that a symlink, device, or special file has a +changed value. Note that if you are sending files to an rsync prior to +3.0.1, this change flag will be present only for checksum-differing +regular files.</li> +<li>A <code>s</code> means the size of a regular file is different and will be updated +by the file transfer.</li> +<li>A <code>t</code> means the modification time is different and is being updated to +the sender's value (requires <a href="#opt--times"><code>--times</code></a>). An alternate value of +<code>T</code> means that the modification time will be set to the transfer time, +which happens when a file/symlink/device is updated without +<a href="#opt--times"><code>--times</code></a> and when a symlink is changed and the receiver can't +set its time. (Note: when using an rsync 3.0.0 client, you might see the +<code>s</code> flag combined with <code>t</code> instead of the proper <code>T</code> flag for this +time-setting failure.)</li> +<li>A <code>p</code> means the permissions are different and are being updated to the +sender's value (requires <a href="#opt--perms"><code>--perms</code></a>).</li> +<li>An <code>o</code> means the owner is different and is being updated to the sender's +value (requires <a href="#opt--owner"><code>--owner</code></a> and super-user privileges).</li> +<li>A <code>g</code> means the group is different and is being updated to the sender's +value (requires <a href="#opt--group"><code>--group</code></a> and the authority to set the group).</li> +<li>A <code>u</code>|<code>n</code>|<code>b</code> indicates the following information: +<ul> +<li><code>u</code> means the access (use) time is different and is being updated to +the sender's value (requires <a href="#opt--atimes"><code>--atimes</code></a>)</li> +<li><code>n</code> means the create time (newness) is different and is being updated +to the sender's value (requires <a href="#opt--crtimes"><code>--crtimes</code></a>)</li> +<li><code>b</code> means that both the access and create times are being updated</li> +</ul> +</li> +<li>The <code>a</code> means that the ACL information is being changed.</li> +<li>The <code>x</code> means that the extended attribute information is being changed.</li> +</ul> +<p>One other output is possible: when deleting files, the "%i" will output the +string "<code>*deleting</code>" for each item that is being removed (assuming that you +are talking to a recent enough rsync that it logs deletions instead of +outputting them as a verbose message).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--out-format"><code>--out-format=FORMAT</code><a href="#opt--out-format" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This allows you to specify exactly what the rsync client outputs to the +user on a per-update basis. The format is a text string containing +embedded single-character escape sequences prefixed with a percent (%) +character. A default format of "%n%L" is assumed if either +<a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=name</code></a> or <a href="#opt-v"><code>-v</code></a> is specified (this tells you just the +name of the file and, if the item is a link, where it points). For a full +list of the possible escape characters, see the <a href="rsyncd.conf.5#log_format"><code>log format</code></a> setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage.</p> +<p>Specifying the <code>--out-format</code> option implies the <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=name</code></a> +option, which will mention each file, dir, etc. that gets updated in a +significant way (a transferred file, a recreated symlink/device, or a +touched directory). In addition, if the itemize-changes escape (%i) is +included in the string (e.g. if the <a href="#opt--itemize-changes"><code>--itemize-changes</code></a> option was +used), the logging of names increases to mention any item that is changed +in any way (as long as the receiving side is at least 2.6.4). See the +<a href="#opt--itemize-changes"><code>--itemize-changes</code></a> option for a description of the output of "%i".</p> +<p>Rsync will output the out-format string prior to a file's transfer unless +one of the transfer-statistic escapes is requested, in which case the +logging is done at the end of the file's transfer. When this late logging +is in effect and <a href="#opt--progress"><code>--progress</code></a> is also specified, rsync will also +output the name of the file being transferred prior to its progress +information (followed, of course, by the out-format output).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--log-file"><code>--log-file=FILE</code><a href="#opt--log-file" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option causes rsync to log what it is doing to a file. This is +similar to the logging that a daemon does, but can be requested for the +client side and/or the server side of a non-daemon transfer. If specified +as a client option, transfer logging will be enabled with a default format +of "%i %n%L". See the <a href="#opt--log-file-format"><code>--log-file-format</code></a> option if you wish to +override this.</p> +<p>Here's an example command that requests the remote side to log what is +happening:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av --remote-option=--log-file=/tmp/rlog src/ dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This is very useful if you need to debug why a connection is closing +unexpectedly.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#dopt--log-file">the daemon version of the <code>--log-file</code> option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--log-file-format"><code>--log-file-format=FORMAT</code><a href="#opt--log-file-format" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This allows you to specify exactly what per-update logging is put into the +file specified by the <a href="#opt--log-file"><code>--log-file</code></a> option (which must also be +specified for this option to have any effect). If you specify an empty +string, updated files will not be mentioned in the log file. For a list of +the possible escape characters, see the <a href="rsyncd.conf.5#log_format"><code>log format</code></a> +setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage.</p> +<p>The default FORMAT used if <a href="#opt--log-file"><code>--log-file</code></a> is specified and this +option is not is '%i %n%L'.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#dopt--log-file-format">the daemon version of the <code>--log-file-format</code> +option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--stats"><code>--stats</code><a href="#opt--stats" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to print a verbose set of statistics on the file transfer, +allowing you to tell how effective rsync's delta-transfer algorithm is for +your data. This option is equivalent to <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=stats2</code></a> if +combined with 0 or 1 <a href="#opt-v"><code>-v</code></a> options, or <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=stats3</code></a> if +combined with 2 or more <a href="#opt-v"><code>-v</code></a> options.</p> +<p>The current statistics are as follows:</p> +<ul> +<li><code>Number of files</code> is the count of all "files" (in the generic sense), +which includes directories, symlinks, etc. The total count will be +followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero). For +example: "(reg: 5, dir: 3, link: 2, dev: 1, special: 1)" lists the totals +for regular files, directories, symlinks, devices, and special files. If +any of value is 0, it is completely omitted from the list.</li> +<li><code>Number of created files</code> is the count of how many "files" (generic +sense) were created (as opposed to updated). The total count will be +followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero).</li> +<li><code>Number of deleted files</code> is the count of how many "files" (generic +sense) were deleted. The total count will be +followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero). +Note that this line is only output if deletions are in effect, and only +if protocol 31 is being used (the default for rsync 3.1.x).</li> +<li><code>Number of regular files transferred</code> is the count of normal files that +were updated via rsync's delta-transfer algorithm, which does not include +dirs, symlinks, etc. Note that rsync 3.1.0 added the word "regular" into +this heading.</li> +<li><code>Total file size</code> is the total sum of all file sizes in the transfer. +This does not count any size for directories or special files, but does +include the size of symlinks.</li> +<li><code>Total transferred file size</code> is the total sum of all files sizes for +just the transferred files.</li> +<li><code>Literal data</code> is how much unmatched file-update data we had to send to +the receiver for it to recreate the updated files.</li> +<li><code>Matched data</code> is how much data the receiver got locally when recreating +the updated files.</li> +<li><code>File list size</code> is how big the file-list data was when the sender sent +it to the receiver. This is smaller than the in-memory size for the file +list due to some compressing of duplicated data when rsync sends the +list.</li> +<li><code>File list generation time</code> is the number of seconds that the sender +spent creating the file list. This requires a modern rsync on the +sending side for this to be present.</li> +<li><code>File list transfer time</code> is the number of seconds that the sender spent +sending the file list to the receiver.</li> +<li><code>Total bytes sent</code> is the count of all the bytes that rsync sent from the +client side to the server side.</li> +<li><code>Total bytes received</code> is the count of all non-message bytes that rsync +received by the client side from the server side. "Non-message" bytes +means that we don't count the bytes for a verbose message that the server +sent to us, which makes the stats more consistent.</li> +</ul> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-8"></span><dt id="opt--8-bit-output"><code>--8-bit-output</code>, <code>-8</code><a href="#opt--8-bit-output" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync to leave all high-bit characters unescaped in the output +instead of trying to test them to see if they're valid in the current +locale and escaping the invalid ones. All control characters (but never +tabs) are always escaped, regardless of this option's setting.</p> +<p>The escape idiom that started in 2.6.7 is to output a literal backslash +(<code>\</code>) and a hash (<code>#</code>), followed by exactly 3 octal digits. For example, a +newline would output as "<code>\#012</code>". A literal backslash that is in a +filename is not escaped unless it is followed by a hash and 3 digits (0-9).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-h"></span><dt id="opt--human-readable"><code>--human-readable</code>, <code>-h</code><a href="#opt--human-readable" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Output numbers in a more human-readable format. There are 3 possible levels:</p> +<ol> +<li>output numbers with a separator between each set of 3 digits (either a +comma or a period, depending on if the decimal point is represented by a +period or a comma).</li> +<li>output numbers in units of 1000 (with a character suffix for larger +units -⁠-⁠ see below).</li> +<li>output numbers in units of 1024.</li> +</ol> +<p>The default is human-readable level 1. Each <code>-h</code> option increases the +level by one. You can take the level down to 0 (to output numbers as pure +digits) by specifying the <code>--no-human-readable</code> (<code>--no-h</code>) option.</p> +<p>The unit letters that are appended in levels 2 and 3 are: <code>K</code> (kilo), <code>M</code> +(mega), <code>G</code> (giga), <code>T</code> (tera), or <code>P</code> (peta). For example, a 1234567-byte +file would output as 1.23M in level-2 (assuming that a period is your local +decimal point).</p> +<p>Backward compatibility note: versions of rsync prior to 3.1.0 do not +support human-readable level 1, and they default to level 0. Thus, +specifying one or two <code>-h</code> options will behave in a comparable manner in +old and new versions as long as you didn't specify a <code>--no-h</code> option prior +to one or more <code>-h</code> options. See the <a href="#opt--list-only"><code>--list-only</code></a> option for one +difference.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--partial"><code>--partial</code><a href="#opt--partial" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>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 <code>--partial</code> option tells rsync +to keep the partial file which should make a subsequent transfer of the +rest of the file much faster.