Cheat Sheet #day36 - rsync

rsync Cheatsheet

Basic Syntax

rsync [options] source destination

Common Options

• -a : Archive mode (recursive, preserve permissions, timestamps, symlinks, etc.)

• -v : Verbose output

• -z : Compress file data during the transfer

• -r : Recursive mode (copy directories recursively)

• -u : Skip files that are newer on the receiver

• -h : Human-readable numbers

• --progress : Show progress during transfer

• --delete : Delete files in the destination that are not in the source

• -e : Specify remote shell program (e.g., -e ssh)

Examples

Basic Local Copy

rsync -avh source/ destination/

• Copy all files and directories from source to destination preserving permissions, timestamps, and symlinks.

Copy to Remote Server

rsync -avzhe ssh source/ user@remote_host:/path/to/destination/

• Copy files to a remote server using SSH.

Copy from Remote Server

rsync -avzhe ssh user@remote_host:/path/to/source/ destination/

• Copy files from a remote server using SSH.

Show Progress During Transfer

rsync -avh --progress source/ destination/

• Show progress of each file transfer.

Sync Directories (Bidirectional)

rsync -avzhe ssh --delete source/ user@remote_host:/path/to/destination/

• Sync directories and delete files in the destination that are not in the source.

Exclude Files or Directories

rsync -avh --exclude='*.log' --exclude='temp/' source/ destination/

• Exclude files matching *.log and the directory temp/.

Dry Run (Preview Changes)

rsync -avh --dry-run source/ destination/

• Show what would have been transferred without actually doing it.

Limit Bandwidth Usage

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

• Limit bandwidth usage to 1000 KB/s.

Using a Non-Standard SSH Port

rsync -avzhe 'ssh -p 2222' source/ user@remote_host:/path/to/destination/

• Use a non-standard SSH port (e.g., 2222).

Preserve Hard Links

rsync -avH source/ destination/

• Preserve hard links in the transfer.

Copy Only Modified Files

rsync -avh --ignore-existing source/ destination/

• Copy only files that don’t exist at the destination.

Syncing with Checksum

rsync -avc source/ destination/

• Use checksum to compare files instead of mod-time and size.

Useful Tips

• Trailing Slash on Source: The presence of a trailing slash on the source directory (source/) indicates that the contents of the directory should be copied, but not the directory itself. Without the trailing slash (source), the entire directory is copied.

• Using Cron for Scheduled Syncs:

    crontab -e
  

  Add a cron job:

    0 2 * * * rsync -avzhe ssh /local/path/ user@remote_host:/remote/path/
  

  • This will run rsync every day at 2 AM.

• Logging: To log the output of rsync, use:

    rsync -avh source/ destination/ >> /path/to/logfile.log 2>&1
  

Advanced Options

• --backup : Make backups of (replaced) destination files.

• --backup-dir : Make backups into this directory.

• --suffix : Define a backup suffix (default is ~).

• --exclude-from : Read exclude patterns from a file.

• --include : Include files matching a pattern.

• --include-from : Read include patterns from a file.

• --chown : Change the user and/or group of the files to the specified USER:GROUP.

Example with Advanced Options

rsync -avh --backup --backup-dir=/path/to/backup --suffix=_old --exclude-from='exclude.txt' source/ destination/

• Backup replaced files to /path/to/backup with a suffix _old, and exclude patterns listed in exclude.txt.

This cheatsheet should help you get started with rsync and cover most common scenarios and options you might need. Adjust the commands according to your specific requirements.