This is a draft document that was built and uploaded automatically. It may document beta software and be incomplete or even incorrect. Use this document at your own risk.

Jump to content
Copying Files and Directories with rsync
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16

Copying Files and Directories with rsync

Publication Date: 24 Oct 2025
WHAT?

You can use the rsync tool to copy files locally or remotely. rsync is unidirectional and can copy files only in one direction.

WHY?

This article provides an overview of the rsync tool and its basic usage for copying files locally and remotely.

EFFORT

It takes up to 20 minutes to understand the basic usage of the rsync tool.

GOAL

Gain a foundational understanding of rsync and how to use it for file transfers.

REQUIREMENTS

Access permissions to the source and destination locations for copying files.

1 The rsync concept

 

You can use the rsync tool for transferring or copying files locally and remotely. rsync is unidirectional. It copies files in a single direction and does not synchronize data. Instead of transmitting all the contents in the file, rsync minimizes the amount of data copied by moving only the changes within the file. Hence, this supports the transfer of data over a slow network connection.

For copying large files using rsync, detecting changes requires certain computing power. So ensure that machines on both source and destination have enough resources, including RAM.

Use rsync when a large amount of data containing only minor changes needs to be transmitted regularly. This is useful when working with backups. rsync can also be useful for mirroring staging servers that store complete directory trees of Web servers to a Web server in a DMZ.

This article includes examples that show the usage of rsync to copy files locally and remotely. This document also explains how to configure and use an rsync server.

2 Basic rsync usage

 

You can use rsync on any machine where you have access and write permissions.

Copy files from the source location to the destination location as shown in the following example:

> rsync [OPTION] SOURCE [SOURCE]... DESTINATION

You can have multiple SOURCE entries and the SOURCE and DESTINATION placeholders can be paths, URLs or both.

Listed below are a few use cases of copying files:

  • > rsync -av /directory1/ /destination/

    In the above example, the trailing slash after the directory denotes the content of the directory and not the directory itself. In this, only the contents of /directory1 are copied to /destination.

  • > rsync -av /directory1 /destination/

    In the above example, the directory /directory1 is copied to /destination resulting in /directory2/directory1/.

  • > rsync -av example1.txt example2.txt /destination/directory/

    The above example shows copying the files example1.txt and example2.txt to the destination directory.

The commonly used OPTIONS are listed below:

  • -V

    shows verbose output text

  • -a

    archive mode; copies files recursively and preserves time stamps, user/group ownership, file permissions and symbolic links

  • -z

    compresses the transmitted data

  • -n or --dry-run

    performs a trial run with no changes made

  • -r

    recurse into directories

  • --progress

    shows progress during transfer

  • -b

    takes a backup during data synchronization

  • -h

    shows the numbers in the output in a human-readable format

  • -e

    for remote transfers, instructs rsync to use the SSH protocol

  • -q or --quiet

    silences the rsync command and option output

  • --version

    prints the rsync version number and exit

Copy files locally with compression
> rsync -avz example1.txt example2.txt /destination/

-a archive mode

-v verbose

-z compress data during transfer

Copy a directory with compression
> rsync -avz /sourcedirectory/ /destinationdirectory/

Transfers /sourcedirectory/ contents with compression.

Remote file transfer with compression
> rsync -avz example1.txt user@remote_host:/remote/destination/

Transfers example1.txt to a remote machine over SSH while compressing the data.

Remote directory transfer with compression
> rsync -avz /sourcedirectory/ user@remote_host:/remote/destination/

Transfers /sourcedirectory/ to a remote machine over SSH while compressing the data.

3 Copying files and directories with rsync locally

 

You can copy files within the same machine using rsync if you have write permission for the destination location.

To copy the file backup.tar.xz to the location /var/backup/, use the command rsync -avz backup.tar.xz /var/backup/.

The file backup.tar.xz is copied to /var/backup/, and the absolute path is/var/backup/backup.tar.xz.

