3 rsync - a fast, versatile, remote (and local) file-copying tool
9 rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [DEST]
11 Access via remote shell:
13 rsync [OPTION...] [USER@]HOST:SRC... [DEST]
15 rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [USER@]HOST:DEST
17 Access via rsync daemon:
19 rsync [OPTION...] [USER@]HOST::SRC... [DEST]
20 rsync [OPTION...] rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/SRC... [DEST]
22 rsync [OPTION...] SRC... [USER@]HOST::DEST
23 rsync [OPTION...] SRC... rsync://[USER@]HOST[:PORT]/DEST)
26 Usages with just one SRC arg and no DEST arg will list the source files instead
29 The online version of this manpage (that includes cross-linking of topics)
30 is available at <https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/rsync.1>.
34 Rsync is a fast and extraordinarily versatile file copying tool. It can copy
35 locally, to/from another host over any remote shell, or to/from a remote rsync
36 daemon. It offers a large number of options that control every aspect of its
37 behavior and permit very flexible specification of the set of files to be
38 copied. It is famous for its delta-transfer algorithm, which reduces the
39 amount of data sent over the network by sending only the differences between
40 the source files and the existing files in the destination. Rsync is widely
41 used for backups and mirroring and as an improved copy command for everyday
44 Rsync finds files that need to be transferred using a "quick check" algorithm
45 (by default) that looks for files that have changed in size or in last-modified
46 time. Any changes in the other preserved attributes (as requested by options)
47 are made on the destination file directly when the quick check indicates that
48 the file's data does not need to be updated.
50 Some of the additional features of rsync are:
52 - support for copying links, devices, owners, groups, and permissions
53 - exclude and exclude-from options similar to GNU tar
54 - a CVS exclude mode for ignoring the same files that CVS would ignore
55 - can use any transparent remote shell, including ssh or rsh
56 - does not require super-user privileges
57 - pipelining of file transfers to minimize latency costs
58 - support for anonymous or authenticated rsync daemons (ideal for mirroring)
62 Rsync copies files either to or from a remote host, or locally on the current
63 host (it does not support copying files between two remote hosts).
65 There are two different ways for rsync to contact a remote system: using a
66 remote-shell program as the transport (such as ssh or rsh) or contacting an
67 rsync daemon directly via TCP. The remote-shell transport is used whenever the
68 source or destination path contains a single colon (:) separator after a host
69 specification. Contacting an rsync daemon directly happens when the source or
70 destination path contains a double colon (::) separator after a host
71 specification, OR when an rsync:// URL is specified (see also the [USING
72 RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION](#) section for an
73 exception to this latter rule).
75 As a special case, if a single source arg is specified without a destination,
76 the files are listed in an output format similar to "`ls -l`".
78 As expected, if neither the source or destination path specify a remote host,
79 the copy occurs locally (see also the [`--list-only`](#opt) option).
81 Rsync refers to the local side as the client and the remote side as the server.
82 Don't confuse server with an rsync daemon. A daemon is always a server, but a
83 server can be either a daemon or a remote-shell spawned process.
87 See the file README.md for installation instructions.
89 Once installed, you can use rsync to any machine that you can access via a
90 remote shell (as well as some that you can access using the rsync daemon-mode
91 protocol). For remote transfers, a modern rsync uses ssh for its
92 communications, but it may have been configured to use a different remote shell
93 by default, such as rsh or remsh.
95 You can also specify any remote shell you like, either by using the [`-e`](#opt)
96 command line option, or by setting the [`RSYNC_RSH`](#) environment variable.
98 Note that rsync must be installed on both the source and destination machines.
102 You use rsync in the same way you use rcp. You must specify a source and a
103 destination, one of which may be remote.
105 Perhaps the best way to explain the syntax is with some examples:
107 > rsync -t *.c foo:src/
109 This would transfer all files matching the pattern `*.c` from the current
110 directory to the directory src on the machine foo. If any of the files already
111 exist on the remote system then the rsync remote-update protocol is used to
112 update the file by sending only the differences in the data. Note that the
113 expansion of wildcards on the command-line (`*.c`) into a list of files is
114 handled by the shell before it runs rsync and not by rsync itself (exactly the
115 same as all other Posix-style programs).
117 > rsync -avz foo:src/bar /data/tmp
119 This would recursively transfer all files from the directory src/bar on the
120 machine foo into the /data/tmp/bar directory on the local machine. The files
121 are transferred in archive mode, which ensures that symbolic links, devices,
122 attributes, permissions, ownerships, etc. are preserved in the transfer.
123 Additionally, compression will be used to reduce the size of data portions of
126 > rsync -avz foo:src/bar/ /data/tmp
128 A trailing slash on the source changes this behavior to avoid creating an
129 additional directory level at the destination. You can think of a trailing /
130 on a source as meaning "copy the contents of this directory" as opposed to
131 "copy the directory by name", but in both cases the attributes of the
132 containing directory are transferred to the containing directory on the
133 destination. In other words, each of the following commands copies the files
134 in the same way, including their setting of the attributes of /dest/foo:
136 > rsync -av /src/foo /dest
137 > rsync -av /src/foo/ /dest/foo
139 Note also that host and module references don't require a trailing slash to
140 copy the contents of the default directory. For example, both of these copy
141 the remote directory's contents into "/dest":
143 > rsync -av host: /dest
144 > rsync -av host::module /dest
146 You can also use rsync in local-only mode, where both the source and
147 destination don't have a ':' in the name. In this case it behaves like an
148 improved copy command.
150 Finally, you can list all the (listable) modules available from a particular
151 rsync daemon by leaving off the module name:
153 > rsync somehost.mydomain.com::
155 ## COPYING TO A DIFFERENT NAME
157 When you want to copy a directory to a different name, use a trailing slash on
158 the source directory to put the contents of the directory into any destination
161 > rsync -ai foo/ bar/
163 Rsync also has the ability to customize a destination file's name when copying
164 a single item. The rules for this are:
166 - The transfer list must consist of a single item (either a file or an empty
168 - The final element of the destination path must not exist as a directory
169 - The destination path must not have been specified with a trailing slash
171 Under those circumstances, rsync will set the name of the destination's single
172 item to the last element of the destination path. Keep in mind that it is best
173 to only use this idiom when copying a file and use the above trailing-slash
174 idiom when copying a directory.
176 The following example copies file foo.c file as bar.c in the "dest" dir
177 (assuming that bar.c isn't a directory):
179 > rsync -ai src/foo.c dest/bar.c
181 The single-item rename rule might accidentally bite you if you unknowingly copy
182 a single item and specify a destination dir that doesn't exist (without using a
183 trailing slash). For example, if `src/*.c` matches just one file and
184 `dest/dir` doesn't exist yet, this will confuse you by renaming the file to the
187 > rsync -ai src/*.c dest/dir
189 To prevent accidental renaming, either make sure the destination dir already
190 exists or specify a destination path with a trailing slash:
192 > rsync -ai src/*.c dest/dir/
194 ## SORTED TRANSFER ORDER
196 Rsync always sorts the specified filenames into its internal transfer list.
197 This handles the merging together of the contents of identically named
198 directories, makes it easy to remove duplicate filenames. It can, however,
199 confuse someone when the files are transferred in a different order than what
200 was given on the command-line.
202 If you need a particular file to be transferred prior to another, either
203 separate the files into different rsync calls, or consider using
204 [`--delay-updates`](#opt) (which doesn't affect the sorted transfer order, but
205 does make the final file-updating phase happen much more rapidly).
207 ## MULTI-HOST SECURITY
209 Rsync takes steps to ensure that the file requests that are shared in a
210 transfer are protected against various security issues. Most of the potential
211 problems arise on the receiving side where rsync takes steps to ensure that the
212 list of files being transferred remains within the bounds of what was
215 Toward this end, rsync 3.1.2 and later have aborted when a file list contains
216 an absolute or relative path that tries to escape out of the top of the
217 transfer. Also, beginning with version 3.2.5, rsync does two more safety
218 checks of the file list to (1) ensure that no extra source arguments were added
219 into the transfer other than those that the client requested and (2) ensure
220 that the file list obeys the exclude rules that were sent to the sender.
222 For those that don't yet have a 3.2.5 client rsync (or those that want to be
223 extra careful), it is safest to do a copy into a dedicated destination
224 directory for the remote files when you don't trust the remote host. For
225 example, instead of doing an rsync copy into your home directory:
227 > rsync -aiv host1:dir1 ~
229 Dedicate a "host1-files" dir to the remote content:
231 > rsync -aiv host1:dir1 ~/host1-files
233 See the [`--trust-sender`](#opt) option for additional details.
235 CAUTION: it is not particularly safe to use rsync to copy files from a
236 case-preserving filesystem to a case-ignoring filesystem. If you must perform
237 such a copy, you should either disable symlinks via `--no-links` or enable the
238 munging of symlinks via [`--munge-links`](#opt) (and make sure you use the
239 right local or remote option). This will prevent rsync from doing potentially
240 dangerous things if a symlink name overlaps with a file or directory. It does
241 not, however, ensure that you get a full copy of all the files (since that may
242 not be possible when the names overlap). A potentially better solution is to
243 list all the source files and create a safe list of filenames that you pass to
244 the [`--files-from`](#opt) option. Any files that conflict in name would need
245 to be copied to different destination directories using more than one copy.
247 While a copy of a case-ignoring filesystem to a case-ignoring filesystem can
248 work out fairly well, if no `--delete-during` or `--delete-before` option is
249 active, rsync can potentially update an existing file on the receiveing side
250 without noticing that the upper-/lower-case of the filename should be changed
255 The syntax for requesting multiple files from a remote host is done by
256 specifying additional remote-host args in the same style as the first, or with
257 the hostname omitted. For instance, all these work:
259 > rsync -aiv host:file1 :file2 host:file{3,4} /dest/
260 > rsync -aiv host::modname/file{1,2} host::modname/extra /dest/
261 > rsync -aiv host::modname/first ::extra-file{1,2} /dest/
263 Note that a daemon connection only supports accessing one module per copy
264 command, so if the start of a follow-up path doesn't begin with the
265 modname of the first path, it is assumed to be a path in the module (such as
266 the extra-file1 & extra-file2 that are grabbed above).
268 Really old versions of rsync (2.6.9 and before) only allowed specifying one
269 remote-source arg, so some people have instead relied on the remote-shell
270 performing space splitting to break up an arg into multiple paths. Such
271 unintuitive behavior is no longer supported by default (though you can request
272 it, as described below).
274 Starting in 3.2.4, filenames are passed to a remote shell in such a way as to
275 preserve the characters you give it. Thus, if you ask for a file with spaces
276 in the name, that's what the remote rsync looks for:
278 > rsync -aiv host:'a simple file.pdf' /dest/
280 If you use scripts that have been written to manually apply extra quoting to
281 the remote rsync args (or to require remote arg splitting), you can ask rsync
282 to let your script handle the extra escaping. This is done by either adding
283 the [`--old-args`](#opt) option to the rsync runs in the script (which requires
284 a new rsync) or exporting [RSYNC_OLD_ARGS](#)=1 and [RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS](#)=0
285 (which works with old or new rsync versions).
287 ## CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON
289 It is also possible to use rsync without a remote shell as the transport. In
290 this case you will directly connect to a remote rsync daemon, typically using
291 TCP port 873. (This obviously requires the daemon to be running on the remote
292 system, so refer to the [STARTING AN RSYNC DAEMON TO ACCEPT CONNECTIONS](#)
293 section below for information on that.)
295 Using rsync in this way is the same as using it with a remote shell except
298 - Use either double-colon syntax or rsync:// URL syntax instead of the
299 single-colon (remote shell) syntax.
300 - The first element of the "path" is actually a module name.
301 - Additional remote source args can use an abbreviated syntax that omits the
302 hostname and/or the module name, as discussed in [ADVANCED USAGE](#).
303 - The remote daemon may print a "message of the day" when you connect.
304 - If you specify only the host (with no module or path) then a list of
305 accessible modules on the daemon is output.
306 - If you specify a remote source path but no destination, a listing of the
307 matching files on the remote daemon is output.
308 - The [`--rsh`](#opt) (`-e`) option must be omitted to avoid changing the
309 connection style from using a socket connection to [USING RSYNC-DAEMON
310 FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION](#).
312 An example that copies all the files in a remote module named "src":
314 > rsync -av host::src /dest
316 Some modules on the remote daemon may require authentication. If so, you will
317 receive a password prompt when you connect. You can avoid the password prompt
318 by setting the environment variable [`RSYNC_PASSWORD`](#) to the password you
319 want to use or using the [`--password-file`](#opt) option. This may be useful
320 when scripting rsync.
322 WARNING: On some systems environment variables are visible to all users. On
323 those systems using [`--password-file`](#opt) is recommended.
325 You may establish the connection via a web proxy by setting the environment
326 variable [`RSYNC_PROXY`](#) to a hostname:port pair pointing to your web proxy.
327 Note that your web proxy's configuration must support proxy connections to port
330 You may also establish a daemon connection using a program as a proxy by
331 setting the environment variable [`RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG`](#) to the commands you
332 wish to run in place of making a direct socket connection. The string may
333 contain the escape "%H" to represent the hostname specified in the rsync
334 command (so use "%%" if you need a single "%" in your string). For example:
336 > export RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG='ssh proxyhost nc %H 873'
337 > rsync -av targethost1::module/src/ /dest/
338 > rsync -av rsync://targethost2/module/src/ /dest/
340 The command specified above uses ssh to run nc (netcat) on a proxyhost, which
341 forwards all data to port 873 (the rsync daemon) on the targethost (%H).
343 Note also that if the [`RSYNC_SHELL`](#) environment variable is set, that
344 program will be used to run the `RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG` command instead of using
345 the default shell of the **system()** call.
347 ## USING RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL CONNECTION
349 It is sometimes useful to use various features of an rsync daemon (such as
350 named modules) without actually allowing any new socket connections into a
351 system (other than what is already required to allow remote-shell access).
352 Rsync supports connecting to a host using a remote shell and then spawning a
353 single-use "daemon" server that expects to read its config file in the home dir
354 of the remote user. This can be useful if you want to encrypt a daemon-style
355 transfer's data, but since the daemon is started up fresh by the remote user,
356 you may not be able to use features such as chroot or change the uid used by
357 the daemon. (For another way to encrypt a daemon transfer, consider using ssh
358 to tunnel a local port to a remote machine and configure a normal rsync daemon
359 on that remote host to only allow connections from "localhost".)
361 From the user's perspective, a daemon transfer via a remote-shell connection
362 uses nearly the same command-line syntax as a normal rsync-daemon transfer,
363 with the only exception being that you must explicitly set the remote shell
364 program on the command-line with the [`--rsh=COMMAND`](#opt) option. (Setting the
365 RSYNC_RSH in the environment will not turn on this functionality.) For example:
367 > rsync -av --rsh=ssh host::module /dest
369 If you need to specify a different remote-shell user, keep in mind that the
370 user@ prefix in front of the host is specifying the rsync-user value (for a
371 module that requires user-based authentication). This means that you must give
372 the '-l user' option to ssh when specifying the remote-shell, as in this
373 example that uses the short version of the [`--rsh`](#opt) option:
375 > rsync -av -e "ssh -l ssh-user" rsync-user@host::module /dest
377 The "ssh-user" will be used at the ssh level; the "rsync-user" will be used to
378 log-in to the "module".
380 In this setup, the daemon is started by the ssh command that is accessing the
381 system (which can be forced via the `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` file, if desired).
382 However, when accessing a daemon directly, it needs to be started beforehand.
384 ## STARTING AN RSYNC DAEMON TO ACCEPT CONNECTIONS
386 In order to connect to an rsync daemon, the remote system needs to have a
387 daemon already running (or it needs to have configured something like inetd to
388 spawn an rsync daemon for incoming connections on a particular port). For full
389 information on how to start a daemon that will handling incoming socket
390 connections, see the [**rsyncd.conf**(5)](rsyncd.conf.5) manpage -- that is
391 the config file for the daemon, and it contains the full details for how to run
392 the daemon (including stand-alone and inetd configurations).
394 If you're using one of the remote-shell transports for the transfer, there is
395 no need to manually start an rsync daemon.
399 Here are some examples of how rsync can be used.
401 To backup a home directory, which consists of large MS Word files and mail
402 folders, a per-user cron job can be used that runs this each day:
404 > rsync -aiz . bkhost:backup/joe/
406 To move some files from a remote host to the local host, you could run:
408 > rsync -aiv --remove-source-files rhost:/tmp/{file1,file2}.c ~/src/
412 Here is a short summary of the options available in rsync. Each option also
413 has its own detailed description later in this manpage.
415 [comment]: # (help-rsync.h)
416 [comment]: # (Keep these short enough that they'll be under 80 chars when indented by 7 chars.)
419 --verbose, -v increase verbosity
420 --info=FLAGS fine-grained informational verbosity
421 --debug=FLAGS fine-grained debug verbosity
422 --stderr=e|a|c change stderr output mode (default: errors)
423 --quiet, -q suppress non-error messages
424 --no-motd suppress daemon-mode MOTD
425 --checksum, -c skip based on checksum, not mod-time & size
426 --archive, -a archive mode is -rlptgoD (no -A,-X,-U,-N,-H)
427 --no-OPTION turn off an implied OPTION (e.g. --no-D)
428 --recursive, -r recurse into directories
429 --relative, -R use relative path names
430 --no-implied-dirs don't send implied dirs with --relative
431 --backup, -b make backups (see --suffix & --backup-dir)
432 --backup-dir=DIR make backups into hierarchy based in DIR
433 --suffix=SUFFIX backup suffix (default ~ w/o --backup-dir)
434 --update, -u skip files that are newer on the receiver
435 --inplace update destination files in-place
436 --append append data onto shorter files
437 --append-verify --append w/old data in file checksum
438 --dirs, -d transfer directories without recursing
439 --old-dirs, --old-d works like --dirs when talking to old rsync
440 --mkpath create the destination's path component
441 --links, -l copy symlinks as symlinks
442 --copy-links, -L transform symlink into referent file/dir
443 --copy-unsafe-links only "unsafe" symlinks are transformed
444 --safe-links ignore symlinks that point outside the tree
445 --munge-links munge symlinks to make them safe & unusable
446 --copy-dirlinks, -k transform symlink to dir into referent dir
447 --keep-dirlinks, -K treat symlinked dir on receiver as dir
448 --hard-links, -H preserve hard links
449 --perms, -p preserve permissions
450 --executability, -E preserve executability
451 --chmod=CHMOD affect file and/or directory permissions
452 --acls, -A preserve ACLs (implies --perms)
453 --xattrs, -X preserve extended attributes
454 --owner, -o preserve owner (super-user only)
455 --group, -g preserve group
456 --devices preserve device files (super-user only)
457 --copy-devices copy device contents as a regular file
458 --write-devices write to devices as files (implies --inplace)
459 --specials preserve special files
460 -D same as --devices --specials
461 --times, -t preserve modification times
462 --atimes, -U preserve access (use) times
463 --open-noatime avoid changing the atime on opened files
464 --crtimes, -N preserve create times (newness)
465 --omit-dir-times, -O omit directories from --times
466 --omit-link-times, -J omit symlinks from --times
467 --super receiver attempts super-user activities
468 --fake-super store/recover privileged attrs using xattrs
469 --sparse, -S turn sequences of nulls into sparse blocks
470 --preallocate allocate dest files before writing them
471 --dry-run, -n perform a trial run with no changes made
472 --whole-file, -W copy files whole (w/o delta-xfer algorithm)
473 --checksum-choice=STR choose the checksum algorithm (aka --cc)
474 --one-file-system, -x don't cross filesystem boundaries
475 --block-size=SIZE, -B force a fixed checksum block-size
476 --rsh=COMMAND, -e specify the remote shell to use
477 --rsync-path=PROGRAM specify the rsync to run on remote machine
478 --existing skip creating new files on receiver
479 --ignore-existing skip updating files that exist on receiver
480 --remove-source-files sender removes synchronized files (non-dir)
481 --del an alias for --delete-during
482 --delete delete extraneous files from dest dirs
483 --delete-before receiver deletes before xfer, not during
484 --delete-during receiver deletes during the transfer
485 --delete-delay find deletions during, delete after
486 --delete-after receiver deletes after transfer, not during
487 --delete-excluded also delete excluded files from dest dirs
488 --ignore-missing-args ignore missing source args without error
489 --delete-missing-args delete missing source args from destination
490 --ignore-errors delete even if there are I/O errors
491 --force force deletion of dirs even if not empty
492 --max-delete=NUM don't delete more than NUM files
493 --max-size=SIZE don't transfer any file larger than SIZE
494 --min-size=SIZE don't transfer any file smaller than SIZE
495 --max-alloc=SIZE change a limit relating to memory alloc
496 --partial keep partially transferred files
497 --partial-dir=DIR put a partially transferred file into DIR
498 --delay-updates put all updated files into place at end
499 --prune-empty-dirs, -m prune empty directory chains from file-list
500 --numeric-ids don't map uid/gid values by user/group name
501 --usermap=STRING custom username mapping
502 --groupmap=STRING custom groupname mapping
503 --chown=USER:GROUP simple username/groupname mapping
504 --timeout=SECONDS set I/O timeout in seconds
505 --contimeout=SECONDS set daemon connection timeout in seconds
506 --ignore-times, -I don't skip files that match size and time
507 --size-only skip files that match in size
508 --modify-window=NUM, -@ set the accuracy for mod-time comparisons
509 --temp-dir=DIR, -T create temporary files in directory DIR
510 --fuzzy, -y find similar file for basis if no dest file
511 --compare-dest=DIR also compare destination files relative to DIR
512 --copy-dest=DIR ... and include copies of unchanged files
513 --link-dest=DIR hardlink to files in DIR when unchanged
514 --compress, -z compress file data during the transfer
515 --compress-choice=STR choose the compression algorithm (aka --zc)
516 --compress-level=NUM explicitly set compression level (aka --zl)
517 --skip-compress=LIST skip compressing files with suffix in LIST
518 --cvs-exclude, -C auto-ignore files in the same way CVS does
519 --filter=RULE, -f add a file-filtering RULE
520 -F same as --filter='dir-merge /.rsync-filter'
521 repeated: --filter='- .rsync-filter'
522 --exclude=PATTERN exclude files matching PATTERN
523 --exclude-from=FILE read exclude patterns from FILE
524 --include=PATTERN don't exclude files matching PATTERN
525 --include-from=FILE read include patterns from FILE
526 --files-from=FILE read list of source-file names from FILE
527 --from0, -0 all *-from/filter files are delimited by 0s
528 --old-args disable the modern arg-protection idiom
529 --secluded-args, -s use the protocol to safely send the args
530 --trust-sender trust the remote sender's file list
531 --copy-as=USER[:GROUP] specify user & optional group for the copy
532 --address=ADDRESS bind address for outgoing socket to daemon
533 --port=PORT specify double-colon alternate port number
534 --sockopts=OPTIONS specify custom TCP options
535 --blocking-io use blocking I/O for the remote shell
536 --outbuf=N|L|B set out buffering to None, Line, or Block
537 --stats give some file-transfer stats
538 --8-bit-output, -8 leave high-bit chars unescaped in output
539 --human-readable, -h output numbers in a human-readable format
540 --progress show progress during transfer
541 -P same as --partial --progress
542 --itemize-changes, -i output a change-summary for all updates
543 --remote-option=OPT, -M send OPTION to the remote side only
544 --out-format=FORMAT output updates using the specified FORMAT
545 --log-file=FILE log what we're doing to the specified FILE
546 --log-file-format=FMT log updates using the specified FMT
547 --password-file=FILE read daemon-access password from FILE
548 --early-input=FILE use FILE for daemon's early exec input
549 --list-only list the files instead of copying them
550 --bwlimit=RATE limit socket I/O bandwidth
551 --stop-after=MINS Stop rsync after MINS minutes have elapsed
552 --stop-at=y-m-dTh:m Stop rsync at the specified point in time
553 --fsync fsync every written file
554 --write-batch=FILE write a batched update to FILE
555 --only-write-batch=FILE like --write-batch but w/o updating dest
556 --read-batch=FILE read a batched update from FILE
557 --protocol=NUM force an older protocol version to be used
558 --iconv=CONVERT_SPEC request charset conversion of filenames
559 --checksum-seed=NUM set block/file checksum seed (advanced)
560 --ipv4, -4 prefer IPv4
561 --ipv6, -6 prefer IPv6
562 --version, -V print the version + other info and exit
563 --help, -h (*) show this help (* -h is help only on its own)
566 Rsync can also be run as a daemon, in which case the following options are
569 [comment]: # (help-rsyncd.h)
572 --daemon run as an rsync daemon
573 --address=ADDRESS bind to the specified address
574 --bwlimit=RATE limit socket I/O bandwidth
575 --config=FILE specify alternate rsyncd.conf file
576 --dparam=OVERRIDE, -M override global daemon config parameter
577 --no-detach do not detach from the parent
578 --port=PORT listen on alternate port number
579 --log-file=FILE override the "log file" setting
580 --log-file-format=FMT override the "log format" setting
581 --sockopts=OPTIONS specify custom TCP options
582 --verbose, -v increase verbosity
583 --ipv4, -4 prefer IPv4
584 --ipv6, -6 prefer IPv6
585 --help, -h show this help (when used with --daemon)
590 Rsync accepts both long (double-dash + word) and short (single-dash + letter)
591 options. The full list of the available options are described below. If an
592 option can be specified in more than one way, the choices are comma-separated.
593 Some options only have a long variant, not a short.
595 If the option takes a parameter, the parameter is only listed after the long
596 variant, even though it must also be specified for the short. When specifying
597 a parameter, you can either use the form `--option=param`, `--option param`,
598 `-o=param`, `-o param`, or `-oparam` (the latter choices assume that your
599 option has a short variant).
