system enabled verified low v1.0.0

rsync

Fast, versatile file synchronization and transfer tool with delta encoding, compression, and remote sync over SSH.

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rsync {verbose} {info} {debug} {stderr} {quiet}

📎 verbose 📎 info 📎 debug 📎 stderr 📎 quiet

rsync {verbose} {info} {debug} {stderr} {quiet}

Sandbox: execFile · Timeout: 600s

Capabilities

filesystem.sync.local

filesystem.sync.remote

filesystem.sync.incremental

filesystem.sync.archive

filesystem.transfer.delta

filesystem.backup

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Default	Description	Aliases
`verbose`	string	No	-	increase verbosity	`-v`, `--verbose`
`info`	string	No	-	fine-grained informational verbosity	`--info`
`debug`	string	No	-	fine-grained debug verbosity	`--debug`
`stderr`	string	No	errors	change stderr output mode	`--stderr`
`quiet`	string	No	-	suppress non-error messages	`-q`, `--quiet`
`no-motd`	string	No	-	suppress daemon-mode MOTD	`--no-motd`
`checksum`	string	No	-	skip based on checksum, not mod-time & size	`-c`, `--checksum`
`archive`	string	No	-	archive mode is -rlptgoD (no -A,-X,-U,-N,-H)	`-a`, `--archive`
`no-OPTION`	string	No	-	turn off an implied OPTION (e.g. --no-D)	`--no-OPTION`
`recursive`	string	No	-	recurse into directories	`-r`, `--recursive`
`relative`	string	No	-	use relative path names	`-R`, `--relative`
`no-implied-dirs`	string	No	-	don't send implied dirs with --relative	`--no-implied-dirs`
`backup`	string	No	-	make backups (see --suffix & --backup-dir)	`-b`, `--backup`
`backup-dir`	file	No	-	make backups into hierarchy based in DIR	`--backup-dir`
`suffix`	string	No	-	backup suffix (default ~ w/o --backup-dir)	`--suffix`
`update`	string	No	-	skip files that are newer on the receiver	`-u`, `--update`
`inplace`	string	No	-	update destination files in-place	`--inplace`
`append`	string	No	-	append data onto shorter files	`--append`
`append-verify`	string	No	-	--append w/old data in file checksum	`--append-verify`
`dirs`	string	No	-	transfer directories without recursing	`-d`, `--dirs`
`old-dirs`	string	No	-	works like --dirs when talking to old rsync	`--old-dirs`, `--old-d`
`mkpath`	string	No	-	create destination's missing path components	`--mkpath`
`links`	string	No	-	copy symlinks as symlinks	`-l`, `--links`
`copy-links`	string	No	-	transform symlink into referent file/dir	`-L`, `--copy-links`
`copy-unsafe-links`	string	No	-	only "unsafe" symlinks are transformed	`--copy-unsafe-links`
`safe-links`	string	No	-	ignore symlinks that point outside the tree	`--safe-links`
`munge-links`	string	No	-	munge symlinks to make them safe & unusable	`--munge-links`
`copy-dirlinks`	string	No	-	transform symlink to dir into referent dir	`-k`, `--copy-dirlinks`
`keep-dirlinks`	string	No	-	treat symlinked dir on receiver as dir	`-K`, `--keep-dirlinks`
`hard-links`	string	No	-	preserve hard links	`-H`, `--hard-links`
`perms`	string	No	-	preserve permissions	`-p`, `--perms`
`executability`	string	No	-	preserve executability	`-E`, `--executability`
`chmod`	file	No	-	affect file and/or directory permissions	`--chmod`
`acls`	string	No	-	preserve ACLs (implies --perms)	`-A`, `--acls`
`xattrs`	string	No	-	preserve extended attributes	`-X`, `--xattrs`
`owner`	string	No	-	preserve owner (super-user only)	`-o`, `--owner`
`group`	string	No	-	preserve group	`-g`, `--group`
`devices`	string	No	-	preserve device files (super-user only)	`--devices`
`copy-devices`	string	No	-	copy device contents as a regular file	`--copy-devices`
`write-devices`	string	No	-	write to devices as files (implies --inplace)	`--write-devices`
`specials`	string	No	-	preserve special files	`--specials`
`times`	string	No	-	preserve modification times	`-t`, `--times`
`atimes`	string	No	-	preserve access (use) times	`-U`, `--atimes`