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--partial-dir"><code>--partial-dir=DIR</code><a href="#opt--partial-dir" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option modifies the behavior of the <a href="#opt--partial"><code>--partial</code></a> option while +also implying that it be enabled. This enhanced partial-file method puts +any partially transferred files into the specified <u>DIR</u> instead of writing +the partial file out to the destination file. On the next transfer, rsync +will use a file found in this dir as data to speed up the resumption of the +transfer and then delete it after it has served its purpose.</p> +<p>Note that if <a href="#opt--whole-file"><code>--whole-file</code></a> is specified (or implied), any +partial-dir files that are found for a file that is being updated will +simply be removed (since rsync is sending files without using rsync's +delta-transfer algorithm).</p> +<p>Rsync will create the <u>DIR</u> if it is missing, but just the last dir -⁠-⁠ not +the whole path. This makes it easy to use a relative path (such as +"<code>--partial-dir=.rsync-partial</code>") to have rsync create the +partial-directory in the destination file's directory when it is needed, +and then remove it again when the partial file is deleted. Note that this +directory removal is only done for a relative pathname, as it is expected +that an absolute path is to a directory that is reserved for partial-dir +work.</p> +<p>If the partial-dir value is not an absolute path, rsync will add an exclude +rule at the end of all your existing excludes. This will prevent the +sending of any partial-dir files that may exist on the sending side, and +will also prevent the untimely deletion of partial-dir items on the +receiving side. An example: the above <code>--partial-dir</code> option would add the +equivalent of this "perishable" exclude at the end of any other filter +rules: <code>-f '-p .rsync-partial/'</code></p> +<p>If you are supplying your own exclude rules, you may need to add your own +exclude/hide/protect rule for the partial-dir because:</p> +<ol> +<li>the auto-added rule may be ineffective at the end of your other rules, or</li> +<li>you may wish to override rsync's exclude choice.</li> +</ol> +<p>For instance, if you want to make rsync clean-up any left-over partial-dirs +that may be lying around, you should specify <a href="#opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code></a> and +add a "risk" filter rule, e.g. <code>-f 'R .rsync-partial/'</code>. Avoid using +<a href="#opt--delete-before"><code>--delete-before</code></a> or <a href="#opt--delete-during"><code>--delete-during</code></a> unless you don't +need rsync to use any of the left-over partial-dir data during the current +run.</p> +<p>IMPORTANT: the <code>--partial-dir</code> should not be writable by other users or it +is a security risk! E.g. AVOID "/tmp"!</p> +<p>You can also set the partial-dir value the <a href="#RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR"><code>RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR</code></a> +environment variable. Setting this in the environment does not force +<a href="#opt--partial"><code>--partial</code></a> to be enabled, but rather it affects where partial +files go when <a href="#opt--partial"><code>--partial</code></a> is specified. For instance, instead of +using <code>--partial-dir=.rsync-tmp</code> along with <a href="#opt--progress"><code>--progress</code></a>, you could +set <a href="#RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR"><code>RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR=.rsync-tmp</code></a> in your environment and then use +the <a href="#opt-P"><code>-P</code></a> option to turn on the use of the .rsync-tmp dir for +partial transfers. The only times that the <a href="#opt--partial"><code>--partial</code></a> option does +not look for this environment value are:</p> +<ol> +<li>when <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a> was specified (since <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a> +conflicts with <code>--partial-dir</code>), and</li> +<li>when <a href="#opt--delay-updates"><code>--delay-updates</code></a> was specified (see below).</li> +</ol> +<p>When a modern rsync resumes the transfer of a file in the partial-dir, that +partial file is now updated in-place instead of creating yet another +tmp-file copy (so it maxes out at dest + tmp instead of dest + partial + +tmp). This requires both ends of the transfer to be at least version +3.2.0.</p> +<p>For the purposes of the daemon-config's "<code>refuse options</code>" setting, +<code>--partial-dir</code> does <u>not</u> imply <a href="#opt--partial"><code>--partial</code></a>. This is so that a +refusal of the <a href="#opt--partial"><code>--partial</code></a> option can be used to disallow the +overwriting of destination files with a partial transfer, while still +allowing the safer idiom provided by <code>--partial-dir</code>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--delay-updates"><code>--delay-updates</code><a href="#opt--delay-updates" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option puts the temporary file from each updated file into a holding +directory until the end of the transfer, at which time all the files are +renamed into place in rapid succession. This attempts to make the updating +of the files a little more atomic. By default the files are placed into a +directory named <code>.~tmp~</code> in each file's destination directory, but if +you've specified the <a href="#opt--partial-dir"><code>--partial-dir</code></a> option, that directory will be +used instead. See the comments in the <a href="#opt--partial-dir"><code>--partial-dir</code></a> section for +a discussion of how this <code>.~tmp~</code> dir will be excluded from the transfer, +and what you can do if you want rsync to cleanup old <code>.~tmp~</code> dirs that +might be lying around. Conflicts with <a href="#opt--inplace"><code>--inplace</code></a> and +<a href="#opt--append"><code>--append</code></a>.</p> +<p>This option implies <a href="#opt--no-inc-recursive"><code>--no-inc-recursive</code></a> since it needs the full +file list in memory in order to be able to iterate over it at the end.</p> +<p>This option uses more memory on the receiving side (one bit per file +transferred) and also requires enough free disk space on the receiving side +to hold an additional copy of all the updated files. Note also that you +should not use an absolute path to <a href="#opt--partial-dir"><code>--partial-dir</code></a> unless:</p> +<ol> +<li>there is no chance of any of the files in the transfer having the same +name (since all the updated files will be put into a single directory if +the path is absolute), and</li> +<li>there are no mount points in the hierarchy (since the delayed updates +will fail if they can't be renamed into place).</li> +</ol> +<p>See also the "atomic-rsync" python script in the "support" subdir for an +update algorithm that is even more atomic (it uses <a href="#opt--link-dest"><code>--link-dest</code></a> +and a parallel hierarchy of files).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-m"></span><dt id="opt--prune-empty-dirs"><code>--prune-empty-dirs</code>, <code>-m</code><a href="#opt--prune-empty-dirs" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells the receiving rsync to get rid of empty directories from +the file-list, including nested directories that have no non-directory +children. This is useful for avoiding the creation of a bunch of useless +directories when the sending rsync is recursively scanning a hierarchy of +files using include/exclude/filter rules.</p> +<p>This option can still leave empty directories on the receiving side if you +make use of <a href="#TRANSFER_RULES">TRANSFER_RULES</a>.</p> +<p>Because the file-list is actually being pruned, this option also affects +what directories get deleted when a delete is active. However, keep in +mind that excluded files and directories can prevent existing items from +being deleted due to an exclude both hiding source files and protecting +destination files. See the perishable filter-rule option for how to avoid +this.</p> +<p>You can prevent the pruning of certain empty directories from the file-list +by using a global "protect" filter. For instance, this option would ensure +that the directory "emptydir" was kept in the file-list:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--filter 'protect emptydir/' +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Here's an example that copies all .pdf files in a hierarchy, only creating +the necessary destination directories to hold the .pdf files, and ensures +that any superfluous files and directories in the destination are removed +(note the hide filter of non-directories being used instead of an exclude):</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avm --del --include='*.pdf' -f 'hide,! */' src/ dest +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>If you didn't want to remove superfluous destination files, the more +time-honored options of <code>--include='*/' --exclude='*'</code> would work +fine in place of the hide-filter (if that is more natural to you).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--progress"><code>--progress</code><a href="#opt--progress" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells rsync to print information showing the progress of the +transfer. This gives a bored user something to watch. With a modern rsync +this is the same as specifying <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=flist2,name,progress</code></a>, but +any user-supplied settings for those info flags takes precedence (e.g. +<a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=flist0 --progress</code></a>).</p> +<p>While rsync is transferring a regular file, it updates a progress line that +looks like this:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>782448 63% 110.64kB/s 0:00:04 +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>In this example, the receiver has reconstructed 782448 bytes or 63% of the +sender's file, which is being reconstructed at a rate of 110.64 kilobytes +per second, and the transfer will finish in 4 seconds if the current rate +is maintained until the end.</p> +<p>These statistics can be misleading if rsync's delta-transfer algorithm is +in use. For example, if the sender's file consists of the basis file +followed by additional data, the reported rate will probably drop +dramatically when the receiver gets to the literal data, and the transfer +will probably take much longer to finish than the receiver estimated as it +was finishing the matched part of the file.</p> +<p>When the file transfer finishes, rsync replaces the progress line with a +summary line that looks like this:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>1,238,099 100% 146.38kB/s 0:00:08 (xfr#5, to-chk=169/396) +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>In this example, the file was 1,238,099 bytes long in total, the average +rate of transfer for the whole file was 146.38 kilobytes per second over +the 8 seconds that it took to complete, it was the 5th transfer of a +regular file during the current rsync session, and there are 169 more files +for the receiver to check (to see if they are up-to-date or not) remaining +out of the 396 total files in the file-list.</p> +<p>In an incremental recursion scan, rsync won't know the total number of +files in the file-list until it reaches the ends of the scan, but since it +starts to transfer files during the scan, it will display a line with the +text "ir-chk" (for incremental recursion check) instead of "to-chk" until +the point that it knows the full size of the list, at which point it will +switch to using "to-chk". Thus, seeing "ir-chk" lets you know that the +total count of files in the file list is still going to increase (and each +time it does, the count of files left to check will increase by the number +of the files added to the list).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt-P"><code>-P</code><a href="#opt-P" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>The <code>-P</code> option is equivalent to "<a href="#opt--partial"><code>--partial</code></a> +<a href="#opt--progress"><code>--progress</code></a>". Its purpose is to make it much easier to specify +these two options for a long transfer that may be interrupted.</p> +<p>There is also a <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=progress2</code></a> option that outputs statistics +based on the whole transfer, rather than individual files. Use this flag +without outputting a filename (e.g. avoid <code>-v</code> or specify +<a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=name0</code></a>) if you want to see how the transfer is doing +without scrolling the screen with a lot of names. (You don't need to +specify the <a href="#opt--progress"><code>--progress</code></a> option in order to use +<a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=progress2</code></a>.)