4 Copying files and directories with rsync remotely

 

You can copy files from one machine to a remote machine using rsync. Ensure that you have rsync in both source and destination machines and that you are connected to the remote machine over SSH.

To copy a single file from one directory on your machine to the /var/backup directory on a remote machine, use the following command:

> rsync -avz example1.txt user@remote_host:/var/backup/
Note
Note: Trailing slash

Ensure that you add the trailing slash after the/var/backup/ directory. If you do not insert the slash, the file example1.txt is copied to /var/backup file and not inside the directory /var/backup/.

Verify the copied file in the absolute path /var/backup/example1.txt.

To copy the directory source/ and its contents into the directory /var/backup/: 

> rsync -avz /source/ user@remote_host:/var/backup/

Verify the copied directory in the absolute path /var/backup/source/.

5 Configuring and using an rsync server

 

An rsync server enables file synchronization, automated backups and centralized storage. You can run rsync as a daemon rsyncd listening on default port 873 for incoming connections. This daemon can receive copying targets.

Procedure 1: Setting up an rsync server
 

The configuration file for the rsync daemon is separated into a main file and certain modules which hold your backup target. This makes it easier to add additional targets later. You can store global values in /etc/rsyncd.d/*.inc files, whereas your modules are placed in /etc/rsyncd.d/*.conf.

The following description explains how to create an rsync server with a backup target. This target can be used to store your backups. To create an rsync server, do the following:

  1. On your local machine, create a directory /var/backup to store all your backup files.

    > mkdir /var/backup

  2. Specify ownership:

    In this example, the user tux in the group users owns the directory:

    > chown tux.users /var/backup

  3. Configure the rsyncd daemon:

    1. Create a directory /etc/rsyncd.d/

      > mkdir /etc/rsyncd.d/

    2. Create the main configuration file /etc/rsyncd.conf and add the following lines:

      log file = /var/log/rsync.log1
pid file = /var/lock/rsync.lock2
merge /etc/rsyncd.d3
include /etc/rsyncd.d4

      1

      /var/log/rsync.log is the location where rsync writes the logs.

      2

      /var/lock/rsync.lock is the file that contains the PID of the running rsync daemon instance.

      3

      Merges global values from /etc/rsyncd.d/*.inc files into the main configuration file.

      4

      Loads any modules (or targets) from /etc/rsyncd.d/*.conf files. These files must not contain any references to global values.

  4. Create your module or your backup target in the file /etc/rsyncd.d/backup.conf with the following lines:

    backup.conf: backup module
  [backup] 1
     uid = tux 2
     gid = users 3
     path = /var/backup 4
     auth users = tux 5
     secrets file = /etc/rsyncd.secrets 6
     comment = Our backup target 7

    In the given example:

    1

    [backup] is the backup target. You can use any name for the backup target. You may use a name according to its purpose and use the same name in your *.conf file.

    2

    uid = tux specifies the user name or group name that is used when the file transfer takes place.

    3

    gid = users defines the path to store your backups (from Step 1).

    4

    path = /var/backup defines the path to store your backups (from Step 1).

    5

    auth users = tux specifies a comma-separated list of allowed users. In its simplest form, it contains the user names that are allowed to connect to this module. In our case, only user tux is allowed.

    6

    secrets file = /etc/rsyncd.secrets specifies the path of a file that contains lines with user names and plain passwords.

  5. Create the /etc/rsyncd.secrets file with the following content and replace PASSPHRASE:

    # user:passwd
tux:PASSPHRASE

  6. Make sure the file is only readable by root: 

    chmod 0600 /etc/rsyncd.secrets

  7. Start and enable the rsyncd daemon with:

    >  systemctl enable rsyncd
>  systemctl start rsyncd

  8. On the remote machine, test the access to your rsync server: 

    >  rsync jupiter::

    A response similar to the following appears:

    backup Our backup target

    If the above response does not appear, verify your configuration file, firewall and network settings.

