Rsync Examples

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A few examples of how I use rsync to copy files between hosts and drives.

#basic local sync:

rsync -hrtP /path/to/source/ /path/to/destination/

#sync remote to local:

rsync -hrtP user@remote.com:/home/user/files/ /home/user/files/

#sync local to remote:

rsync -hrtP /home/user/files/ user@remote.com:/home/user/files/

#custom ssh port:

rsync -hrtP -e "ssh -p 4220" /home/user/files/ user@remote.com:/home/user/files/

#Explanation of Arguments

  • -h: Human-readable format. This option outputs file sizes in a human-readable format (e.g., 1K, 1M, 1G) rather than in bytes.
  • -r: Recursive. This option tells rsync to copy directories recursively, including all the files and subdirectories within the source directory.
  • -t: Preserve modification times. This option ensures that the modification times of the files are preserved, meaning the destination files will have the same modification timestamps as the source files.
  • -P: This is a combination of --progress and --partial:
    • --progress: Show progress during the transfer. This provides a detailed progress report for each file as it is being transferred.
    • --partial: Keep partially transferred files. If a transfer is interrupted, this option allows rsync to resume transferring only the remaining part of the file rather than starting over from the beginning.

#Additional Arguments to Consider

#--delete

To delete anything found in the destination, which is not found in the source, add --delete to the end of your command.

#--dry-run

To perform a dry-run which only logs the results without actually changing anything, add --dry-run to the end of your command.