</p> +<p>Finally, you can get an instant progress report by sending rsync a signal +of either SIGINFO or SIGVTALRM. On BSD systems, a SIGINFO is generated by +typing a Ctrl+T (Linux doesn't currently support a SIGINFO signal). When +the client-side process receives one of those signals, it sets a flag to +output a single progress report which is output when the current file +transfer finishes (so it may take a little time if a big file is being +handled when the signal arrives). A filename is output (if needed) +followed by the <a href="#opt--info"><code>--info=progress2</code></a> format of progress info. If you +don't know which of the 3 rsync processes is the client process, it's OK to +signal all of them (since the non-client processes ignore the signal).</p> +<p>CAUTION: sending SIGVTALRM to an older rsync (pre-3.2.0) will kill it.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--password-file"><code>--password-file=FILE</code><a href="#opt--password-file" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option allows you to provide a password for accessing an rsync daemon +via a file or via standard input if <strong>FILE</strong> is <code>-</code>. The file should +contain just the password on the first line (all other lines are ignored). +Rsync will exit with an error if <strong>FILE</strong> is world readable or if a +root-run rsync command finds a non-root-owned file.</p> +<p>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 +config file).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--early-input"><code>--early-input=FILE</code><a href="#opt--early-input" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option allows rsync to send up to 5K of data to the "early exec" +script on its stdin. One possible use of this data is to give the script a +secret that can be used to mount an encrypted filesystem (which you should +unmount in the the "post-xfer exec" script).</p> +<p>The daemon must be at least version 3.2.1.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--list-only"><code>--list-only</code><a href="#opt--list-only" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option will cause the source files to be listed instead of +transferred. This option is inferred if there is a single source arg and +no destination specified, so its main uses are:</p> +<ol> +<li>to turn a copy command that includes a destination arg into a +file-listing command, or</li> +<li>to be able to specify more than one source arg. Note: be sure to +include the destination.</li> +</ol> +<p>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 specify a single +wild-card arg to try to infer this option. A safe example is:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av --list-only foo* dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This option always uses an output format that looks similar to this:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>drwxrwxr-x 4,096 2022/09/30 12:53:11 support +-rw-rw-r-- 80 2005/01/11 10:37:37 support/Makefile +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>The only option that affects this output style is (as of 3.1.0) the +<a href="#opt--human-readable"><code>--human-readable</code></a> (<code>-h</code>) option. The default is to output sizes +as byte counts with digit separators (in a 14-character-width column). +Specifying at least one <code>-h</code> option makes the sizes output with unit +suffixes. If you want old-style bytecount sizes without digit separators +(and an 11-character-width column) use <code>--no-h</code>.</p> +<p>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 +<a href="#opt--dirs"><code>--dirs</code></a> option w/o <a href="#opt--recursive"><code>--recursive</code></a>, and older rsyncs don't +have that option. To avoid this problem, either specify the <code>--no-dirs</code> +option (if you don't need to expand a directory's content), or turn on +recursion and exclude the content of subdirectories: <code>-r --exclude='/*/*'</code>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--bwlimit"><code>--bwlimit=RATE</code><a href="#opt--bwlimit" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option allows you to specify the maximum transfer rate for the data +sent over the socket, specified in units per second. The RATE value can be +suffixed with a string to indicate a size multiplier, and may be a +fractional value (e.g. <code>--bwlimit=1.5m</code>). If no suffix is specified, the +value will be assumed to be in units of 1024 bytes (as if "K" or "KiB" had +been appended). See the <a href="#opt--max-size"><code>--max-size</code></a> option for a description of +all the available suffixes. A value of 0 specifies no limit.</p> +<p>For backward-compatibility reasons, the rate limit will be rounded to the +nearest KiB unit, so no rate smaller than 1024 bytes per second is +possible.</p> +<p>Rsync writes data over the socket in blocks, and this option both limits +the size of the blocks that rsync writes, and tries to keep the average +transfer rate at the requested limit. Some burstiness may be seen where +rsync writes out a block of data and then sleeps to bring the average rate +into compliance.</p> +<p>Due to the internal buffering of data, the <a href="#opt--progress"><code>--progress</code></a> option may +not be an accurate reflection on how fast the data is being sent. This is +because some files can show up as being rapidly sent when the data is +quickly buffered, while other can show up as very slow when the flushing of +the output buffer occurs. This may be fixed in a future version.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#dopt--bwlimit">the daemon version of the <code>--bwlimit</code> option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt--time-limit"></span><dt id="opt--stop-after"><code>--stop-after=MINS</code>, (<code>--time-limit=MINS</code>)<a href="#opt--stop-after" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells rsync to stop copying when the specified number of +minutes has elapsed.</p> +<p>For maximal flexibility, rsync does not communicate this option to the +remote rsync since it is usually enough that one side of the connection +quits as specified. This allows the option's use even when only one side +of the connection supports it. You can tell the remote side about the time +limit using <a href="#opt--remote-option"><code>--remote-option</code></a> (<code>-M</code>), should the need arise.</p> +<p>The <code>--time-limit</code> version of this option is deprecated.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--stop-at"><code>--stop-at=y-m-dTh:m</code><a href="#opt--stop-at" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells rsync to stop copying when the specified point in time +has been reached. The date & time can be fully specified in a numeric +format of year-month-dayThour:minute (e.g. 2000-12-31T23:59) in the local +timezone. You may choose to separate the date numbers using slashes +instead of dashes.</p> +<p>The value can also be abbreviated in a variety of ways, such as specifying +a 2-digit year and/or leaving off various values. In all cases, the value +will be taken to be the next possible point in time where the supplied +information matches. If the value specifies the current time or a past +time, rsync exits with an error.</p> +<p>For example, "1-30" specifies the next January 30th (at midnight local +time), "14:00" specifies the next 2 P.M., "1" specifies the next 1st of the +month at midnight, "31" specifies the next month where we can stop on its +31st day, and ":59" specifies the next 59th minute after the hour.</p> +<p>For maximal flexibility, rsync does not communicate this option to the +remote rsync since it is usually enough that one side of the connection +quits as specified. This allows the option's use even when only one side +of the connection supports it. You can tell the remote side about the time +limit using <a href="#opt--remote-option"><code>--remote-option</code></a> (<code>-M</code>), should the need arise. Do +keep in mind that the remote host may have a different default timezone +than your local host.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--fsync"><code>--fsync</code><a href="#opt--fsync" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Cause the receiving side to fsync each finished file. This may slow down +the transfer, but can help to provide peace of mind when updating critical +files.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--write-batch"><code>--write-batch=FILE</code><a href="#opt--write-batch" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Record a file that can later be applied to another identical destination +with <a href="#opt--read-batch"><code>--read-batch</code></a>. See the "BATCH MODE" section for details, and +also the <a href="#opt--only-write-batch"><code>--only-write-batch</code></a> option.</p> +<p>This option overrides the negotiated checksum & compress lists and always +negotiates a choice based on old-school md5/md4/zlib choices. If you want +a more modern choice, use the <a href="#opt--checksum-choice"><code>--checksum-choice</code></a> (<code>--cc</code>) and/or +<a href="#opt--compress-choice"><code>--compress-choice</code></a> (<code>--zc</code>) options.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--only-write-batch"><code>--only-write-batch=FILE</code><a href="#opt--only-write-batch" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Works like <a href="#opt--write-batch"><code>--write-batch</code></a>, except that no updates are made on the +destination system when creating the batch. This lets you transport the +changes to the destination system via some other means and then apply the +changes via <a href="#opt--read-batch"><code>--read-batch</code></a>.</p> +<p>Note that you can feel free to write the batch directly to some portable +media: if this media fills to capacity before the end of the transfer, you +can just apply that partial transfer to the destination and repeat the +whole process to get the rest of the changes (as long as you don't mind a +partially updated destination system while the multi-update cycle is +happening).</p> +<p>Also note that you only save bandwidth when pushing changes to a remote +system because this allows the batched data to be diverted from the sender +into the batch file without having to flow over the wire to the receiver +(when pulling, the sender is remote, and thus can't write the batch).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--read-batch"><code>--read-batch=FILE</code><a href="#opt--read-batch" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Apply all of the changes stored in FILE, a file previously generated by +<a href="#opt--write-batch"><code>--write-batch</code></a>. If <u>FILE</u> is <code>-</code>, the batch data will be read +from standard input. See the "BATCH MODE" section for details.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--protocol"><code>--protocol=NUM</code><a href="#opt--protocol" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Force an older protocol version to be used. This is useful for creating a +batch file that is compatible with an older version of rsync. For +instance, if rsync 2.6.4 is being used with the <a href="#opt--write-batch"><code>--write-batch</code></a> +option, but rsync 2.6.3 is what will be used to run the +<a href="#opt--read-batch"><code>--read-batch</code></a> option, you should use "-⁠-⁠protocol=28" when creating +the batch file to force the older protocol version to be used in the batch +file (assuming you can't upgrade the rsync on the reading system).</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--iconv"><code>--iconv=CONVERT_SPEC</code><a href="#opt--iconv" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Rsync can convert filenames between character 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 in the order <code>--iconv=LOCAL,REMOTE</code>, e.g. <code>--iconv=utf8,iso88591</code>. +This order ensures that the option will stay the same whether you're +pushing or pulling files. Finally, you can specify either <code>--no-iconv</code> 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 +<a href="#RSYNC_ICONV"><code>RSYNC_ICONV</code></a> environment variable.</p> +<p>For a list of what charset names your local iconv library supports, you can +run "<code>iconv --list</code>".</p> +<p>If you specify the <a href="#opt--secluded-args"><code>--secluded-args</code></a> (<code>-s</code>) option, rsync will +translate the filenames you specify on the command-line that are being sent +to the remote host. See also the <a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a> option.</p> +<p>Note that rsync does not do any conversion of names in filter files +(including include/exclude files). It is up to you to ensure that you're +specifying matching rules that can match on both sides of the transfer. +For instance, you can specify extra include/exclude rules if there are +filename differences on the two sides that need to be accounted for.</p> +<p>When you pass an <code>--iconv</code> 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. +<code>--iconv=utf8</code>).