601 The parameter may need to be quoted in some manner for it to survive the
602 shell's command-line parsing. Also keep in mind that a leading tilde (`~`) in
603 a pathname is substituted by your shell, so make sure that you separate the
604 option name from the pathname using a space if you want the local shell to
607 [comment]: # (Some markup below uses a literal non-breakable space when a backtick string)
608 [comment]: # (needs to contain a space since markdown strips spaces from the start/end)
610 [comment]: # (An OL starting at 0 is converted into a DL by the parser.)
614 Print a short help page describing the options available in rsync and exit.
615 You can also use `-h` for `--help` when it is used without any other
616 options (since it normally means [`--human-readable`](#opt)).
620 Print the rsync version plus other info and exit. When repeated, the
621 information is output is a JSON format that is still fairly readable
624 The output includes a list of compiled-in capabilities, a list of
625 optimizations, the default list of checksum algorithms, the default list of
626 compression algorithms, the default list of daemon auth digests, a link to
627 the rsync web site, and a few other items.
631 This option increases the amount of information you are given during the
632 transfer. By default, rsync works silently. A single `-v` will give you
633 information about what files are being transferred and a brief summary at
634 the end. Two `-v` options will give you information on what files are
635 being skipped and slightly more information at the end. More than two `-v`
636 options should only be used if you are debugging rsync.
638 The end-of-run summary tells you the number of bytes sent to the remote
639 rsync (which is the receiving side on a local copy), the number of bytes
640 received from the remote host, and the average bytes per second of the
641 transferred data computed over the entire length of the rsync run. The
642 second line shows the total size (in bytes), which is the sum of all the
643 file sizes that rsync considered transferring. It also shows a "speedup"
644 value, which is a ratio of the total file size divided by the sum of the
645 sent and received bytes (which is really just a feel-good bigger-is-better
646 number). Note that these byte values can be made more (or less)
647 human-readable by using the [`--human-readable`](#opt) (or
648 `--no-human-readable`) options.
650 In a modern rsync, the `-v` option is equivalent to the setting of groups
651 of [`--info`](#opt) and [`--debug`](#opt) options. You can choose to use
652 these newer options in addition to, or in place of using `--verbose`, as
653 any fine-grained settings override the implied settings of `-v`. Both
654 [`--info`](#opt) and [`--debug`](#opt) have a way to ask for help that
655 tells you exactly what flags are set for each increase in verbosity.
657 However, do keep in mind that a daemon's "`max verbosity`" setting will limit
658 how high of a level the various individual flags can be set on the daemon
659 side. For instance, if the max is 2, then any info and/or debug flag that
660 is set to a higher value than what would be set by `-vv` will be downgraded
661 to the `-vv` level in the daemon's logging.
665 This option lets you have fine-grained control over the information output
666 you want to see. An individual flag name may be followed by a level
667 number, with 0 meaning to silence that output, 1 being the default output
668 level, and higher numbers increasing the output of that flag (for those
669 that support higher levels). Use `--info=help` to see all the available
670 flag names, what they output, and what flag names are added for each
671 increase in the verbose level. Some examples:
673 > rsync -a --info=progress2 src/ dest/
674 > rsync -avv --info=stats2,misc1,flist0 src/ dest/
676 Note that `--info=name`'s output is affected by the [`--out-format`](#opt)
677 and [`--itemize-changes`](#opt) (`-i`) options. See those options for more
678 information on what is output and when.
680 This option was added to 3.1.0, so an older rsync on the server side might
681 reject your attempts at fine-grained control (if one or more flags needed
682 to be send to the server and the server was too old to understand them).
683 See also the "`max verbosity`" caveat above when dealing with a daemon.
687 This option lets you have fine-grained control over the debug output you
688 want to see. An individual flag name may be followed by a level number,
689 with 0 meaning to silence that output, 1 being the default output level,
690 and higher numbers increasing the output of that flag (for those that
691 support higher levels). Use `--debug=help` to see all the available flag
692 names, what they output, and what flag names are added for each increase in
693 the verbose level. Some examples:
695 > rsync -avvv --debug=none src/ dest/
696 > rsync -avA --del --debug=del2,acl src/ dest/
698 Note that some debug messages will only be output when the [`--stderr=all`](#opt)
699 option is specified, especially those pertaining to I/O and buffer debugging.
701 Beginning in 3.2.0, this option is no longer auto-forwarded to the server
702 side in order to allow you to specify different debug values for each side
703 of the transfer, as well as to specify a new debug option that is only
704 present in one of the rsync versions. If you want to duplicate the same
705 option on both sides, using brace expansion is an easy way to save you some
706 typing. This works in zsh and bash:
708 > rsync -aiv {-M,}--debug=del2 src/ dest/
710 0. `--stderr=errors|all|client`
712 This option controls which processes output to stderr and if info messages
713 are also changed to stderr. The mode strings can be abbreviated, so feel
714 free to use a single letter value. The 3 possible choices are:
716 - `errors` - (the default) causes all the rsync processes to send an
717 error directly to stderr, even if the process is on the remote side of
718 the transfer. Info messages are sent to the client side via the protocol
719 stream. If stderr is not available (i.e. when directly connecting with a
720 daemon via a socket) errors fall back to being sent via the protocol
723 - `all` - causes all rsync messages (info and error) to get written
724 directly to stderr from all (possible) processes. This causes stderr to
725 become line-buffered (instead of raw) and eliminates the ability to
726 divide up the info and error messages by file handle. For those doing
727 debugging or using several levels of verbosity, this option can help to
728 avoid clogging up the transfer stream (which should prevent any chance of
729 a deadlock bug hanging things up). It also allows [`--debug`](#opt) to
730 enable some extra I/O related messages.
732 - `client` - causes all rsync messages to be sent to the client side
733 via the protocol stream. One client process outputs all messages, with
734 errors on stderr and info messages on stdout. This **was** the default
735 in older rsync versions, but can cause error delays when a lot of
736 transfer data is ahead of the messages. If you're pushing files to an
737 older rsync, you may want to use `--stderr=all` since that idiom has
738 been around for several releases.
740 This option was added in rsync 3.2.3. This version also began the
741 forwarding of a non-default setting to the remote side, though rsync uses
742 the backward-compatible options `--msgs2stderr` and `--no-msgs2stderr` to
743 represent the `all` and `client` settings, respectively. A newer rsync
744 will continue to accept these older option names to maintain compatibility.
748 This option decreases the amount of information you are given during the
749 transfer, notably suppressing information messages from the remote server.
750 This option is useful when invoking rsync from cron.
754 This option affects the information that is output by the client at the
755 start of a daemon transfer. This suppresses the message-of-the-day (MOTD)
756 text, but it also affects the list of modules that the daemon sends in
757 response to the "rsync host::" request (due to a limitation in the rsync
758 protocol), so omit this option if you want to request the list of modules
761 0. `--ignore-times`, `-I`
763 Normally rsync will skip any files that are already the same size and have
764 the same modification timestamp. This option turns off this "quick check"
765 behavior, causing all files to be updated.
767 This option can be confusing compared to [`--ignore-existing`](#opt) and
768 [`--ignore-non-existing`](#opt) in that that they cause rsync to transfer
769 fewer files, while this option causes rsync to transfer more files.
773 This modifies rsync's "quick check" algorithm for finding files that need
774 to be transferred, changing it from the default of transferring files with
775 either a changed size or a changed last-modified time to just looking for
776 files that have changed in size. This is useful when starting to use rsync
777 after using another mirroring system which may not preserve timestamps
780 0. `--modify-window=NUM`, `-@`
782 When comparing two timestamps, rsync treats the timestamps as being equal
783 if they differ by no more than the modify-window value. The default is 0,
784 which matches just integer seconds. If you specify a negative value (and
785 the receiver is at least version 3.1.3) then nanoseconds will also be taken
786 into account. Specifying 1 is useful for copies to/from MS Windows FAT
787 filesystems, because FAT represents times with a 2-second resolution
788 (allowing times to differ from the original by up to 1 second).
790 If you want all your transfers to default to comparing nanoseconds, you can
791 create a `~/.popt` file and put these lines in it:
793 > rsync alias -a -a@-1
794 > rsync alias -t -t@-1
796 With that as the default, you'd need to specify `--modify-window=0` (aka
797 `-@0`) to override it and ignore nanoseconds, e.g. if you're copying
798 between ext3 and ext4, or if the receiving rsync is older than 3.1.3.
800 0. `--checksum`, `-c`
802 This changes the way rsync checks if the files have been changed and are in
803 need of a transfer. Without this option, rsync uses a "quick check" that
804 (by default) checks if each file's size and time of last modification match
805 between the sender and receiver. This option changes this to compare a
806 128-bit checksum for each file that has a matching size. Generating the
807 checksums means that both sides will expend a lot of disk I/O reading all
808 the data in the files in the transfer, so this can slow things down
809 significantly (and this is prior to any reading that will be done to
810 transfer changed files)
812 The sending side generates its checksums while it is doing the file-system
813 scan that builds the list of the available files. The receiver generates
814 its checksums when it is scanning for changed files, and will checksum any
815 file that has the same size as the corresponding sender's file: files with
816 either a changed size or a changed checksum are selected for transfer.
818 Note that rsync always verifies that each _transferred_ file was correctly
819 reconstructed on the receiving side by checking a whole-file checksum that
820 is generated as the file is transferred, but that automatic
821 after-the-transfer verification has nothing to do with this option's
822 before-the-transfer "Does this file need to be updated?" check.
824 The checksum used is auto-negotiated between the client and the server, but
825 can be overridden using either the [`--checksum-choice`](#opt) (`--cc`)
826 option or an environment variable that is discussed in that option's
831 This is equivalent to `-rlptgoD`. It is a quick way of saying you want
832 recursion and want to preserve almost everything. Be aware that it does
833 **not** include preserving ACLs (`-A`), xattrs (`-X`), atimes (`-U`),
834 crtimes (`-N`), nor the finding and preserving of hardlinks (`-H`).
836 The only exception to the above equivalence is when [`--files-from`](#opt)
837 is specified, in which case [`-r`](#opt) is not implied.
841 You may turn off one or more implied options by prefixing the option name
842 with "no-". Not all positive options have a negated opposite, but a lot
843 do, including those that can be used to disable an implied option (e.g.
844 `--no-D`, `--no-perms`) or have different defaults in various circumstances
845 (e.g. [`--no-whole-file`](#opt), `--no-blocking-io`, `--no-dirs`). Every
846 valid negated option accepts both the short and the long option name after
847 the "no-" prefix (e.g. `--no-R` is the same as `--no-relative`).
849 As an example, if you want to use [`--archive`](#opt) (`-a`) but don't want
850 [`--owner`](#opt) (`-o`), instead of converting `-a` into `-rlptgD`, you
851 can specify `-a --no-o` (aka `--archive --no-owner`).
853 The order of the options is important: if you specify `--no-r -a`, the `-r`
854 option would end up being turned on, the opposite of `-a --no-r`. Note
855 also that the side-effects of the [`--files-from`](#opt) option are NOT
856 positional, as it affects the default state of several options and slightly
857 changes the meaning of [`-a`](#opt) (see the [`--files-from`](#opt) option
860 0. `--recursive`, `-r`
862 This tells rsync to copy directories recursively. See also
863 [`--dirs`](#opt) (`-d`) for an option that allows the scanning of a single
866 See the [`--inc-recursive`](#opt) option for a discussion of the
867 incremental recursion for creating the list of files to transfer.
869 0. `--inc-recursive`, `--i-r`
871 This option explicitly enables on incremental recursion when scanning for
872 files, which is enabled by default when using the [`--recursive`](#opt)
873 option and both sides of the transfer are running rsync 3.0.0 or newer.
875 Incremental recursion uses much less memory than non-incremental, while
876 also beginning the transfer more quickly (since it doesn't need to scan the
877 entire transfer hierarchy before it starts transferring files). If no
878 recursion is enabled in the source files, this option has no effect.
880 Some options require rsync to know the full file list, so these options
881 disable the incremental recursion mode. These include:
882 - [`--delete-before`](#opt) (the old default of [`--delete`](#opt))
883 - [`--delete-after`](#opt)
884 - [`--prune-empty-dirs`](#opt)
885 - [`--delay-updates`](#opt)
887 In order to make [`--delete`](#opt) compatible with incremental recursion,
888 rsync 3.0.0 made [`--delete-during`](#opt) the default delete mode (which
889 was first added in 2.6.4).
891 One side-effect of incremental recursion is that any missing
892 sub-directories inside a recursively-scanned directory are (by default)
893 created prior to recursing into the sub-dirs. This earlier creation point
894 (compared to a non-incremental recursion) allows rsync to then set the
895 modify time of the finished directory right away (without having to delay
896 that until a bunch of recursive copying has finished). However, these
897 early directories don't yet have their completed mode, mtime, or ownership
898 set -- they have more restrictive rights until the subdirectory's copying
899 actually begins. This early-creation idiom can be avoided by using the
900 [`--omit-dir-times`](#opt) option.
902 Incremental recursion can be disabled using the
903 [`--no-inc-recursive`](#opt) (`--no-i-r`) option.
905 0. `--no-inc-recursive`, `--no-i-r`
907 Disables the new incremental recursion algorithm of the
908 [`--recursive`](#opt) option. This makes rsync scan the full file list
909 before it begins to transfer files. See [`--inc-recursive`](#opt) for more
912 0. `--relative`, `-R`
914 Use relative paths. This means that the full path names specified on the
915 command line are sent to the server rather than just the last parts of the
916 filenames. This is particularly useful when you want to send several
917 different directories at the same time. For example, if you used this
920 > rsync -av /foo/bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/
922 would create a file named baz.c in /tmp/ on the remote machine. If instead
925 > rsync -avR /foo/bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/
927 then a file named /tmp/foo/bar/baz.c would be created on the remote
928 machine, preserving its full path. These extra path elements are called
929 "implied directories" (i.e. the "foo" and the "foo/bar" directories in the
932 Beginning with rsync 3.0.0, rsync always sends these implied directories as
933 real directories in the file list, even if a path element is really a
934 symlink on the sending side. This prevents some really unexpected behaviors
935 when copying the full path of a file that you didn't realize had a symlink
936 in its path. If you want to duplicate a server-side symlink, include both
937 the symlink via its path, and referent directory via its real path. If
938 you're dealing with an older rsync on the sending side, you may need to use
939 the [`--no-implied-dirs`](#opt) option.
941 It is also possible to limit the amount of path information that is sent as
942 implied directories for each path you specify. With a modern rsync on the
943 sending side (beginning with 2.6.7), you can insert a dot and a slash into
944 the source path, like this:
946 > rsync -avR /foo/./bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/
948 That would create /tmp/bar/baz.c on the remote machine. (Note that the dot
949 must be followed by a slash, so "/foo/." would not be abbreviated.) For
950 older rsync versions, you would need to use a chdir to limit the source
951 path. For example, when pushing files:
953 > (cd /foo; rsync -avR bar/baz.c remote:/tmp/)
955 (Note that the parens put the two commands into a sub-shell, so that the
956 "cd" command doesn't remain in effect for future commands.) If you're
957 pulling files from an older rsync, use this idiom (but only for a
958 non-daemon transfer):
960 > rsync -avR --rsync-path="cd /foo; rsync" \
961 > remote:bar/baz.c /tmp/
963 0. `--no-implied-dirs`
965 This option affects the default behavior of the [`--relative`](#opt) option. When
966 it is specified, the attributes of the implied directories from the source
967 names are not included in the transfer. This means that the corresponding
968 path elements on the destination system are left unchanged if they exist,
969 and any missing implied directories are created with default attributes.
970 This even allows these implied path elements to have big differences, such
971 as being a symlink to a directory on the receiving side.
973 For instance, if a command-line arg or a files-from entry told rsync to
974 transfer the file "path/foo/file", the directories "path" and "path/foo"
975 are implied when [`--relative`](#opt) is used. If "path/foo" is a symlink to "bar"
976 on the destination system, the receiving rsync would ordinarily delete
977 "path/foo", recreate it as a directory, and receive the file into the new
978 directory. With `--no-implied-dirs`, the receiving rsync updates
979 "path/foo/file" using the existing path elements, which means that the file
980 ends up being created in "path/bar". Another way to accomplish this link
981 preservation is to use the [`--keep-dirlinks`](#opt) option (which will also affect
982 symlinks to directories in the rest of the transfer).
984 When pulling files from an rsync older than 3.0.0, you may need to use this
985 option if the sending side has a symlink in the path you request and you
986 wish the implied directories to be transferred as normal directories.
990 With this option, preexisting destination files are renamed as each file is
991 transferred or deleted. You can control where the backup file goes and
992 what (if any) suffix gets appended using the [`--backup-dir`](#opt) and
993 [`--suffix`](#opt) options.
995 If you don't specify [`--backup-dir`](#opt):
997 1. the [`--omit-dir-times`](#opt) option will be forced on
998 2. the use of [`--delete`](#opt) (without [`--delete-excluded`](#opt)),
999 causes rsync to add a "protect" [filter-rule](#FILTER_RULES) for the
1000 backup suffix to the end of all your existing filters that looks like
1001 this: `-f "P *~"`. This rule prevents previously backed-up files from
1004 Note that if you are supplying your own filter rules, you may need to
1005 manually insert your own exclude/protect rule somewhere higher up in the
1006 list so that it has a high enough priority to be effective (e.g. if your
1007 rules specify a trailing inclusion/exclusion of `*`, the auto-added rule
1008 would never be reached).
1010 0. `--backup-dir=DIR`
1012 This implies the [`--backup`](#opt) option, and tells rsync to store all
1013 backups in the specified directory on the receiving side. This can be used
1014 for incremental backups. You can additionally specify a backup suffix
1015 using the [`--suffix`](#opt) option (otherwise the files backed up in the
1016 specified directory will keep their original filenames).
1018 Note that if you specify a relative path, the backup directory will be
1019 relative to the destination directory, so you probably want to specify
1020 either an absolute path or a path that starts with "../". If an rsync
1021 daemon is the receiver, the backup dir cannot go outside the module's path
1022 hierarchy, so take extra care not to delete it or copy into it.
1024 0. `--suffix=SUFFIX`
1026 This option allows you to override the default backup suffix used with the
1027 [`--backup`](#opt) (`-b`) option. The default suffix is a `~` if no
1028 [`--backup-dir`](#opt) was specified, otherwise it is an empty string.
1032 This forces rsync to skip any files which exist on the destination and have
1033 a modified time that is newer than the source file. (If an existing
1034 destination file has a modification time equal to the source file's, it
1035 will be updated if the sizes are different.)
1037 Note that this does not affect the copying of dirs, symlinks, or other
1038 special files. Also, a difference of file format between the sender and
1039 receiver is always considered to be important enough for an update, no
1040 matter what date is on the objects. In other words, if the source has a
1041 directory where the destination has a file, the transfer would occur
1042 regardless of the timestamps.
1044 This option is a [TRANSFER RULE](#TRANSFER_RULES), so don't expect any
1045 exclude side effects.
1047 A caution for those that choose to combine [`--inplace`](#opt) with
1048 `--update`: an interrupted transfer will leave behind a partial file on the
1049 receiving side that has a very recent modified time, so re-running the
1050 transfer will probably **not** continue the interrupted file. As such, it
1051 is usually best to avoid combining this with[ `--inplace`](#opt) unless you
1052 have implemented manual steps to handle any interrupted in-progress files.
1056 This option changes how rsync transfers a file when its data needs to be
1057 updated: instead of the default method of creating a new copy of the file
1058 and moving it into place when it is complete, rsync instead writes the
1059 updated data directly to the destination file.
1061 This has several effects:
1063 - Hard links are not broken. This means the new data will be visible
1064 through other hard links to the destination file. Moreover, attempts to
1065 copy differing source files onto a multiply-linked destination file will
1066 result in a "tug of war" with the destination data changing back and
1068 - In-use binaries cannot be updated (either the OS will prevent this from
1069 happening, or binaries that attempt to swap-in their data will misbehave
1071 - The file's data will be in an inconsistent state during the transfer and
1072 will be left that way if the transfer is interrupted or if an update
1074 - A file that rsync cannot write to cannot be updated. While a super user
1075 can update any file, a normal user needs to be granted write permission
1076 for the open of the file for writing to be successful.
1077 - The efficiency of rsync's delta-transfer algorithm may be reduced if some
1078 data in the destination file is overwritten before it can be copied to a
1079 position later in the file. This does not apply if you use [`--backup`](#opt),
1080 since rsync is smart enough to use the backup file as the basis file for
1083 WARNING: you should not use this option to update files that are being
1084 accessed by others, so be careful when choosing to use this for a copy.
1086 This option is useful for transferring large files with block-based changes
1087 or appended data, and also on systems that are disk bound, not network
1088 bound. It can also help keep a copy-on-write filesystem snapshot from
1089 diverging the entire contents of a file that only has minor changes.
1091 The option implies [`--partial`](#opt) (since an interrupted transfer does
1092 not delete the file), but conflicts with [`--partial-dir`](#opt) and
1093 [`--delay-updates`](#opt). Prior to rsync 2.6.4 `--inplace` was also
1094 incompatible with [`--compare-dest`](#opt) and [`--link-dest`](#opt).
1098 This special copy mode only works to efficiently update files that are
1099 known to be growing larger where any existing content on the receiving side
1100 is also known to be the same as the content on the sender. The use of
1101 `--append` **can be dangerous** if you aren't 100% sure that all the files
1102 in the transfer are shared, growing files. You should thus use filter
1103 rules to ensure that you weed out any files that do not fit this criteria.
1105 Rsync updates these growing file in-place without verifying any of the
1106 existing content in the file (it only verifies the content that it is
1107 appending). Rsync skips any files that exist on the receiving side that
1108 are not shorter than the associated file on the sending side (which means
1109 that new files are transferred). It also skips any files whose size on the
1110 sending side gets shorter during the send negotiations (rsync warns about a
1111 "diminished" file when this happens).
1113 This does not interfere with the updating of a file's non-content
1114 attributes (e.g. permissions, ownership, etc.) when the file does not need
1115 to be transferred, nor does it affect the updating of any directories or
1118 0. `--append-verify`
1120 This special copy mode works like [`--append`](#opt) except that all the
1121 data in the file is included in the checksum verification (making it less
1122 efficient but also potentially safer). This option **can be dangerous** if
1123 you aren't 100% sure that all the files in the transfer are shared, growing
1124 files. See the [`--append`](#opt) option for more details.
1126 Note: prior to rsync 3.0.0, the [`--append`](#opt) option worked like
1127 `--append-verify`, so if you are interacting with an older rsync (or the
1128 transfer is using a protocol prior to 30), specifying either append option
1129 will initiate an `--append-verify` transfer.
1133 Tell the sending side to include any directories that are encountered.
1134 Unlike [`--recursive`](#opt), a directory's contents are not copied unless
1135 the directory name specified is "." or ends with a trailing slash (e.g.
1136 ".", "dir/.", "dir/", etc.). Without this option or the
1137 [`--recursive`](#opt) option, rsync will skip all directories it encounters
1138 (and output a message to that effect for each one). If you specify both
1139 `--dirs` and [`--recursive`](#opt), `--recursive` takes precedence.
1141 The `--dirs` option is implied by the [`--files-from`](#opt) option or the
1142 [`--list-only`](#opt) option (including an implied [`--list-only`](#opt)
1143 usage) if [`--recursive`](#opt) wasn't specified (so that directories are
1144 seen in the listing). Specify `--no-dirs` (or `--no-d`) if you want to
1147 There is also a backward-compatibility helper option, `--old-dirs`
1148 (`--old-d`) that tells rsync to use a hack of `-r --exclude='/*/*'` to get
1149 an older rsync to list a single directory without recursing.
1153 Create a missing path component of the destination path. By default, rsync
1154 allows only the final element of the destination path to not exist, which
1155 is an attempt to help you to validate your destination path. With this
1156 option, rsync creates all the missing destination-path components just as
1157 if `mkdir -p $DEST_PATH` had been run.
1159 When specifying a destination path, including a trailing slash ensures that
1160 rsync always treats the whole path as the directory name to be created,
1161 even if the source arg is a single filename. See the [COPYING TO A
1162 DIFFERENT NAME](#) section for full details on how rsync decides if a final
1163 destination path element is a directory element or not.
1165 If you would like the newly-created destination dirs to match the dirs on
1166 the sending side, you should be using [`--relative`](#opt) (`-R`) instead
1167 of `--mkpath`. For instance, the following two commands result in the same
1168 destination tree, but it is only the second command that ensures that the
1169 "some/extra/path" elements match the dirs on the sending side:
1171 > rsync -ai --mkpath host:some/extra/path/*.c some/extra/path/
1172 > rsync -aiR host:some/extra/path/*.c ./
1176 Add symlinks to the transferred files instead of noisily ignoring them with
1177 a "non-regular file" warning for each symlink encountered. You can
1178 alternately silence the warning by specifying [`--info=nonreg0`](#opt).
1180 The default handling of symlinks is to recreate each symlink's unchanged
1181 value on the receiving side.
1183 See the [SYMBOLIC LINKS](#) section for multi-option info.
1185 0. `--copy-links`, `-L`
1187 The sender transforms each symlink encountered in the transfer into the
1188 referent item, following the symlink chain to the file or directory that it
1189 references. If a symlink chain is broken, an error is output and the file
1190 is dropped from the transfer.
1192 This option supersedes any other options that affect symlinks in the
1193 transfer, since there are no symlinks left in the transfer.
