Simple usages of rsync

Introduction

rsync is an excellent tool to have as your disposal for working with file data.

In today’s article, I’ll go through some usages.

Progress Copy

To securely and efficiently transfer data to (or from) a remote server while providing you progress updates you can use the following:

rsync -avzh --progress --stats user@server:/path/to/file output_name

• -a puts rsync into archive mode, preserving your file and link structures
• -v pumps up the logging output to give you verbose information
• -z will compress the file data as it’s sent over the network
• -h makes the output human readable
• --progress provides a progress bar to be displayed, which tracks how far through we are
• --stats provides a full statistical run down after the process has completed