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="opt-6"></span><span id="opt--ipv6"></span><span id="opt-4"></span><dt id="opt--ipv4"><code>--ipv4</code>, <code>-4</code> or <code>--ipv6</code>, <code>-6</code><a href="#opt--ipv4" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Tells rsync to prefer IPv4/IPv6 when creating sockets or running ssh. This +affects sockets that rsync has direct control over, such as the outgoing +socket when directly contacting an rsync daemon, as well as the forwarding +of the <code>-4</code> or <code>-6</code> option to ssh when rsync can deduce that ssh is being +used as the remote shell. For other remote shells you'll need to specify +the "<code>--rsh SHELL -4</code>" option directly (or whatever IPv4/IPv6 hint options +it uses).</p> +<p>See also <a href="#dopt--ipv4">the daemon version of these options</a>.</p> +<p>If rsync was compiled without support for IPv6, the <code>--ipv6</code> option will +have no effect. The <code>rsync --version</code> output will contain "<code>no IPv6</code>" if +is the case.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="opt--checksum-seed"><code>--checksum-seed=NUM</code><a href="#opt--checksum-seed" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Set the checksum seed to the integer NUM. This 4 byte checksum seed is +included in each block and MD4 file checksum calculation (the more modern +MD5 file checksums don't use a seed). By default the checksum seed is +generated by the server and defaults to the current <strong>time</strong>(). This +option is used to set a specific checksum seed, which is useful for +applications that want repeatable block checksums, or in the case where the +user wants a more random checksum seed. Setting NUM to 0 causes rsync to +use the default of <strong>time</strong>() for checksum seed.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<h2 id="DAEMON_OPTIONS">DAEMON OPTIONS<a href="#DAEMON_OPTIONS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>The options allowed when starting an rsync daemon are as follows:</p> +<dl> + +<dt id="dopt--daemon"><code>--daemon</code><a href="#dopt--daemon" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This tells rsync that it is to run as a daemon. The daemon you start +running may be accessed using an rsync client using the <code>host::module</code> or +<code>rsync://host/module/</code> syntax.</p> +<p>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 (rsyncd.conf) on +each connect made by a client and respond to requests accordingly.</p> +<p>See the <a href="rsyncd.conf.5"><strong>rsyncd.conf</strong>(5)</a> manpage for more details.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="dopt--address"><code>--address=ADDRESS</code><a href="#dopt--address" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address when run as a daemon +with the <code>--daemon</code> option. The <code>--address</code> option allows you to specify a +specific IP address (or hostname) to bind to. This makes virtual hosting +possible in conjunction with the <code>--config</code> option.</p> +<p>See also the <a href="rsyncd.conf.5#address">address</a> global option in the +rsyncd.conf manpage and the <a href="#opt--address">client version of the <code>--address</code> +option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="dopt--bwlimit"><code>--bwlimit=RATE</code><a href="#dopt--bwlimit" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option allows you to specify the maximum transfer rate for the data +the daemon sends over the socket. The client can still specify a smaller +<code>--bwlimit</code> value, but no larger value will be allowed.</p> +<p>See the <a href="#opt--bwlimit">client version of the <code>--bwlimit</code> option</a> for some +extra details.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="dopt--config"><code>--config=FILE</code><a href="#dopt--config" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This specifies an alternate config file than the default. This is only +relevant when <a href="#dopt--daemon"><code>--daemon</code></a> is specified. The default is +/etc/rsyncd.conf unless the daemon is running over a remote shell program +and the remote user is not the super-user; in that case the default is +rsyncd.conf in the current directory (typically $HOME).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="dopt-M"></span><dt id="dopt--dparam"><code>--dparam=OVERRIDE</code>, <code>-M</code><a href="#dopt--dparam" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option can be used to set a daemon-config parameter when starting up +rsync in daemon mode. It is equivalent to adding the parameter at the end +of the global settings prior to the first module's definition. The +parameter names can be specified without spaces, if you so desire. For +instance:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync --daemon -M pidfile=/path/rsync.pid +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +</dd> + +<dt id="dopt--no-detach"><code>--no-detach</code><a href="#dopt--no-detach" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>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 <code>daemontools</code> or AIX's <code>System Resource Controller</code>. +<code>--no-detach</code> is also recommended when rsync is run under a debugger. This +option has no effect if rsync is run from inetd or sshd.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="dopt--port"><code>--port=PORT</code><a href="#dopt--port" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This specifies an alternate TCP port number for the daemon to listen on +rather than the default of 873.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#opt--port">the client version of the <code>--port</code> option</a> and the +<a href="rsyncd.conf.5#port">port</a> global setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="dopt--log-file"><code>--log-file=FILE</code><a href="#dopt--log-file" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells the rsync daemon to use the given log-file name instead +of using the "<code>log file</code>" setting in the config file.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#opt--log-file">the client version of the <code>--log-file</code> option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="dopt--log-file-format"><code>--log-file-format=FORMAT</code><a href="#dopt--log-file-format" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option tells the rsync daemon to use the given FORMAT string instead +of using the "<code>log format</code>" setting in the config file. It also enables +"<code>transfer logging</code>" unless the string is empty, in which case transfer +logging is turned off.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#opt--log-file-format">the client version of the <code>--log-file-format</code> +option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="dopt--sockopts"><code>--sockopts</code><a href="#dopt--sockopts" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This overrides the <a href="rsyncd.conf.5#socket_options"><code>socket options</code></a> +setting in the rsyncd.conf file and has the same syntax.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#opt--sockopts">the client version of the <code>--sockopts</code> option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="dopt-v"></span><dt id="dopt--verbose"><code>--verbose</code>, <code>-v</code><a href="#dopt--verbose" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This option increases the amount of information the daemon logs during its +startup phase. After the client connects, the daemon's verbosity level +will be controlled by the options that the client used and the +"<code>max verbosity</code>" setting in the module's config section.</p> +<p>See also <a href="#opt--verbose">the client version of the <code>--verbose</code> option</a>.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="dopt-6"></span><span id="dopt--ipv6"></span><span id="dopt-4"></span><dt id="dopt--ipv4"><code>--ipv4</code>, <code>-4</code> or <code>--ipv6</code>, <code>-6</code><a href="#dopt--ipv4" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Tells rsync to prefer IPv4/IPv6 when creating the incoming sockets that the +rsync daemon will use to listen for connections. One of these options may +be required in older versions of Linux to work around an IPv6 bug in the +kernel (if you see an "address already in use" error when nothing else is +using the port, try specifying <code>--ipv6</code> or <code>--ipv4</code> when starting the +daemon).</p> +<p>See also <a href="#opt--ipv4">the client version of these options</a>.</p> +<p>If rsync was compiled without support for IPv6, the <code>--ipv6</code> option will +have no effect. The <code>rsync --version</code> output will contain "<code>no IPv6</code>" if +is the case.</p> +</dd> + +<span id="dopt-h"></span><dt id="dopt--help"><code>--help</code>, <code>-h</code><a href="#dopt--help" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>When specified after <code>--daemon</code>, print a short help page describing the +options available for starting an rsync daemon.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<h2 id="FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES<a href="#FILTER_RULES" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>The filter rules allow for custom control of several aspects of how files are +handled:</p> +<ul> +<li>Control which files the sending side puts into the file list that describes +the transfer hierarchy</li> +<li>Control which files the receiving side protects from deletion when the file +is not in the sender's file list</li> +<li>Control which extended attribute names are skipped when copying xattrs</li> +</ul> +<p>The rules are either directly specified via option arguments or they can be +read in from one or more files. The filter-rule files can even be a part of +the hierarchy of files being copied, affecting different parts of the tree in +different ways.</p> +<h3 id="SIMPLE_INCLUDE_EXCLUDE_RULES">SIMPLE INCLUDE/EXCLUDE RULES<a href="#SIMPLE_INCLUDE_EXCLUDE_RULES" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>We will first cover the basics of how include & exclude rules affect what files +are transferred, ignoring any deletion side-effects. Filter rules mainly +affect the contents of directories that rsync is "recursing" into, but they can +also affect a top-level item in the transfer that was specified as a argument.</p> +<p>The default for any unmatched file/dir is for it to be included in the +transfer, which puts the file/dir into the sender's file list. The use of an +exclude rule causes one or more matching files/dirs to be left out of the +sender's file list. An include rule can be used to limit the effect of an +exclude rule that is matching too many files.</p> +<p>The order of the rules is important because the first rule that matches is the +one that takes effect. Thus, if an early rule excludes a file, no include rule +that comes after it can have any effect. This means that you must place any +include overrides somewhere prior to the exclude that it is intended to limit.</p> +<p>When a directory is excluded, all its contents and sub-contents are also +excluded. The sender doesn't scan through any of it at all, which can save a +lot of time when skipping large unneeded sub-trees.</p> +<p>It is also important to understand that the include/exclude rules are applied +to every file and directory that the sender is recursing into. Thus, if you +want a particular deep file to be included, you have to make sure that none of +the directories that must be traversed on the way down to that file are +excluded or else the file will never be discovered to be included. As an +example, if the directory "<code>a/path</code>" was given as a transfer argument and you +want to ensure that the file "<code>a/path/down/deep/wanted.txt</code>" is a part of the +transfer, then the sender must not exclude the directories "<code>a/path</code>", +"<code>a/path/down</code>", or "<code>a/path/down/deep</code>" as it makes it way scanning through +the file tree.</p> +<p>When you are working on the rules, it can be helpful to ask rsync to tell you +what is being excluded/included and why. Specifying <code>--debug=FILTER</code> or (when +pulling files) <code>-M--debug=FILTER</code> turns on level 1 of the FILTER debug +information that will output a message any time that a file or directory is +included or excluded and which rule it matched. Beginning in 3.2.4 it will +also warn if a filter rule has trailing whitespace, since an exclude of "foo " +(with a trailing space) will not exclude a file named "foo".</p> +<p>Exclude and include rules can specify wildcard <a href="#PATTERN_MATCHING_RULES">PATTERN MATCHING RULES</a> +(similar to shell wildcards) that allow you to match things like a file suffix +or a portion of a filename.</p> +<p>A rule can be limited to only affecting a directory by putting a trailing slash +onto the filename.