1195 This option does not change the handling of existing symlinks on the
1196 receiving side, unlike versions of rsync prior to 2.6.3 which had the
1197 side-effect of telling the receiving side to also follow symlinks. A
1198 modern rsync won't forward this option to a remote receiver (since only the
1199 sender needs to know about it), so this caveat should only affect someone
1200 using an rsync client older than 2.6.7 (which is when `-L` stopped being
1201 forwarded to the receiver).
1203 See the [`--keep-dirlinks`](#opt) (`-K`) if you need a symlink to a
1204 directory to be treated as a real directory on the receiving side.
1206 See the [SYMBOLIC LINKS](#) section for multi-option info.
1208 0. `--copy-unsafe-links`
1210 This tells rsync to copy the referent of symbolic links that point outside
1211 the copied tree. Absolute symlinks are also treated like ordinary files,
1212 and so are any symlinks in the source path itself when [`--relative`](#opt)
1215 Note that the cut-off point is the top of the transfer, which is the part
1216 of the path that rsync isn't mentioning in the verbose output. If you copy
1217 "/src/subdir" to "/dest/" then the "subdir" directory is a name inside the
1218 transfer tree, not the top of the transfer (which is /src) so it is legal
1219 for created relative symlinks to refer to other names inside the /src and
1220 /dest directories. If you instead copy "/src/subdir/" (with a trailing
1221 slash) to "/dest/subdir" that would not allow symlinks to any files outside
1224 Note that safe symlinks are only copied if [`--links`](#opt) was also
1225 specified or implied. The `--copy-unsafe-links` option has no extra effect
1226 when combined with [`--copy-links`](#opt).
1228 See the [SYMBOLIC LINKS](#) section for multi-option info.
1232 This tells the receiving rsync to ignore any symbolic links in the transfer
1233 which point outside the copied tree. All absolute symlinks are also
1236 Since this ignoring is happening on the receiving side, it will still be
1237 effective even when the sending side has munged symlinks (when it is using
1238 [`--munge-links`](#opt)). It also affects deletions, since the file being
1239 present in the transfer prevents any matching file on the receiver from
1240 being deleted when the symlink is deemed to be unsafe and is skipped.
1242 This option must be combined with [`--links`](#opt) (or
1243 [`--archive`](#opt)) to have any symlinks in the transfer to conditionally
1244 ignore. Its effect is superseded by [`--copy-unsafe-links`](#opt).
1246 Using this option in conjunction with [`--relative`](#opt) may give
1249 See the [SYMBOLIC LINKS](#) section for multi-option info.
1253 This option affects just one side of the transfer and tells rsync to munge
1254 symlink values when it is receiving files or unmunge symlink values when it
1255 is sending files. The munged values make the symlinks unusable on disk but
1256 allows the original contents of the symlinks to be recovered.
1258 The server-side rsync often enables this option without the client's
1259 knowledge, such as in an rsync daemon's configuration file or by an option
1260 given to the rrsync (restricted rsync) script. When specified on the
1261 client side, specify the option normally if it is the client side that
1262 has/needs the munged symlinks, or use `-M--munge-links` to give the option
1263 to the server when it has/needs the munged symlinks. Note that on a local
1264 transfer, the client is the sender, so specifying the option directly
1265 unmunges symlinks while specifying it as a remote option munges symlinks.
1267 This option has no effect when sent to a daemon via [`--remote-option`](#opt)
1268 because the daemon configures whether it wants munged symlinks via its
1269 "`munge symlinks`" parameter.
1271 The symlink value is munged/unmunged once it is in the transfer, so any
1272 option that transforms symlinks into non-symlinks occurs prior to the
1273 munging/unmunging **except** for [`--safe-links`](#opt), which is a choice
1274 that the receiver makes, so it bases its decision on the munged/unmunged
1275 value. This does mean that if a receiver has munging enabled, that using
1276 [`--safe-links`](#opt) will cause all symlinks to be ignored (since they
1279 The method that rsync uses to munge the symlinks is to prefix each one's
1280 value with the string "/rsyncd-munged/". This prevents the links from
1281 being used as long as the directory does not exist. When this option is
1282 enabled, rsync will refuse to run if that path is a directory or a symlink
1283 to a directory (though it only checks at startup). See also the
1284 "munge-symlinks" python script in the support directory of the source code
1285 for a way to munge/unmunge one or more symlinks in-place.
1287 0. `--copy-dirlinks`, `-k`
1289 This option causes the sending side to treat a symlink to a directory as
1290 though it were a real directory. This is useful if you don't want symlinks
1291 to non-directories to be affected, as they would be using
1292 [`--copy-links`](#opt).
1294 Without this option, if the sending side has replaced a directory with a
1295 symlink to a directory, the receiving side will delete anything that is in
1296 the way of the new symlink, including a directory hierarchy (as long as
1297 [`--force`](#opt) or [`--delete`](#opt) is in effect).
1299 See also [`--keep-dirlinks`](#opt) for an analogous option for the
1302 `--copy-dirlinks` applies to all symlinks to directories in the source. If
1303 you want to follow only a few specified symlinks, a trick you can use is to
1304 pass them as additional source args with a trailing slash, using
1305 [`--relative`](#opt) to make the paths match up right. For example:
1307 > rsync -r --relative src/./ src/./follow-me/ dest/
1309 This works because rsync calls **lstat**(2) on the source arg as given, and
1310 the trailing slash makes **lstat**(2) follow the symlink, giving rise to a
1311 directory in the file-list which overrides the symlink found during the
1314 See the [SYMBOLIC LINKS](#) section for multi-option info.
1316 0. `--keep-dirlinks`, `-K`
1318 This option causes the receiving side to treat a symlink to a directory as
1319 though it were a real directory, but only if it matches a real directory
1320 from the sender. Without this option, the receiver's symlink would be
1321 deleted and replaced with a real directory.
1323 For example, suppose you transfer a directory "foo" that contains a file
1324 "file", but "foo" is a symlink to directory "bar" on the receiver. Without
1325 `--keep-dirlinks`, the receiver deletes symlink "foo", recreates it as a
1326 directory, and receives the file into the new directory. With
1327 `--keep-dirlinks`, the receiver keeps the symlink and "file" ends up in
1330 One note of caution: if you use `--keep-dirlinks`, you must trust all the
1331 symlinks in the copy or enable the [`--munge-links`](#opt) option on the
1332 receiving side! If it is possible for an untrusted user to create their
1333 own symlink to any real directory, the user could then (on a subsequent
1334 copy) replace the symlink with a real directory and affect the content of
1335 whatever directory the symlink references. For backup copies, you are
1336 better off using something like a bind mount instead of a symlink to modify
1337 your receiving hierarchy.
1339 See also [`--copy-dirlinks`](#opt) for an analogous option for the sending
1342 See the [SYMBOLIC LINKS](#) section for multi-option info.
1344 0. `--hard-links`, `-H`
1346 This tells rsync to look for hard-linked files in the source and link
1347 together the corresponding files on the destination. Without this option,
1348 hard-linked files in the source are treated as though they were separate
1351 This option does NOT necessarily ensure that the pattern of hard links on
1352 the destination exactly matches that on the source. Cases in which the
1353 destination may end up with extra hard links include the following:
1355 - If the destination contains extraneous hard-links (more linking than what
1356 is present in the source file list), the copying algorithm will not break
1357 them explicitly. However, if one or more of the paths have content
1358 differences, the normal file-update process will break those extra links
1359 (unless you are using the [`--inplace`](#opt) option).
1360 - If you specify a [`--link-dest`](#opt) directory that contains hard
1361 links, the linking of the destination files against the
1362 [`--link-dest`](#opt) files can cause some paths in the destination to
1363 become linked together due to the [`--link-dest`](#opt) associations.
1365 Note that rsync can only detect hard links between files that are inside
1366 the transfer set. If rsync updates a file that has extra hard-link
1367 connections to files outside the transfer, that linkage will be broken. If
1368 you are tempted to use the [`--inplace`](#opt) option to avoid this breakage, be
1369 very careful that you know how your files are being updated so that you are
1370 certain that no unintended changes happen due to lingering hard links (and
1371 see the [`--inplace`](#opt) option for more caveats).
1373 If incremental recursion is active (see [`--inc-recursive`](#opt)), rsync
1374 may transfer a missing hard-linked file before it finds that another link
1375 for that contents exists elsewhere in the hierarchy. This does not affect
1376 the accuracy of the transfer (i.e. which files are hard-linked together),
1377 just its efficiency (i.e. copying the data for a new, early copy of a
1378 hard-linked file that could have been found later in the transfer in
1379 another member of the hard-linked set of files). One way to avoid this
1380 inefficiency is to disable incremental recursion using the
1381 [`--no-inc-recursive`](#opt) option.
1385 This option causes the receiving rsync to set the destination permissions
1386 to be the same as the source permissions. (See also the [`--chmod`](#opt)
1387 option for a way to modify what rsync considers to be the source
1390 When this option is _off_, permissions are set as follows:
1392 - Existing files (including updated files) retain their existing
1393 permissions, though the [`--executability`](#opt) option might change
1394 just the execute permission for the file.
1395 - New files get their "normal" permission bits set to the source file's
1396 permissions masked with the receiving directory's default permissions
1397 (either the receiving process's umask, or the permissions specified via
1398 the destination directory's default ACL), and their special permission
1399 bits disabled except in the case where a new directory inherits a setgid
1400 bit from its parent directory.
1402 Thus, when `--perms` and [`--executability`](#opt) are both disabled, rsync's
1403 behavior is the same as that of other file-copy utilities, such as **cp**(1)
1406 In summary: to give destination files (both old and new) the source
1407 permissions, use `--perms`. To give new files the destination-default
1408 permissions (while leaving existing files unchanged), make sure that the
1409 `--perms` option is off and use [`--chmod=ugo=rwX`](#opt) (which ensures
1410 that all non-masked bits get enabled). If you'd care to make this latter
1411 behavior easier to type, you could define a popt alias for it, such as
1412 putting this line in the file `~/.popt` (the following defines the `-Z`
1413 option, and includes `--no-g` to use the default group of the destination
1416 > rsync alias -Z --no-p --no-g --chmod=ugo=rwX
1418 You could then use this new option in a command such as this one:
1420 > rsync -avZ src/ dest/
1422 (Caveat: make sure that `-a` does not follow `-Z`, or it will re-enable the
1423 two `--no-*` options mentioned above.)
1425 The preservation of the destination's setgid bit on newly-created
1426 directories when `--perms` is off was added in rsync 2.6.7. Older rsync
1427 versions erroneously preserved the three special permission bits for
1428 newly-created files when `--perms` was off, while overriding the
1429 destination's setgid bit setting on a newly-created directory. Default ACL
1430 observance was added to the ACL patch for rsync 2.6.7, so older (or
1431 non-ACL-enabled) rsyncs use the umask even if default ACLs are present.
1432 (Keep in mind that it is the version of the receiving rsync that affects
1435 0. `--executability`, `-E`
1437 This option causes rsync to preserve the executability (or
1438 non-executability) of regular files when [`--perms`](#opt) is not enabled.
1439 A regular file is considered to be executable if at least one 'x' is turned
1440 on in its permissions. When an existing destination file's executability
1441 differs from that of the corresponding source file, rsync modifies the
1442 destination file's permissions as follows:
1444 - To make a file non-executable, rsync turns off all its 'x' permissions.
1445 - To make a file executable, rsync turns on each 'x' permission that has a
1446 corresponding 'r' permission enabled.
1448 If [`--perms`](#opt) is enabled, this option is ignored.
1452 This option causes rsync to update the destination ACLs to be the same as
1453 the source ACLs. The option also implies [`--perms`](#opt).
1455 The source and destination systems must have compatible ACL entries for
1456 this option to work properly. See the [`--fake-super`](#opt) option for a
1457 way to backup and restore ACLs that are not compatible.
1461 This option causes rsync to update the destination extended attributes to
1462 be the same as the source ones.
1464 For systems that support extended-attribute namespaces, a copy being done
1465 by a super-user copies all namespaces except system.\*. A normal user only
1466 copies the user.\* namespace. To be able to backup and restore non-user
1467 namespaces as a normal user, see the [`--fake-super`](#opt) option.
1469 The above name filtering can be overridden by using one or more filter
1470 options with the **x** modifier. When you specify an xattr-affecting
1471 filter rule, rsync requires that you do your own system/user filtering, as
1472 well as any additional filtering for what xattr names are copied and what
1473 names are allowed to be deleted. For example, to skip the system
1474 namespace, you could specify:
1476 > --filter='-x system.*'
1478 To skip all namespaces except the user namespace, you could specify a
1481 > --filter='-x! user.*'
1483 To prevent any attributes from being deleted, you could specify a
1484 receiver-only rule that excludes all names:
1488 Note that the `-X` option does not copy rsync's special xattr values (e.g.
1489 those used by [`--fake-super`](#opt)) unless you repeat the option (e.g. `-XX`).
1490 This "copy all xattrs" mode cannot be used with [`--fake-super`](#opt).
1494 This option tells rsync to apply one or more comma-separated "chmod" modes
1495 to the permission of the files in the transfer. The resulting value is
1496 treated as though it were the permissions that the sending side supplied
1497 for the file, which means that this option can seem to have no effect on
1498 existing files if [`--perms`](#opt) is not enabled.
1500 In addition to the normal parsing rules specified in the **chmod**(1)
1501 manpage, you can specify an item that should only apply to a directory by
1502 prefixing it with a 'D', or specify an item that should only apply to a
1503 file by prefixing it with a 'F'. For example, the following will ensure
1504 that all directories get marked set-gid, that no files are other-writable,
1505 that both are user-writable and group-writable, and that both have
1506 consistent executability across all bits:
1508 > --chmod=Dg+s,ug+w,Fo-w,+X
1510 Using octal mode numbers is also allowed:
1512 > --chmod=D2775,F664
1514 It is also legal to specify multiple `--chmod` options, as each additional
1515 option is just appended to the list of changes to make.
1517 See the [`--perms`](#opt) and [`--executability`](#opt) options for how the
1518 resulting permission value can be applied to the files in the transfer.
1522 This option causes rsync to set the owner of the destination file to be the
1523 same as the source file, but only if the receiving rsync is being run as
1524 the super-user (see also the [`--super`](#opt) and [`--fake-super`](#opt)
1525 options). Without this option, the owner of new and/or transferred files
1526 are set to the invoking user on the receiving side.
1528 The preservation of ownership will associate matching names by default, but
1529 may fall back to using the ID number in some circumstances (see also the
1530 [`--numeric-ids`](#opt) option for a full discussion).
1534 This option causes rsync to set the group of the destination file to be the
1535 same as the source file. If the receiving program is not running as the
1536 super-user (or if `--no-super` was specified), only groups that the
1537 invoking user on the receiving side is a member of will be preserved.
1538 Without this option, the group is set to the default group of the invoking
1539 user on the receiving side.
1541 The preservation of group information will associate matching names by
1542 default, but may fall back to using the ID number in some circumstances
1543 (see also the [`--numeric-ids`](#opt) option for a full discussion).
1547 This option causes rsync to transfer character and block device files to
1548 the remote system to recreate these devices. If the receiving rsync is not
1549 being run as the super-user, rsync silently skips creating the device files
1550 (see also the [`--super`](#opt) and [`--fake-super`](#opt) options).
1552 By default, rsync generates a "non-regular file" warning for each device
1553 file encountered when this option is not set. You can silence the warning
1554 by specifying [`--info=nonreg0`](#opt).
1558 This option causes rsync to transfer special files, such as named sockets
1559 and fifos. If the receiving rsync is not being run as the super-user,
1560 rsync silently skips creating the special files (see also the
1561 [`--super`](#opt) and [`--fake-super`](#opt) options).
1563 By default, rsync generates a "non-regular file" warning for each special
1564 file encountered when this option is not set. You can silence the warning
1565 by specifying [`--info=nonreg0`](#opt).
1569 The `-D` option is equivalent to "[`--devices`](#opt)
1570 [`--specials`](#opt)".
1574 This tells rsync to treat a device on the sending side as a regular file,
1575 allowing it to be copied to a normal destination file (or another device
1576 if `--write-devices` was also specified).
1578 This option is refused by default by an rsync daemon.
1580 0. `--write-devices`
1582 This tells rsync to treat a device on the receiving side as a regular file,
1583 allowing the writing of file data into a device.
1585 This option implies the [`--inplace`](#opt) option.
1587 Be careful using this, as you should know what devices are present on the
1588 receiving side of the transfer, especially when running rsync as root.
1590 This option is refused by default by an rsync daemon.
1594 This tells rsync to transfer modification times along with the files and
1595 update them on the remote system. Note that if this option is not used,
1596 the optimization that excludes files that have not been modified cannot be
1597 effective; in other words, a missing `-t` (or [`-a`](#opt)) will cause the
1598 next transfer to behave as if it used [`--ignore-times`](#opt) (`-I`),
1599 causing all files to be updated (though rsync's delta-transfer algorithm
1600 will make the update fairly efficient if the files haven't actually
1601 changed, you're much better off using `-t`).
1603 A modern rsync that is using transfer protocol 30 or 31 conveys a modify
1604 time using up to 8-bytes. If rsync is forced to speak an older protocol
1605 (perhaps due to the remote rsync being older than 3.0.0) a modify time is
1606 conveyed using 4-bytes. Prior to 3.2.7, these shorter values could convey
1607 a date range of 13-Dec-1901 to 19-Jan-2038. Beginning with 3.2.7, these
1608 4-byte values now convey a date range of 1-Jan-1970 to 7-Feb-2106. If you
1609 have files dated older than 1970, make sure your rsync executables are
1610 upgraded so that the full range of dates can be conveyed.
1614 This tells rsync to set the access (use) times of the destination files to
1615 the same value as the source files.
1617 If repeated, it also sets the [`--open-noatime`](#opt) option, which can help you
1618 to make the sending and receiving systems have the same access times on the
1619 transferred files without needing to run rsync an extra time after a file
1622 Note that some older rsync versions (prior to 3.2.0) may have been built
1623 with a pre-release `--atimes` patch that does not imply
1624 [`--open-noatime`](#opt) when this option is repeated.
1628 This tells rsync to open files with the O_NOATIME flag (on systems that
1629 support it) to avoid changing the access time of the files that are being
1630 transferred. If your OS does not support the O_NOATIME flag then rsync
1631 will silently ignore this option. Note also that some filesystems are
1632 mounted to avoid updating the atime on read access even without the
1633 O_NOATIME flag being set.
1635 0. `--crtimes`, `-N,`
1637 This tells rsync to set the create times (newness) of the destination
1638 files to the same value as the source files.
1640 0. `--omit-dir-times`, `-O`
1642 This tells rsync to omit directories when it is preserving modification,
1643 access, and create times. If NFS is sharing the directories on the receiving
1644 side, it is a good idea to use `-O`. This option is inferred if you use
1645 [`--backup`](#opt) without [`--backup-dir`](#opt).
1647 This option also has the side-effect of avoiding early creation of missing
1648 sub-directories when incremental recursion is enabled, as discussed in the
1649 [`--inc-recursive`](#opt) section.
1651 0. `--omit-link-times`, `-J`
1653 This tells rsync to omit symlinks when it is preserving modification,
1654 access, and create times.
1658 This tells the receiving side to attempt super-user activities even if the
1659 receiving rsync wasn't run by the super-user. These activities include:
1660 preserving users via the [`--owner`](#opt) option, preserving all groups
1661 (not just the current user's groups) via the [`--group`](#opt) option, and
1662 copying devices via the [`--devices`](#opt) option. This is useful for
1663 systems that allow such activities without being the super-user, and also
1664 for ensuring that you will get errors if the receiving side isn't being run
1665 as the super-user. To turn off super-user activities, the super-user can
1670 When this option is enabled, rsync simulates super-user activities by
1671 saving/restoring the privileged attributes via special extended attributes
1672 that are attached to each file (as needed). This includes the file's owner
1673 and group (if it is not the default), the file's device info (device &
1674 special files are created as empty text files), and any permission bits
1675 that we won't allow to be set on the real file (e.g. the real file gets
1676 u-s,g-s,o-t for safety) or that would limit the owner's access (since the
1677 real super-user can always access/change a file, the files we create can
1678 always be accessed/changed by the creating user). This option also handles
1679 ACLs (if [`--acls`](#opt) was specified) and non-user extended attributes
1680 (if [`--xattrs`](#opt) was specified).
1682 This is a good way to backup data without using a super-user, and to store
1683 ACLs from incompatible systems.
1685 The `--fake-super` option only affects the side where the option is used.
1686 To affect the remote side of a remote-shell connection, use the
1687 [`--remote-option`](#opt) (`-M`) option:
1689 > rsync -av -M--fake-super /src/ host:/dest/
1691 For a local copy, this option affects both the source and the destination.
1692 If you wish a local copy to enable this option just for the destination
1693 files, specify `-M--fake-super`. If you wish a local copy to enable this
1694 option just for the source files, combine `--fake-super` with `-M--super`.
1696 This option is overridden by both [`--super`](#opt) and `--no-super`.
1698 See also the [`fake super`](rsyncd.conf.5#fake_super) setting in the
1699 daemon's rsyncd.conf file.
1703 Try to handle sparse files efficiently so they take up less space on the
1704 destination. If combined with [`--inplace`](#opt) the file created might
1705 not end up with sparse blocks with some combinations of kernel version
1706 and/or filesystem type. If [`--whole-file`](#opt) is in effect (e.g. for a
1707 local copy) then it will always work because rsync truncates the file prior
1708 to writing out the updated version.
1710 Note that versions of rsync older than 3.1.3 will reject the combination of
1711 `--sparse` and [`--inplace`](#opt).
1715 This tells the receiver to allocate each destination file to its eventual
1716 size before writing data to the file. Rsync will only use the real
1717 filesystem-level preallocation support provided by Linux's **fallocate**(2)
1718 system call or Cygwin's **posix_fallocate**(3), not the slow glibc
1719 implementation that writes a null byte into each block.
1721 Without this option, larger files may not be entirely contiguous on the
1722 filesystem, but with this option rsync will probably copy more slowly. If
1723 the destination is not an extent-supporting filesystem (such as ext4, xfs,
1724 NTFS, etc.), this option may have no positive effect at all.
1726 If combined with [`--sparse`](#opt), the file will only have sparse blocks
1727 (as opposed to allocated sequences of null bytes) if the kernel version and
1728 filesystem type support creating holes in the allocated data.
1730 0. `--dry-run`, `-n`
1732 This makes rsync perform a trial run that doesn't make any changes (and
1733 produces mostly the same output as a real run). It is most commonly used
1734 in combination with the [`--verbose`](#opt) (`-v`) and/or
1735 [`--itemize-changes`](#opt) (`-i`) options to see what an rsync command is
1736 going to do before one actually runs it.
1738 The output of [`--itemize-changes`](#opt) is supposed to be exactly the
1739 same on a dry run and a subsequent real run (barring intentional trickery
1740 and system call failures); if it isn't, that's a bug. Other output should
1741 be mostly unchanged, but may differ in some areas. Notably, a dry run does
1742 not send the actual data for file transfers, so [`--progress`](#opt) has no
1743 effect, the "bytes sent", "bytes received", "literal data", and "matched
1744 data" statistics are too small, and the "speedup" value is equivalent to a
1745 run where no file transfers were needed.
1747 0. `--whole-file`, `-W`
1749 This option disables rsync's delta-transfer algorithm, which causes all
1750 transferred files to be sent whole. The transfer may be faster if this
1751 option is used when the bandwidth between the source and destination
1752 machines is higher than the bandwidth to disk (especially when the "disk"
1753 is actually a networked filesystem). This is the default when both the
1754 source and destination are specified as local paths, but only if no
1755 batch-writing option is in effect.
1757 0. `--no-whole-file`, `--no-W`
1759 Disable whole-file updating when it is enabled by default for a local
1760 transfer. This usually slows rsync down, but it can be useful if you are
1761 trying to minimize the writes to the destination file (if combined with
1762 [`--inplace`](#opt)) or for testing the checksum-based update algorithm.
1764 See also the [`--whole-file`](#opt) option.
1766 0. `--checksum-choice=STR`, `--cc=STR`
1768 This option overrides the checksum algorithms. If one algorithm name is
1769 specified, it is used for both the transfer checksums and (assuming
1770 [`--checksum`](#opt) is specified) the pre-transfer checksums. If two
1771 comma-separated names are supplied, the first name affects the transfer
1772 checksums, and the second name affects the pre-transfer checksums (`-c`).
1774 The checksum options that you may be able to use are:
1776 - `auto` (the default automatic choice)
1779 - `xxh64` (aka `xxhash`)
1785 Run `rsync --version` to see the default checksum list compiled into your
1786 version (which may differ from the list above).
1788 If "none" is specified for the first (or only) name, the [`--whole-file`](#opt)
1789 option is forced on and no checksum verification is performed on the
1790 transferred data. If "none" is specified for the second (or only) name,
1791 the [`--checksum`](#opt) option cannot be used.
1793 The "auto" option is the default, where rsync bases its algorithm choice on
1794 a negotiation between the client and the server as follows:
1796 When both sides of the transfer are at least 3.2.0, rsync chooses the first
1797 algorithm in the client's list of choices that is also in the server's list
1798 of choices. If no common checksum choice is found, rsync exits with
1799 an error. If the remote rsync is too old to support checksum negotiation,
1800 a value is chosen based on the protocol version (which chooses between MD5
1801 and various flavors of MD4 based on protocol age).
1803 The default order can be customized by setting the environment variable
1804 [`RSYNC_CHECKSUM_LIST`](#) to a space-separated list of acceptable checksum
1805 names. If the string contains a "`&`" character, it is separated into the
1806 "client string & server string", otherwise the same string applies to both.
1807 If the string (or string portion) contains no non-whitespace characters,
1808 the default checksum list is used. This method does not allow you to
1809 specify the transfer checksum separately from the pre-transfer checksum,
1810 and it discards "auto" and all unknown checksum names. A list with only
1811 invalid names results in a failed negotiation.
