Linux in a Nutshell, Fifth Edition

rsync | 391

Linux

Commands

This is the Title of the Book, eMatter Edition

Copyright © 2006 O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.

rsync

rsync [options] sources dest

Transfer files; used frequently for updating files across a network.

File transfer with rsync is fast and efficient because it checks local

files against remote files in small chunks, or blocks, and transfers

only the blocks that differ between the files.

sources and the final dest are in the form of:

user@host:port/filename

If the file is on the local host, a plain filename can be specified. If

the file is on a remote host, the host must also be specified. user can

optionally be specified to log in as a different user on the remote

site (in which case a password prompt might appear) and port can

optionally be specified with a remote host to make rsync use a TCP

port other than its default, 873.

Relative filenames (names without initial slashes) are handled rela-

tive to the user’s home directory. If a source directory is listed with

a trailing slash, the whole directory is transferred and will appear

under the destination directory; if the directory is listed without the

slash, its files and subdirectories will appear directly under the

destination directory. Normally, regular directories and files are

transferred, but not symbolic links or other special files such as

sockets and FIFOs.

Two other formats for sources and dest, which ...