    The above steps create an rsync server that you can use to store backups. The example also creates a log file listing all connections. This file is stored in /var/log/rsyncd.log. This is useful for debugging your transfers.

  9. To list the content of your backup target, use the following command on your local machine:

    >  rsync -avz jupiter::backup

    This command lists all files present in the directory /var/backup on the server. This request is also logged in the log file /var/log/rsyncd.log.

  10. To copy the current directory to your rsync backup server, provide the source directory. If the source directory is your current directory, use .

    >  rsync -avz . jupiter::backup

    By default, rsync does not delete files and directories when it runs. To enable deletion, the additional option --delete must be stated. To ensure that no newer files are deleted, the option --update can be used instead. Any conflicts that arise must be resolved manually.

6 Deleting and updating files and directories with rsync

 

You can copy and synchronize files within the same machine using rsync if you have write permission for the destination location. You can also delete files or directories after copying.

To copy files example1.txt and example2.txt from /source/directory/ to /destination/directory/:

> rsync -av --update /source/directory/ /destination/directory/

The rsync command updates the files example1.txt and example2.txt in the /destination/directory/ if it is older than the source file. If the version in the destination is newer, then the files will not be overwritten. Also, all other new files or directories from /source/directory/ will be copied to /destination/.

To copy an existing file and delete a file that does not exist in the destination directory:

> rsync -av --delete /source/directory/ /destination/directory/

In this scenario, both the source and destination directories contain example1.txt and example2.txt. The /destination/directory contains an extra file, example3.txt.

The rsync command copies or updates the files example1.txt and example2.txt from /source/directory/ to /destination/directory/. The command also deletes the file example3.txt from /destination/directory/ as it does not exist in the /source/directory/. Also, the directory structure in /destination/directory/ is cleaned up to match the /source/directory/.

7 Troubleshooting rsync

 

File or folder copying may fail due to several reasons. Ensure that you have the required permissions and resources to perform the file copy.

Possible troubleshooting methods are mentioned below:

  • Ensure that you have the latest version of rsync. To transfer files or directories remotely, ensure that rsync is installed on both the source and destination machines.

  • Ensure that you have the required rsync access permission.

  • Ensure that you provide the correct host name to copy files remotely.

  • Ensure that the rsync service is running if you are using rsync in daemon mode.

GNU Free Documentation License

Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA. Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or non-commercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not being considered responsible for modifications made by others.

This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense. It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software.

We have designed this License to use it for manuals for free software, because free software needs free documentation: a free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is not limited to software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference.

This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium, that contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the terms of this License. Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free license, unlimited in duration, to use that work under the conditions stated herein. The "Document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". You accept the license if you copy, modify or distribute the work in a way requiring permission under copyright law.

A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with modifications and/or translated into another language.

A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter section of the Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the publishers or authors of the Document to the Document's overall subject (or to related matters) and contains nothing that could fall directly within that overall subject. (Thus, if the Document is in part a textbook of mathematics, a Secondary Section may not explain any mathematics.) The relationship could be a matter of historical connection with the subject or with related matters, or of legal, commercial, philosophical, ethical or political position regarding them.

The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose titles are designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in the notice that says that the Document is released under this License. If a section does not fit the above definition of Secondary then it is not allowed to be designated as Invariant. The Document may contain zero Invariant Sections. If the Document does not identify any Invariant Sections then there are none.

The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are listed, as Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice that says that the Document is released under this License. A Front-Cover Text may be at most 5 words, and a Back-Cover Text may be at most 25 words.

A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy, represented in a format whose specification is available to the general public, that is suitable for revising the document straightforwardly with generic text editors or (for images composed of pixels) generic paint programs or (for drawings) some widely available drawing editor, and that is suitable for input to text formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of formats suitable for input to text formatters. A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file format whose markup, or absence of markup, has been arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent modification by readers is not Transparent. An image format is not Transparent if used for any substantial amount of text. A copy that is not "Transparent" is called "Opaque".

Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain ASCII without markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format, SGML or XML using a publicly available DTD, and standard-conforming simple HTML, PostScript or PDF designed for human modification. Examples of transparent image formats include PNG, XCF and JPG. Opaque formats include proprietary formats that can be read and edited only by proprietary word processors, SGML or XML for which the DTD and/or processing tools are not generally available, and the machine-generated HTML, PostScript or PDF produced by some word processors for output purposes only.

The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself, plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the material this License requires to appear in the title page. For works in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title Page" means the text near the most prominent appearance of the work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.

A section "Entitled XYZ" means a named subunit of the Document whose title either is precisely XYZ or contains XYZ in parentheses following text that translates XYZ in another language. (Here XYZ stands for a specific section name mentioned below, such as "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", "Endorsements", or "History".) To "Preserve the Title" of such a section when you modify the Document means that it remains a section "Entitled XYZ" according to this definition.

The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice which states that this License applies to the Document. These Warranty Disclaimers are considered to be included by reference in this License, but only as regards disclaiming warranties: any other implication that these Warranty Disclaimers may have is void and has no effect on the meaning of this License.

You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or non-commercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License. You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow the conditions in section 3.

You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above, and you may publicly display copies.

If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The front cover must present the full title with all words of the title equally prominent and visible. You may add other material on the covers in addition. Copying with changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve the title of the Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in other respects.

If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent pages.

If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more than 100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy a computer-network location from which the general network-using public has access to download using public-standard network protocols a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free of added material. If you use the latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated location until at least one year after the last time you distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public.

It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the Document well before redistributing any large number of copies, to give them a chance to provide you with an updated version of the Document.

You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these things in the Modified Version:

  1. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title distinct from that of the Document, and from those of previous versions (which should, if there were any, be listed in the History section of the Document). You may use the same title as a previous version if the original publisher of that version gives permission.

  2. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified Version, together with at least five of the principal authors of the Document (all of its principal authors, if it has fewer than five), unless they release you from this requirement.

  3. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the Modified Version, as the publisher.

  4. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.

  5. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications adjacent to the other copyright notices.

  6. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice giving the public permission to use the Modified Version under the terms of this License, in the form shown in the Addendum below.

  7. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's license notice.

  8. Include an unaltered copy of this License.

  9. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title, and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page. If there is no section Entitled "History" in the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page, then add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in the previous sentence.

  10. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise the network locations given in the Document for previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in the "History" section. You may omit a network location for a work that was published at least four years before the Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers to gives permission.

  11. For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications", Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the section all the substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein.

  12. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document, unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.

  13. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements". Such a section may not be included in the Modified Version.

  14. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled "Endorsements" or to conflict in title with any Invariant Section.

  15. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.

If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no material copied from the Document, you may at your option designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this, add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified Version's license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other section titles.

You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various parties--for example, statements of peer review or that the text has been approved by an organization as the authoritative definition of a standard.

You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text, and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version. Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity. If the Document already includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may replace the old one, on explicit permission from the previous publisher that added the old one.

The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.

You may combine the Document with other documents released under this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified versions, provided that you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all their Warranty Disclaimers.

The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make the title of each such section unique by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the combined work.

In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled "History" in the various original documents, forming one section Entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections Entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled "Dedications". You must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements".

You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the documents in all other respects.

You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of that document.

A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which are not themselves derivative works of the Document.

If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket the whole aggregate.

Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a translation of this License, and all the license notices in the Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English version of this License and the original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will prevail.

If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", or "History", the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the actual title.

You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as expressly provided for under this License. Any other attempt to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Document is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See https://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.

Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the Document does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. 

Copyright (c) YEAR YOUR NAME.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU
Free Documentation License”.

If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, replace the “with...Texts.” line with this: 

with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the
Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST.

If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the situation.

If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free software.