1813 The use of the `--checksum-choice` option overrides this environment list.
1815 0. `--one-file-system`, `-x`
1817 This tells rsync to avoid crossing a filesystem boundary when recursing.
1818 This does not limit the user's ability to specify items to copy from
1819 multiple filesystems, just rsync's recursion through the hierarchy of each
1820 directory that the user specified, and also the analogous recursion on the
1821 receiving side during deletion. Also keep in mind that rsync treats a
1822 "bind" mount to the same device as being on the same filesystem.
1824 If this option is repeated, rsync omits all mount-point directories from
1825 the copy. Otherwise, it includes an empty directory at each mount-point it
1826 encounters (using the attributes of the mounted directory because those of
1827 the underlying mount-point directory are inaccessible).
1829 If rsync has been told to collapse symlinks (via [`--copy-links`](#opt) or
1830 [`--copy-unsafe-links`](#opt)), a symlink to a directory on another device
1831 is treated like a mount-point. Symlinks to non-directories are unaffected
1834 0. `--ignore-non-existing`, `--existing`
1836 This tells rsync to skip creating files (including directories) that do not
1837 exist yet on the destination. If this option is combined with the
1838 [`--ignore-existing`](#opt) option, no files will be updated (which can be
1839 useful if all you want to do is delete extraneous files).
1841 This option is a [TRANSFER RULE](#TRANSFER_RULES), so don't expect any
1842 exclude side effects.
1844 0. `--ignore-existing`
1846 This tells rsync to skip updating files that already exist on the
1847 destination (this does _not_ ignore existing directories, or nothing would
1848 get done). See also [`--ignore-non-existing`](#opt).
1850 This option is a [TRANSFER RULE](#TRANSFER_RULES), so don't expect any
1851 exclude side effects.
1853 This option can be useful for those doing backups using the
1854 [`--link-dest`](#opt) option when they need to continue a backup run that
1855 got interrupted. Since a [`--link-dest`](#opt) run is copied into a new
1856 directory hierarchy (when it is used properly), using [`--ignore-existing`
1857 will ensure that the already-handled files don't get tweaked (which avoids
1858 a change in permissions on the hard-linked files). This does mean that
1859 this option is only looking at the existing files in the destination
1862 When [`--info=skip2`](#opt) is used rsync will output "FILENAME exists
1863 (INFO)" messages where the INFO indicates one of "type change", "sum
1864 change" (requires [`-c`](#opt)), "file change" (based on the quick check),
1865 "attr change", or "uptodate". Using [`--info=skip1`](#opt) (which is also
1866 implied by 2 [`-v`](#opt) options) outputs the exists message without the
1869 0. `--remove-source-files`
1871 This tells rsync to remove from the sending side the files (meaning
1872 non-directories) that are a part of the transfer and have been successfully
1873 duplicated on the receiving side.
1875 Note that you should only use this option on source files that are
1876 quiescent. If you are using this to move files that show up in a
1877 particular directory over to another host, make sure that the finished
1878 files get renamed into the source directory, not directly written into it,
1879 so that rsync can't possibly transfer a file that is not yet fully written.
1880 If you can't first write the files into a different directory, you should
1881 use a naming idiom that lets rsync avoid transferring files that are not
1882 yet finished (e.g. name the file "foo.new" when it is written, rename it to
1883 "foo" when it is done, and then use the option [`--exclude='*.new'`](#opt)
1884 for the rsync transfer).
1886 Starting with 3.1.0, rsync will skip the sender-side removal (and output an
1887 error) if the file's size or modify time has not stayed unchanged.
1889 Starting with 3.2.6, a local rsync copy will ensure that the sender does
1890 not remove a file the receiver just verified, such as when the user
1891 accidentally makes the source and destination directory the same path.
1895 This tells rsync to delete extraneous files from the receiving side (ones
1896 that aren't on the sending side), but only for the directories that are
1897 being synchronized. You must have asked rsync to send the whole directory
1898 (e.g. "`dir`" or "`dir/`") without using a wildcard for the directory's
1899 contents (e.g. "`dir/*`") since the wildcard is expanded by the shell and
1900 rsync thus gets a request to transfer individual files, not the files'
1901 parent directory. Files that are excluded from the transfer are also
1902 excluded from being deleted unless you use the [`--delete-excluded`](#opt)
1903 option or mark the rules as only matching on the sending side (see the
1904 include/exclude modifiers in the [FILTER RULES](#) section).
1906 Prior to rsync 2.6.7, this option would have no effect unless
1907 [`--recursive`](#opt) was enabled. Beginning with 2.6.7, deletions will
1908 also occur when [`--dirs`](#opt) (`-d`) is enabled, but only for
1909 directories whose contents are being copied.
1911 This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly! It is a very good idea to
1912 first try a run using the [`--dry-run`](#opt) (`-n`) option to see what
1913 files are going to be deleted.
1915 If the sending side detects any I/O errors, then the deletion of any files
1916 at the destination will be automatically disabled. This is to prevent
1917 temporary filesystem failures (such as NFS errors) on the sending side from
1918 causing a massive deletion of files on the destination. You can override
1919 this with the [`--ignore-errors`](#opt) option.
1921 The `--delete` option may be combined with one of the --delete-WHEN options
1922 without conflict, as well as [`--delete-excluded`](#opt). However, if none
1923 of the `--delete-WHEN` options are specified, rsync will choose the
1924 [`--delete-during`](#opt) algorithm when talking to rsync 3.0.0 or newer,
1925 or the [`--delete-before`](#opt) algorithm when talking to an older rsync.
1926 See also [`--delete-delay`](#opt) and [`--delete-after`](#opt).
1928 0. `--delete-before`
1930 Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be done before the
1931 transfer starts. See [`--delete`](#opt) (which is implied) for more
1932 details on file-deletion.
1934 Deleting before the transfer is helpful if the filesystem is tight for
1935 space and removing extraneous files would help to make the transfer
1936 possible. However, it does introduce a delay before the start of the
1937 transfer, and this delay might cause the transfer to timeout (if
1938 [`--timeout`](#opt) was specified). It also forces rsync to use the old,
1939 non-incremental recursion algorithm that requires rsync to scan all the
1940 files in the transfer into memory at once (see [`--recursive`](#opt)).
1942 0. `--delete-during`, `--del`
1944 Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be done incrementally
1945 as the transfer happens. The per-directory delete scan is done right
1946 before each directory is checked for updates, so it behaves like a more
1947 efficient [`--delete-before`](#opt), including doing the deletions prior to
1948 any per-directory filter files being updated. This option was first added
1949 in rsync version 2.6.4. See [`--delete`](#opt) (which is implied) for more
1950 details on file-deletion.
1954 Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be computed during
1955 the transfer (like [`--delete-during`](#opt)), and then removed after the
1956 transfer completes. This is useful when combined with
1957 [`--delay-updates`](#opt) and/or [`--fuzzy`](#opt), and is more efficient
1958 than using [`--delete-after`](#opt) (but can behave differently, since
1959 [`--delete-after`](#opt) computes the deletions in a separate pass after
1960 all updates are done). If the number of removed files overflows an
1961 internal buffer, a temporary file will be created on the receiving side to
1962 hold the names (it is removed while open, so you shouldn't see it during
1963 the transfer). If the creation of the temporary file fails, rsync will try
1964 to fall back to using [`--delete-after`](#opt) (which it cannot do if
1965 [`--recursive`](#opt) is doing an incremental scan). See
1966 [`--delete`](#opt) (which is implied) for more details on file-deletion.
1970 Request that the file-deletions on the receiving side be done after the
1971 transfer has completed. This is useful if you are sending new
1972 per-directory merge files as a part of the transfer and you want their
1973 exclusions to take effect for the delete phase of the current transfer. It
1974 also forces rsync to use the old, non-incremental recursion algorithm that
1975 requires rsync to scan all the files in the transfer into memory at once
1976 (see [`--recursive`](#opt)). See [`--delete`](#opt) (which is implied) for
1977 more details on file-deletion.
1979 See also the [`--delete-delay`](#opt) option that might be a faster choice
1980 for those that just want the deletions to occur at the end of the transfer.
1982 0. `--delete-excluded`
1984 This option turns any unqualified exclude/include rules into server-side
1985 rules that do not affect the receiver's deletions.
1987 By default, an exclude or include has both a server-side effect (to "hide"
1988 and "show" files when building the server's file list) and a receiver-side
1989 effect (to "protect" and "risk" files when deletions are occurring). Any
1990 rule that has no modifier to specify what sides it is executed on will be
1991 instead treated as if it were a server-side rule only, avoiding any
1992 "protect" effects of the rules.
1994 A rule can still apply to both sides even with this option specified if the
1995 rule is given both the sender & receiver modifier letters (e.g., `-f'-sr
1996 foo'`). Receiver-side protect/risk rules can also be explicitly specified
1997 to limit the deletions. This saves you from having to edit a bunch of
1998 `-f'- foo'` rules into `-f'-s foo'` (aka `-f'H foo'`) rules (not to mention
1999 the corresponding includes).
2001 See the [FILTER RULES](#) section for more information. See
2002 [`--delete`](#opt) (which is implied) for more details on deletion.
2004 0. `--ignore-missing-args`
2006 When rsync is first processing the explicitly requested source files (e.g.
2007 command-line arguments or [`--files-from`](#opt) entries), it is normally
2008 an error if the file cannot be found. This option suppresses that error,
2009 and does not try to transfer the file. This does not affect subsequent
2010 vanished-file errors if a file was initially found to be present and later
2013 0. `--delete-missing-args`
2015 This option takes the behavior of the (implied)
2016 [`--ignore-missing-args`](#opt) option a step farther: each missing arg
2017 will become a deletion request of the corresponding destination file on the
2018 receiving side (should it exist). If the destination file is a non-empty
2019 directory, it will only be successfully deleted if [`--force`](#opt) or
2020 [`--delete`](#opt) are in effect. Other than that, this option is
2021 independent of any other type of delete processing.
2023 The missing source files are represented by special file-list entries which
2024 display as a "`*missing`" entry in the [`--list-only`](#opt) output.
2026 0. `--ignore-errors`
2028 Tells [`--delete`](#opt) to go ahead and delete files even when there are
2033 This option tells rsync to delete a non-empty directory when it is to be
2034 replaced by a non-directory. This is only relevant if deletions are not
2035 active (see [`--delete`](#opt) for details).
2037 Note for older rsync versions: `--force` used to still be required when
2038 using [`--delete-after`](#opt), and it used to be non-functional unless the
2039 [`--recursive`](#opt) option was also enabled.
2041 0. `--max-delete=NUM`
2043 This tells rsync not to delete more than NUM files or directories. If that
2044 limit is exceeded, all further deletions are skipped through the end of the
2045 transfer. At the end, rsync outputs a warning (including a count of the
2046 skipped deletions) and exits with an error code of 25 (unless some more
2047 important error condition also occurred).
2049 Beginning with version 3.0.0, you may specify `--max-delete=0` to be warned
2050 about any extraneous files in the destination without removing any of them.
2051 Older clients interpreted this as "unlimited", so if you don't know what
2052 version the client is, you can use the less obvious `--max-delete=-1` as a
2053 backward-compatible way to specify that no deletions be allowed (though
2054 really old versions didn't warn when the limit was exceeded).
2056 0. `--max-size=SIZE`
2058 This tells rsync to avoid transferring any file that is larger than the
2059 specified SIZE. A numeric value can be suffixed with a string to indicate
2060 the numeric units or left unqualified to specify bytes. Feel free to use a
2061 fractional value along with the units, such as `--max-size=1.5m`.
2063 This option is a [TRANSFER RULE](#TRANSFER_RULES), so don't expect any
2064 exclude side effects.
2066 The first letter of a units string can be `B` (bytes), `K` (kilo), `M`
2067 (mega), `G` (giga), `T` (tera), or `P` (peta). If the string is a single
2068 char or has "ib" added to it (e.g. "G" or "GiB") then the units are
2069 multiples of 1024. If you use a two-letter suffix that ends with a "B"
2070 (e.g. "kb") then you get units that are multiples of 1000. The string's
2071 letters can be any mix of upper and lower-case that you want to use.
2073 Finally, if the string ends with either "+1" or "-1", it is offset by one
2074 byte in the indicated direction. The largest possible value is usually
2077 Examples: `--max-size=1.5mb-1` is 1499999 bytes, and `--max-size=2g+1` is
2080 Note that rsync versions prior to 3.1.0 did not allow `--max-size=0`.
2082 0. `--min-size=SIZE`
2084 This tells rsync to avoid transferring any file that is smaller than the
2085 specified SIZE, which can help in not transferring small, junk files. See
2086 the [`--max-size`](#opt) option for a description of SIZE and other info.
2088 Note that rsync versions prior to 3.1.0 did not allow `--min-size=0`.
2090 0. `--max-alloc=SIZE`
2092 By default rsync limits an individual malloc/realloc to about 1GB in size.
2093 For most people this limit works just fine and prevents a protocol error
2094 causing rsync to request massive amounts of memory. However, if you have
2095 many millions of files in a transfer, a large amount of server memory, and
2096 you don't want to split up your transfer into multiple parts, you can
2097 increase the per-allocation limit to something larger and rsync will
2098 consume more memory.
2100 Keep in mind that this is not a limit on the total size of allocated
2101 memory. It is a sanity-check value for each individual allocation.
2103 See the [`--max-size`](#opt) option for a description of how SIZE can be
2104 specified. The default suffix if none is given is bytes.
2106 Beginning in 3.2.3, a value of 0 specifies no limit.
2108 You can set a default value using the environment variable
2109 [`RSYNC_MAX_ALLOC`](#) using the same SIZE values as supported by this
2110 option. If the remote rsync doesn't understand the `--max-alloc` option,
2111 you can override an environmental value by specifying `--max-alloc=1g`,
2112 which will make rsync avoid sending the option to the remote side (because
2113 "1G" is the default).
2115 0. `--block-size=SIZE`, `-B`
2117 This forces the block size used in rsync's delta-transfer algorithm to a
2118 fixed value. It is normally selected based on the size of each file being
2119 updated. See the technical report for details.
2121 Beginning in 3.2.3 the SIZE can be specified with a suffix as detailed in
2122 the [`--max-size`](#opt) option. Older versions only accepted a byte count.
2124 0. `--rsh=COMMAND`, `-e`
2126 This option allows you to choose an alternative remote shell program to use
2127 for communication between the local and remote copies of rsync. Typically,
2128 rsync is configured to use ssh by default, but you may prefer to use rsh on
2131 If this option is used with `[user@]host::module/path`, then the remote
2132 shell _COMMAND_ will be used to run an rsync daemon on the remote host, and
2133 all data will be transmitted through that remote shell connection, rather
2134 than through a direct socket connection to a running rsync daemon on the
2135 remote host. See the [USING RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE-SHELL
2136 CONNECTION](#) section above.
2138 Beginning with rsync 3.2.0, the [`RSYNC_PORT`](#) environment variable will
2139 be set when a daemon connection is being made via a remote-shell
2140 connection. It is set to 0 if the default daemon port is being assumed, or
2141 it is set to the value of the rsync port that was specified via either the
2142 [`--port`](#opt) option or a non-empty port value in an `rsync://` URL.
2143 This allows the script to discern if a non-default port is being requested,
2144 allowing for things such as an SSL or stunnel helper script to connect to a
2145 default or alternate port.
2147 Command-line arguments are permitted in COMMAND provided that COMMAND is
2148 presented to rsync as a single argument. You must use spaces (not tabs or
2149 other whitespace) to separate the command and args from each other, and you
2150 can use single- and/or double-quotes to preserve spaces in an argument (but
2151 not backslashes). Note that doubling a single-quote inside a single-quoted
2152 string gives you a single-quote; likewise for double-quotes (though you
2153 need to pay attention to which quotes your shell is parsing and which
2154 quotes rsync is parsing). Some examples:
2157 > -e 'ssh -o "ProxyCommand nohup ssh firewall nc -w1 %h %p"'
2159 (Note that ssh users can alternately customize site-specific connect
2160 options in their .ssh/config file.)
2162 You can also choose the remote shell program using the [`RSYNC_RSH`](#)
2163 environment variable, which accepts the same range of values as `-e`.
2165 See also the [`--blocking-io`](#opt) option which is affected by this
2168 0. `--rsync-path=PROGRAM`
2170 Use this to specify what program is to be run on the remote machine to
2171 start-up rsync. Often used when rsync is not in the default remote-shell's
2172 path (e.g. `--rsync-path=/usr/local/bin/rsync`). Note that PROGRAM is run
2173 with the help of a shell, so it can be any program, script, or command
2174 sequence you'd care to run, so long as it does not corrupt the standard-in
2175 & standard-out that rsync is using to communicate.
2177 One tricky example is to set a different default directory on the remote
2178 machine for use with the [`--relative`](#opt) option. For instance:
2180 > rsync -avR --rsync-path="cd /a/b && rsync" host:c/d /e/
2182 0. `--remote-option=OPTION`, `-M`
2184 This option is used for more advanced situations where you want certain
2185 effects to be limited to one side of the transfer only. For instance, if
2186 you want to pass [`--log-file=FILE`](#opt) and [`--fake-super`](#opt) to
2187 the remote system, specify it like this:
2189 > rsync -av -M --log-file=foo -M--fake-super src/ dest/
2191 If you want to have an option affect only the local side of a transfer when
2192 it normally affects both sides, send its negation to the remote side. Like
2195 > rsync -av -x -M--no-x src/ dest/
2197 Be cautious using this, as it is possible to toggle an option that will
2198 cause rsync to have a different idea about what data to expect next over
2199 the socket, and that will make it fail in a cryptic fashion.
2201 Note that you should use a separate `-M` option for each remote option you
2202 want to pass. On older rsync versions, the presence of any spaces in the
2203 remote-option arg could cause it to be split into separate remote args, but
2204 this requires the use of [`--old-args`](#opt) in a modern rsync.
2206 When performing a local transfer, the "local" side is the sender and the
2207 "remote" side is the receiver.
2209 Note some versions of the popt option-parsing library have a bug in them
2210 that prevents you from using an adjacent arg with an equal in it next to a
2211 short option letter (e.g. `-M--log-file=/tmp/foo`). If this bug affects
2212 your version of popt, you can use the version of popt that is included with
2215 0. `--cvs-exclude`, `-C`
2217 This is a useful shorthand for excluding a broad range of files that you
2218 often don't want to transfer between systems. It uses a similar algorithm
2219 to CVS to determine if a file should be ignored.
2221 The exclude list is initialized to exclude the following items (these
2222 initial items are marked as perishable -- see the [FILTER RULES](#)
2225 [comment]: # (This list gets used for the default-cvsignore.h file.)
2264 then, files listed in a $HOME/.cvsignore are added to the list and any
2265 files listed in the CVSIGNORE environment variable (all cvsignore names are
2266 delimited by whitespace).
2268 Finally, any file is ignored if it is in the same directory as a .cvsignore
2269 file and matches one of the patterns listed therein. Unlike rsync's
2270 filter/exclude files, these patterns are split on whitespace. See the
2271 **cvs**(1) manual for more information.
2273 If you're combining `-C` with your own [`--filter`](#opt) rules, you should
2274 note that these CVS excludes are appended at the end of your own rules,
2275 regardless of where the `-C` was placed on the command-line. This makes
2276 them a lower priority than any rules you specified explicitly. If you want
2277 to control where these CVS excludes get inserted into your filter rules,
2278 you should omit the `-C` as a command-line option and use a combination of
2279 [`--filter=:C`](#opt) and [`--filter=-C`](#opt) (either on your
2280 command-line or by putting the ":C" and "-C" rules into a filter file with
2281 your other rules). The first option turns on the per-directory scanning
2282 for the .cvsignore file. The second option does a one-time import of the
2283 CVS excludes mentioned above.
2285 0. `--filter=RULE`, `-f`
2287 This option allows you to add rules to selectively exclude certain files
2288 from the list of files to be transferred. This is most useful in
2289 combination with a recursive transfer.
2291 You may use as many `--filter` options on the command line as you like to
2292 build up the list of files to exclude. If the filter contains whitespace,
2293 be sure to quote it so that the shell gives the rule to rsync as a single
2294 argument. The text below also mentions that you can use an underscore to
2295 replace the space that separates a rule from its arg.
2297 See the [FILTER RULES](#) section for detailed information on this option.
2301 The `-F` option is a shorthand for adding two [`--filter`](#opt) rules to
2302 your command. The first time it is used is a shorthand for this rule:
2304 > --filter='dir-merge /.rsync-filter'
2306 This tells rsync to look for per-directory .rsync-filter files that have
2307 been sprinkled through the hierarchy and use their rules to filter the
2308 files in the transfer. If `-F` is repeated, it is a shorthand for this
2311 > --filter='exclude .rsync-filter'
2313 This filters out the .rsync-filter files themselves from the transfer.
2315 See the [FILTER RULES](#) section for detailed information on how these
2318 0. `--exclude=PATTERN`
2320 This option is a simplified form of the [`--filter`](#opt) option that
2321 specifies an exclude rule and does not allow the full rule-parsing syntax
2322 of normal filter rules. This is equivalent to specifying `-f'- PATTERN'`.
2324 See the [FILTER RULES](#) section for detailed information on this option.
2326 0. `--exclude-from=FILE`
2328 This option is related to the [`--exclude`](#opt) option, but it specifies
2329 a FILE that contains exclude patterns (one per line). Blank lines in the
2330 file are ignored, as are whole-line comments that start with '`;`' or '`#`'
2331 (filename rules that contain those characters are unaffected).
2333 If a line begins with "`-Â `" (dash, space) or "`+Â `" (plus, space), then
2334 the type of rule is being explicitly specified as an exclude or an include
2335 (respectively). Any rules without such a prefix are taken to be an exclude.
2337 If a line consists of just "`!`", then the current filter rules are cleared
2338 before adding any further rules.
2340 If _FILE_ is '`-`', the list will be read from standard input.
2342 0. `--include=PATTERN`
2344 This option is a simplified form of the [`--filter`](#opt) option that
2345 specifies an include rule and does not allow the full rule-parsing syntax
2346 of normal filter rules. This is equivalent to specifying `-f'+ PATTERN'`.
2348 See the [FILTER RULES](#) section for detailed information on this option.
2350 0. `--include-from=FILE`
2352 This option is related to the [`--include`](#opt) option, but it specifies
2353 a FILE that contains include patterns (one per line). Blank lines in the
2354 file are ignored, as are whole-line comments that start with '`;`' or '`#`'
2355 (filename rules that contain those characters are unaffected).
2357 If a line begins with "`-Â `" (dash, space) or "`+Â `" (plus, space), then
2358 the type of rule is being explicitly specified as an exclude or an include
2359 (respectively). Any rules without such a prefix are taken to be an include.
2361 If a line consists of just "`!`", then the current filter rules are cleared
2362 before adding any further rules.
2364 If _FILE_ is '`-`', the list will be read from standard input.
2366 0. `--files-from=FILE`
2368 Using this option allows you to specify the exact list of files to transfer
2369 (as read from the specified FILE or '`-`' for standard input). It also
2370 tweaks the default behavior of rsync to make transferring just the
2371 specified files and directories easier:
2373 - The [`--relative`](#opt) (`-R`) option is implied, which preserves the
2374 path information that is specified for each item in the file (use
2375 `--no-relative` or `--no-R` if you want to turn that off).
2376 - The [`--dirs`](#opt) (`-d`) option is implied, which will create
2377 directories specified in the list on the destination rather than noisily
2378 skipping them (use `--no-dirs` or `--no-d` if you want to turn that off).
2379 - The [`--archive`](#opt) (`-a`) option's behavior does not imply
2380 [`--recursive`](#opt) (`-r`), so specify it explicitly, if you want it.
2381 - These side-effects change the default state of rsync, so the position of
2382 the `--files-from` option on the command-line has no bearing on how other
2383 options are parsed (e.g. [`-a`](#opt) works the same before or after
2384 `--files-from`, as does `--no-R` and all other options).
2386 The filenames that are read from the FILE are all relative to the source
2387 dir -- any leading slashes are removed and no ".." references are allowed
2388 to go higher than the source dir. For example, take this command:
2390 > rsync -a --files-from=/tmp/foo /usr remote:/backup
2392 If /tmp/foo contains the string "bin" (or even "/bin"), the /usr/bin
2393 directory will be created as /backup/bin on the remote host. If it
2394 contains "bin/" (note the trailing slash), the immediate contents of the
2395 directory would also be sent (without needing to be explicitly mentioned in
2396 the file -- this began in version 2.6.4). In both cases, if the
2397 [`-r`](#opt) option was enabled, that dir's entire hierarchy would also be
2398 transferred (keep in mind that [`-r`](#opt) needs to be specified
2399 explicitly with `--files-from`, since it is not implied by [`-a`](#opt).
2400 Also note that the effect of the (enabled by default) [`-r`](#opt) option
2401 is to duplicate only the path info that is read from the file -- it does
2402 not force the duplication of the source-spec path (/usr in this case).
2404 In addition, the `--files-from` file can be read from the remote host
2405 instead of the local host if you specify a "host:" in front of the file
2406 (the host must match one end of the transfer). As a short-cut, you can
2407 specify just a prefix of ":" to mean "use the remote end of the transfer".
2410 > rsync -a --files-from=:/path/file-list src:/ /tmp/copy
2412 This would copy all the files specified in the /path/file-list file that
2413 was located on the remote "src" host.
2415 If the [`--iconv`](#opt) and [`--secluded-args`](#opt) options are specified
2416 and the `--files-from` filenames are being sent from one host to another,
2417 the filenames will be translated from the sending host's charset to the
2418 receiving host's charset.