</p> +<h3 id="SIMPLE_INCLUDE_EXCLUDE_EXAMPLE">SIMPLE INCLUDE/EXCLUDE EXAMPLE<a href="#SIMPLE_INCLUDE_EXCLUDE_EXAMPLE" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>With the following file tree created on the sending side:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>mkdir x/ +touch x/file.txt +mkdir x/y/ +touch x/y/file.txt +touch x/y/zzz.txt +mkdir x/z/ +touch x/z/file.txt +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Then the following rsync command will transfer the file "<code>x/y/file.txt</code>" and +the directories needed to hold it, resulting in the path "<code>/tmp/x/y/file.txt</code>" +existing on the remote host:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -ai -f'+ x/' -f'+ x/y/' -f'+ x/y/file.txt' -f'- *' x host:/tmp/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Aside: this copy could also have been accomplished using the <a href="#opt-R"><code>-R</code></a> +option (though the 2 commands behave differently if deletions are enabled):</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -aiR x/y/file.txt host:/tmp/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>The following command does not need an include of the "x" directory because it +is not a part of the transfer (note the traililng slash). Running this command +would copy just "<code>/tmp/x/file.txt</code>" because the "y" and "z" dirs get excluded:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -ai -f'+ file.txt' -f'- *' x/ host:/tmp/x/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This command would omit the zzz.txt file while copying "x" and everything else +it contains:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -ai -f'- zzz.txt' x host:/tmp/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<h3 id="FILTER_RULES_WHEN_DELETING">FILTER RULES WHEN DELETING<a href="#FILTER_RULES_WHEN_DELETING" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>By default the include & exclude filter rules affect both the sender +(as it creates its file list) +and the receiver (as it creates its file lists for calculating deletions). If +no delete option is in effect, the receiver skips creating the delete-related +file lists. This two-sided default can be manually overridden so that you are +only specifying sender rules or receiver rules, as described in the <a href="#FILTER_RULES_IN_DEPTH">FILTER +RULES IN DEPTH</a> section.</p> +<p>When deleting, an exclude protects a file from being removed on the receiving +side while an include overrides that protection (putting the file at risk of +deletion). The default is for a file to be at risk -⁠-⁠ its safety depends on it +matching a corresponding file from the sender.</p> +<p>An example of the two-sided exclude effect can be illustrated by the copying of +a C development directory between 2 systems. When doing a touch-up copy, you +might want to skip copying the built executable and the <code>.o</code> files (sender +hide) so that the receiving side can build their own and not lose any object +files that are already correct (receiver protect). For instance:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -ai --del -f'- *.o' -f'- cmd' src host:/dest/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Note that using <code>-f'-p *.o'</code> is even better than <code>-f'- *.o'</code> if there is a +chance that the directory structure may have changed. The "p" modifier is +discussed in <a href="#FILTER_RULE_MODIFIERS">FILTER RULE MODIFIERS</a>.</p> +<p>One final note, if your shell doesn't mind unexpanded wildcards, you could +simplify the typing of the filter options by using an underscore in place of +the space and leaving off the quotes. For instance, <code>-f -_*.o -f -_cmd</code> (and +similar) could be used instead of the filter options above.</p> +<h3 id="FILTER_RULES_IN_DEPTH">FILTER RULES IN DEPTH<a href="#FILTER_RULES_IN_DEPTH" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>Rsync supports old-style include/exclude rules and new-style filter rules. The +older rules are specified using <a href="#opt--include"><code>--include</code></a> and <a href="#opt--exclude"><code>--exclude</code></a> as +well as the <a href="#opt--include-from"><code>--include-from</code></a> and <a href="#opt--exclude-from"><code>--exclude-from</code></a>. These are +limited in behavior but they don't require a "-⁠" or "+" prefix. An old-style +exclude rule is turned into a "<code>- name</code>" filter rule (with no modifiers) and an +old-style include rule is turned into a "<code>+ name</code>" filter rule (with no +modifiers).</p> +<p>Rsync builds an ordered list of filter rules as specified on the command-line +and/or read-in from files. New style filter rules have the following syntax:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>RULE [PATTERN_OR_FILENAME] +RULE,MODIFIERS [PATTERN_OR_FILENAME] +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>You have your choice of using either short or long RULE names, as described +below. If you use a short-named rule, the ',' separating the RULE from the +MODIFIERS is optional. The PATTERN or FILENAME that follows (when present) +must come after either a single space or an underscore (_). Any additional +spaces and/or underscores are considered to be a part of the pattern name. +Here are the available rule prefixes:</p> +<dl> +<dt><code>exclude, '-'</code></dt><dd> specifies an exclude pattern that (by default) is both a +<code>hide</code> and a <code>protect</code>.</dd> +<dt><code>include, '+'</code></dt><dd> specifies an include pattern that (by default) is both a +<code>show</code> and a <code>risk</code>.</dd> +<dt><code>merge, '.'</code></dt><dd> specifies a merge-file on the client side to read for more +rules.</dd> +<dt><code>dir-merge, ':'</code></dt><dd> specifies a per-directory merge-file. Using this kind of +filter rule requires that you trust the sending side's filter checking, so +it has the side-effect mentioned under the <a href="#opt--trust-sender"><code>--trust-sender</code></a> option.</dd> +<dt><code>hide, 'H'</code></dt><dd> specifies a pattern for hiding files from the transfer. +Equivalent to a sender-only exclude, so <code>-f'H foo'</code> could also be specified +as <code>-f'-s foo'</code>.</dd> +<dt><code>show, 'S'</code></dt><dd> files that match the pattern are not hidden. Equivalent to a +sender-only include, so <code>-f'S foo'</code> could also be specified as <code>-f'+s foo'</code>.</dd> +<dt><code>protect, 'P'</code></dt><dd> specifies a pattern for protecting files from deletion. +Equivalent to a receiver-only exclude, so <code>-f'P foo'</code> could also be +specified as <code>-f'-r foo'</code>.</dd> +<dt><code>risk, 'R'</code></dt><dd> files that match the pattern are not protected. Equivalent to a +receiver-only include, so <code>-f'R foo'</code> could also be specified as <code>-f'+r foo'</code>.</dd> +<dt><code>clear, '!'</code></dt><dd> clears the current include/exclude list (takes no arg)</dd> +</dl> +<p>When rules are being read from a file (using merge or dir-merge), empty lines +are ignored, as are whole-line comments that start with a '<code>#</code>' (filename rules +that contain a hash character are unaffected).</p> +<p>Note also that the <a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter</code></a>, <a href="#opt--include"><code>--include</code></a>, and +<a href="#opt--exclude"><code>--exclude</code></a> options take one rule/pattern each. To add multiple ones, +you can repeat the options on the command-line, use the merge-file syntax of +the <a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter</code></a> option, or the <a href="#opt--include-from"><code>--include-from</code></a> / +<a href="#opt--exclude-from"><code>--exclude-from</code></a> options.</p> +<h3 id="PATTERN_MATCHING_RULES">PATTERN MATCHING RULES<a href="#PATTERN_MATCHING_RULES" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>Most of the rules mentioned above take an argument that specifies what the rule +should match. If rsync is recursing through a directory hierarchy, keep in +mind that each pattern is matched against the name of every directory in the +descent path as rsync finds the filenames to send.</p> +<p>The matching rules for the pattern argument take several forms:</p> +<ul> +<li>If a pattern contains a <code>/</code> (not counting a trailing slash) or a "<code>**</code>" +(which can match a slash), then the pattern is matched against the full +pathname, including any leading directories within the transfer. If the +pattern doesn't contain a (non-trailing) <code>/</code> or a "<code>**</code>", then it is matched +only against the final component of the filename or pathname. For example, +<code>foo</code> means that the final path component must be "foo" while <code>foo/bar</code> would +match the last 2 elements of the path (as long as both elements are within +the transfer).</li> +<li>A pattern that ends with a <code>/</code> only matches a directory, not a regular file, +symlink, or device.</li> +<li>A pattern that starts with a <code>/</code> is anchored to the start of the transfer +path instead of the end. For example, <code>/foo/**</code> or <code>/foo/bar/**</code> match only +leading elements in the path. If the rule is read from a per-directory +filter file, the transfer path being matched will begin at the level of the +filter file instead of the top of the transfer. See the section on +<a href="#ANCHORING_INCLUDE_EXCLUDE_PATTERNS">ANCHORING INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERNS</a> for a full discussion of how to +specify a pattern that matches at the root of the transfer.</li> +</ul> +<p>Rsync chooses between doing a simple string match and wildcard matching by +checking if the pattern contains one of these three wildcard characters: '<code>*</code>', +'<code>?</code>', and '<code>[</code>' :</p> +<ul> +<li>a '<code>?</code>' matches any single character except a slash (<code>/</code>).</li> +<li>a '<code>*</code>' matches zero or more non-slash characters.</li> +<li>a '<code>**</code>' matches zero or more characters, including slashes.</li> +<li>a '<code>[</code>' introduces a character class, such as <code>[a-z]</code> or <code>[[:alpha:]]</code>, that +must match one character.</li> +<li>a trailing <code>***</code> in the pattern is a shorthand that allows you to match a +directory and all its contents using a single rule. For example, specifying +"<code>dir_name/***</code>" will match both the "dir_name" directory (as if "<code>dir_name/</code>" +had been specified) and everything in the directory (as if "<code>dir_name/**</code>" +had been specified).</li> +<li>a backslash can be used to escape a wildcard character, but it is only +interpreted as an escape character if at least one wildcard character is +present in the match pattern. For instance, the pattern "<code>foo\bar</code>" matches +that single backslash literally, while the pattern "<code>foo\bar*</code>" would need to +be changed to "<code>foo\\bar*</code>" to avoid the "<code>\b</code>" becoming just "b".</li> +</ul> +<p>Here are some examples of exclude/include matching:</p> +<ul> +<li>Option <code>-f'- *.o'</code> would exclude all filenames ending with <code>.o</code></li> +<li>Option <code>-f'- /foo'</code> would exclude a file (or directory) named foo in the +transfer-root directory</li> +<li>Option <code>-f'- foo/'</code> would exclude any directory named foo</li> +<li>Option <code>-f'- foo/*/bar'</code> would exclude any file/dir named bar which is at two +levels below a directory named foo (if foo is in the transfer)</li> +<li>Option <code>-f'- /foo/**/bar'</code> would exclude any file/dir named bar that was two +or more levels below a top-level directory named foo (note that /foo/bar is +<strong>not</strong> excluded by this)</li> +<li>Options <code>-f'+ */' -f'+ *.c' -f'- *'</code> would include all directories and .c +source files but nothing else</li> +<li>Options <code>-f'+ foo/' -f'+ foo/bar.c' -f'- *'</code> would include only the foo +directory and foo/bar.c (the foo directory must be explicitly included or it +would be excluded by the "<code>- *</code>")</li> +</ul> +<h3 id="FILTER_RULE_MODIFIERS">FILTER RULE MODIFIERS<a href="#FILTER_RULE_MODIFIERS" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>The following modifiers are accepted after an include (+) or exclude (-⁠) rule:</p> +<ul> +<li>A <code>/</code> specifies that the include/exclude rule should be matched against the +absolute pathname of the current item. For example, <code>-f'-/ /etc/passwd'</code> +would exclude the passwd file any time the transfer was sending files from +the "/etc" directory, and "-⁠/ subdir/foo" would always exclude "foo" when it +is in a dir named "subdir", even if "foo" is at the root of the current +transfer.</li> +<li>A <code>!</code> specifies that the include/exclude should take effect if the pattern +fails to match. For instance, <code>-f'-! */'</code> would exclude all non-directories.