`open-noatime`	string	No	-	avoid changing the atime on opened files	`--open-noatime`
`crtimes`	string	No	-	preserve create times (newness)	`-N`, `--crtimes`
`omit-dir-times`	string	No	-	omit directories from --times	`-O`, `--omit-dir-times`
`omit-link-times`	string	No	-	omit symlinks from --times	`-J`, `--omit-link-times`
`super`	string	No	-	receiver attempts super-user activities	`--super`
`fake-super`	string	No	-	store/recover privileged attrs using xattrs	`--fake-super`
`sparse`	string	No	-	turn sequences of nulls into sparse blocks	`-S`, `--sparse`
`preallocate`	string	No	-	allocate dest files before writing them	`--preallocate`
`dry-run`	string	No	-	perform a trial run with no changes made	`-n`, `--dry-run`
`whole-file`	string	No	-	copy files whole (w/o delta-xfer algorithm)	`-W`, `--whole-file`
`checksum-choice`	string	No	-	choose the checksum algorithm (aka --cc)	`--checksum-choice`
`one-file-system`	string	No	-	don't cross filesystem boundaries	`-x`, `--one-file-system`
`block-size`	integer	No	-	force a fixed checksum block-size	`-B`, `--block-size`
`rsh`	string	No	-	specify the remote shell to use	`-e`, `--rsh`
`rsync-path`	string	No	-	specify the rsync to run on remote machine	`--rsync-path`
`existing`	string	No	-	skip creating new files on receiver	`--existing`
`ignore-existing`	string	No	-	skip updating files that exist on receiver	`--ignore-existing`
`remove-source-files`	string	No	-	sender removes synchronized files (non-dir)	`--remove-source-files`
`del`	string	No	-	an alias for --delete-during	`--del`
`delete`	string	No	-	delete extraneous files from dest dirs	`--delete`
`delete-before`	string	No	-	receiver deletes before xfer, not during	`--delete-before`
`delete-during`	string	No	-	receiver deletes during the transfer	`--delete-during`
`delete-delay`	string	No	-	find deletions during, delete after	`--delete-delay`
`delete-after`	string	No	-	receiver deletes after transfer, not during	`--delete-after`
`delete-excluded`	string	No	-	also delete excluded files from dest dirs	`--delete-excluded`
`ignore-missing-args`	string	No	-	ignore missing source args without error	`--ignore-missing-args`
`delete-missing-args`	string	No	-	delete missing source args from destination	`--delete-missing-args`
`ignore-errors`	string	No	-	delete even if there are I/O errors	`--ignore-errors`
`force`	string	No	-	force deletion of dirs even if not empty	`--force`
`max-delete`	integer	No	-	don't delete more than NUM files	`--max-delete`
`max-size`	integer	No	-	don't transfer any file larger than SIZE	`--max-size`
`min-size`	integer	No	-	don't transfer any file smaller than SIZE	`--min-size`
`max-alloc`	integer	No	-	change a limit relating to memory alloc	`--max-alloc`
`partial`	string	No	-	keep partially transferred files	`--partial`
`partial-dir`	file	No	-	put a partially transferred file into DIR	`--partial-dir`
`delay-updates`	string	No	-	put all updated files into place at end	`--delay-updates`
`prune-empty-dirs`	file	No	-	prune empty directory chains from file-list	`-m`, `--prune-empty-dirs`
`numeric-ids`	string	No	-	don't map uid/gid values by user/group name	`--numeric-ids`
`usermap`	string	No	-	custom username mapping	`--usermap`
`groupmap`	string	No	-	custom groupname mapping	`--groupmap`
`chown`	string	No	-	simple username/groupname mapping	`--chown`
`timeout`	integer	No	-	set I/O timeout in seconds	`--timeout`
`contimeout`	integer	No	-	set daemon connection timeout in seconds	`--contimeout`
`ignore-times`	string	No	-	don't skip files that match size and time	`-I`, `--ignore-times`
`size-only`	string	No	-	skip files that match in size	`--size-only`
`modify-window`	integer	No	-		`-t`, `--modify-window`
`temp-dir`	file	No	-	create temporary files in directory DIR	`-T`, `--temp-dir`
`fuzzy`	string	No	-	find similar file for basis if no dest file	`-y`, `--fuzzy`
