rsync

Website: https://rsync.samba.org CLI Tool: rsync Authentication: SSH keys, passwords

Description

rsync is a fast and versatile file copying tool for local and remote file synchronization. It uses an efficient delta-transfer algorithm that only sends differences between files. Essential for backups, deployments, and file synchronization across systems.

Commands

Basic Usage

Local Copy

rsync source destination
rsync file.txt /backup/
rsync -a /source/ /destination/

Copy files locally (similar to cp).

Remote Copy

rsync source user@host:destination
rsync user@host:source destination
rsync file.txt user@example.com:/backup/

Copy files to/from remote host.

Sync Directories

rsync -av source/ destination/
rsync -av /data/ user@host:/backup/data/

Synchronize directories with archive mode.

Common Options

Archive Mode

rsync -a source/ destination/
rsync --archive source/ destination/

Archive mode: preserves permissions, times, symlinks (-rlptgoD).

Verbose Output

rsync -v source destination
rsync -av source/ destination/
rsync -avv source/ destination/

Verbose output (use -vv for more details).

Progress Display

rsync -av --progress source/ destination/
rsync -avP source/ destination/

Show progress during transfer.

Dry Run

rsync -avn source/ destination/
rsync -av --dry-run source/ destination/

Show what would be transferred without doing it.

Compression

rsync -avz source/ user@host:destination/
rsync -av --compress source/ destination/

Compress data during transfer.

Delete

rsync -av --delete source/ destination/
rsync -av --delete-after source/ destination/

Delete files in destination not in source.

File Selection

Include Patterns

rsync -av --include="*.txt" --exclude="*" source/ destination/
rsync -av --include="*.jpg" --include="*.png" --exclude="*" source/ destination/

Include only matching files.

Exclude Patterns

rsync -av --exclude="*.log" source/ destination/
rsync -av --exclude="node_modules/" source/ destination/
rsync -av --exclude={.git,dist,*.tmp} source/ destination/

Exclude matching files or directories.

Exclude File

rsync -av --exclude-from=exclude.txt source/ destination/
cat exclude.txt:
  *.log
  .git/
  node_modules/

Exclude patterns from file.

Include File

rsync -av --include-from=include.txt --exclude="*" source/ destination/

Include patterns from file.

Filter Rules

rsync -av --filter="- *.log" --filter="- .git/" source/ destination/
rsync -av -F source/ destination/

Use filter rules (advanced).

Permissions and Ownership

Preserve Permissions

rsync -p source/ destination/
rsync --perms source/ destination/

Preserve file permissions (included in -a).

Preserve Owner/Group

rsync -og source/ destination/
rsync --owner --group source/ destination/

Preserve ownership (included in -a).

Update Permissions Only

rsync -av --chmod=D755,F644 source/ destination/

Set permissions during sync.

No Permissions

rsync -av --no-perms --no-owner --no-group source/ destination/

Don't preserve permissions/ownership.

Transfer Options

Bandwidth Limit

rsync -av --bwlimit=1000 source/ destination/

Limit bandwidth to KB/s.

Partial Transfer

rsync -av --partial source/ destination/
rsync -avP source/ destination/

Keep partially transferred files (-P = --partial --progress).

Timeout

rsync -av --timeout=300 source/ user@host:destination/

Set I/O timeout in seconds.

Block Size

rsync -av --block-size=8192 source/ destination/

Set block size for delta algorithm.

Backup Options

Backup Files

rsync -av --backup source/ destination/
rsync -av --backup --suffix=.bak source/ destination/

Backup files before overwriting.

Backup Directory

rsync -av --backup --backup-dir=/backup/old source/ destination/

Store backups in separate directory.

Incremental Backup

rsync -av --link-dest=/backup/previous /source/ /backup/current/

Hardlink unchanged files to previous backup.

Update and Comparison

Update Only

rsync -avu source/ destination/
rsync -av --update source/ destination/

Skip files newer in destination.

Checksum Comparison

rsync -avc source/ destination/
rsync -av --checksum source/ destination/

Compare by checksum instead of time/size.

Size Only

rsync -av --size-only source/ destination/

Compare by size only.

Ignore Times

rsync -av --ignore-times source/ destination/

Don't skip files with same time/size.

Deletion Options

Delete During Transfer

rsync -av --delete source/ destination/

Delete extraneous files during transfer.

Delete Before Transfer

rsync -av --delete-before source/ destination/

Delete files before transfer starts.

Delete After Transfer

rsync -av --delete-after source/ destination/

Delete files after transfer completes.