2420 NOTE: sorting the list of files in the `--files-from` input helps rsync to
2421 be more efficient, as it will avoid re-visiting the path elements that are
2422 shared between adjacent entries. If the input is not sorted, some path
2423 elements (implied directories) may end up being scanned multiple times, and
2424 rsync will eventually unduplicate them after they get turned into file-list
2429 This tells rsync that the rules/filenames it reads from a file are
2430 terminated by a null ('\\0') character, not a NL, CR, or CR+LF. This
2431 affects [`--exclude-from`](#opt), [`--include-from`](#opt),
2432 [`--files-from`](#opt), and any merged files specified in a
2433 [`--filter`](#opt) rule. It does not affect [`--cvs-exclude`](#opt) (since
2434 all names read from a .cvsignore file are split on whitespace).
2438 This option tells rsync to stop trying to protect the arg values on the
2439 remote side from unintended word-splitting or other misinterpretation.
2440 It also allows the client to treat an empty arg as a "." instead of
2441 generating an error.
2443 The default in a modern rsync is for "shell-active" characters (including
2444 spaces) to be backslash-escaped in the args that are sent to the remote
2445 shell. The wildcard characters `*`, `?`, `[`, & `]` are not escaped in
2446 filename args (allowing them to expand into multiple filenames) while being
2447 protected in option args, such as [`--usermap`](#opt).
2449 If you have a script that wants to use old-style arg splitting in its
2450 filenames, specify this option once. If the remote shell has a problem
2451 with any backslash escapes at all, specify this option twice.
2453 You may also control this setting via the [`RSYNC_OLD_ARGS`](#) environment
2454 variable. If it has the value "1", rsync will default to a single-option
2455 setting. If it has the value "2" (or more), rsync will default to a
2456 repeated-option setting. If it is "0", you'll get the default escaping
2457 behavior. The environment is always overridden by manually specified
2458 positive or negative options (the negative is `--no-old-args`).
2460 Note that this option also disables the extra safety check added in 3.2.5
2461 that ensures that a remote sender isn't including extra top-level items in
2462 the file-list that you didn't request. This side-effect is necessary
2463 because we can't know for sure what names to expect when the remote shell
2464 is interpreting the args.
2466 This option conflicts with the [`--secluded-args`](#opt) option.
2468 0. `--secluded-args`, `-s`
2470 This option sends all filenames and most options to the remote rsync via
2471 the protocol (not the remote shell command line) which avoids letting the
2472 remote shell modify them. Wildcards are expanded on the remote host by
2473 rsync instead of a shell.
2475 This is similar to the default backslash-escaping of args that was added
2476 in 3.2.4 (see [`--old-args`](#opt)) in that it prevents things like space
2477 splitting and unwanted special-character side-effects. However, it has the
2478 drawbacks of being incompatible with older rsync versions (prior to 3.0.0)
2479 and of being refused by restricted shells that want to be able to inspect
2480 all the option values for safety.
2482 This option is useful for those times that you need the argument's
2483 character set to be converted for the remote host, if the remote shell is
2484 incompatible with the default backslash-escpaing method, or there is some
2485 other reason that you want the majority of the options and arguments to
2486 bypass the command-line of the remote shell.
2488 If you combine this option with [`--iconv`](#opt), the args related to the
2489 remote side will be translated from the local to the remote character-set.
2490 The translation happens before wild-cards are expanded. See also the
2491 [`--files-from`](#opt) option.
2493 You may also control this setting via the [`RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS`](#)
2494 environment variable. If it has a non-zero value, this setting will be
2495 enabled by default, otherwise it will be disabled by default. Either state
2496 is overridden by a manually specified positive or negative version of this
2497 option (note that `--no-s` and `--no-secluded-args` are the negative
2498 versions). This environment variable is also superseded by a non-zero
2499 [`RSYNC_OLD_ARGS`](#) export.
2501 This option conflicts with the [`--old-args`](#opt) option.
2503 This option used to be called `--protect-args` (before 3.2.6) and that
2504 older name can still be used (though specifying it as `-s` is always the
2505 easiest and most compatible choice).
2509 This option disables two extra validation checks that a local client
2510 performs on the file list generated by a remote sender. This option should
2511 only be used if you trust the sender to not put something malicious in the
2512 file list (something that could possibly be done via a modified rsync, a
2513 modified shell, or some other similar manipulation).
2515 Normally, the rsync client (as of version 3.2.5) runs two extra validation
2516 checks when pulling files from a remote rsync:
2518 - It verifies that additional arg items didn't get added at the top of the
2520 - It verifies that none of the items in the file list are names that should
2521 have been excluded (if filter rules were specified).
2523 Note that various options can turn off one or both of these checks if the
2524 option interferes with the validation. For instance:
2526 - Using a per-directory filter file reads filter rules that only the server
2527 knows about, so the filter checking is disabled.
2528 - Using the [`--old-args`](#opt) option allows the sender to manipulate the
2529 requested args, so the arg checking is disabled.
2530 - Reading the files-from list from the server side means that the client
2531 doesn't know the arg list, so the arg checking is disabled.
2532 - Using [`--read-batch`](#opt) disables both checks since the batch file's
2533 contents will have been verified when it was created.
2535 This option may help an under-powered client server if the extra pattern
2536 matching is slowing things down on a huge transfer. It can also be used to
2537 work around a currently-unknown bug in the verification logic for a transfer
2538 from a trusted sender.
2540 When using this option it is a good idea to specify a dedicated destination
2541 directory, as discussed in the [MULTI-HOST SECURITY](#) section.
2543 0. `--copy-as=USER[:GROUP]`
2545 This option instructs rsync to use the USER and (if specified after a
2546 colon) the GROUP for the copy operations. This only works if the user that
2547 is running rsync has the ability to change users. If the group is not
2548 specified then the user's default groups are used.
2550 This option can help to reduce the risk of an rsync being run as root into
2551 or out of a directory that might have live changes happening to it and you
2552 want to make sure that root-level read or write actions of system files are
2553 not possible. While you could alternatively run all of rsync as the
2554 specified user, sometimes you need the root-level host-access credentials
2555 to be used, so this allows rsync to drop root for the copying part of the
2556 operation after the remote-shell or daemon connection is established.
2558 The option only affects one side of the transfer unless the transfer is
2559 local, in which case it affects both sides. Use the
2560 [`--remote-option`](#opt) to affect the remote side, such as
2561 `-M--copy-as=joe`. For a local transfer, the lsh (or lsh.sh) support file
2562 provides a local-shell helper script that can be used to allow a
2563 "localhost:" or "lh:" host-spec to be specified without needing to setup
2564 any remote shells, allowing you to specify remote options that affect the
2565 side of the transfer that is using the host-spec (and using hostname "lh"
2566 avoids the overriding of the remote directory to the user's home dir).
2568 For example, the following rsync writes the local files as user "joe":
2570 > sudo rsync -aiv --copy-as=joe host1:backups/joe/ /home/joe/
2572 This makes all files owned by user "joe", limits the groups to those that
2573 are available to that user, and makes it impossible for the joe user to do
2574 a timed exploit of the path to induce a change to a file that the joe user
2575 has no permissions to change.
2577 The following command does a local copy into the "dest/" dir as user "joe"
2578 (assuming you've installed support/lsh into a dir on your $PATH):
2580 > sudo rsync -aive lsh -M--copy-as=joe src/ lh:dest/
2582 0. `--temp-dir=DIR`, `-T`
2584 This option instructs rsync to use DIR as a scratch directory when creating
2585 temporary copies of the files transferred on the receiving side. The
2586 default behavior is to create each temporary file in the same directory as
2587 the associated destination file. Beginning with rsync 3.1.1, the temp-file
2588 names inside the specified DIR will not be prefixed with an extra dot
2589 (though they will still have a random suffix added).
2591 This option is most often used when the receiving disk partition does not
2592 have enough free space to hold a copy of the largest file in the transfer.
2593 In this case (i.e. when the scratch directory is on a different disk
2594 partition), rsync will not be able to rename each received temporary file
2595 over the top of the associated destination file, but instead must copy it
2596 into place. Rsync does this by copying the file over the top of the
2597 destination file, which means that the destination file will contain
2598 truncated data during this copy. If this were not done this way (even if
2599 the destination file were first removed, the data locally copied to a
2600 temporary file in the destination directory, and then renamed into place)
2601 it would be possible for the old file to continue taking up disk space (if
2602 someone had it open), and thus there might not be enough room to fit the
2603 new version on the disk at the same time.
2605 If you are using this option for reasons other than a shortage of disk
2606 space, you may wish to combine it with the [`--delay-updates`](#opt)
2607 option, which will ensure that all copied files get put into subdirectories
2608 in the destination hierarchy, awaiting the end of the transfer. If you
2609 don't have enough room to duplicate all the arriving files on the
2610 destination partition, another way to tell rsync that you aren't overly
2611 concerned about disk space is to use the [`--partial-dir`](#opt) option
2612 with a relative path; because this tells rsync that it is OK to stash off a
2613 copy of a single file in a subdir in the destination hierarchy, rsync will
2614 use the partial-dir as a staging area to bring over the copied file, and
2615 then rename it into place from there. (Specifying a [`--partial-dir`](#opt)
2616 with an absolute path does not have this side-effect.)
2620 This option tells rsync that it should look for a basis file for any
2621 destination file that is missing. The current algorithm looks in the same
2622 directory as the destination file for either a file that has an identical
2623 size and modified-time, or a similarly-named file. If found, rsync uses
2624 the fuzzy basis file to try to speed up the transfer.
2626 If the option is repeated, the fuzzy scan will also be done in any matching
2627 alternate destination directories that are specified via
2628 [`--compare-dest`](#opt), [`--copy-dest`](#opt), or [`--link-dest`](#opt).
2630 Note that the use of the [`--delete`](#opt) option might get rid of any
2631 potential fuzzy-match files, so either use [`--delete-after`](#opt) or
2632 specify some filename exclusions if you need to prevent this.
2634 0. `--compare-dest=DIR`
2636 This option instructs rsync to use _DIR_ on the destination machine as an
2637 additional hierarchy to compare destination files against doing transfers
2638 (if the files are missing in the destination directory). If a file is
2639 found in _DIR_ that is identical to the sender's file, the file will NOT be
2640 transferred to the destination directory. This is useful for creating a
2641 sparse backup of just files that have changed from an earlier backup. This
2642 option is typically used to copy into an empty (or newly created)
2645 Beginning in version 2.6.4, multiple `--compare-dest` directories may be
2646 provided, which will cause rsync to search the list in the order specified
2647 for an exact match. If a match is found that differs only in attributes, a
2648 local copy is made and the attributes updated. If a match is not found, a
2649 basis file from one of the _DIRs_ will be selected to try to speed up the
2652 If _DIR_ is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
2653 See also [`--copy-dest`](#opt) and [`--link-dest`](#opt).
2655 NOTE: beginning with version 3.1.0, rsync will remove a file from a
2656 non-empty destination hierarchy if an exact match is found in one of the
2657 compare-dest hierarchies (making the end result more closely match a fresh
2660 0. `--copy-dest=DIR`
2662 This option behaves like [`--compare-dest`](#opt), but rsync will also copy
2663 unchanged files found in _DIR_ to the destination directory using a local
2664 copy. This is useful for doing transfers to a new destination while
2665 leaving existing files intact, and then doing a flash-cutover when all
2666 files have been successfully transferred.
2668 Multiple `--copy-dest` directories may be provided, which will cause rsync
2669 to search the list in the order specified for an unchanged file. If a
2670 match is not found, a basis file from one of the _DIRs_ will be selected to
2671 try to speed up the transfer.
2673 If _DIR_ is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
2674 See also [`--compare-dest`](#opt) and [`--link-dest`](#opt).
2676 0. `--link-dest=DIR`
2678 This option behaves like [`--copy-dest`](#opt), but unchanged files are
2679 hard linked from _DIR_ to the destination directory. The files must be
2680 identical in all preserved attributes (e.g. permissions, possibly
2681 ownership) in order for the files to be linked together. An example:
2683 > rsync -av --link-dest=$PWD/prior_dir host:src_dir/ new_dir/
2685 If files aren't linking, double-check their attributes. Also check if
2686 some attributes are getting forced outside of rsync's control, such a mount
2687 option that squishes root to a single user, or mounts a removable drive
2688 with generic ownership (such as OS X's "Ignore ownership on this volume"
2691 Beginning in version 2.6.4, multiple `--link-dest` directories may be
2692 provided, which will cause rsync to search the list in the order specified
2693 for an exact match (there is a limit of 20 such directories). If a match
2694 is found that differs only in attributes, a local copy is made and the
2695 attributes updated. If a match is not found, a basis file from one of the
2696 _DIRs_ will be selected to try to speed up the transfer.
2698 This option works best when copying into an empty destination hierarchy, as
2699 existing files may get their attributes tweaked, and that can affect
2700 alternate destination files via hard-links. Also, itemizing of changes can
2701 get a bit muddled. Note that prior to version 3.1.0, an
2702 alternate-directory exact match would never be found (nor linked into the
2703 destination) when a destination file already exists.
2705 Note that if you combine this option with [`--ignore-times`](#opt), rsync will not
2706 link any files together because it only links identical files together as a
2707 substitute for transferring the file, never as an additional check after
2708 the file is updated.
2710 If _DIR_ is a relative path, it is relative to the destination directory.
2711 See also [`--compare-dest`](#opt) and [`--copy-dest`](#opt).
2713 Note that rsync versions prior to 2.6.1 had a bug that could prevent
2714 `--link-dest` from working properly for a non-super-user when
2715 [`--owner`](#opt) (`-o`) was specified (or implied). You can work-around
2716 this bug by avoiding the `-o` option (or using `--no-o`) when sending to an
2719 0. `--compress`, `-z`
2721 With this option, rsync compresses the file data as it is sent to the
2722 destination machine, which reduces the amount of data being transmitted --
2723 something that is useful over a slow connection.
2725 Rsync supports multiple compression methods and will choose one for you
2726 unless you force the choice using the [`--compress-choice`](#opt) (`--zc`)
2729 Run `rsync --version` to see the default compress list compiled into your
2732 When both sides of the transfer are at least 3.2.0, rsync chooses the first
2733 algorithm in the client's list of choices that is also in the server's list
2734 of choices. If no common compress choice is found, rsync exits with
2735 an error. If the remote rsync is too old to support checksum negotiation,
2736 its list is assumed to be "zlib".
2738 The default order can be customized by setting the environment variable
2739 [`RSYNC_COMPRESS_LIST`](#) to a space-separated list of acceptable
2740 compression names. If the string contains a "`&`" character, it is
2741 separated into the "client string & server string", otherwise the same
2742 string applies to both. If the string (or string portion) contains no
2743 non-whitespace characters, the default compress list is used. Any unknown
2744 compression names are discarded from the list, but a list with only invalid
2745 names results in a failed negotiation.
2747 There are some older rsync versions that were configured to reject a `-z`
2748 option and require the use of `-zz` because their compression library was
2749 not compatible with the default zlib compression method. You can usually
2750 ignore this weirdness unless the rsync server complains and tells you to
2753 0. `--compress-choice=STR`, `--zc=STR`
2755 This option can be used to override the automatic negotiation of the
2756 compression algorithm that occurs when [`--compress`](#opt) is used. The
2757 option implies [`--compress`](#opt) unless "none" was specified, which
2758 instead implies `--no-compress`.
2760 The compression options that you may be able to use are:
2768 Run `rsync --version` to see the default compress list compiled into your
2769 version (which may differ from the list above).
2771 Note that if you see an error about an option named `--old-compress` or
2772 `--new-compress`, this is rsync trying to send the `--compress-choice=zlib`
2773 or `--compress-choice=zlibx` option in a backward-compatible manner that
2774 more rsync versions understand. This error indicates that the older rsync
2775 version on the server will not allow you to force the compression type.
2777 Note that the "zlibx" compression algorithm is just the "zlib" algorithm
2778 with matched data excluded from the compression stream (to try to make it
2779 more compatible with an external zlib implementation).
2781 0. `--compress-level=NUM`, `--zl=NUM`
2783 Explicitly set the compression level to use (see [`--compress`](#opt),
2784 `-z`) instead of letting it default. The [`--compress`](#opt) option is
2785 implied as long as the level chosen is not a "don't compress" level for the
2786 compression algorithm that is in effect (e.g. zlib compression treats level
2789 The level values vary depending on the checksum in effect. Because rsync
2790 will negotiate a checksum choice by default (when the remote rsync is new
2791 enough), it can be good to combine this option with a
2792 [`--compress-choice`](#opt) (`--zc`) option unless you're sure of the
2793 choice in effect. For example:
2795 > rsync -aiv --zc=zstd --zl=22 host:src/ dest/
2797 For zlib & zlibx compression the valid values are from 1 to 9 with 6 being
2798 the default. Specifying `--zl=0` turns compression off, and specifying
2799 `--zl=-1` chooses the default level of 6.
2801 For zstd compression the valid values are from -131072 to 22 with 3 being
2802 the default. Specifying 0 chooses the default of 3.
2804 For lz4 compression there are no levels, so the value is always 0.
2806 If you specify a too-large or too-small value, the number is silently
2807 limited to a valid value. This allows you to specify something like
2808 `--zl=999999999` and be assured that you'll end up with the maximum
2809 compression level no matter what algorithm was chosen.
2811 If you want to know the compression level that is in effect, specify
2812 [`--debug=nstr`](#opt) to see the "negotiated string" results. This will
2813 report something like "`Client compress: zstd (level 3)`" (along with the
2814 checksum choice in effect).
2816 0. `--skip-compress=LIST`
2818 **NOTE:** no compression method currently supports per-file compression
2819 changes, so this option has no effect.
2821 Override the list of file suffixes that will be compressed as little as
2822 possible. Rsync sets the compression level on a per-file basis based on
2823 the file's suffix. If the compression algorithm has an "off" level, then
2824 no compression occurs for those files. Other algorithms that support
2825 changing the streaming level on-the-fly will have the level minimized to
2826 reduces the CPU usage as much as possible for a matching file.
2828 The **LIST** should be one or more file suffixes (without the dot) separated
2829 by slashes (`/`). You may specify an empty string to indicate that no files
2832 Simple character-class matching is supported: each must consist of a list
2833 of letters inside the square brackets (e.g. no special classes, such as
2834 "[:alpha:]", are supported, and '-' has no special meaning).
2836 The characters asterisk (`*`) and question-mark (`?`) have no special meaning.
2838 Here's an example that specifies 6 suffixes to skip (since 1 of the 5 rules
2839 matches 2 suffixes):
2841 > --skip-compress=gz/jpg/mp[34]/7z/bz2
2843 The default file suffixes in the skip-compress list in this version of
2846 [comment]: # (This list gets used for the default-dont-compress.h file.)
2945 This list will be replaced by your `--skip-compress` list in all but one
2946 situation: a copy from a daemon rsync will add your skipped suffixes to its
2947 list of non-compressing files (and its list may be configured to a
2952 With this option rsync will transfer numeric group and user IDs rather than
2953 using user and group names and mapping them at both ends.
2955 By default rsync will use the username and groupname to determine what
2956 ownership to give files. The special uid 0 and the special group 0 are
2957 never mapped via user/group names even if the `--numeric-ids` option is not
2960 If a user or group has no name on the source system or it has no match on
2961 the destination system, then the numeric ID from the source system is used
2962 instead. See also the [`use chroot`](rsyncd.conf.5#use_chroot) setting
2963 in the rsyncd.conf manpage for some comments on how the chroot setting
2964 affects rsync's ability to look up the names of the users and groups and
2965 what you can do about it.
2967 0. `--usermap=STRING`, `--groupmap=STRING`
2969 These options allow you to specify users and groups that should be mapped
2970 to other values by the receiving side. The **STRING** is one or more
2971 **FROM**:**TO** pairs of values separated by commas. Any matching **FROM**
2972 value from the sender is replaced with a **TO** value from the receiver.
2973 You may specify usernames or user IDs for the **FROM** and **TO** values,
2974 and the **FROM** value may also be a wild-card string, which will be
2975 matched against the sender's names (wild-cards do NOT match against ID
2976 numbers, though see below for why a '`*`' matches everything). You may
2977 instead specify a range of ID numbers via an inclusive range: LOW-HIGH.
2980 > --usermap=0-99:nobody,wayne:admin,*:normal --groupmap=usr:1,1:usr
2982 The first match in the list is the one that is used. You should specify
2983 all your user mappings using a single `--usermap` option, and/or all your
2984 group mappings using a single `--groupmap` option.
2986 Note that the sender's name for the 0 user and group are not transmitted to
2987 the receiver, so you should either match these values using a 0, or use the
2988 names in effect on the receiving side (typically "root"). All other
2989 **FROM** names match those in use on the sending side. All **TO** names
2990 match those in use on the receiving side.
2992 Any IDs that do not have a name on the sending side are treated as having
2993 an empty name for the purpose of matching. This allows them to be matched
2994 via a "`*`" or using an empty name. For instance:
2996 > --usermap=:nobody --groupmap=*:nobody
2998 When the [`--numeric-ids`](#opt) option is used, the sender does not send any
2999 names, so all the IDs are treated as having an empty name. This means that
3000 you will need to specify numeric **FROM** values if you want to map these
3001 nameless IDs to different values.
3003 For the `--usermap` option to work, the receiver will need to be running as
3004 a super-user (see also the [`--super`](#opt) and [`--fake-super`](#opt)
3005 options). For the `--groupmap` option to work, the receiver will need to
3006 have permissions to set that group.
3008 Starting with rsync 3.2.4, the `--usermap` option implies the
3009 [`--owner`](#opt) (`-o`) option while the `--groupmap` option implies the
3010 [`--group`](#opt) (`-g`) option (since rsync needs to have those options
3011 enabled for the mapping options to work).
3013 An older rsync client may need to use [`-s`](#opt) to avoid a complaint
3014 about wildcard characters, but a modern rsync handles this automatically.
3016 0. `--chown=USER:GROUP`
3018 This option forces all files to be owned by USER with group GROUP. This is
3019 a simpler interface than using [`--usermap`](#opt) & [`--groupmap`](#opt)
3020 directly, but it is implemented using those options internally so they
3021 cannot be mixed. If either the USER or GROUP is empty, no mapping for the
3022 omitted user/group will occur. If GROUP is empty, the trailing colon may
3023 be omitted, but if USER is empty, a leading colon must be supplied.
3025 If you specify "`--chown=foo:bar`", this is exactly the same as specifying
3026 "`--usermap=*:foo --groupmap=*:bar`", only easier (and with the same
3027 implied [`--owner`](#opt) and/or [`--group`](#opt) options).
3029 An older rsync client may need to use [`-s`](#opt) to avoid a complaint
3030 about wildcard characters, but a modern rsync handles this automatically.
3032 0. `--timeout=SECONDS`
3034 This option allows you to set a maximum I/O timeout in seconds. If no data
3035 is transferred for the specified time then rsync will exit. The default is
3036 0, which means no timeout.
3038 0. `--contimeout=SECONDS`
3040 This option allows you to set the amount of time that rsync will wait for
3041 its connection to an rsync daemon to succeed. If the timeout is reached,
3042 rsync exits with an error.
3044 0. `--address=ADDRESS`
3046 By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address when connecting to an
3047 rsync daemon. The `--address` option allows you to specify a specific IP
3048 address (or hostname) to bind to.
3050 See also [the daemon version of the `--address` option](#dopt--address).
3054 This specifies an alternate TCP port number to use rather than the default
3055 of 873. This is only needed if you are using the double-colon (::) syntax
3056 to connect with an rsync daemon (since the URL syntax has a way to specify
3057 the port as a part of the URL).
3059 See also [the daemon version of the `--port` option](#dopt--port).
3061 0. `--sockopts=OPTIONS`
3063 This option can provide endless fun for people who like to tune their
3064 systems to the utmost degree. You can set all sorts of socket options
3065 which may make transfers faster (or slower!). Read the manpage for the
3066 `setsockopt()` system call for details on some of the options you may be
3067 able to set. By default no special socket options are set. This only
3068 affects direct socket connections to a remote rsync daemon.
3070 See also [the daemon version of the `--sockopts` option](#dopt--sockopts).
3074 This tells rsync to use blocking I/O when launching a remote shell
3075 transport. If the remote shell is either rsh or remsh, rsync defaults to
3076 using blocking I/O, otherwise it defaults to using non-blocking I/O. (Note
3077 that ssh prefers non-blocking I/O.)
3081 This sets the output buffering mode. The mode can be None (aka
3082 Unbuffered), Line, or Block (aka Full). You may specify as little as a
3083 single letter for the mode, and use upper or lower case.
3085 The main use of this option is to change Full buffering to Line buffering
3086 when rsync's output is going to a file or pipe.
3088 0. `--itemize-changes`, `-i`
3090 Requests a simple itemized list of the changes that are being made to each
3091 file, including attribute changes. This is exactly the same as specifying
3092 [`--out-format='%i %n%L'`](#opt). If you repeat the option, unchanged
3093 files will also be output, but only if the receiving rsync is at least
3094 version 2.6.7 (you can use `-vv` with older versions of rsync, but that
3095 also turns on the output of other verbose messages).
3097 The "%i" escape has a cryptic output that is 11 letters long. The general
3098 format is like the string `YXcstpoguax`, where **Y** is replaced by the type
3099 of update being done, **X** is replaced by the file-type, and the other
3100 letters represent attributes that may be output if they are being modified.
3102 The update types that replace the **Y** are as follows:
3104 - A `<` means that a file is being transferred to the remote host (sent).
3105 - A `>` means that a file is being transferred to the local host
3107 - A `c` means that a local change/creation is occurring for the item (such
3108 as the creation of a directory or the changing of a symlink, etc.).