`compare-dest`	file	No	-	also compare destination files relative to DIR	`--compare-dest`
`copy-dest`	file	No	-	and include copies of unchanged files	`--copy-dest`
`link-dest`	file	No	-	hardlink to files in DIR when unchanged	`--link-dest`
`compress`	string	No	-	compress file data during the transfer	`-z`, `--compress`
`compress-choice`	string	No	-	choose the compression algorithm (aka --zc)	`--compress-choice`
`compress-level`	integer	No	-	explicitly set compression level (aka --zl)	`--compress-level`
`skip-compress`	array	No	-	skip compressing files with suffix in LIST	`--skip-compress`
`cvs-exclude`	string	No	-	auto-ignore files in the same way CVS does	`-C`, `--cvs-exclude`
`filter`	string	No	-	add a file-filtering RULE	`-f`, `--filter`
`exclude`	string	No	-	exclude files matching PATTERN	`--exclude`
`exclude-from`	file	No	-	read exclude patterns from FILE	`--exclude-from`
`include`	string	No	-	don't exclude files matching PATTERN	`--include`
`include-from`	file	No	-	read include patterns from FILE	`--include-from`
`files-from`	file	No	-	read list of source-file names from FILE	`--files-from`
`from0`	array	No	-	all *-from/filter files are delimited by 0s	`-0`, `--from0`
`old-args`	string	No	-	disable the modern arg-protection idiom	`--old-args`
`secluded-args`	string	No	-	use the protocol to safely send the args	`-s`, `--secluded-args`
`trust-sender`	string	No	-	trust the remote sender's file list	`--trust-sender`
`copy-as`	string	No	-	specify user & optional group for the copy	`--copy-as`
`address`	string	No	-	bind address for outgoing socket to daemon	`--address`
`port`	integer	No	-	specify double-colon alternate port number	`--port`
`sockopts`	string	No	-	specify custom TCP options	`--sockopts`
`blocking-io`	string	No	-	use blocking I/O for the remote shell	`--blocking-io`
`outbuf`	integer	No	-	set out buffering to None, Line, or Block	`--outbuf`
`stats`	string	No	-	give some file-transfer stats	`--stats`
`flag-8`	string	No	-	leave high-bit chars unescaped in output	`-8`, `--8-bit-output`
`human-readable`	string	No	-	output numbers in a human-readable format	`-h`, `--human-readable`
`progress`	string	No	-	show progress during transfer	`--progress`
`itemize-changes`	string	No	-	output a change-summary for all updates	`-i`, `--itemize-changes`
`remote-option`	string	No	-		`-M`, `--remote-option`
`out-format`	string	No	-	output updates using the specified FORMAT	`--out-format`
`log-file`	file	No	-	log what we're doing to the specified FILE	`--log-file`
`log-file-format`	string	No	-	log updates using the specified FMT	`--log-file-format`
`password-file`	file	No	-	read daemon-access password from FILE	`--password-file`
`early-input`	file	No	-	use FILE for daemon's early exec input	`--early-input`
`list-only`	string	No	-	list the files instead of copying them	`--list-only`
`bwlimit`	number	No	-	limit socket I/O bandwidth	`--bwlimit`
`stop-after`	string	No	-	Stop rsync after MINS minutes have elapsed	`--stop-after`
`stop-at`	string	No	-	Stop rsync at the specified point in time	`-m`, `-d`, `--stop-at`
`fsync`	string	No	-	fsync every written file	`--fsync`
`write-batch`	file	No	-	write a batched update to FILE	`--write-batch`
`only-write-batch`	file	No	-		`--only-write-batch`, `--write-batch`
`read-batch`	file	No	-	read a batched update from FILE	`--read-batch`
`protocol`	integer	No	-	force an older protocol version to be used	`--protocol`
`iconv`	file	No	-	request charset conversion of filenames	`--iconv`
`checksum-seed`	integer	No	-	set block/file checksum seed (advanced)	`--checksum-seed`
`ipv4`	string	No	-	prefer IPv4	`-4`, `--ipv4`
`ipv6`	string	No	-	prefer IPv6	`-6`, `--ipv6`
`version`	string	No	-	print the version + other info and exit	`-V`, `--version`
`help`	string	No	-	show this help (* -h is help only on its own)	`-h`, `--help`