Delete Excluded

rsync -av --delete --delete-excluded --exclude="*.log" source/ destination/

Delete excluded files in destination.

Max Delete

rsync -av --delete --max-delete=100 source/ destination/

Limit number of deletions.

SSH Options

Custom SSH Port

rsync -av -e "ssh -p 2222" source/ user@host:destination/

Use custom SSH port.

SSH Key

rsync -av -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa" source/ user@host:destination/

Use specific SSH key.

SSH Options

rsync -av -e "ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" source/ user@host:destination/

Pass options to SSH.

Output Control

Itemize Changes

rsync -av --itemize-changes source/ destination/
rsync -avi source/ destination/

Show detailed changes for each file.

Stats

rsync -av --stats source/ destination/

Show file transfer statistics.

Human Readable

rsync -avh source/ destination/
rsync -av --human-readable source/ destination/

Show file sizes in human-readable format.

List Only

rsync -av --list-only user@host:directory/

List files without transferring.

Advanced Options

Whole File

rsync -avW source/ destination/
rsync -av --whole-file source/ destination/

Copy whole files (no delta algorithm).

Inplace Update

rsync -av --inplace source/ destination/

Update files in place (don't create temp file).

Sparse Files

rsync -avS source/ destination/
rsync -av --sparse source/ destination/

Handle sparse files efficiently.

Hard Links

rsync -avH source/ destination/
rsync -av --hard-links source/ destination/

Preserve hard links.

Extended Attributes

rsync -avX source/ destination/
rsync -av --xattrs source/ destination/

Preserve extended attributes.

ACLs

rsync -avA source/ destination/
rsync -av --acls source/ destination/

Preserve ACLs.

CVS Exclude

rsync -avC source/ destination/
rsync -av --cvs-exclude source/ destination/

Auto-exclude files like .git, .svn, etc.

Examples

Basic Synchronization

# Sync local directories
rsync -av /source/ /destination/

# Sync to remote server
rsync -avz /local/data/ user@server:/remote/data/

# Sync from remote server
rsync -avz user@server:/remote/data/ /local/data/

# Dry run first
rsync -avn /source/ /destination/

Backup Scripts

# Simple backup
rsync -av --delete /data/ /backup/data/

# Backup with progress
rsync -avP --delete /data/ /backup/data/

# Backup excluding files
rsync -av --delete \
  --exclude=".git" \
  --exclude="node_modules" \
  --exclude="*.log" \
  /source/ /backup/

# Incremental backup
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
rsync -av --link-dest=/backup/latest \
  /source/ /backup/$DATE/
ln -nsf $DATE /backup/latest

Remote Synchronization

# Sync to remote with SSH key
rsync -avz -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/backup_key" \
  /local/data/ backup@server:/backup/

# Custom SSH port
rsync -avz -e "ssh -p 2222" \
  /data/ user@host:/backup/

# Bandwidth limit for remote sync
rsync -avz --bwlimit=5000 \
  /data/ user@host:/backup/

# Resume interrupted transfer
rsync -avzP /large/files/ user@host:/backup/

Website Deployment

# Deploy to web server
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude=".git" \
  --exclude="node_modules" \
  --exclude=".env" \
  ./dist/ user@webserver:/var/www/html/

# Deploy with dry run first
rsync -avzn --delete ./dist/ user@webserver:/var/www/html/

# Deploy with backup
rsync -avz --delete \
  --backup --backup-dir=/backup/$(date +%Y%m%d) \
  ./dist/ user@webserver:/var/www/html/

Exclude Patterns

# Exclude multiple patterns
rsync -av \
  --exclude="*.log" \
  --exclude="*.tmp" \
  --exclude=".git" \
  --exclude="node_modules" \
  /source/ /destination/

# Exclude from file
cat exclude.txt:
  *.log
  *.tmp
  .git/
  node_modules/
  __pycache__/

rsync -av --exclude-from=exclude.txt /source/ /destination/

# CVS-style exclude
rsync -avC /source/ /destination/

Selective Sync

# Sync only specific file types
rsync -av --include="*.jpg" --include="*.png" --exclude="*" \
  /photos/ /backup/photos/

# Sync directory structure only
rsync -av -f"+ */" -f"- *" /source/ /destination/

# Include/exclude combination
rsync -av \
  --include="*.conf" \
  --include="*.ini" \
  --exclude="*" \
  /config/ /backup/config/