3109 - A `h` means that the item is a hard link to another item (requires
3110 [`--hard-links`](#opt)).
3111 - A `.` means that the item is not being updated (though it might have
3112 attributes that are being modified).
3113 - A `*` means that the rest of the itemized-output area contains a message
3116 The file-types that replace the **X** are: `f` for a file, a `d` for a
3117 directory, an `L` for a symlink, a `D` for a device, and a `S` for a
3118 special file (e.g. named sockets and fifos).
3120 The other letters in the string indicate if some attributes of the file
3121 have changed, as follows:
3123 - "`.`" - the attribute is unchanged.
3124 - "`+`" - the file is newly created.
3125 - "`Â `" - all the attributes are unchanged (all dots turn to spaces).
3126 - "`?`" - the change is unknown (when the remote rsync is old).
3127 - A letter indicates an attribute is being updated.
3129 The attribute that is associated with each letter is as follows:
3131 - A `c` means either that a regular file has a different checksum (requires
3132 [`--checksum`](#opt)) or that a symlink, device, or special file has a
3133 changed value. Note that if you are sending files to an rsync prior to
3134 3.0.1, this change flag will be present only for checksum-differing
3136 - A `s` means the size of a regular file is different and will be updated
3137 by the file transfer.
3138 - A `t` means the modification time is different and is being updated to
3139 the sender's value (requires [`--times`](#opt)). An alternate value of
3140 `T` means that the modification time will be set to the transfer time,
3141 which happens when a file/symlink/device is updated without
3142 [`--times`](#opt) and when a symlink is changed and the receiver can't
3143 set its time. (Note: when using an rsync 3.0.0 client, you might see the
3144 `s` flag combined with `t` instead of the proper `T` flag for this
3145 time-setting failure.)
3146 - A `p` means the permissions are different and are being updated to the
3147 sender's value (requires [`--perms`](#opt)).
3148 - An `o` means the owner is different and is being updated to the sender's
3149 value (requires [`--owner`](#opt) and super-user privileges).
3150 - A `g` means the group is different and is being updated to the sender's
3151 value (requires [`--group`](#opt) and the authority to set the group).
3152 - A `u`|`n`|`b` indicates the following information:
3153 - `u` means the access (use) time is different and is being updated to
3154 the sender's value (requires [`--atimes`](#opt))
3155 - `n` means the create time (newness) is different and is being updated
3156 to the sender's value (requires [`--crtimes`](#opt))
3157 - `b` means that both the access and create times are being updated
3158 - The `a` means that the ACL information is being changed.
3159 - The `x` means that the extended attribute information is being changed.
3161 One other output is possible: when deleting files, the "%i" will output the
3162 string "`*deleting`" for each item that is being removed (assuming that you
3163 are talking to a recent enough rsync that it logs deletions instead of
3164 outputting them as a verbose message).
3166 0. `--out-format=FORMAT`
3168 This allows you to specify exactly what the rsync client outputs to the
3169 user on a per-update basis. The format is a text string containing
3170 embedded single-character escape sequences prefixed with a percent (%)
3171 character. A default format of "%n%L" is assumed if either
3172 [`--info=name`](#opt) or [`-v`](#opt) is specified (this tells you just the
3173 name of the file and, if the item is a link, where it points). For a full
3174 list of the possible escape characters, see the [`log
3175 format`](rsyncd.conf.5#log_format) setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage.
3177 Specifying the `--out-format` option implies the [`--info=name`](#opt)
3178 option, which will mention each file, dir, etc. that gets updated in a
3179 significant way (a transferred file, a recreated symlink/device, or a
3180 touched directory). In addition, if the itemize-changes escape (%i) is
3181 included in the string (e.g. if the [`--itemize-changes`](#opt) option was
3182 used), the logging of names increases to mention any item that is changed
3183 in any way (as long as the receiving side is at least 2.6.4). See the
3184 [`--itemize-changes`](#opt) option for a description of the output of "%i".
3186 Rsync will output the out-format string prior to a file's transfer unless
3187 one of the transfer-statistic escapes is requested, in which case the
3188 logging is done at the end of the file's transfer. When this late logging
3189 is in effect and [`--progress`](#opt) is also specified, rsync will also
3190 output the name of the file being transferred prior to its progress
3191 information (followed, of course, by the out-format output).
3193 0. `--log-file=FILE`
3195 This option causes rsync to log what it is doing to a file. This is
3196 similar to the logging that a daemon does, but can be requested for the
3197 client side and/or the server side of a non-daemon transfer. If specified
3198 as a client option, transfer logging will be enabled with a default format
3199 of "%i %n%L". See the [`--log-file-format`](#opt) option if you wish to
3202 Here's an example command that requests the remote side to log what is
3205 > rsync -av --remote-option=--log-file=/tmp/rlog src/ dest/
3207 This is very useful if you need to debug why a connection is closing
3210 See also [the daemon version of the `--log-file` option](#dopt--log-file).
3212 0. `--log-file-format=FORMAT`
3214 This allows you to specify exactly what per-update logging is put into the
3215 file specified by the [`--log-file`](#opt) option (which must also be
3216 specified for this option to have any effect). If you specify an empty
3217 string, updated files will not be mentioned in the log file. For a list of
3218 the possible escape characters, see the [`log format`](rsyncd.conf.5#log_format)
3219 setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage.
3221 The default FORMAT used if [`--log-file`](#opt) is specified and this
3222 option is not is '%i %n%L'.
3224 See also [the daemon version of the `--log-file-format`
3225 option](#dopt--log-file-format).
3229 This tells rsync to print a verbose set of statistics on the file transfer,
3230 allowing you to tell how effective rsync's delta-transfer algorithm is for
3231 your data. This option is equivalent to [`--info=stats2`](#opt) if
3232 combined with 0 or 1 [`-v`](#opt) options, or [`--info=stats3`](#opt) if
3233 combined with 2 or more [`-v`](#opt) options.
3235 The current statistics are as follows:
3237 - `Number of files` is the count of all "files" (in the generic sense),
3238 which includes directories, symlinks, etc. The total count will be
3239 followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero). For
3240 example: "(reg: 5, dir: 3, link: 2, dev: 1, special: 1)" lists the totals
3241 for regular files, directories, symlinks, devices, and special files. If
3242 any of value is 0, it is completely omitted from the list.
3243 - `Number of created files` is the count of how many "files" (generic
3244 sense) were created (as opposed to updated). The total count will be
3245 followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero).
3246 - `Number of deleted files` is the count of how many "files" (generic
3247 sense) were deleted. The total count will be
3248 followed by a list of counts by filetype (if the total is non-zero).
3249 Note that this line is only output if deletions are in effect, and only
3250 if protocol 31 is being used (the default for rsync 3.1.x).
3251 - `Number of regular files transferred` is the count of normal files that
3252 were updated via rsync's delta-transfer algorithm, which does not include
3253 dirs, symlinks, etc. Note that rsync 3.1.0 added the word "regular" into
3255 - `Total file size` is the total sum of all file sizes in the transfer.
3256 This does not count any size for directories or special files, but does
3257 include the size of symlinks.
3258 - `Total transferred file size` is the total sum of all files sizes for
3259 just the transferred files.
3260 - `Literal data` is how much unmatched file-update data we had to send to
3261 the receiver for it to recreate the updated files.
3262 - `Matched data` is how much data the receiver got locally when recreating
3264 - `File list size` is how big the file-list data was when the sender sent
3265 it to the receiver. This is smaller than the in-memory size for the file
3266 list due to some compressing of duplicated data when rsync sends the
3268 - `File list generation time` is the number of seconds that the sender
3269 spent creating the file list. This requires a modern rsync on the
3270 sending side for this to be present.
3271 - `File list transfer time` is the number of seconds that the sender spent
3272 sending the file list to the receiver.
3273 - `Total bytes sent` is the count of all the bytes that rsync sent from the
3274 client side to the server side.
3275 - `Total bytes received` is the count of all non-message bytes that rsync
3276 received by the client side from the server side. "Non-message" bytes
3277 means that we don't count the bytes for a verbose message that the server
3278 sent to us, which makes the stats more consistent.
3280 0. `--8-bit-output`, `-8`
3282 This tells rsync to leave all high-bit characters unescaped in the output
3283 instead of trying to test them to see if they're valid in the current
3284 locale and escaping the invalid ones. All control characters (but never
3285 tabs) are always escaped, regardless of this option's setting.
3287 The escape idiom that started in 2.6.7 is to output a literal backslash
3288 (`\`) and a hash (`#`), followed by exactly 3 octal digits. For example, a
3289 newline would output as "`\#012`". A literal backslash that is in a
3290 filename is not escaped unless it is followed by a hash and 3 digits (0-9).
3292 0. `--human-readable`, `-h`
3294 Output numbers in a more human-readable format. There are 3 possible levels:
3296 1. output numbers with a separator between each set of 3 digits (either a
3297 comma or a period, depending on if the decimal point is represented by a
3299 2. output numbers in units of 1000 (with a character suffix for larger
3300 units -- see below).
3301 3. output numbers in units of 1024.
3303 The default is human-readable level 1. Each `-h` option increases the
3304 level by one. You can take the level down to 0 (to output numbers as pure
3305 digits) by specifying the `--no-human-readable` (`--no-h`) option.
3307 The unit letters that are appended in levels 2 and 3 are: `K` (kilo), `M`
3308 (mega), `G` (giga), `T` (tera), or `P` (peta). For example, a 1234567-byte
3309 file would output as 1.23M in level-2 (assuming that a period is your local
3312 Backward compatibility note: versions of rsync prior to 3.1.0 do not
3313 support human-readable level 1, and they default to level 0. Thus,
3314 specifying one or two `-h` options will behave in a comparable manner in
3315 old and new versions as long as you didn't specify a `--no-h` option prior
3316 to one or more `-h` options. See the [`--list-only`](#opt) option for one
3321 By default, rsync will delete any partially transferred file if the
3322 transfer is interrupted. In some circumstances it is more desirable to
3323 keep partially transferred files. Using the `--partial` option tells rsync
3324 to keep the partial file which should make a subsequent transfer of the
3325 rest of the file much faster.
3327 0. `--partial-dir=DIR`
3329 This option modifies the behavior of the [`--partial`](#opt) option while
3330 also implying that it be enabled. This enhanced partial-file method puts
3331 any partially transferred files into the specified _DIR_ instead of writing
3332 the partial file out to the destination file. On the next transfer, rsync
3333 will use a file found in this dir as data to speed up the resumption of the
3334 transfer and then delete it after it has served its purpose.
3336 Note that if [`--whole-file`](#opt) is specified (or implied), any
3337 partial-dir files that are found for a file that is being updated will
3338 simply be removed (since rsync is sending files without using rsync's
3339 delta-transfer algorithm).
3341 Rsync will create the _DIR_ if it is missing, but just the last dir -- not
3342 the whole path. This makes it easy to use a relative path (such as
3343 "`--partial-dir=.rsync-partial`") to have rsync create the
3344 partial-directory in the destination file's directory when it is needed,
3345 and then remove it again when the partial file is deleted. Note that this
3346 directory removal is only done for a relative pathname, as it is expected
3347 that an absolute path is to a directory that is reserved for partial-dir
3350 If the partial-dir value is not an absolute path, rsync will add an exclude
3351 rule at the end of all your existing excludes. This will prevent the
3352 sending of any partial-dir files that may exist on the sending side, and
3353 will also prevent the untimely deletion of partial-dir items on the
3354 receiving side. An example: the above `--partial-dir` option would add the
3355 equivalent of this "perishable" exclude at the end of any other filter
3356 rules: `-f '-p .rsync-partial/'`
3358 If you are supplying your own exclude rules, you may need to add your own
3359 exclude/hide/protect rule for the partial-dir because:
3361 1. the auto-added rule may be ineffective at the end of your other rules, or
3362 2. you may wish to override rsync's exclude choice.
3364 For instance, if you want to make rsync clean-up any left-over partial-dirs
3365 that may be lying around, you should specify [`--delete-after`](#opt) and
3366 add a "risk" filter rule, e.g. `-f 'R .rsync-partial/'`. Avoid using
3367 [`--delete-before`](#opt) or [`--delete-during`](#opt) unless you don't
3368 need rsync to use any of the left-over partial-dir data during the current
3371 IMPORTANT: the `--partial-dir` should not be writable by other users or it
3372 is a security risk! E.g. AVOID "/tmp"!
3374 You can also set the partial-dir value the [`RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR`](#)
3375 environment variable. Setting this in the environment does not force
3376 [`--partial`](#opt) to be enabled, but rather it affects where partial
3377 files go when [`--partial`](#opt) is specified. For instance, instead of
3378 using `--partial-dir=.rsync-tmp` along with [`--progress`](#opt), you could
3379 set [`RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR=.rsync-tmp`](#) in your environment and then use
3380 the [`-P`](#opt) option to turn on the use of the .rsync-tmp dir for
3381 partial transfers. The only times that the [`--partial`](#opt) option does
3382 not look for this environment value are:
3384 1. when [`--inplace`](#opt) was specified (since [`--inplace`](#opt)
3385 conflicts with `--partial-dir`), and
3386 2. when [`--delay-updates`](#opt) was specified (see below).
3388 When a modern rsync resumes the transfer of a file in the partial-dir, that
3389 partial file is now updated in-place instead of creating yet another
3390 tmp-file copy (so it maxes out at dest + tmp instead of dest + partial +
3391 tmp). This requires both ends of the transfer to be at least version
3394 For the purposes of the daemon-config's "`refuse options`" setting,
3395 `--partial-dir` does _not_ imply [`--partial`](#opt). This is so that a
3396 refusal of the [`--partial`](#opt) option can be used to disallow the
3397 overwriting of destination files with a partial transfer, while still
3398 allowing the safer idiom provided by `--partial-dir`.
3400 0. `--delay-updates`
3402 This option puts the temporary file from each updated file into a holding
3403 directory until the end of the transfer, at which time all the files are
3404 renamed into place in rapid succession. This attempts to make the updating
3405 of the files a little more atomic. By default the files are placed into a
3406 directory named `.~tmp~` in each file's destination directory, but if
3407 you've specified the [`--partial-dir`](#opt) option, that directory will be
3408 used instead. See the comments in the [`--partial-dir`](#opt) section for
3409 a discussion of how this `.~tmp~` dir will be excluded from the transfer,
3410 and what you can do if you want rsync to cleanup old `.~tmp~` dirs that
3411 might be lying around. Conflicts with [`--inplace`](#opt) and
3414 This option implies [`--no-inc-recursive`](#opt) since it needs the full
3415 file list in memory in order to be able to iterate over it at the end.
3417 This option uses more memory on the receiving side (one bit per file
3418 transferred) and also requires enough free disk space on the receiving side
3419 to hold an additional copy of all the updated files. Note also that you
3420 should not use an absolute path to [`--partial-dir`](#opt) unless:
3422 1. there is no chance of any of the files in the transfer having the same
3423 name (since all the updated files will be put into a single directory if
3424 the path is absolute), and
3425 2. there are no mount points in the hierarchy (since the delayed updates
3426 will fail if they can't be renamed into place).
3428 See also the "atomic-rsync" python script in the "support" subdir for an
3429 update algorithm that is even more atomic (it uses [`--link-dest`](#opt)
3430 and a parallel hierarchy of files).
3432 0. `--prune-empty-dirs`, `-m`
3434 This option tells the receiving rsync to get rid of empty directories from
3435 the file-list, including nested directories that have no non-directory
3436 children. This is useful for avoiding the creation of a bunch of useless
3437 directories when the sending rsync is recursively scanning a hierarchy of
3438 files using include/exclude/filter rules.
3440 This option can still leave empty directories on the receiving side if you
3441 make use of [TRANSFER_RULES](#).
3443 Because the file-list is actually being pruned, this option also affects
3444 what directories get deleted when a delete is active. However, keep in
3445 mind that excluded files and directories can prevent existing items from
3446 being deleted due to an exclude both hiding source files and protecting
3447 destination files. See the perishable filter-rule option for how to avoid
3450 You can prevent the pruning of certain empty directories from the file-list
3451 by using a global "protect" filter. For instance, this option would ensure
3452 that the directory "emptydir" was kept in the file-list:
3454 > --filter 'protect emptydir/'
3456 Here's an example that copies all .pdf files in a hierarchy, only creating
3457 the necessary destination directories to hold the .pdf files, and ensures
3458 that any superfluous files and directories in the destination are removed
3459 (note the hide filter of non-directories being used instead of an exclude):
3461 > rsync -avm --del --include='*.pdf' -f 'hide,! */' src/ dest
3463 If you didn't want to remove superfluous destination files, the more
3464 time-honored options of `--include='*/' --exclude='*'` would work
3465 fine in place of the hide-filter (if that is more natural to you).
3469 This option tells rsync to print information showing the progress of the
3470 transfer. This gives a bored user something to watch. With a modern rsync
3471 this is the same as specifying [`--info=flist2,name,progress`](#opt), but
3472 any user-supplied settings for those info flags takes precedence (e.g.
3473 [`--info=flist0 --progress`](#opt)).
3475 While rsync is transferring a regular file, it updates a progress line that
3478 > 782448 63% 110.64kB/s 0:00:04
3480 In this example, the receiver has reconstructed 782448 bytes or 63% of the
3481 sender's file, which is being reconstructed at a rate of 110.64 kilobytes
3482 per second, and the transfer will finish in 4 seconds if the current rate
3483 is maintained until the end.
3485 These statistics can be misleading if rsync's delta-transfer algorithm is
3486 in use. For example, if the sender's file consists of the basis file
3487 followed by additional data, the reported rate will probably drop
3488 dramatically when the receiver gets to the literal data, and the transfer
3489 will probably take much longer to finish than the receiver estimated as it
3490 was finishing the matched part of the file.
3492 When the file transfer finishes, rsync replaces the progress line with a
3493 summary line that looks like this:
3495 > 1,238,099 100% 146.38kB/s 0:00:08 (xfr#5, to-chk=169/396)
3497 In this example, the file was 1,238,099 bytes long in total, the average
3498 rate of transfer for the whole file was 146.38 kilobytes per second over
3499 the 8 seconds that it took to complete, it was the 5th transfer of a
3500 regular file during the current rsync session, and there are 169 more files
3501 for the receiver to check (to see if they are up-to-date or not) remaining
3502 out of the 396 total files in the file-list.
3504 In an incremental recursion scan, rsync won't know the total number of
3505 files in the file-list until it reaches the ends of the scan, but since it
3506 starts to transfer files during the scan, it will display a line with the
3507 text "ir-chk" (for incremental recursion check) instead of "to-chk" until
3508 the point that it knows the full size of the list, at which point it will
3509 switch to using "to-chk". Thus, seeing "ir-chk" lets you know that the
3510 total count of files in the file list is still going to increase (and each
3511 time it does, the count of files left to check will increase by the number
3512 of the files added to the list).
3516 The `-P` option is equivalent to "[`--partial`](#opt)
3517 [`--progress`](#opt)". Its purpose is to make it much easier to specify
3518 these two options for a long transfer that may be interrupted.
3520 There is also a [`--info=progress2`](#opt) option that outputs statistics
3521 based on the whole transfer, rather than individual files. Use this flag
3522 without outputting a filename (e.g. avoid `-v` or specify
3523 [`--info=name0`](#opt)) if you want to see how the transfer is doing
3524 without scrolling the screen with a lot of names. (You don't need to
3525 specify the [`--progress`](#opt) option in order to use
3526 [`--info=progress2`](#opt).)
3528 Finally, you can get an instant progress report by sending rsync a signal
3529 of either SIGINFO or SIGVTALRM. On BSD systems, a SIGINFO is generated by
3530 typing a Ctrl+T (Linux doesn't currently support a SIGINFO signal). When
3531 the client-side process receives one of those signals, it sets a flag to
3532 output a single progress report which is output when the current file
3533 transfer finishes (so it may take a little time if a big file is being
3534 handled when the signal arrives). A filename is output (if needed)
3535 followed by the [`--info=progress2`](#opt) format of progress info. If you
3536 don't know which of the 3 rsync processes is the client process, it's OK to
3537 signal all of them (since the non-client processes ignore the signal).
3539 CAUTION: sending SIGVTALRM to an older rsync (pre-3.2.0) will kill it.
3541 0. `--password-file=FILE`
3543 This option allows you to provide a password for accessing an rsync daemon
3544 via a file or via standard input if **FILE** is `-`. The file should
3545 contain just the password on the first line (all other lines are ignored).
3546 Rsync will exit with an error if **FILE** is world readable or if a
3547 root-run rsync command finds a non-root-owned file.
3549 This option does not supply a password to a remote shell transport such as
3550 ssh; to learn how to do that, consult the remote shell's documentation.
3551 When accessing an rsync daemon using a remote shell as the transport, this
3552 option only comes into effect after the remote shell finishes its
3553 authentication (i.e. if you have also specified a password in the daemon's
3556 0. `--early-input=FILE`
3558 This option allows rsync to send up to 5K of data to the "early exec"
3559 script on its stdin. One possible use of this data is to give the script a
3560 secret that can be used to mount an encrypted filesystem (which you should
3561 unmount in the the "post-xfer exec" script).
3563 The daemon must be at least version 3.2.1.
3567 This option will cause the source files to be listed instead of
3568 transferred. This option is inferred if there is a single source arg and
3569 no destination specified, so its main uses are:
3571 1. to turn a copy command that includes a destination arg into a
3572 file-listing command, or
3573 2. to be able to specify more than one source arg. Note: be sure to
3574 include the destination.
3576 CAUTION: keep in mind that a source arg with a wild-card is expanded by the
3577 shell into multiple args, so it is never safe to try to specify a single
3578 wild-card arg to try to infer this option. A safe example is:
3580 > rsync -av --list-only foo* dest/
3582 This option always uses an output format that looks similar to this:
3584 > drwxrwxr-x 4,096 2022/09/30 12:53:11 support
3585 > -rw-rw-r-- 80 2005/01/11 10:37:37 support/Makefile
3587 The only option that affects this output style is (as of 3.1.0) the
3588 [`--human-readable`](#opt) (`-h`) option. The default is to output sizes
3589 as byte counts with digit separators (in a 14-character-width column).
3590 Specifying at least one `-h` option makes the sizes output with unit
3591 suffixes. If you want old-style bytecount sizes without digit separators
3592 (and an 11-character-width column) use `--no-h`.
3594 Compatibility note: when requesting a remote listing of files from an rsync
3595 that is version 2.6.3 or older, you may encounter an error if you ask for a
3596 non-recursive listing. This is because a file listing implies the
3597 [`--dirs`](#opt) option w/o [`--recursive`](#opt), and older rsyncs don't
3598 have that option. To avoid this problem, either specify the `--no-dirs`
3599 option (if you don't need to expand a directory's content), or turn on
3600 recursion and exclude the content of subdirectories: `-r --exclude='/*/*'`.
3604 This option allows you to specify the maximum transfer rate for the data
3605 sent over the socket, specified in units per second. The RATE value can be
3606 suffixed with a string to indicate a size multiplier, and may be a
3607 fractional value (e.g. `--bwlimit=1.5m`). If no suffix is specified, the
3608 value will be assumed to be in units of 1024 bytes (as if "K" or "KiB" had
3609 been appended). See the [`--max-size`](#opt) option for a description of
3610 all the available suffixes. A value of 0 specifies no limit.
3612 For backward-compatibility reasons, the rate limit will be rounded to the
3613 nearest KiB unit, so no rate smaller than 1024 bytes per second is
3616 Rsync writes data over the socket in blocks, and this option both limits
3617 the size of the blocks that rsync writes, and tries to keep the average
3618 transfer rate at the requested limit. Some burstiness may be seen where
3619 rsync writes out a block of data and then sleeps to bring the average rate
3622 Due to the internal buffering of data, the [`--progress`](#opt) option may
3623 not be an accurate reflection on how fast the data is being sent. This is
3624 because some files can show up as being rapidly sent when the data is
3625 quickly buffered, while other can show up as very slow when the flushing of
3626 the output buffer occurs. This may be fixed in a future version.
3628 See also [the daemon version of the `--bwlimit` option](#dopt--bwlimit).
3630 0. `--stop-after=MINS`, (`--time-limit=MINS`)
3632 This option tells rsync to stop copying when the specified number of
3633 minutes has elapsed.
3635 For maximal flexibility, rsync does not communicate this option to the
3636 remote rsync since it is usually enough that one side of the connection
3637 quits as specified. This allows the option's use even when only one side
3638 of the connection supports it. You can tell the remote side about the time
3639 limit using [`--remote-option`](#opt) (`-M`), should the need arise.
3641 The `--time-limit` version of this option is deprecated.
3643 0. `--stop-at=y-m-dTh:m`
3645 This option tells rsync to stop copying when the specified point in time
3646 has been reached. The date & time can be fully specified in a numeric
3647 format of year-month-dayThour:minute (e.g. 2000-12-31T23:59) in the local
3648 timezone. You may choose to separate the date numbers using slashes
3651 The value can also be abbreviated in a variety of ways, such as specifying
3652 a 2-digit year and/or leaving off various values. In all cases, the value
3653 will be taken to be the next possible point in time where the supplied
3654 information matches. If the value specifies the current time or a past
3655 time, rsync exits with an error.
3657 For example, "1-30" specifies the next January 30th (at midnight local
3658 time), "14:00" specifies the next 2 P.M., "1" specifies the next 1st of the
3659 month at midnight, "31" specifies the next month where we can stop on its
3660 31st day, and ":59" specifies the next 59th minute after the hour.
