Rsync command snippets

Copy-paste-ready Rsync commands for common file transfer and synchronization tasks.

Pull a Remote Directory to the Local Machine with Rsync

Rsync copies a directory from a remote server to the local machine over SSH. This operation pulls the remote content to the local destination.

rsync -avz user@203.0.113.10:/home/user/remote_directory/ /home/user/local_directory/

Push a Local Directory to a Remote Machine with Rsync

Rsync copies a local directory to a remote server over SSH. This operation pushes the local content to the remote destination.

rsync -avz /home/user/local_directory/ user@203.0.113.10:/home/user/remote_directory/

Specify a Non-Standard SSH Port with Rsync

Rsync connects to a remote server on a custom SSH port using the -e flag. Replace 2222 with the target port number.

rsync -avz -e "ssh -p 2222" /home/user/local_directory/ user@203.0.113.10:/home/user/remote_directory/

Resume an Interrupted Rsync Transfer

Rsync resumes a partially completed transfer using the -P flag, which combines --partial and --progress. Rsync keeps the partial file and continues from where it stopped.

rsync -avP /home/user/source_directory/ /home/user/destination_directory/

Exclude Files from an Rsync Transfer

Rsync skips files matching a pattern when the --exclude flag is set. This example excludes all .log files and the .git directory.

rsync -av --exclude='*.log' --exclude='.git' /home/user/source_directory/ /home/user/destination_directory/

Rsync with .gitignore Rules

Rsync respects .gitignore patterns when the --filter flag reads them. This command excludes the .git directory and any files listed in .gitignore.

rsync -av --filter=":- .gitignore" --exclude=".git" /home/user/source_directory/ /home/user/destination_directory/

Show Transfer Progress with Rsync

Rsync displays per-file transfer progress using the --progress flag. The --info=progress2 variant shows overall transfer progress instead of per-file output.

rsync -av --progress /home/user/source_directory/ /home/user/destination_directory/

Rsync displays overall transfer statistics with --info=progress2.

rsync -av --info=progress2 /home/user/source_directory/ /home/user/destination_directory/

Delete Source Files After Rsync Transfer

Rsync removes source files after a completed transfer using the --remove-source-files flag. This effectively moves files instead of copying them.

rsync -av --remove-source-files /home/user/source_directory/archive.zip /home/user/destination_directory/

Mirror a Directory with Rsync (Delete Extra Files)

Rsync creates an exact mirror of the source at the destination using the --delete flag. Rsync removes files from the destination that do not exist in the source.

rsync -av --delete /home/user/source_directory/ /home/user/destination_directory/

Limit Rsync Transfer Bandwidth

Rsync throttles the transfer speed to the specified rate in kilobytes per second using the --bwlimit flag. This example limits bandwidth to 1000 KB/s.

rsync -avz --bwlimit=1000 /home/user/source_directory/ user@203.0.113.10:/home/user/destination_directory/

Create an Incremental Snapshot Backup with Rsync

Rsync creates space-efficient incremental backups using --link-dest. Rsync hard-links unchanged files to the previous backup directory instead of copying them.

rsync -a --link-dest=/backup/2026-03-07 /home/user/data/ /backup/2026-03-08/

Dry Run to Preview Rsync Transfer

Rsync simulates the transfer without writing any files using the --dry-run flag. Run this before every destructive operation to verify expected behavior.

rsync -avn --delete /home/user/source_directory/ /home/user/destination_directory/