Rsync 2.5.7

Rsync is a utility that provides fast incremental file transfer. "rysnc" is mainly used to transfer groups of files, or just the differences between groups of files (hence keeping them "in sync"), between computers that have "rsync" installed on both ends. At UW Technology only the Homer cluster of Uniform Access computers contains rsync, so you can only use it locally on Homer, or between Homer and a departmental computer that also implements "rsync".

Using the Software
Perhaps the most frequently used form of "rsync" is:

rsync -Pazve ssh /path/to/local/dir user@host:/path/to/remote/dir

Where the "-Pazve" parameters control aspects of the transmission (e.g., encryption, verbose mode, etc).

For example, if you have a set of files in a directory named "Admin" on Homer that start with "x", and wish to transfer them to a computer named "baggins.xx.yy" in a directory named "Misc", and your login name is "bilbofrodo", then your file transfer would look like this:

homer% rsync -Pazve ssh Admin/x* bilbofrodo@baggins.xx.yy:Misc

Documentation
On-line help is available. At the Homer prompt type "man rsync", e.g.

homer% man rsync

Technical Support
Help is available from UW Technology. Send a question to help@u.washington.edu if you need help with this software.

(rsync 2.5.7 was installed for production September 2005)