3662 For maximal flexibility, rsync does not communicate this option to the
3663 remote rsync since it is usually enough that one side of the connection
3664 quits as specified. This allows the option's use even when only one side
3665 of the connection supports it. You can tell the remote side about the time
3666 limit using [`--remote-option`](#opt) (`-M`), should the need arise. Do
3667 keep in mind that the remote host may have a different default timezone
3668 than your local host.
3672 Cause the receiving side to fsync each finished file. This may slow down
3673 the transfer, but can help to provide peace of mind when updating critical
3676 0. `--write-batch=FILE`
3678 Record a file that can later be applied to another identical destination
3679 with [`--read-batch`](#opt). See the "BATCH MODE" section for details, and
3680 also the [`--only-write-batch`](#opt) option.
3682 This option overrides the negotiated checksum & compress lists and always
3683 negotiates a choice based on old-school md5/md4/zlib choices. If you want
3684 a more modern choice, use the [`--checksum-choice`](#opt) (`--cc`) and/or
3685 [`--compress-choice`](#opt) (`--zc`) options.
3687 0. `--only-write-batch=FILE`
3689 Works like [`--write-batch`](#opt), except that no updates are made on the
3690 destination system when creating the batch. This lets you transport the
3691 changes to the destination system via some other means and then apply the
3692 changes via [`--read-batch`](#opt).
3694 Note that you can feel free to write the batch directly to some portable
3695 media: if this media fills to capacity before the end of the transfer, you
3696 can just apply that partial transfer to the destination and repeat the
3697 whole process to get the rest of the changes (as long as you don't mind a
3698 partially updated destination system while the multi-update cycle is
3701 Also note that you only save bandwidth when pushing changes to a remote
3702 system because this allows the batched data to be diverted from the sender
3703 into the batch file without having to flow over the wire to the receiver
3704 (when pulling, the sender is remote, and thus can't write the batch).
3706 0. `--read-batch=FILE`
3708 Apply all of the changes stored in FILE, a file previously generated by
3709 [`--write-batch`](#opt). If _FILE_ is `-`, the batch data will be read
3710 from standard input. See the "BATCH MODE" section for details.
3714 Force an older protocol version to be used. This is useful for creating a
3715 batch file that is compatible with an older version of rsync. For
3716 instance, if rsync 2.6.4 is being used with the [`--write-batch`](#opt)
3717 option, but rsync 2.6.3 is what will be used to run the
3718 [`--read-batch`](#opt) option, you should use "--protocol=28" when creating
3719 the batch file to force the older protocol version to be used in the batch
3720 file (assuming you can't upgrade the rsync on the reading system).
3722 0. `--iconv=CONVERT_SPEC`
3724 Rsync can convert filenames between character sets using this option.
3725 Using a CONVERT_SPEC of "." tells rsync to look up the default
3726 character-set via the locale setting. Alternately, you can fully specify
3727 what conversion to do by giving a local and a remote charset separated by a
3728 comma in the order `--iconv=LOCAL,REMOTE`, e.g. `--iconv=utf8,iso88591`.
3729 This order ensures that the option will stay the same whether you're
3730 pushing or pulling files. Finally, you can specify either `--no-iconv` or
3731 a CONVERT_SPEC of "-" to turn off any conversion. The default setting of
3732 this option is site-specific, and can also be affected via the
3733 [`RSYNC_ICONV`](#) environment variable.
3735 For a list of what charset names your local iconv library supports, you can
3736 run "`iconv --list`".
3738 If you specify the [`--secluded-args`](#opt) (`-s`) option, rsync will
3739 translate the filenames you specify on the command-line that are being sent
3740 to the remote host. See also the [`--files-from`](#opt) option.
3742 Note that rsync does not do any conversion of names in filter files
3743 (including include/exclude files). It is up to you to ensure that you're
3744 specifying matching rules that can match on both sides of the transfer.
3745 For instance, you can specify extra include/exclude rules if there are
3746 filename differences on the two sides that need to be accounted for.
3748 When you pass an `--iconv` option to an rsync daemon that allows it, the
3749 daemon uses the charset specified in its "charset" configuration parameter
3750 regardless of the remote charset you actually pass. Thus, you may feel
3751 free to specify just the local charset for a daemon transfer (e.g.
3754 0. `--ipv4`, `-4` or `--ipv6`, `-6`
3756 Tells rsync to prefer IPv4/IPv6 when creating sockets or running ssh. This
3757 affects sockets that rsync has direct control over, such as the outgoing
3758 socket when directly contacting an rsync daemon, as well as the forwarding
3759 of the `-4` or `-6` option to ssh when rsync can deduce that ssh is being
3760 used as the remote shell. For other remote shells you'll need to specify
3761 the "`--rsh SHELL -4`" option directly (or whatever IPv4/IPv6 hint options
3764 See also [the daemon version of these options](#dopt--ipv4).
3766 If rsync was compiled without support for IPv6, the `--ipv6` option will
3767 have no effect. The `rsync --version` output will contain "`no IPv6`" if
3770 0. `--checksum-seed=NUM`
3772 Set the checksum seed to the integer NUM. This 4 byte checksum seed is
3773 included in each block and MD4 file checksum calculation (the more modern
3774 MD5 file checksums don't use a seed). By default the checksum seed is
3775 generated by the server and defaults to the current **time**(). This
3776 option is used to set a specific checksum seed, which is useful for
3777 applications that want repeatable block checksums, or in the case where the
3778 user wants a more random checksum seed. Setting NUM to 0 causes rsync to
3779 use the default of **time**() for checksum seed.
3783 The options allowed when starting an rsync daemon are as follows:
3787 This tells rsync that it is to run as a daemon. The daemon you start
3788 running may be accessed using an rsync client using the `host::module` or
3789 `rsync://host/module/` syntax.
3791 If standard input is a socket then rsync will assume that it is being run
3792 via inetd, otherwise it will detach from the current terminal and become a
3793 background daemon. The daemon will read the config file (rsyncd.conf) on
3794 each connect made by a client and respond to requests accordingly.
3796 See the [**rsyncd.conf**(5)](rsyncd.conf.5) manpage for more details.
3798 0. `--address=ADDRESS`
3800 By default rsync will bind to the wildcard address when run as a daemon
3801 with the `--daemon` option. The `--address` option allows you to specify a
3802 specific IP address (or hostname) to bind to. This makes virtual hosting
3803 possible in conjunction with the `--config` option.
3805 See also the [address](rsyncd.conf.5#address) global option in the
3806 rsyncd.conf manpage and the [client version of the `--address`
3807 option](#opt--address).
3811 This option allows you to specify the maximum transfer rate for the data
3812 the daemon sends over the socket. The client can still specify a smaller
3813 `--bwlimit` value, but no larger value will be allowed.
3815 See the [client version of the `--bwlimit` option](#opt--bwlimit) for some
3820 This specifies an alternate config file than the default. This is only
3821 relevant when [`--daemon`](#dopt) is specified. The default is
3822 /etc/rsyncd.conf unless the daemon is running over a remote shell program
3823 and the remote user is not the super-user; in that case the default is
3824 rsyncd.conf in the current directory (typically $HOME).
3826 0. `--dparam=OVERRIDE`, `-M`
3828 This option can be used to set a daemon-config parameter when starting up
3829 rsync in daemon mode. It is equivalent to adding the parameter at the end
3830 of the global settings prior to the first module's definition. The
3831 parameter names can be specified without spaces, if you so desire. For
3834 > rsync --daemon -M pidfile=/path/rsync.pid
3838 When running as a daemon, this option instructs rsync to not detach itself
3839 and become a background process. This option is required when running as a
3840 service on Cygwin, and may also be useful when rsync is supervised by a
3841 program such as `daemontools` or AIX's `System Resource Controller`.
3842 `--no-detach` is also recommended when rsync is run under a debugger. This
3843 option has no effect if rsync is run from inetd or sshd.
3847 This specifies an alternate TCP port number for the daemon to listen on
3848 rather than the default of 873.
3850 See also [the client version of the `--port` option](#opt--port) and the
3851 [port](rsyncd.conf.5#port) global setting in the rsyncd.conf manpage.
3853 0. `--log-file=FILE`
3855 This option tells the rsync daemon to use the given log-file name instead
3856 of using the "`log file`" setting in the config file.
3858 See also [the client version of the `--log-file` option](#opt--log-file).
3860 0. `--log-file-format=FORMAT`
3862 This option tells the rsync daemon to use the given FORMAT string instead
3863 of using the "`log format`" setting in the config file. It also enables
3864 "`transfer logging`" unless the string is empty, in which case transfer
3865 logging is turned off.
3867 See also [the client version of the `--log-file-format`
3868 option](#opt--log-file-format).
3872 This overrides the [`socket options`](rsyncd.conf.5#socket_options)
3873 setting in the rsyncd.conf file and has the same syntax.
3875 See also [the client version of the `--sockopts` option](#opt--sockopts).
3877 0. `--verbose`, `-v`
3879 This option increases the amount of information the daemon logs during its
3880 startup phase. After the client connects, the daemon's verbosity level
3881 will be controlled by the options that the client used and the
3882 "`max verbosity`" setting in the module's config section.
3884 See also [the client version of the `--verbose` option](#opt--verbose).
3886 0. `--ipv4`, `-4` or `--ipv6`, `-6`
3888 Tells rsync to prefer IPv4/IPv6 when creating the incoming sockets that the
3889 rsync daemon will use to listen for connections. One of these options may
3890 be required in older versions of Linux to work around an IPv6 bug in the
3891 kernel (if you see an "address already in use" error when nothing else is
3892 using the port, try specifying `--ipv6` or `--ipv4` when starting the
3895 See also [the client version of these options](#opt--ipv4).
3897 If rsync was compiled without support for IPv6, the `--ipv6` option will
3898 have no effect. The `rsync --version` output will contain "`no IPv6`" if
3903 When specified after `--daemon`, print a short help page describing the
3904 options available for starting an rsync daemon.
3908 The filter rules allow for custom control of several aspects of how files are
3911 - Control which files the sending side puts into the file list that describes
3912 the transfer hierarchy
3913 - Control which files the receiving side protects from deletion when the file
3914 is not in the sender's file list
3915 - Control which extended attribute names are skipped when copying xattrs
3917 The rules are either directly specified via option arguments or they can be
3918 read in from one or more files. The filter-rule files can even be a part of
3919 the hierarchy of files being copied, affecting different parts of the tree in
3922 ### SIMPLE INCLUDE/EXCLUDE RULES
3924 We will first cover the basics of how include & exclude rules affect what files
3925 are transferred, ignoring any deletion side-effects. Filter rules mainly
3926 affect the contents of directories that rsync is "recursing" into, but they can
3927 also affect a top-level item in the transfer that was specified as a argument.
3929 The default for any unmatched file/dir is for it to be included in the
3930 transfer, which puts the file/dir into the sender's file list. The use of an
3931 exclude rule causes one or more matching files/dirs to be left out of the
3932 sender's file list. An include rule can be used to limit the effect of an
3933 exclude rule that is matching too many files.
3935 The order of the rules is important because the first rule that matches is the
3936 one that takes effect. Thus, if an early rule excludes a file, no include rule
3937 that comes after it can have any effect. This means that you must place any
3938 include overrides somewhere prior to the exclude that it is intended to limit.
3940 When a directory is excluded, all its contents and sub-contents are also
3941 excluded. The sender doesn't scan through any of it at all, which can save a
3942 lot of time when skipping large unneeded sub-trees.
3944 It is also important to understand that the include/exclude rules are applied
3945 to every file and directory that the sender is recursing into. Thus, if you
3946 want a particular deep file to be included, you have to make sure that none of
3947 the directories that must be traversed on the way down to that file are
3948 excluded or else the file will never be discovered to be included. As an
3949 example, if the directory "`a/path`" was given as a transfer argument and you
3950 want to ensure that the file "`a/path/down/deep/wanted.txt`" is a part of the
3951 transfer, then the sender must not exclude the directories "`a/path`",
3952 "`a/path/down`", or "`a/path/down/deep`" as it makes it way scanning through
3955 When you are working on the rules, it can be helpful to ask rsync to tell you
3956 what is being excluded/included and why. Specifying `--debug=FILTER` or (when
3957 pulling files) `-M--debug=FILTER` turns on level 1 of the FILTER debug
3958 information that will output a message any time that a file or directory is
3959 included or excluded and which rule it matched. Beginning in 3.2.4 it will
3960 also warn if a filter rule has trailing whitespace, since an exclude of "foo "
3961 (with a trailing space) will not exclude a file named "foo".
3963 Exclude and include rules can specify wildcard [PATTERN MATCHING RULES](#)
3964 (similar to shell wildcards) that allow you to match things like a file suffix
3965 or a portion of a filename.
3967 A rule can be limited to only affecting a directory by putting a trailing slash
3970 ### SIMPLE INCLUDE/EXCLUDE EXAMPLE
3972 With the following file tree created on the sending side:
3977 > touch x/y/file.txt
3980 > touch x/z/file.txt
3982 Then the following rsync command will transfer the file "`x/y/file.txt`" and
3983 the directories needed to hold it, resulting in the path "`/tmp/x/y/file.txt`"
3984 existing on the remote host:
3986 > rsync -ai -f'+ x/' -f'+ x/y/' -f'+ x/y/file.txt' -f'- *' x host:/tmp/
3988 Aside: this copy could also have been accomplished using the [`-R`](#opt)
3989 option (though the 2 commands behave differently if deletions are enabled):
3991 > rsync -aiR x/y/file.txt host:/tmp/
3993 The following command does not need an include of the "x" directory because it
3994 is not a part of the transfer (note the traililng slash). Running this command
3995 would copy just "`/tmp/x/file.txt`" because the "y" and "z" dirs get excluded:
3997 > rsync -ai -f'+ file.txt' -f'- *' x/ host:/tmp/x/
3999 This command would omit the zzz.txt file while copying "x" and everything else
4002 > rsync -ai -f'- zzz.txt' x host:/tmp/
4004 ### FILTER RULES WHEN DELETING
4006 By default the include & exclude filter rules affect both the sender
4007 (as it creates its file list)
4008 and the receiver (as it creates its file lists for calculating deletions). If
4009 no delete option is in effect, the receiver skips creating the delete-related
4010 file lists. This two-sided default can be manually overridden so that you are
4011 only specifying sender rules or receiver rules, as described in the [FILTER
4012 RULES IN DEPTH](#) section.
4014 When deleting, an exclude protects a file from being removed on the receiving
4015 side while an include overrides that protection (putting the file at risk of
4016 deletion). The default is for a file to be at risk -- its safety depends on it
4017 matching a corresponding file from the sender.
4019 An example of the two-sided exclude effect can be illustrated by the copying of
4020 a C development directory between 2 systems. When doing a touch-up copy, you
4021 might want to skip copying the built executable and the `.o` files (sender
4022 hide) so that the receiving side can build their own and not lose any object
4023 files that are already correct (receiver protect). For instance:
4025 > rsync -ai --del -f'- *.o' -f'- cmd' src host:/dest/
4027 Note that using `-f'-p *.o'` is even better than `-f'- *.o'` if there is a
4028 chance that the directory structure may have changed. The "p" modifier is
4029 discussed in [FILTER RULE MODIFIERS](#).
4031 One final note, if your shell doesn't mind unexpanded wildcards, you could
4032 simplify the typing of the filter options by using an underscore in place of
4033 the space and leaving off the quotes. For instance, `-f -_*.o -f -_cmd` (and
4034 similar) could be used instead of the filter options above.
4036 ### FILTER RULES IN DEPTH
4038 Rsync supports old-style include/exclude rules and new-style filter rules. The
4039 older rules are specified using [`--include`](#opt) and [`--exclude`](#opt) as
4040 well as the [`--include-from`](#opt) and [`--exclude-from`](#opt). These are
4041 limited in behavior but they don't require a "-" or "+" prefix. An old-style
4042 exclude rule is turned into a "`- name`" filter rule (with no modifiers) and an
4043 old-style include rule is turned into a "`+ name`" filter rule (with no
4046 Rsync builds an ordered list of filter rules as specified on the command-line
4047 and/or read-in from files. New style filter rules have the following syntax:
4049 > RULE [PATTERN_OR_FILENAME]
4050 > RULE,MODIFIERS [PATTERN_OR_FILENAME]
4052 You have your choice of using either short or long RULE names, as described
4053 below. If you use a short-named rule, the ',' separating the RULE from the
4054 MODIFIERS is optional. The PATTERN or FILENAME that follows (when present)
4055 must come after either a single space or an underscore (\_). Any additional
4056 spaces and/or underscores are considered to be a part of the pattern name.
4057 Here are the available rule prefixes:
4059 0. `exclude, '-'` specifies an exclude pattern that (by default) is both a
4060 `hide` and a `protect`.
4061 0. `include, '+'` specifies an include pattern that (by default) is both a
4062 `show` and a `risk`.
4063 0. `merge, '.'` specifies a merge-file on the client side to read for more
4065 0. `dir-merge, ':'` specifies a per-directory merge-file. Using this kind of
4066 filter rule requires that you trust the sending side's filter checking, so
4067 it has the side-effect mentioned under the [`--trust-sender`](#opt) option.
4068 0. `hide, 'H'` specifies a pattern for hiding files from the transfer.
4069 Equivalent to a sender-only exclude, so `-f'H foo'` could also be specified
4071 0. `show, 'S'` files that match the pattern are not hidden. Equivalent to a
4072 sender-only include, so `-f'S foo'` could also be specified as `-f'+s
4074 0. `protect, 'P'` specifies a pattern for protecting files from deletion.
4075 Equivalent to a receiver-only exclude, so `-f'P foo'` could also be
4076 specified as `-f'-r foo'`.
4077 0. `risk, 'R'` files that match the pattern are not protected. Equivalent to a
4078 receiver-only include, so `-f'R foo'` could also be specified as `-f'+r
4080 0. `clear, '!'` clears the current include/exclude list (takes no arg)
4082 When rules are being read from a file (using merge or dir-merge), empty lines
4083 are ignored, as are whole-line comments that start with a '`#`' (filename rules
4084 that contain a hash character are unaffected).
4086 Note also that the [`--filter`](#opt), [`--include`](#opt), and
4087 [`--exclude`](#opt) options take one rule/pattern each. To add multiple ones,
4088 you can repeat the options on the command-line, use the merge-file syntax of
4089 the [`--filter`](#opt) option, or the [`--include-from`](#opt) /
4090 [`--exclude-from`](#opt) options.
4092 ### PATTERN MATCHING RULES
4094 Most of the rules mentioned above take an argument that specifies what the rule
4095 should match. If rsync is recursing through a directory hierarchy, keep in
4096 mind that each pattern is matched against the name of every directory in the
4097 descent path as rsync finds the filenames to send.
4099 The matching rules for the pattern argument take several forms:
4101 - If a pattern contains a `/` (not counting a trailing slash) or a "`**`"
4102 (which can match a slash), then the pattern is matched against the full
4103 pathname, including any leading directories within the transfer. If the
4104 pattern doesn't contain a (non-trailing) `/` or a "`**`", then it is matched
4105 only against the final component of the filename or pathname. For example,
4106 `foo` means that the final path component must be "foo" while `foo/bar` would
4107 match the last 2 elements of the path (as long as both elements are within
4109 - A pattern that ends with a `/` only matches a directory, not a regular file,
4111 - A pattern that starts with a `/` is anchored to the start of the transfer
4112 path instead of the end. For example, `/foo/**` or `/foo/bar/**` match only
4113 leading elements in the path. If the rule is read from a per-directory
4114 filter file, the transfer path being matched will begin at the level of the
4115 filter file instead of the top of the transfer. See the section on
4116 [ANCHORING INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERNS](#) for a full discussion of how to
4117 specify a pattern that matches at the root of the transfer.
4119 Rsync chooses between doing a simple string match and wildcard matching by
4120 checking if the pattern contains one of these three wildcard characters: '`*`',
4123 - a '`?`' matches any single character except a slash (`/`).
4124 - a '`*`' matches zero or more non-slash characters.
4125 - a '`**`' matches zero or more characters, including slashes.
4126 - a '`[`' introduces a character class, such as `[a-z]` or `[[:alpha:]]`, that
4127 must match one character.
4128 - a trailing `***` in the pattern is a shorthand that allows you to match a
4129 directory and all its contents using a single rule. For example, specifying
4130 "`dir_name/***`" will match both the "dir_name" directory (as if "`dir_name/`"
4131 had been specified) and everything in the directory (as if "`dir_name/**`"
4132 had been specified).
4133 - a backslash can be used to escape a wildcard character, but it is only
4134 interpreted as an escape character if at least one wildcard character is
4135 present in the match pattern. For instance, the pattern "`foo\bar`" matches
4136 that single backslash literally, while the pattern "`foo\bar*`" would need to
4137 be changed to "`foo\\bar*`" to avoid the "`\b`" becoming just "b".
4139 Here are some examples of exclude/include matching:
4141 - Option `-f'- *.o'` would exclude all filenames ending with `.o`
4142 - Option `-f'- /foo'` would exclude a file (or directory) named foo in the
4143 transfer-root directory
4144 - Option `-f'- foo/'` would exclude any directory named foo
4145 - Option `-f'- foo/*/bar'` would exclude any file/dir named bar which is at two
4146 levels below a directory named foo (if foo is in the transfer)
4147 - Option `-f'- /foo/**/bar'` would exclude any file/dir named bar that was two
4148 or more levels below a top-level directory named foo (note that /foo/bar is
4149 **not** excluded by this)
4150 - Options `-f'+ */' -f'+ *.c' -f'- *'` would include all directories and .c
4151 source files but nothing else
4152 - Options `-f'+ foo/' -f'+ foo/bar.c' -f'- *'` would include only the foo
4153 directory and foo/bar.c (the foo directory must be explicitly included or it
4154 would be excluded by the "`- *`")
4156 ### FILTER RULE MODIFIERS
4158 The following modifiers are accepted after an include (+) or exclude (-) rule:
4160 - A `/` specifies that the include/exclude rule should be matched against the
4161 absolute pathname of the current item. For example, `-f'-/ /etc/passwd'`
4162 would exclude the passwd file any time the transfer was sending files from
4163 the "/etc" directory, and "-/ subdir/foo" would always exclude "foo" when it
4164 is in a dir named "subdir", even if "foo" is at the root of the current
4166 - A `!` specifies that the include/exclude should take effect if the pattern
4167 fails to match. For instance, `-f'-! */'` would exclude all non-directories.
4168 - A `C` is used to indicate that all the global CVS-exclude rules should be
4169 inserted as excludes in place of the "-C". No arg should follow.
4170 - An `s` is used to indicate that the rule applies to the sending side. When a
4171 rule affects the sending side, it affects what files are put into the
4172 sender's file list. The default is for a rule to affect both sides unless
4173 [`--delete-excluded`](#opt) was specified, in which case default rules become
4174 sender-side only. See also the hide (H) and show (S) rules, which are an
4175 alternate way to specify sending-side includes/excludes.
4176 - An `r` is used to indicate that the rule applies to the receiving side. When
4177 a rule affects the receiving side, it prevents files from being deleted. See
4178 the `s` modifier for more info. See also the protect (P) and risk (R) rules,
4179 which are an alternate way to specify receiver-side includes/excludes.
4180 - A `p` indicates that a rule is perishable, meaning that it is ignored in
4181 directories that are being deleted. For instance, the
4182 [`--cvs-exclude`](#opt) (`-C`) option's default rules that exclude things
4183 like "CVS" and "`*.o`" are marked as perishable, and will not prevent a
4184 directory that was removed on the source from being deleted on the
4186 - An `x` indicates that a rule affects xattr names in xattr copy/delete
4187 operations (and is thus ignored when matching file/dir names). If no
4188 xattr-matching rules are specified, a default xattr filtering rule is used
4189 (see the [`--xattrs`](#opt) option).
4191 ### MERGE-FILE FILTER RULES
4193 You can merge whole files into your filter rules by specifying either a merge
4194 (.) or a dir-merge (:) filter rule (as introduced in the [FILTER RULES](#)
4197 There are two kinds of merged files -- single-instance ('.') and per-directory
4198 (':'). A single-instance merge file is read one time, and its rules are
4199 incorporated into the filter list in the place of the "." rule. For
4200 per-directory merge files, rsync will scan every directory that it traverses
4201 for the named file, merging its contents when the file exists into the current
4202 list of inherited rules. These per-directory rule files must be created on the
4203 sending side because it is the sending side that is being scanned for the
4204 available files to transfer. These rule files may also need to be transferred
4205 to the receiving side if you want them to affect what files don't get deleted
4206 (see [PER-DIRECTORY RULES AND DELETE](#) below).
4210 > merge /etc/rsync/default.rules
4211 > . /etc/rsync/default.rules
4212 > dir-merge .per-dir-filter
4213 > dir-merge,n- .non-inherited-per-dir-excludes
4214 > :n- .non-inherited-per-dir-excludes
4216 The following modifiers are accepted after a merge or dir-merge rule:
4218 - A `-` specifies that the file should consist of only exclude patterns, with
4219 no other rule-parsing except for in-file comments.
4220 - A `+` specifies that the file should consist of only include patterns, with
4221 no other rule-parsing except for in-file comments.
4222 - A `C` is a way to specify that the file should be read in a CVS-compatible
4223 manner. This turns on 'n', 'w', and '-', but also allows the list-clearing
4224 token (!) to be specified. If no filename is provided, ".cvsignore" is
4226 - A `e` will exclude the merge-file name from the transfer; e.g. "dir-merge,e
4227 .rules" is like "dir-merge .rules" and "- .rules".
4228 - An `n` specifies that the rules are not inherited by subdirectories.
4229 - A `w` specifies that the rules are word-split on whitespace instead of the
4230 normal line-splitting. This also turns off comments. Note: the space that
4231 separates the prefix from the rule is treated specially, so "- foo + bar" is
4232 parsed as two rules (assuming that prefix-parsing wasn't also disabled).