Artifacts

Type	Description	MIME	Schema	Trust
`filesystem.directory.synced`	Destination directory after rsync operation	-	-	verified
`system.backup.archive`	Backup archive created via rsync	-	-	verified

Contract

Inputs

filesystem.directory.source

Source directory or file path

filesystem.directory.destination

Destination directory path

Outputs

filesystem.directory.synced

Synchronized destination directory

Side effects: filesystem_write

Workflow Edges

Produces

filesystem.directory.synced

Consumes

filesystem.directory.sourcefilesystem.directory.destination

Resource Profile

Resource	Value
CPU	low
Memory	32 MB
Network	medium
Disk I/O	high

Examples

Local directory sync

rsync -av /source/dir/ /backup/dir/

Remote sync over SSH

rsync -avz /local/dir/ user@remote:/backup/dir/

Pull remote directory to local

rsync -avz user@remote:/source/dir/ /local/dir/

Incremental backup with hardlinks

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

Dry run to preview changes

rsync -avn /source/ /destination/

Sync with exclusions

rsync -av --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='.git' /project/ /backup/

Documentation

Rsync — File Synchronization

Rsync is a fast, versatile file synchronization tool that transfers only the differences between source and destination (delta encoding), making repeated transfers extremely efficient.

How It Works

Scan — Rsync examines source and destination files
Delta — Only the changed parts of files are transferred
Apply — Changes are written to the destination

Key Features

Feature	Description
Delta transfer	Only transfers differences, not entire files
Compression	Optional `-z` flag for network-efficient transfer
Preservation	Maintains permissions, ownership, timestamps
Remote sync	Built-in SSH support for secure remote sync
Incremental	Hard-link based snapshots for backup rotation

Backup Strategies

Simple Backup

rsync -av /home/user/ /backup/daily/

Rotating Snapshots

# Create hardlink-based incremental backup
rsync -av --link-dest=../monday /source/ /backup/tuesday/

# Next day
rsync -av --link-dest=../tuesday /source/ /backup/wednesday/

Remote Backup

# Push to remote
rsync -avz --delete /data/ user@backup-server:/backup/

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

Important Trailing Slash

# Copies the directory itself
rsync -av /source /destination  # → /destination/source/

# Copies the contents
rsync -av /source/ /destination  # → /destination/file1, ...

Related Tools

scp — Simple secure copy (simpler, no delta)
rclone — Cloud storage sync
tar — Archive creation for offline transfer

Dependencies

ssh

Related Tools

unisontarrclonescpnetwork-remote-sshnetwork-transfer-scpnetwork-transfer-sftp

rsync

Capabilities

Parameters

Artifacts

Contract

Workflow Edges

Resource Profile

Examples

Documentation

Rsync — File Synchronization

How It Works

Key Features

Backup Strategies

Simple Backup

Rotating Snapshots

Remote Backup

Important Trailing Slash

Related Tools

Dependencies

Related Tools

References