</li> +<li>A <code>C</code> is used to indicate that all the global CVS-exclude rules should be +inserted as excludes in place of the "-⁠C". No arg should follow.</li> +<li>An <code>s</code> is used to indicate that the rule applies to the sending side. When a +rule affects the sending side, it affects what files are put into the +sender's file list. The default is for a rule to affect both sides unless +<a href="#opt--delete-excluded"><code>--delete-excluded</code></a> was specified, in which case default rules become +sender-side only. See also the hide (H) and show (S) rules, which are an +alternate way to specify sending-side includes/excludes.</li> +<li>An <code>r</code> is used to indicate that the rule applies to the receiving side. When +a rule affects the receiving side, it prevents files from being deleted. See +the <code>s</code> modifier for more info. See also the protect (P) and risk (R) rules, +which are an alternate way to specify receiver-side includes/excludes.</li> +<li>A <code>p</code> indicates that a rule is perishable, meaning that it is ignored in +directories that are being deleted. For instance, the +<a href="#opt--cvs-exclude"><code>--cvs-exclude</code></a> (<code>-C</code>) option's default rules that exclude things +like "CVS" and "<code>*.o</code>" are marked as perishable, and will not prevent a +directory that was removed on the source from being deleted on the +destination.</li> +<li>An <code>x</code> indicates that a rule affects xattr names in xattr copy/delete +operations (and is thus ignored when matching file/dir names). If no +xattr-matching rules are specified, a default xattr filtering rule is used +(see the <a href="#opt--xattrs"><code>--xattrs</code></a> option).</li> +</ul> +<h3 id="MERGE-FILE_FILTER_RULES">MERGE-FILE FILTER RULES<a href="#MERGE-FILE_FILTER_RULES" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>You can merge whole files into your filter rules by specifying either a merge +(.) or a dir-merge (:) filter rule (as introduced in the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> +section above).</p> +<p>There are two kinds of merged files -⁠-⁠ single-instance ('.') and per-directory +(':'). A single-instance merge file is read one time, and its rules are +incorporated into the filter list in the place of the "." rule. For +per-directory merge files, rsync will scan every directory that it traverses +for the named file, merging its contents when the file exists into the current +list of inherited rules. These per-directory rule files must be created on the +sending side because it is the sending side that is being scanned for the +available files to transfer. These rule files may also need to be transferred +to the receiving side if you want them to affect what files don't get deleted +(see <a href="#PER-DIRECTORY_RULES_AND_DELETE">PER-DIRECTORY RULES AND DELETE</a> below).</p> +<p>Some examples:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>merge /etc/rsync/default.rules +. /etc/rsync/default.rules +dir-merge .per-dir-filter +dir-merge,n- .non-inherited-per-dir-excludes +:n- .non-inherited-per-dir-excludes +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>The following modifiers are accepted after a merge or dir-merge rule:</p> +<ul> +<li>A <code>-</code> specifies that the file should consist of only exclude patterns, with +no other rule-parsing except for in-file comments.</li> +<li>A <code>+</code> specifies that the file should consist of only include patterns, with +no other rule-parsing except for in-file comments.</li> +<li>A <code>C</code> is a way to specify that the file should be read in a CVS-compatible +manner. This turns on 'n', 'w', and '-⁠', but also allows the list-clearing +token (!) to be specified. If no filename is provided, ".cvsignore" is +assumed.</li> +<li>A <code>e</code> will exclude the merge-file name from the transfer; e.g. "dir-merge,e +.rules" is like "dir-merge .rules" and "-⁠ .rules".</li> +<li>An <code>n</code> specifies that the rules are not inherited by subdirectories.</li> +<li>A <code>w</code> specifies that the rules are word-split on whitespace instead of the +normal line-splitting. This also turns off comments. Note: the space that +separates the prefix from the rule is treated specially, so "-⁠ foo + bar" is +parsed as two rules (assuming that prefix-parsing wasn't also disabled).</li> +<li>You may also specify any of the modifiers for the "+" or "-⁠" rules (above) in +order to have the rules that are read in from the file default to having that +modifier set (except for the <code>!</code> modifier, which would not be useful). For +instance, "merge,-⁠/ .excl" would treat the contents of .excl as absolute-path +excludes, while "dir-merge,s .filt" and ":sC" would each make all their +per-directory rules apply only on the sending side. If the merge rule +specifies sides to affect (via the <code>s</code> or <code>r</code> modifier or both), then the +rules in the file must not specify sides (via a modifier or a rule prefix +such as <code>hide</code>).</li> +</ul> +<p>Per-directory rules are inherited in all subdirectories of the directory where +the merge-file was found unless the 'n' modifier was used. Each subdirectory's +rules are prefixed to the inherited per-directory rules from its parents, which +gives the newest rules a higher priority than the inherited rules. The entire +set of dir-merge rules are grouped together in the spot where the merge-file +was specified, so it is possible to override dir-merge rules via a rule that +got specified earlier in the list of global rules. When the list-clearing rule +("!") is read from a per-directory file, it only clears the inherited rules for +the current merge file.</p> +<p>Another way to prevent a single rule from a dir-merge file from being inherited +is to anchor it with a leading slash. Anchored rules in a per-directory +merge-file are relative to the merge-file's directory, so a pattern "/foo" +would only match the file "foo" in the directory where the dir-merge filter +file was found.</p> +<p>Here's an example filter file which you'd specify via <code>--filter=". file":</code></p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>merge /home/user/.global-filter +- *.gz +dir-merge .rules ++ *.[ch] +- *.o +- foo* +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>This will merge the contents of the /home/user/.global-filter file at the start +of the list and also turns the ".rules" filename into a per-directory filter +file. All rules read in prior to the start of the directory scan follow the +global anchoring rules (i.e. a leading slash matches at the root of the +transfer).</p> +<p>If a per-directory merge-file is specified with a path that is a parent +directory of the first transfer directory, rsync will scan all the parent dirs +from that starting point to the transfer directory for the indicated +per-directory file. For instance, here is a common filter (see <a href="#opt-F"><code>-F</code></a>):</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>--filter=': /.rsync-filter' +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>That rule tells rsync to scan for the file .rsync-filter in all directories +from the root down through the parent directory of the transfer prior to the +start of the normal directory scan of the file in the directories that are sent +as a part of the transfer. (Note: for an rsync daemon, the root is always the +same as the module's "path".)</p> +<p>Some examples of this pre-scanning for per-directory files:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avF /src/path/ /dest/dir +rsync -av --filter=': ../../.rsync-filter' /src/path/ /dest/dir +rsync -av --filter=': .rsync-filter' /src/path/ /dest/dir +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>The first two commands above will look for ".rsync-filter" in "/" and "/src" +before the normal scan begins looking for the file in "/src/path" and its +subdirectories. The last command avoids the parent-dir scan and only looks for +the ".rsync-filter" files in each directory that is a part of the transfer.</p> +<p>If you want to include the contents of a ".cvsignore" in your patterns, you +should use the rule ":C", which creates a dir-merge of the .cvsignore file, but +parsed in a CVS-compatible manner. You can use this to affect where the +<a href="#opt--cvs-exclude"><code>--cvs-exclude</code></a> (<code>-C</code>) option's inclusion of the per-directory +.cvsignore file gets placed into your rules by putting the ":C" wherever you +like in your filter rules. Without this, rsync would add the dir-merge rule +for the .cvsignore file at the end of all your other rules (giving it a lower +priority than your command-line rules). For example:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>cat <<EOT | rsync -avC --filter='. -' a/ b ++ foo.o +:C +- *.old +EOT +rsync -avC --include=foo.o -f :C --exclude='*.old' a/ b +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>Both of the above rsync commands are identical. Each one will merge all the +per-directory .cvsignore rules in the middle of the list rather than at the +end. This allows their dir-specific rules to supersede the rules that follow +the :C instead of being subservient to all your rules. To affect the other CVS +exclude rules (i.e. the default list of exclusions, the contents of +$HOME/.cvsignore, and the value of $CVSIGNORE) you should omit the <code>-C</code> +command-line option and instead insert a "-⁠C" rule into your filter rules; e.g. +"<code>--filter=-C</code>".</p> +<h3 id="LIST-CLEARING_FILTER_RULE">LIST-CLEARING FILTER RULE<a href="#LIST-CLEARING_FILTER_RULE" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>You can clear the current include/exclude list by using the "!" filter rule (as +introduced in the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> section above). The "current" list is either +the global list of rules (if the rule is encountered while parsing the filter +options) or a set of per-directory rules (which are inherited in their own +sub-list, so a subdirectory can use this to clear out the parent's rules).</p> +<h3 id="ANCHORING_INCLUDE_EXCLUDE_PATTERNS">ANCHORING INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERNS<a href="#ANCHORING_INCLUDE_EXCLUDE_PATTERNS" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>As mentioned earlier, global include/exclude patterns are anchored at the "root +of the transfer" (as opposed to per-directory patterns, which are anchored at +the merge-file's directory). If you think of the transfer as a subtree of +names that are being sent from sender to receiver, the transfer-root is where +the tree starts to be duplicated in the destination directory. This root +governs where patterns that start with a / match.</p> +<p>Because the matching is relative to the transfer-root, changing the trailing +slash on a source path or changing your use of the <a href="#opt--relative"><code>--relative</code></a> option +affects the path you need to use in your matching (in addition to changing how +much of the file tree is duplicated on the destination host). The following +examples demonstrate this.</p> +<p>Let's say that we want to match two source files, one with an absolute +path of "/home/me/foo/bar", and one with a path of "/home/you/bar/baz". +Here is how the various command choices differ for a 2-source transfer:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>Example cmd: rsync -a /home/me /home/you /dest ++/- pattern: /me/foo/bar ++/- pattern: /you/bar/baz +Target file: /dest/me/foo/bar +Target file: /dest/you/bar/baz +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>Example cmd: rsync -a /home/me/ /home/you/ /dest ++/- pattern: /foo/bar (note missing "me") ++/- pattern: /bar/baz (note missing "you") +Target file: /dest/foo/bar +Target file: /dest/bar/baz +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>Example cmd: rsync -a --relative /home/me/ /home/you /dest ++/- pattern: /home/me/foo/bar (note full path) ++/- pattern: /home/you/bar/baz (ditto) +Target file: /dest/home/me/foo/bar +Target file: /dest/home/you/bar/baz +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>Example cmd: cd /home; rsync -a --relative me/foo you/ /dest ++/- pattern: /me/foo/bar (starts at specified path) ++/- pattern: /you/bar/baz (ditto) +Target file: /dest/me/foo/bar +Target file: /dest/you/bar/baz +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>The easiest way to see what name you should filter is to just look at the +output when using <a href="#opt--verbose"><code>--verbose</code></a> and put a / in front of the name (use the +<code>--dry-run</code> option if you're not yet ready to copy any files).