Verification and Comparison

# Checksum verification
rsync -avc /source/ /destination/

# Dry run to see differences
rsync -avnc /source/ /destination/

# Itemized changes
rsync -avi /source/ /destination/

# Show only what changed
rsync -avnc --itemize-changes /source/ /destination/ | grep '^>'

Mirror Directory

# Perfect mirror (delete extra files)
rsync -av --delete /source/ /destination/

# Mirror with progress
rsync -avP --delete /source/ /destination/

# Mirror with checksums
rsync -avc --delete /source/ /destination/

# Mirror excluding patterns
rsync -av --delete \
  --exclude="cache/" \
  --exclude="*.tmp" \
  /source/ /destination/

Snapshot Backups

# Daily snapshot backup
#!/bin/bash
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
LATEST=/backup/latest
NEW=/backup/$DATE

rsync -av --delete \
  --link-dest=$LATEST \
  /source/ $NEW/

rm -f $LATEST
ln -s $DATE $LATEST

Database Backup

# Backup with compression
rsync -avz --delete /var/lib/mysql/ /backup/mysql/

# Backup with bandwidth limit
rsync -avz --bwlimit=10000 /var/lib/postgresql/ user@backup:/db/

# Stop service, backup, start service
systemctl stop mysql
rsync -av /var/lib/mysql/ /backup/mysql/
systemctl start mysql

Performance Tuning

# Whole file transfer (faster on local)
rsync -avW /source/ /destination/

# Larger block size
rsync -av --block-size=131072 /source/ /destination/

# Parallel rsync with GNU parallel
find /source -maxdepth 1 -type d | \
  parallel rsync -av {} /destination/

# In-place updates (faster, less safe)
rsync -av --inplace /source/ /destination/

Notes

Trailing Slash: /source/ copies contents, /source copies directory itself
Archive Mode: -a equals -rlptgoD (recursive, links, perms, times, group, owner, devices)
Delta Algorithm: Only transfers differences between files
Network Efficiency: Minimal data transfer over network
Bandwidth: Use --bwlimit to limit transfer rate
Resume: Use -P or --partial to resume interrupted transfers
Delete: --delete makes destination identical to source
SSH: Default transport for remote transfers
Compression: -z compresses data during transfer
Checksum: -c verifies by content, not time/size
Dry Run: -n shows what would happen without doing it
Progress: --progress shows transfer progress per file
Stats: --stats shows summary statistics
Itemize: -i shows detailed changes for each file
Exclude: Patterns match both directories and files
Include: Must come before exclude to work
Filters: Advanced pattern matching with merge/exclude/include
Exit Codes: 0=success, non-zero=error
Performance: Faster than scp for large file sets
Safety: Always test with -n (dry-run) first
Ownership: Requires root to preserve ownership on destination
Symlinks: -a preserves symlinks, -L follows them
Hard Links: -H preserves hard links
ACLs: -A for ACLs, -X for xattrs
Sparse: -S handles sparse files efficiently
Inplace: --inplace updates files without temp copy
Backup: --backup saves replaced files
Link-dest: Creates incremental backups with hardlinks
Best Practices:
Always test with --dry-run first
Use -a for full synchronization
Use -z for remote transfers
Use --delete carefully (test first!)
Use --exclude for large directories
Use --bwlimit on production systems
Use -P for resumable large transfers
Mind the trailing slash!
Keep backups before mirroring
Use --checksum for verification

rsync

rsync

Description

Commands

Basic Usage

Local Copy

Remote Copy

Sync Directories

Common Options

Archive Mode

Verbose Output

Progress Display

Dry Run

Compression

Delete

File Selection

Include Patterns

Exclude Patterns

Exclude File

Include File

Filter Rules

Permissions and Ownership

Preserve Permissions

Preserve Owner/Group

Update Permissions Only

No Permissions

Transfer Options

Bandwidth Limit

Partial Transfer

Timeout

Block Size

Backup Options

Backup Files

Backup Directory

Incremental Backup

Update and Comparison

Update Only

Checksum Comparison

Size Only

Ignore Times

Deletion Options

Delete During Transfer

Delete Before Transfer

Delete After Transfer

Delete Excluded

Max Delete

SSH Options

Custom SSH Port

SSH Key

SSH Options

Output Control

Itemize Changes

Stats

Human Readable

List Only

Advanced Options

Whole File

Inplace Update

Sparse Files

Hard Links

Extended Attributes

ACLs

CVS Exclude

Examples

Basic Synchronization

Backup Scripts

Remote Synchronization

Website Deployment

Exclude Patterns

Selective Sync

Verification and Comparison

Mirror Directory

Snapshot Backups

Database Backup

Performance Tuning

Notes

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