Linux Pocket Guide

Name

rsync [options] source destination — rsync

Synopsis

/usr/bin stdin stdout - file -- opt --help --version

The rsync command copies a set of files. It can make an exact copy, including file permissions and other attributes (called mirroring), or it can just copy the data. It can run over a network or on a single machine. rsync has many uses and over 50 options; we’ll present just a few common cases relating to backups.

To mirror the directory D1 and its contents into another directory D2 on a single machine:

$ rsync -a D1 D2

In order to mirror directory D1 over the network to another host, server.example.com, where you have an account with username smith, securing the connection with SSH to prevent eavesdropping:

$ rsync -a -e ssh D1 [e-mail]:

Useful options
-o	Copy the ownership of the files. (You probably need superuser privileges on the remote host.)
-g	Copy the group ownership of the files. (You might need superuser privileges on the remote host.)
-p	Copy the file permissions.
-t	Copy the file timestamps.
-r	Copy directories recursively, i.e., including their contents.
-l	Permit symbolic links to be copied (not the files they point to).
-D	Permit devices to be copied. (Superuser only.)
-a	Mirroring: copy all attributes of the original files. This implies all of the options, -Dgloprt.
-v	Verbose mode: print information about what’s happening during the copy. Add --progress to display a numeric progress meter while files are copied.
-e command	Specify a different remote shell program such ...