Editing Rsync (section)

== Use ==
Similar to '''[[cp (Unix)|<code>cp</code>]]''', '''[[rcp (Unix)|<code>rcp</code>]]''' and '''[[Secure copy|<code>scp</code>]]''', '''<code>rsync</code>''' requires the specification of a source and a destination, of which at least one must be local.<ref>See the [http://rsync.samba.org/ftp/rsync/README README file] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210003559/http://rsync.samba.org/ftp/rsync/README |date=10 December 2007 }}</ref>

Generic syntax:
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
rsync [OPTION] … SRC … [USER@]HOST:DEST
rsync [OPTION] … [USER@]HOST:SRC [DEST]
</syntaxhighlight>

where {{var|SRC}} is the file or directory (or a list of multiple files and directories) to copy from, {{var|DEST}} is the file or directory to copy to, and square brackets indicate optional parameters.

<code>rsync</code> can synchronize Unix clients to a central Unix server using <code>rsync</code>/<code>ssh</code> and standard Unix accounts. It can be used in desktop environments, for example to efficiently synchronize files with a backup copy on an external hard drive. A scheduling utility such as <code>[[cron]]</code> can carry out tasks such as automated encrypted <code>rsync</code>-based mirroring between multiple hosts and a central server.