Specify that the file specified in options such as --files-from is formatted with null characters to separate the filenames; when this option is not used, the file must include each filename on a separate line.

Like -r, but reproduce nearly all characteristics of the files and directories being transferred, such as modification times, symbolic links, ownership, and permissions.

Specify the IP address of an rsync server to connect to; useful when multiple servers are running on the same host.

Preserve existing files at the destination by appending a suffix such as ~ while transferring new versions of those files.

Change block size used for transfers.

Specify where files created by the --backup option are stored.

Use blocking I/O when starting the remote shell used for transfer.

Set a limit to the speed of transfer, specified in kilobytes per second.

Perform a full checksum on each file transferred.

Don't transfer files that are normally considered temporary or otherwise uninteresting; obeys the same rules for ignoring files as CVS (described in Chapter 1).

Compare source files to files of the same name in dir as well as the destination directory.

Use compression during transmission.

When running as server, take configuration from configfile instead of /etc/rsyncd.conf.

Transfer the files to which symbolic links are made instead of just the pointer information in the links.

If files to which symbolic links point are being transferred, copy even those files that exist outside the directories being transferred.

Run rsync as server.

Transfer device (/dev) files; requires superuser permission on both systems.

After transferring files from a source directory, delete any files from the destination directory that do not exist in the source directory.

Before transferring files from a source directory, delete any files from the destination directory that do not exist in the source directory.

Invoke --delete, and additionally delete from the destination directory any files that match exclude options.

Display the names of files that would be transferred and statistics related to a transfer, without performing a transfer.

Use shell (which can be a complete command with arguments, enclosed in quotes) to create the connection between two systems for file transfer. rsync uses rsh by default. Nowadays, most users prefer the secure shell ssh. This can be made the default by setting the environment variable RSYNC_RSH=ssh.

Like --exclude, but globbing patterns are taken from file. each pattern on a separate line.

Don't transfer files whose names match glob-pattern. Rules for glob-pattern are complex and are described in the manpage. In general, filenames can include the shell globbing characters * to match everything, ? to match a single character, and [] to enclose a set of matching characters. Furthermore, to specify the beginning of a filename, start the name with a / character (it does not mean the file has to be an absolute pathname).

Transfer only files that already exist on the destination host.

Take names of files to transfer from file.

Allow a file to replace a non-empty directory of the same name.

Synonym for -0.

Set the group (normally identified by name, not number) of the destination file to match that of the source file, instead of using the group running the rsync program.

Set hard links on destination system to match source system.

Display command syntax and options.

Delete files even when there are I/O errors.

Do not transfer files to replace existing files of the same name.

Consider files for transfer even if they have the same size and timestamp as destination files.

Like --include, but globbing patterns are taken from file, which has each pattern listed on a separate line.

Specify files to be transferred even if further exclude options would cause them to be ignored. rsync processes the include and exclude options in the order they appear on the command line, so earlier include options override later exclude options.

Set symbolic links on destination system to match source system.

Synonym for --copy-links.

Display information about each file transferred in a format specified by % sequences; see rsyncd.conf manpage for formats.

Delete at most n files when deleting from destination host.

Synonym for --dry-run.

Do not use blocking I/O when starting the remote shell used for transfer.

When running as a daemon, do not restart as a background process.

When preserving directory structures with --relative, do not force the creation of new directories or symbolic links if the destination host is set up differently from the source host.

Transfer only the plain files without preserving the entire directory structure of files whose names include directories; otherwise, --files-from would create the entire directory structure to contain the file.

Use rsync's block checks to transfer parts of files where possible.

Set user and group IDs on destination files by number rather than name.

Set the user (normally identified by name, not number) of the destination file to match that of the source file, instead of settng it to the user running the rsync program.

When traversing directories, do not transfer files on directories that are mounted on other filesystems.

Set the permissions of the destination file to match that of the source file, instead of using the existing file's permissions or the default umask of the destination user.

Combination of --partial and --progress.

Preserve partial files transferred if rsync is interrupted.

Take password for accessing a remote rsync server from file.

Use port n instead of default rsync port.

Display ongoing statistics about the progress of the transfer of each file.

Do not display statistics or server error messages.

Syncronize systems by reading the files whose names start with the prefix specified by a preceding --write-batch option.

Copy directories with all their contents.

Preserve the entire path of a specified source file or directory, instead of creating the file directly under the destination directory. That is, if project/tmp/main.c is specified, create project/tmp/main.c instead of just main.c. Create intermediate directories if needed.

Synonym for -e.

Use the rsync binary located in file on the destination system.

Don't copy links that point to absolute paths or to files outside the directories being transferred.

Skip files that have the same size on the source and destination hosts, even if their timestamps differ; usually, this check is based on both size and timestamp.

Perform special optimizations on sparse files (files that contain holes and actually contain less data than their sizes indicate).

Like -v, but also prints a number of statistics about each file transferred, such as the number of bytes actually transferred and the number transferred to compare the files on the two hosts.

Set the suffix placed on backup files to string. Default is a tilde (~).

Stop rsync if n seconds pass with no data being transferred.

Set the timestamps of the destination file to match those of the source file, instead of using the time of transfer (that is, reflecting the existence of a new file on the destination host).

Use dir as rsync's temporary directory instead of the destination directory.

Don't change a destination file if it is newer than the source file.

Display rsync's version and compiled-in features.

Display the names of files transferred and statistics related to the transfer.

Transfer the entire files, instead of using rsync's block checks to transfer just parts of files where possible.

Prepare to syncronize systems by writing files, whose names start with prefix, that describe the transfers to take place.

Synonym for --one-file-system.

Synonym for --compress.