</p> +<h3 id="PER-DIRECTORY_RULES_AND_DELETE">PER-DIRECTORY RULES AND DELETE<a href="#PER-DIRECTORY_RULES_AND_DELETE" class="tgt"></a></h3> +<p>Without a delete option, per-directory rules are only relevant on the sending +side, so you can feel free to exclude the merge files themselves without +affecting the transfer. To make this easy, the 'e' modifier adds this exclude +for you, as seen in these two equivalent commands:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av --filter=': .excl' --exclude=.excl host:src/dir /dest +rsync -av --filter=':e .excl' host:src/dir /dest +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>However, if you want to do a delete on the receiving side AND you want some +files to be excluded from being deleted, you'll need to be sure that the +receiving side knows what files to exclude. The easiest way is to include the +per-directory merge files in the transfer and use <a href="#opt--delete-after"><code>--delete-after</code></a>, +because this ensures that the receiving side gets all the same exclude rules as +the sending side before it tries to delete anything:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -avF --delete-after host:src/dir /dest +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>However, if the merge files are not a part of the transfer, you'll need to +either specify some global exclude rules (i.e. specified on the command line), +or you'll need to maintain your own per-directory merge files on the receiving +side. An example of the first is this (assume that the remote .rules files +exclude themselves):</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av --filter=': .rules' --filter='. /my/extra.rules' + --delete host:src/dir /dest +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>In the above example the extra.rules file can affect both sides of the +transfer, but (on the sending side) the rules are subservient to the rules +merged from the .rules files because they were specified after the +per-directory merge rule.</p> +<p>In one final example, the remote side is excluding the .rsync-filter files from +the transfer, but we want to use our own .rsync-filter files to control what +gets deleted on the receiving side. To do this we must specifically exclude +the per-directory merge files (so that they don't get deleted) and then put +rules into the local files to control what else should not get deleted. Like +one of these commands:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>rsync -av --filter=':e /.rsync-filter' --delete \ + host:src/dir /dest +rsync -avFF --delete host:src/dir /dest +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<h2 id="TRANSFER_RULES">TRANSFER RULES<a href="#TRANSFER_RULES" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>In addition to the <a href="#FILTER_RULES">FILTER RULES</a> that affect the recursive file scans that +generate the file list on the sending and (when deleting) receiving sides, +there are transfer rules. These rules affect which files the generator decides +need to be transferred without the side effects of an exclude filter rule. +Transfer rules affect only files and never directories.</p> +<p>Because a transfer rule does not affect what goes into the sender's (and +receiver's) file list, it cannot have any effect on which files get deleted on +the receiving side. For example, if the file "foo" is present in the sender's +list but its size is such that it is omitted due to a transfer rule, the +receiving side does not request the file. However, its presence in the file +list means that a delete pass will not remove a matching file named "foo" on +the receiving side. On the other hand, a server-side exclude (hide) of the +file "foo" leaves the file out of the server's file list, and absent a +receiver-side exclude (protect) the receiver will remove a matching file named +"foo" if deletions are requested.</p> +<p>Given that the files are still in the sender's file list, the +<a href="#opt--prune-empty-dirs"><code>--prune-empty-dirs</code></a> option will not judge a directory as being empty +even if it contains only files that the transfer rules omitted.</p> +<p>Similarly, a transfer rule does not have any extra effect on which files are +deleted on the receiving side, so setting a maximum file size for the transfer +does not prevent big files from being deleted.</p> +<p>Examples of transfer rules include the default "quick check" algorithm (which +compares size & modify time), the <a href="#opt--update"><code>--update</code></a> option, the +<a href="#opt--max-size"><code>--max-size</code></a> option, the <a href="#opt--ignore-non-existing"><code>--ignore-non-existing</code></a> option, and a +few others.</p> +<h2 id="BATCH_MODE">BATCH MODE<a href="#BATCH_MODE" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>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 in a "batch file" all the information needed to repeat +this operation against other, identical destination trees.</p> +<p>Generating the batch file 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.</p> +<p>To apply the recorded changes to another destination tree, run rsync with the +read-batch option, specifying the name of the same batch file, and the +destination tree. Rsync updates the destination tree using the information +stored in the batch file.</p> +<p>For your convenience, a script file is also created when the write-batch option +is used: it will be named the same as the batch file with ".sh" appended. This +script file contains a command-line suitable for updating a destination tree +using the associated batch file. It can be executed using a Bourne (or +Bourne-like) shell, optionally passing in an alternate destination tree +pathname which is then used instead of the original destination path. This is +useful when the destination tree path on the current host differs from the one +used to create the batch file.</p> +<p>Examples:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>$ rsync --write-batch=foo -a host:/source/dir/ /adest/dir/ +$ scp foo* remote: +$ ssh remote ./foo.sh /bdest/dir/ +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>$ rsync --write-batch=foo -a /source/dir/ /adest/dir/ +$ ssh remote rsync --read-batch=- -a /bdest/dir/ <foo +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>In these examples, rsync is used to update /adest/dir/ from /source/dir/ and +the information to repeat this operation is stored in "foo" and "foo.sh". The +host "remote" is then updated with the batched data going into the directory +/bdest/dir. The differences between the two examples reveals some of the +flexibility you have in how you deal with batches:</p> +<ul> +<li>The first example shows that the initial copy doesn't have to be local -⁠-⁠ you +can push or pull data to/from a remote host using either the remote-shell +syntax or rsync daemon syntax, as desired.</li> +<li>The first example uses the created "foo.sh" file to get the right rsync +options when running the read-batch command on the remote host.</li> +<li>The second example reads the batch data via standard input so that the batch +file doesn't need to be copied to the remote machine first. This example +avoids the foo.sh script because it needed to use a modified +<a href="#opt--read-batch"><code>--read-batch</code></a> option, but you could edit the script file if you +wished to make use of it (just be sure that no other option is trying to use +standard input, such as the <a href="#opt--exclude-from"><code>--exclude-from=-</code></a> option).</li> +</ul> +<p>Caveats:</p> +<p>The read-batch option expects the destination tree that it is updating 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 might be discarded with a warning (if the file appears to be up-to-date +already) or the file-update may be attempted and then, if the file fails to +verify, the update discarded with an error. This means that it should be safe +to re-run a read-batch operation if the command got interrupted. If you wish +to force the batched-update to always be attempted regardless of the file's +size and date, use the <a href="#opt-I"><code>-I</code></a> option (when reading the batch). If an +error occurs, the destination tree will probably be 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.</p> +<p>The rsync version used on all destinations must be at least as new as the one +used to generate the batch file. Rsync will die with an error if the protocol +version in the batch file is too new for the batch-reading rsync to handle. +See also the <a href="#opt--protocol"><code>--protocol</code></a> option for a way to have the creating rsync +generate a batch file that an older rsync can understand. (Note that batch +files changed format in version 2.6.3, so mixing versions older than that with +newer versions will not work.)</p> +<p>When reading a batch file, rsync will force the value of certain options to +match the data in the batch file if you didn't set them to the same as the +batch-writing command. Other options can (and should) be changed. For +instance <a href="#opt--write-batch"><code>--write-batch</code></a> changes to <a href="#opt--read-batch"><code>--read-batch</code></a>, +<a href="#opt--files-from"><code>--files-from</code></a> is dropped, and the <a href="#opt--filter"><code>--filter</code></a> / +<a href="#opt--include"><code>--include</code></a> / <a href="#opt--exclude"><code>--exclude</code></a> options are not needed unless one of +the <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> options is specified.</p> +<p>The code that creates the BATCH.sh file transforms any filter/include/exclude +options into a single list that is appended as a "here" document to the shell +script file. An advanced user can use this to modify the exclude list if a +change in what gets deleted by <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> is desired. A normal user +can ignore this detail and just use the shell script as an easy way to run the +appropriate <a href="#opt--read-batch"><code>--read-batch</code></a> command for the batched data.</p> +<p>The original batch mode in rsync was based on "rsync+", but the latest +version uses a new implementation.</p> +<h2 id="SYMBOLIC_LINKS">SYMBOLIC LINKS<a href="#SYMBOLIC_LINKS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Three basic behaviors are possible when rsync encounters a symbolic +link in the source directory.</p> +<p>By default, symbolic links are not transferred at all. A message "skipping +non-regular" file is emitted for any symlinks that exist.</p> +<p>If <a href="#opt--links"><code>--links</code></a> is specified, then symlinks are added to the transfer +(instead of being noisily ignored), and the default handling is to recreate +them with the same target on the destination. Note that <a href="#opt--archive"><code>--archive</code></a> +implies <a href="#opt--links"><code>--links</code></a>.</p> +<p>If <a href="#opt--copy-links"><code>--copy-links</code></a> is specified, then symlinks are "collapsed" by +copying their referent, rather than the symlink.</p> +<p>Rsync can also distinguish "safe" and "unsafe" symbolic links. An example +where this might be used is a web site mirror that wishes to ensure that the +rsync module that is copied does not include symbolic links to <code>/etc/passwd</code> in +the public section of the site. Using <a href="#opt--copy-unsafe-links"><code>--copy-unsafe-links</code></a> will cause +any links to be copied as the file they point to on the destination. Using +<a href="#opt--safe-links"><code>--safe-links</code></a> will cause unsafe links to be omitted by the receiver. +(Note that you must specify or imply <a href="#opt--links"><code>--links</code></a> for +<a href="#opt--safe-links"><code>--safe-links</code></a> to have any effect.)</p> +<p>Symbolic links are considered unsafe if they are absolute symlinks (start with +<code>/</code>), empty, or if they contain enough ".." components to ascend from the top +of the transfer.</p> +<p>Here's a summary of how the symlink options are interpreted. The list is in +order of precedence, so if your combination of options isn't mentioned, use the +first line that is a complete subset of your options:</p> +<dl> +<dt><code>--copy-links</code></dt><dd> Turn all symlinks into normal files and directories +(leaving no symlinks in the transfer for any other options to affect).</dd> +<dt><code>--copy-dirlinks</code></dt><dd> Turn just symlinks to directories into real +directories, leaving all other symlinks to be handled as described below.</dd> +<dt><code>--links --copy-unsafe-links</code></dt><dd> Turn all unsafe symlinks +into files and create all safe symlinks.</dd> +<dt><code>--copy-unsafe-links</code></dt><dd> Turn all unsafe symlinks into files, noisily +skip all safe symlinks.</dd> +<dt><code>--links --safe-links</code></dt><dd> The receiver skips creating +unsafe symlinks found in the transfer and creates the safe ones.</dd> +<dt><code>--links</code></dt><dd> Create all symlinks.</dd> +</dl> +<p>For the effect of <a href="#opt--munge-links"><code>--munge-links</code></a>, see the discussion in that option's +section.</p> +<p>Note that the <a href="#opt--keep-dirlinks"><code>--keep-dirlinks</code></a> option does not effect symlinks in the +transfer but instead affects how rsync treats a symlink to a directory that +already exists on the receiving side. See that option's section for a warning.