4233 - You may also specify any of the modifiers for the "+" or "-" rules (above) in
4234 order to have the rules that are read in from the file default to having that
4235 modifier set (except for the `!` modifier, which would not be useful). For
4236 instance, "merge,-/ .excl" would treat the contents of .excl as absolute-path
4237 excludes, while "dir-merge,s .filt" and ":sC" would each make all their
4238 per-directory rules apply only on the sending side. If the merge rule
4239 specifies sides to affect (via the `s` or `r` modifier or both), then the
4240 rules in the file must not specify sides (via a modifier or a rule prefix
4243 Per-directory rules are inherited in all subdirectories of the directory where
4244 the merge-file was found unless the 'n' modifier was used. Each subdirectory's
4245 rules are prefixed to the inherited per-directory rules from its parents, which
4246 gives the newest rules a higher priority than the inherited rules. The entire
4247 set of dir-merge rules are grouped together in the spot where the merge-file
4248 was specified, so it is possible to override dir-merge rules via a rule that
4249 got specified earlier in the list of global rules. When the list-clearing rule
4250 ("!") is read from a per-directory file, it only clears the inherited rules for
4251 the current merge file.
4253 Another way to prevent a single rule from a dir-merge file from being inherited
4254 is to anchor it with a leading slash. Anchored rules in a per-directory
4255 merge-file are relative to the merge-file's directory, so a pattern "/foo"
4256 would only match the file "foo" in the directory where the dir-merge filter
4259 Here's an example filter file which you'd specify via `--filter=". file":`
4261 > merge /home/user/.global-filter
4268 This will merge the contents of the /home/user/.global-filter file at the start
4269 of the list and also turns the ".rules" filename into a per-directory filter
4270 file. All rules read in prior to the start of the directory scan follow the
4271 global anchoring rules (i.e. a leading slash matches at the root of the
4274 If a per-directory merge-file is specified with a path that is a parent
4275 directory of the first transfer directory, rsync will scan all the parent dirs
4276 from that starting point to the transfer directory for the indicated
4277 per-directory file. For instance, here is a common filter (see [`-F`](#opt)):
4279 > --filter=': /.rsync-filter'
4281 That rule tells rsync to scan for the file .rsync-filter in all directories
4282 from the root down through the parent directory of the transfer prior to the
4283 start of the normal directory scan of the file in the directories that are sent
4284 as a part of the transfer. (Note: for an rsync daemon, the root is always the
4285 same as the module's "path".)
4287 Some examples of this pre-scanning for per-directory files:
4289 > rsync -avF /src/path/ /dest/dir
4290 > rsync -av --filter=': ../../.rsync-filter' /src/path/ /dest/dir
4291 > rsync -av --filter=': .rsync-filter' /src/path/ /dest/dir
4293 The first two commands above will look for ".rsync-filter" in "/" and "/src"
4294 before the normal scan begins looking for the file in "/src/path" and its
4295 subdirectories. The last command avoids the parent-dir scan and only looks for
4296 the ".rsync-filter" files in each directory that is a part of the transfer.
4298 If you want to include the contents of a ".cvsignore" in your patterns, you
4299 should use the rule ":C", which creates a dir-merge of the .cvsignore file, but
4300 parsed in a CVS-compatible manner. You can use this to affect where the
4301 [`--cvs-exclude`](#opt) (`-C`) option's inclusion of the per-directory
4302 .cvsignore file gets placed into your rules by putting the ":C" wherever you
4303 like in your filter rules. Without this, rsync would add the dir-merge rule
4304 for the .cvsignore file at the end of all your other rules (giving it a lower
4305 priority than your command-line rules). For example:
4308 > cat <<EOT | rsync -avC --filter='. -' a/ b
4313 > rsync -avC --include=foo.o -f :C --exclude='*.old' a/ b
4316 Both of the above rsync commands are identical. Each one will merge all the
4317 per-directory .cvsignore rules in the middle of the list rather than at the
4318 end. This allows their dir-specific rules to supersede the rules that follow
4319 the :C instead of being subservient to all your rules. To affect the other CVS
4320 exclude rules (i.e. the default list of exclusions, the contents of
4321 $HOME/.cvsignore, and the value of $CVSIGNORE) you should omit the `-C`
4322 command-line option and instead insert a "-C" rule into your filter rules; e.g.
4325 ### LIST-CLEARING FILTER RULE
4327 You can clear the current include/exclude list by using the "!" filter rule (as
4328 introduced in the [FILTER RULES](#) section above). The "current" list is either
4329 the global list of rules (if the rule is encountered while parsing the filter
4330 options) or a set of per-directory rules (which are inherited in their own
4331 sub-list, so a subdirectory can use this to clear out the parent's rules).
4333 ### ANCHORING INCLUDE/EXCLUDE PATTERNS
4335 As mentioned earlier, global include/exclude patterns are anchored at the "root
4336 of the transfer" (as opposed to per-directory patterns, which are anchored at
4337 the merge-file's directory). If you think of the transfer as a subtree of
4338 names that are being sent from sender to receiver, the transfer-root is where
4339 the tree starts to be duplicated in the destination directory. This root
4340 governs where patterns that start with a / match.
4342 Because the matching is relative to the transfer-root, changing the trailing
4343 slash on a source path or changing your use of the [`--relative`](#opt) option
4344 affects the path you need to use in your matching (in addition to changing how
4345 much of the file tree is duplicated on the destination host). The following
4346 examples demonstrate this.
4348 Let's say that we want to match two source files, one with an absolute
4349 path of "/home/me/foo/bar", and one with a path of "/home/you/bar/baz".
4350 Here is how the various command choices differ for a 2-source transfer:
4353 > Example cmd: rsync -a /home/me /home/you /dest
4354 > +/- pattern: /me/foo/bar
4355 > +/- pattern: /you/bar/baz
4356 > Target file: /dest/me/foo/bar
4357 > Target file: /dest/you/bar/baz
4361 > Example cmd: rsync -a /home/me/ /home/you/ /dest
4362 > +/- pattern: /foo/bar (note missing "me")
4363 > +/- pattern: /bar/baz (note missing "you")
4364 > Target file: /dest/foo/bar
4365 > Target file: /dest/bar/baz
4369 > Example cmd: rsync -a --relative /home/me/ /home/you /dest
4370 > +/- pattern: /home/me/foo/bar (note full path)
4371 > +/- pattern: /home/you/bar/baz (ditto)
4372 > Target file: /dest/home/me/foo/bar
4373 > Target file: /dest/home/you/bar/baz
4377 > Example cmd: cd /home; rsync -a --relative me/foo you/ /dest
4378 > +/- pattern: /me/foo/bar (starts at specified path)
4379 > +/- pattern: /you/bar/baz (ditto)
4380 > Target file: /dest/me/foo/bar
4381 > Target file: /dest/you/bar/baz
4384 The easiest way to see what name you should filter is to just look at the
4385 output when using [`--verbose`](#opt) and put a / in front of the name (use the
4386 `--dry-run` option if you're not yet ready to copy any files).
4388 ### PER-DIRECTORY RULES AND DELETE
4390 Without a delete option, per-directory rules are only relevant on the sending
4391 side, so you can feel free to exclude the merge files themselves without
4392 affecting the transfer. To make this easy, the 'e' modifier adds this exclude
4393 for you, as seen in these two equivalent commands:
4395 > rsync -av --filter=': .excl' --exclude=.excl host:src/dir /dest
4396 > rsync -av --filter=':e .excl' host:src/dir /dest
4398 However, if you want to do a delete on the receiving side AND you want some
4399 files to be excluded from being deleted, you'll need to be sure that the
4400 receiving side knows what files to exclude. The easiest way is to include the
4401 per-directory merge files in the transfer and use [`--delete-after`](#opt),
4402 because this ensures that the receiving side gets all the same exclude rules as
4403 the sending side before it tries to delete anything:
4405 > rsync -avF --delete-after host:src/dir /dest
4407 However, if the merge files are not a part of the transfer, you'll need to
4408 either specify some global exclude rules (i.e. specified on the command line),
4409 or you'll need to maintain your own per-directory merge files on the receiving
4410 side. An example of the first is this (assume that the remote .rules files
4411 exclude themselves):
4413 > rsync -av --filter=': .rules' --filter='. /my/extra.rules'
4414 > --delete host:src/dir /dest
4416 In the above example the extra.rules file can affect both sides of the
4417 transfer, but (on the sending side) the rules are subservient to the rules
4418 merged from the .rules files because they were specified after the
4419 per-directory merge rule.
4421 In one final example, the remote side is excluding the .rsync-filter files from
4422 the transfer, but we want to use our own .rsync-filter files to control what
4423 gets deleted on the receiving side. To do this we must specifically exclude
4424 the per-directory merge files (so that they don't get deleted) and then put
4425 rules into the local files to control what else should not get deleted. Like
4426 one of these commands:
4429 > rsync -av --filter=':e /.rsync-filter' --delete \
4430 > host:src/dir /dest
4431 > rsync -avFF --delete host:src/dir /dest
4436 In addition to the [FILTER RULES](#) that affect the recursive file scans that
4437 generate the file list on the sending and (when deleting) receiving sides,
4438 there are transfer rules. These rules affect which files the generator decides
4439 need to be transferred without the side effects of an exclude filter rule.
4440 Transfer rules affect only files and never directories.
4442 Because a transfer rule does not affect what goes into the sender's (and
4443 receiver's) file list, it cannot have any effect on which files get deleted on
4444 the receiving side. For example, if the file "foo" is present in the sender's
4445 list but its size is such that it is omitted due to a transfer rule, the
4446 receiving side does not request the file. However, its presence in the file
4447 list means that a delete pass will not remove a matching file named "foo" on
4448 the receiving side. On the other hand, a server-side exclude (hide) of the
4449 file "foo" leaves the file out of the server's file list, and absent a
4450 receiver-side exclude (protect) the receiver will remove a matching file named
4451 "foo" if deletions are requested.
4453 Given that the files are still in the sender's file list, the
4454 [`--prune-empty-dirs`](#opt) option will not judge a directory as being empty
4455 even if it contains only files that the transfer rules omitted.
4457 Similarly, a transfer rule does not have any extra effect on which files are
4458 deleted on the receiving side, so setting a maximum file size for the transfer
4459 does not prevent big files from being deleted.
4461 Examples of transfer rules include the default "quick check" algorithm (which
4462 compares size & modify time), the [`--update`](#opt) option, the
4463 [`--max-size`](#opt) option, the [`--ignore-non-existing`](#opt) option, and a
4468 Batch mode can be used to apply the same set of updates to many identical
4469 systems. Suppose one has a tree which is replicated on a number of hosts. Now
4470 suppose some changes have been made to this source tree and those changes need
4471 to be propagated to the other hosts. In order to do this using batch mode,
4472 rsync is run with the write-batch option to apply the changes made to the
4473 source tree to one of the destination trees. The write-batch option causes the
4474 rsync client to store in a "batch file" all the information needed to repeat
4475 this operation against other, identical destination trees.
4477 Generating the batch file once saves having to perform the file status,
4478 checksum, and data block generation more than once when updating multiple
4479 destination trees. Multicast transport protocols can be used to transfer the
4480 batch update files in parallel to many hosts at once, instead of sending the
4481 same data to every host individually.
4483 To apply the recorded changes to another destination tree, run rsync with the
4484 read-batch option, specifying the name of the same batch file, and the
4485 destination tree. Rsync updates the destination tree using the information
4486 stored in the batch file.
4488 For your convenience, a script file is also created when the write-batch option
4489 is used: it will be named the same as the batch file with ".sh" appended. This
4490 script file contains a command-line suitable for updating a destination tree
4491 using the associated batch file. It can be executed using a Bourne (or
4492 Bourne-like) shell, optionally passing in an alternate destination tree
4493 pathname which is then used instead of the original destination path. This is
4494 useful when the destination tree path on the current host differs from the one
4495 used to create the batch file.
4499 > $ rsync --write-batch=foo -a host:/source/dir/ /adest/dir/
4500 > $ scp foo* remote:
4501 > $ ssh remote ./foo.sh /bdest/dir/
4503 > $ rsync --write-batch=foo -a /source/dir/ /adest/dir/
4504 > $ ssh remote rsync --read-batch=- -a /bdest/dir/ <foo
4506 In these examples, rsync is used to update /adest/dir/ from /source/dir/ and
4507 the information to repeat this operation is stored in "foo" and "foo.sh". The
4508 host "remote" is then updated with the batched data going into the directory
4509 /bdest/dir. The differences between the two examples reveals some of the
4510 flexibility you have in how you deal with batches:
4512 - The first example shows that the initial copy doesn't have to be local -- you
4513 can push or pull data to/from a remote host using either the remote-shell
4514 syntax or rsync daemon syntax, as desired.
4515 - The first example uses the created "foo.sh" file to get the right rsync
4516 options when running the read-batch command on the remote host.
4517 - The second example reads the batch data via standard input so that the batch
4518 file doesn't need to be copied to the remote machine first. This example
4519 avoids the foo.sh script because it needed to use a modified
4520 [`--read-batch`](#opt) option, but you could edit the script file if you
4521 wished to make use of it (just be sure that no other option is trying to use
4522 standard input, such as the [`--exclude-from=-`](#opt) option).
4526 The read-batch option expects the destination tree that it is updating to be
4527 identical to the destination tree that was used to create the batch update
4528 fileset. When a difference between the destination trees is encountered the
4529 update might be discarded with a warning (if the file appears to be up-to-date
4530 already) or the file-update may be attempted and then, if the file fails to
4531 verify, the update discarded with an error. This means that it should be safe
4532 to re-run a read-batch operation if the command got interrupted. If you wish
4533 to force the batched-update to always be attempted regardless of the file's
4534 size and date, use the [`-I`](#opt) option (when reading the batch). If an
4535 error occurs, the destination tree will probably be in a partially updated
4536 state. In that case, rsync can be used in its regular (non-batch) mode of
4537 operation to fix up the destination tree.
4539 The rsync version used on all destinations must be at least as new as the one
4540 used to generate the batch file. Rsync will die with an error if the protocol
4541 version in the batch file is too new for the batch-reading rsync to handle.
4542 See also the [`--protocol`](#opt) option for a way to have the creating rsync
4543 generate a batch file that an older rsync can understand. (Note that batch
4544 files changed format in version 2.6.3, so mixing versions older than that with
4545 newer versions will not work.)
4547 When reading a batch file, rsync will force the value of certain options to
4548 match the data in the batch file if you didn't set them to the same as the
4549 batch-writing command. Other options can (and should) be changed. For
4550 instance [`--write-batch`](#opt) changes to [`--read-batch`](#opt),
4551 [`--files-from`](#opt) is dropped, and the [`--filter`](#opt) /
4552 [`--include`](#opt) / [`--exclude`](#opt) options are not needed unless one of
4553 the [`--delete`](#opt) options is specified.
4555 The code that creates the BATCH.sh file transforms any filter/include/exclude
4556 options into a single list that is appended as a "here" document to the shell
4557 script file. An advanced user can use this to modify the exclude list if a
4558 change in what gets deleted by [`--delete`](#opt) is desired. A normal user
4559 can ignore this detail and just use the shell script as an easy way to run the
4560 appropriate [`--read-batch`](#opt) command for the batched data.
4562 The original batch mode in rsync was based on "rsync+", but the latest
4563 version uses a new implementation.
4567 Three basic behaviors are possible when rsync encounters a symbolic
4568 link in the source directory.
4570 By default, symbolic links are not transferred at all. A message "skipping
4571 non-regular" file is emitted for any symlinks that exist.
4573 If [`--links`](#opt) is specified, then symlinks are added to the transfer
4574 (instead of being noisily ignored), and the default handling is to recreate
4575 them with the same target on the destination. Note that [`--archive`](#opt)
4576 implies [`--links`](#opt).
4578 If [`--copy-links`](#opt) is specified, then symlinks are "collapsed" by
4579 copying their referent, rather than the symlink.
4581 Rsync can also distinguish "safe" and "unsafe" symbolic links. An example
4582 where this might be used is a web site mirror that wishes to ensure that the
4583 rsync module that is copied does not include symbolic links to `/etc/passwd` in
4584 the public section of the site. Using [`--copy-unsafe-links`](#opt) will cause
4585 any links to be copied as the file they point to on the destination. Using
4586 [`--safe-links`](#opt) will cause unsafe links to be omitted by the receiver.
4587 (Note that you must specify or imply [`--links`](#opt) for
4588 [`--safe-links`](#opt) to have any effect.)
4590 Symbolic links are considered unsafe if they are absolute symlinks (start with
4591 `/`), empty, or if they contain enough ".." components to ascend from the top
4594 Here's a summary of how the symlink options are interpreted. The list is in
4595 order of precedence, so if your combination of options isn't mentioned, use the
4596 first line that is a complete subset of your options:
4598 0. `--copy-links` Turn all symlinks into normal files and directories
4599 (leaving no symlinks in the transfer for any other options to affect).
4600 0. `--copy-dirlinks` Turn just symlinks to directories into real
4601 directories, leaving all other symlinks to be handled as described below.
4602 0. `--links --copy-unsafe-links` Turn all unsafe symlinks
4603 into files and create all safe symlinks.
4604 0. `--copy-unsafe-links` Turn all unsafe symlinks into files, noisily
4605 skip all safe symlinks.
4606 0. `--links --safe-links` The receiver skips creating
4607 unsafe symlinks found in the transfer and creates the safe ones.
4608 0. `--links` Create all symlinks.
4610 For the effect of [`--munge-links`](#opt), see the discussion in that option's
4613 Note that the [`--keep-dirlinks`](#opt) option does not effect symlinks in the
4614 transfer but instead affects how rsync treats a symlink to a directory that
4615 already exists on the receiving side. See that option's section for a warning.
4619 Rsync occasionally produces error messages that may seem a little cryptic. The
4620 one that seems to cause the most confusion is "protocol version mismatch -- is
4623 This message is usually caused by your startup scripts or remote shell facility
4624 producing unwanted garbage on the stream that rsync is using for its transport.
4625 The way to diagnose this problem is to run your remote shell like this:
4627 > ssh remotehost /bin/true > out.dat
4629 then look at out.dat. If everything is working correctly then out.dat should
4630 be a zero length file. If you are getting the above error from rsync then you
4631 will probably find that out.dat contains some text or data. Look at the
4632 contents and try to work out what is producing it. The most common cause is
4633 incorrectly configured shell startup scripts (such as .cshrc or .profile) that
4634 contain output statements for non-interactive logins.
4636 If you are having trouble debugging filter patterns, then try specifying the
4637 `-vv` option. At this level of verbosity rsync will show why each individual
4638 file is included or excluded.
4643 - **1** - Syntax or usage error
4644 - **2** - Protocol incompatibility
4645 - **3** - Errors selecting input/output files, dirs
4646 - **4** - Requested action not supported. Either:
4647 - an attempt was made to manipulate 64-bit files on a platform that cannot support them
4648 - an option was specified that is supported by the client and not by the server
4649 - **5** - Error starting client-server protocol
4650 - **6** - Daemon unable to append to log-file
4651 - **10** - Error in socket I/O
4652 - **11** - Error in file I/O
4653 - **12** - Error in rsync protocol data stream
4654 - **13** - Errors with program diagnostics
4655 - **14** - Error in IPC code
4656 - **20** - Received SIGUSR1 or SIGINT
4657 - **21** - Some error returned by **waitpid()**
4658 - **22** - Error allocating core memory buffers
4659 - **23** - Partial transfer due to error
4660 - **24** - Partial transfer due to vanished source files
4661 - **25** - The --max-delete limit stopped deletions
4662 - **30** - Timeout in data send/receive
4663 - **35** - Timeout waiting for daemon connection
4665 ## ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
4669 The CVSIGNORE environment variable supplements any ignore patterns in
4670 .cvsignore files. See the [`--cvs-exclude`](#opt) option for more details.
4674 Specify a default [`--iconv`](#opt) setting using this environment
4675 variable. First supported in 3.0.0.
4679 Specify a "1" if you want the [`--old-args`](#opt) option to be enabled by
4680 default, a "2" (or more) if you want it to be enabled in the
4681 repeated-option state, or a "0" to make sure that it is disabled by
4682 default. When this environment variable is set to a non-zero value, it
4683 supersedes the [`RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS`](#) variable.
4685 This variable is ignored if [`--old-args`](#opt), `--no-old-args`, or
4686 [`--secluded-args`](#opt) is specified on the command line.
4688 First supported in 3.2.4.
4690 0. `RSYNC_PROTECT_ARGS`
4692 Specify a non-zero numeric value if you want the [`--secluded-args`](#opt)
4693 option to be enabled by default, or a zero value to make sure that it is
4694 disabled by default.
4696 This variable is ignored if [`--secluded-args`](#opt), `--no-secluded-args`,
4697 or [`--old-args`](#opt) is specified on the command line.
4699 First supported in 3.1.0. Starting in 3.2.4, this variable is ignored if
4700 [`RSYNC_OLD_ARGS`](#) is set to a non-zero value.
4704 This environment variable allows you to override the default shell used as
4705 the transport for rsync. Command line options are permitted after the
4706 command name, just as in the [`--rsh`](#opt) (`-e`) option.
4710 This environment variable allows you to redirect your rsync
4711 client to use a web proxy when connecting to an rsync daemon. You should
4712 set `RSYNC_PROXY` to a hostname:port pair.
4716 This environment variable allows you to set the password for an rsync
4717 **daemon** connection, which avoids the password prompt. Note that this
4718 does **not** supply a password to a remote shell transport such as ssh
4719 (consult its documentation for how to do that).
4721 0. `USER` or `LOGNAME`
4723 The USER or LOGNAME environment variables are used to determine the default
4724 username sent to an rsync daemon. If neither is set, the username defaults
4725 to "nobody". If both are set, `USER` takes precedence.
4727 0. `RSYNC_PARTIAL_DIR`
4729 This environment variable specifies the directory to use for a
4730 [`--partial`](#opt) transfer without implying that partial transfers be
4731 enabled. See the [`--partial-dir`](#opt) option for full details.
4733 0. `RSYNC_COMPRESS_LIST`
4735 This environment variable allows you to customize the negotiation of the
4736 compression algorithm by specifying an alternate order or a reduced list of
4737 names. Use the command `rsync --version` to see the available compression
4738 names. See the [`--compress`](#opt) option for full details.
4740 0. `RSYNC_CHECKSUM_LIST`
4742 This environment variable allows you to customize the negotiation of the
4743 checksum algorithm by specifying an alternate order or a reduced list of
4744 names. Use the command `rsync --version` to see the available checksum
4745 names. See the [`--checksum-choice`](#opt) option for full details.
4747 0. `RSYNC_MAX_ALLOC`
4749 This environment variable sets an allocation maximum as if you had used the
4750 [`--max-alloc`](#opt) option.
4754 This environment variable is not read by rsync, but is instead set in
4755 its sub-environment when rsync is running the remote shell in combination
4756 with a daemon connection. This allows a script such as
4757 [`rsync-ssl`](rsync-ssl.1) to be able to know the port number that the user
4758 specified on the command line.
4762 This environment variable is used to find the user's default .cvsignore
4765 0. `RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG`
4767 This environment variable is mainly used in debug setups to set the program
4768 to use when making a daemon connection. See [CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC
4769 DAEMON](#) for full details.
4773 This environment variable is mainly used in debug setups to set the program
4774 to use to run the program specified by [`RSYNC_CONNECT_PROG`](#). See
4775 [CONNECTING TO AN RSYNC DAEMON](#) for full details.
4779 /etc/rsyncd.conf or rsyncd.conf
4783 [**rsync-ssl**(1)](rsync-ssl.1), [**rsyncd.conf**(5)](rsyncd.conf.5), [**rrsync**(1)](rrsync.1)
4787 - Times are transferred as \*nix time_t values.
4788 - When transferring to FAT filesystems rsync may re-sync unmodified files. See
4789 the comments on the [`--modify-window`](#opt) option.
4790 - File permissions, devices, etc. are transferred as native numerical values.
4791 - See also the comments on the [`--delete`](#opt) option.
4793 Please report bugs! See the web site at <https://rsync.samba.org/>.
4797 This manpage is current for version @VERSION@ of rsync.
4801 The options `--server` and `--sender` are used internally by rsync, and should
4802 never be typed by a user under normal circumstances. Some awareness of these
4803 options may be needed in certain scenarios, such as when setting up a login
4804 that can only run an rsync command. For instance, the support directory of the
4805 rsync distribution has an example script named rrsync (for restricted rsync)
4806 that can be used with a restricted ssh login.
4810 Rsync is distributed under the GNU General Public License. See the file
4811 [COPYING](COPYING) for details.
4813 An rsync web site is available at <https://rsync.samba.org/>. The site
4814 includes an FAQ-O-Matic which may cover questions unanswered by this manual
4817 The rsync github project is <https://github.com/WayneD/rsync>.
4819 We would be delighted to hear from you if you like this program. Please
4820 contact the mailing-list at <rsync@lists.samba.org>.
4822 This program uses the excellent zlib compression library written by Jean-loup
4823 Gailly and Mark Adler.
4827 Special thanks go out to: John Van Essen, Matt McCutchen, Wesley W. Terpstra,
4828 David Dykstra, Jos Backus, Sebastian Krahmer, Martin Pool, and our
4829 gone-but-not-forgotten compadre, J.W. Schultz.
4831 Thanks also to Richard Brent, Brendan Mackay, Bill Waite, Stephen Rothwell and
4832 David Bell. I've probably missed some people, my apologies if I have.
4836 Rsync was originally written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras. Many
4837 people have later contributed to it. It is currently maintained by Wayne
4840 Mailing lists for support and development are available at
4841 <https://lists.samba.org/>.