Rsync Cheatsheet

Usage Link to heading

rsync [options] [source] [dest]

--delete: delete anything in the target directory that isn’t in the source directory (avoid duplicates) --dry-run: run this before the actual command -Pravh: Progress, Recursive, Archive, Verbose, Human Readable -z: apply compression before sending (use for poor internet connection)

Local PC to server: Link to heading

rsync -Pravh file user@server-ip:/home/user/folder rsync -Pravh file user@server-ip: (Using just a colon would transfer to the home directory of the server):

servername is a server in ssh config (~/.ssh/config): rsync -Pravh file servername

Server to Local PC (using local PC): Link to heading

rsync -Pravh user@server-ip:/home/user/folder localFolder

Notes Link to heading

Remove trailing / when transferring folders, so that destination creates a folder instead of throwing every file there:

ls folderToTransfer
file1
file2
rsync -Pravh folderToTransfer servername:

Troubleshoot Link to heading

error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at io.c(231) [sender=3.2.7]: Ensure rsync is installed in both system, use scp as fallback as it is usually installed by default.