Cheat sheet: rsync – geekstation.nl

Copy and synchronize files, locally or via SSH. Only what has changed is transferred.

Copy a folder (with progress)	`rsync -avh --progress source/ destination/`
Try first: what would happen?	`rsync -avhn source/ destination/`
To another computer via SSH	`rsync -avh source/ user@host:/path/destination/`
Retrieve from another computer	`rsync -avh user@host:/path/source/ destination/`
With a different SSH port	`rsync -avh -e "ssh -p 2222" source/ user@host:/path/destination/`

Compress modified files during transfer	`rsync -avhz source/ user@host:/path/destination/`
Delete what no longer exists in the source (be careful!)	`rsync -avh --delete source/ destination/`
Skip files or folders	`rsync -avh --exclude='*.tmp' --exclude='node_modules/' source/ destination/`
Resume interrupted transfer	`rsync -avhP source/ destination/`
Limit the speed (kB/s)	`rsync -avh --bwlimit=5000 source/ user@host:/path/`
Overall progress overview	`rsync -avh --info=progress2 source/ destination/`
Compare by content instead of time and size	`rsync -avhc source/ destination/`
On the other side with sudo	`rsync -avh --rsync-path="sudo rsync" source/ user@host:/path/`

Preserve hard links, ACLs and extended attributes	`rsync -aHAXvh source/ destination/`
A summary at the end	`rsync -avh --stats source/ destination/`

Daily backups that save space (hardlinks) rsync -avh --delete --link-dest=/backups/yesterday /data/ /backups/today/

Good to know

The trailing slash after the source folder matters. source/ copies the contents of the folder, source (without slash) copies the folder itself.
-a stands for archive: subfolders, permissions, times, owners and links are preserved. -v shows what’s happening, -h makes numbers readable.
Only use --delete after a dry run with -n. More about backups: the 3-2-1 rule.

This overview has been compiled in our own words. Commands and options change per version: when in doubt, check the official documentation.