</p> +<h2 id="DIAGNOSTICS">DIAGNOSTICS<a href="#DIAGNOSTICS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Rsync occasionally produces error messages that may seem a little cryptic. The +one that seems to cause the most confusion is "protocol version mismatch -⁠-⁠ is +your shell clean?".</p> +<p>This message is usually caused by your startup scripts or remote shell facility +producing unwanted garbage on the stream that rsync is using for its transport. +The way to diagnose this problem is to run your remote shell like this:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre><code>ssh remotehost /bin/true > out.dat +</code></pre> +</blockquote> +<p>then look at out.dat. If everything is working correctly then out.dat 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.</p> +<p>If you are having trouble debugging filter patterns, then try specifying the +<code>-vv</code> option. At this level of verbosity rsync will show why each individual +file is included or excluded.</p> +<h2 id="EXIT_VALUES">EXIT VALUES<a href="#EXIT_VALUES" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<ul> +<li><strong>0</strong> -⁠ Success</li> +<li><strong>1</strong> -⁠ Syntax or usage error</li> +<li><strong>2</strong> -⁠ Protocol incompatibility</li> +<li><strong>3</strong> -⁠ Errors selecting input/output files, dirs</li> +<li><strong>4</strong> -⁠ Requested action not supported. Either: +<ul> +<li>an attempt was made to manipulate 64-bit files on a platform that cannot support them</li> +<li>an option was specified that is supported by the client and not by the server</li> +</ul> +</li> +<li><strong>5</strong> -⁠ Error starting client-server protocol</li> +<li><strong>6</strong> -⁠ Daemon unable to append to log-file</li> +<li><strong>10</strong> -⁠ Error in socket I/O</li> +<li><strong>11</strong> -⁠ Error in file I/O</li> +<li><strong>12</strong> -⁠ Error in rsync protocol data stream</li> +<li><strong>13</strong> -⁠ Errors with program diagnostics</li> +<li><strong>14</strong> -⁠ Error in IPC code</li> +<li><strong>20</strong> -⁠ Received SIGUSR1 or SIGINT</li> +<li><strong>21</strong> -⁠ Some error returned by <strong>waitpid()</strong></li> +<li><strong>22</strong> -⁠ Error allocating core memory buffers</li> +<li><strong>23</strong> -⁠ Partial transfer due to error</li> +<li><strong>24</strong> -⁠ Partial transfer due to vanished source files</li> +<li><strong>25</strong> -⁠ The -⁠-⁠max-delete limit stopped deletions</li> +<li><strong>30</strong> -⁠ Timeout in data send/receive</li> +<li><strong>35</strong> -⁠ Timeout waiting for daemon connection</li> +</ul> +<h2 id="ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES">ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES<a href="#ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<dl> + +<dt id="CVSIGNORE"><code>CVSIGNORE</code><a href="#CVSIGNORE" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>The CVSIGNORE environment variable supplements any ignore patterns in +.cvsignore files. See the <a href="#opt--cvs-exclude"><code>--cvs-exclude</code></a> option for more details.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_ICONV"><code>RSYNC_ICONV</code><a href="#RSYNC_ICONV" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Specify a default <a href="#opt--iconv"><code>--iconv</code></a> setting using this environment +variable. First supported in 3.0.0.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_OLD_ARGS"><code>RSYNC_OLD_ARGS</code><a href="#RSYNC_OLD_ARGS" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Specify a "1" if you want the <a href="#opt--old-args"><code>--old-args</code></a> option to be enabled by +default, a "2" (or more) if you want it to be enabled in the +repeated-option state, or a "0" to make sure that it is disabled by +default. When this environment variable is set to a non-zero value, it +supersedes the <a href="#RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS"><code>RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS</code></a> variable.</p> +<p>This variable is ignored if <a href="#opt--old-args"><code>--old-args</code></a>, <code>--no-old-args</code>, or +<a href="#opt--secluded-args"><code>--secluded-args</code></a> is specified on the command line.</p> +<p>First supported in 3.2.4.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS"><code>RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS</code><a href="#RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>Specify a non-zero numeric value if you want the <a href="#opt--secluded-args"><code>--secluded-args</code></a> +option to be enabled by default, or a zero value to make sure that it is +disabled by default.</p> +<p>This variable is ignored if <a href="#opt--secluded-args"><code>--secluded-args</code></a>, <code>--no-secluded-args</code>, +or <a href="#opt--old-args"><code>--old-args</code></a> is specified on the command line.</p> +<p>First supported in 3.1.0. Starting in 3.2.4, this variable is ignored if +<a href="#RSYNC_OLD_ARGS"><code>RSYNC_OLD_ARGS</code></a> is set to a non-zero value.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_RSH"><code>RSYNC_RSH</code><a href="#RSYNC_RSH" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable allows you to override the default shell used as +the transport for rsync. Command line options are permitted after the +command name, just as in the <a href="#opt--rsh"><code>--rsh</code></a> (<code>-e</code>) option.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_PROXY"><code>RSYNC_PROXY</code><a href="#RSYNC_PROXY" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable allows you to redirect your rsync +client to use a web proxy when connecting to an rsync daemon. You should +set <code>RSYNC_PROXY</code> to a hostname:port pair.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_PASSWORD"><code>RSYNC_PASSWORD</code><a href="#RSYNC_PASSWORD" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable allows you to set the password for an rsync +<strong>daemon</strong> connection, which avoids the password prompt. Note that this +does <strong>not</strong> supply a password to a remote shell transport such as ssh +(consult its documentation for how to do that).</p> +</dd> + +<span id="LOGNAME"></span><dt id="USER"><code>USER</code> or <code>LOGNAME</code><a href="#USER" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>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". If both are set, <code>USER</code> takes precedence.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR"><code>RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR</code><a href="#RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable specifies the directory to use for a +<a href="#opt--partial"><code>--partial</code></a> transfer without implying that partial transfers be +enabled. See the <a href="#opt--partial-dir"><code>--partial-dir</code></a> option for full details.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_COMPRESS_LIST"><code>RSYNC_COMPRESS_LIST</code><a href="#RSYNC_COMPRESS_LIST" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable allows you to customize the negotiation of the +compression algorithm by specifying an alternate order or a reduced list of +names. Use the command <code>rsync --version</code> to see the available compression +names. See the <a href="#opt--compress"><code>--compress</code></a> option for full details.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_CHECKSUM_LIST"><code>RSYNC_CHECKSUM_LIST</code><a href="#RSYNC_CHECKSUM_LIST" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable allows you to customize the negotiation of the +checksum algorithm by specifying an alternate order or a reduced list of +names. Use the command <code>rsync --version</code> to see the available checksum +names. See the <a href="#opt--checksum-choice"><code>--checksum-choice</code></a> option for full details.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_MAX_ALLOC"><code>RSYNC_MAX_ALLOC</code><a href="#RSYNC_MAX_ALLOC" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable sets an allocation maximum as if you had used the +<a href="#opt--max-alloc"><code>--max-alloc</code></a> option.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_PORT"><code>RSYNC_PORT</code><a href="#RSYNC_PORT" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable is not read by rsync, but is instead set in +its sub-environment when rsync is running the remote shell in combination +with a daemon connection. This allows a script such as +<a href="rsync-ssl.1"><code>rsync-ssl</code></a> to be able to know the port number that the user +specified on the command line.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="HOME"><code>HOME</code><a href="#HOME" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable is used to find the user's default .cvsignore +file.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG"><code>RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG</code><a href="#RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable is mainly used in debug setups to set the program +to use when making a daemon connection. See <a href="#CONNECTING_TO_AN_RSYNC_DAEMON">CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC +DAEMON</a> for full details.</p> +</dd> + +<dt id="RSYNC_SHELL"><code>RSYNC_SHELL</code><a href="#RSYNC_SHELL" class="tgt"></a></dt><dd> +<p>This environment variable is mainly used in debug setups to set the program +to use to run the program specified by <a href="#RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG"><code>RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG</code></a>. See +<a href="#CONNECTING_TO_AN_RSYNC_DAEMON">CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON</a> for full details.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<h2 id="FILES">FILES<a href="#FILES" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>/etc/rsyncd.conf or rsyncd.conf</p> +<h2 id="SEE_ALSO">SEE ALSO<a href="#SEE_ALSO" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p><a href="rsync-ssl.1"><strong>rsync-ssl</strong>(1)</a>, <a href="rsyncd.conf.5"><strong>rsyncd.conf</strong>(5)</a>, <a href="rrsync.1"><strong>rrsync</strong>(1)</a></p> +<h2 id="BUGS">BUGS<a href="#BUGS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<ul> +<li>Times are transferred as *nix time_t values.</li> +<li>When transferring to FAT filesystems rsync may re-sync unmodified files. See +the comments on the <a href="#opt--modify-window"><code>--modify-window</code></a> option.</li> +<li>File permissions, devices, etc. are transferred as native numerical values.</li> +<li>See also the comments on the <a href="#opt--delete"><code>--delete</code></a> option.</li> +</ul> +<p>Please report bugs! See the web site at <a href="https://rsync.samba.org/">https://rsync.samba.org/</a>.</p> +<h2 id="VERSION">VERSION<a href="#VERSION" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>This manpage is current for version 3.2.7 of rsync.</p> +<h2 id="INTERNAL_OPTIONS">INTERNAL OPTIONS<a href="#INTERNAL_OPTIONS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>The options <code>--server</code> and <code>--sender</code> are used internally by rsync, and should +never be typed by a user under normal circumstances. Some awareness of these +options may be needed in certain scenarios, such as when setting up a login +that can only run an rsync command. For instance, the support directory of the +rsync distribution has an example script named rrsync (for restricted rsync) +that can be used with a restricted ssh login.</p> +<h2 id="CREDITS">CREDITS<a href="#CREDITS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Rsync is distributed under the GNU General Public License. See the file +<a href="COPYING">COPYING</a> for details.</p> +<p>An rsync web site is available at <a href="https://rsync.samba.org/">https://rsync.samba.org/</a>. The site +includes an FAQ-O-Matic which may cover questions unanswered by this manual +page.</p> +<p>The rsync github project is <a href="https://github.com/WayneD/rsync">https://github.com/WayneD/rsync</a>.</p> +<p>We would be delighted to hear from you if you like this program. Please +contact the mailing-list at <a href="mailto:rsync@lists.samba.org">rsync@lists.samba.org</a>.</p> +<p>This program uses the excellent zlib compression library written by Jean-loup +Gailly and Mark Adler.</p> +<h2 id="THANKS">THANKS<a href="#THANKS" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Special 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.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<h2 id="AUTHOR">AUTHOR<a href="#AUTHOR" class="tgt"></a></h2> +<p>Rsync was originally written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras. Many +people have later contributed to it. It is currently maintained by Wayne +Davison.</p> +<p>Mailing lists for support and development are available at +<a href="https://lists.samba.org/">https://lists.samba.org/</a>.</p> +<div style="float: right"><p><i>20 Oct 2022</i></p></div> +</body></html> |