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Use rsync over SSH to copy only the files that are new or changed, while preserving the source tree and its metadata. The safest workflow is to prepare both servers, run an identical command with --dry-run, inspect the planned transfers or deletions, and only then run the real command. Use archive mode (-a) for ordinary backups, add --delete only when you intentionally want a mirror, and use --backup-dir when replaced destination files must remain recoverable.
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What rsync does—and what it does not do
rsync compares a source directory tree with a destination tree. It transfers files that are missing or have changed instead of retransmitting every unchanged file. That makes repeated backups faster and reduces bandwidth compared with copying the whole directory each time.
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A transfer has a direction. In a push, the server holding the source starts rsync and writes to a backup server. In a pull, the backup server starts rsync and reads from the source. The remote side is commonly reached through SSH, so the connection uses the SSH account’s authentication, host-key checking and permissions.
rsync is a synchronization utility, not automatically a versioned or immutable backup system. A normal run can replace a destination file. A run with --delete can remove destination-only files. A run with --remove-source-files can remove source files after transfer. Decide which behavior you need before writing the scheduled command.
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Prepare both servers
Install and identify the endpoints
Install the rsync package on both hosts with each operating system’s package manager. Confirm the exact source hostname, destination hostname, and absolute paths you will use. Relative paths make an already-dangerous synchronization harder to audit.
Create the destination directory before the first transfer. Its owner, group, mode and available storage must suit the account that will run rsync. Check free space, quotas and inode availability, not only the apparent size of the data.
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From the host that will initiate the job, log in to the other host with the intended account. Verify the host key when it is first presented, then confirm that the account can read every source path needed for a pull or write every destination path needed for a push.
Use a dedicated account with access limited to the required paths. A backup key should not grant unrestricted administrative access when a narrower account and directory ownership are sufficient. Test the account’s permissions before scheduling rsync; a successful SSH login does not prove that rsync can read or write the complete tree.
Understand archive mode and the trailing slash
Why -a is the normal starting point
-a, or --archive, enables recursive copying and the usual preservation set: -rlptgoD. In practical terms, it preserves the directory structure and common file metadata such as permissions, modification times, ownership, groups and device or special-file information when the account has the authority to do so.
Archive mode is a baseline, not a promise that every property of every filesystem is captured. Confirm that the account can preserve the metadata you care about, and decide separately whether attributes such as ACLs, extended attributes, hard links or filesystem snapshots are required by your workload.
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These two source forms are different:
/srv/data/means “copy the contents ofdata.” Files appear directly under the destination directory./srv/datameans “copy the directory nameddata.” The destination normally receives adatadirectory beneath the path you specify.
Write both paths explicitly in your runbook. Most backup examples use a trailing slash when the destination directory is already named and should receive the source contents.
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Push a backup from the source server
1. Preview the transfer
Run this on the server containing the data:
rsync -a -n -v -e ssh /srv/data/ [email protected]:/srv/backups/data/-n is the short form of --dry-run. It performs a trial run that does not make changes. -v displays more transfer information, which makes the first review easier. -e ssh explicitly selects SSH as the remote-shell transport; it can be omitted when SSH is already the default and no custom SSH options are needed.
Read the complete file list. Confirm that the remote hostname, account and destination are correct, and check that the slash after /srv/data/ gives the layout you intended. Save the preview output to a log when this is a production job.
2. Execute only after reviewing
When the dry run shows the expected files and no unintended path, run the same command without -n:
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3. Verify the result
Check the command’s exit status and inspect the destination. For important data, run a follow-up dry run in the same direction; an empty or expected change list indicates that the trees now agree under the selected rules. This is a consistency check, not a restore test.
Pull a backup from the source server
A pull is useful when the backup host should control the schedule and the source should accept only read access. Run the following on the backup server:
Preview
rsync -a -n -v -e ssh [email protected]:/srv/data/ /srv/backups/data/Run after inspection
rsync -a -v -e ssh [email protected]:/srv/data/ /srv/backups/data/Here the remote source ends in /srv/data/, so its contents are copied into the local /srv/backups/data/ directory. Test both remote read access and local write access before placing this command in a scheduler. Restrict sourceuser to the source paths it must expose.
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Make a destination a true mirror
What --delete changes
Without --delete, rsync updates or adds files but normally leaves destination-only files in place. With --delete, it removes files from the destination when they are absent from the source within the directories being synchronized. That is a mirror policy, not merely a faster backup.
The rsync manual warns: “This option can be dangerous if used incorrectly!” A typo in the source path, an empty mount, a wrong hostname or an over-broad destination can therefore turn a routine job into mass deletion.
Preview every deletion
rsync -a -n -v --delete -e ssh /srv/data/ [email protected]:/srv/backups/data/Do not remove -n until every planned deletion is understood. Verify the absolute paths and mount points on both hosts, then run the identical command without -n:
rsync -a -v --delete -e ssh /srv/data/ [email protected]:/srv/backups/data/Account for exclusions
Filters affect the file set that rsync considers. Excluded files are normally protected from deletion; deleting excluded files requires explicitly enabling that behavior. Review include and exclude rules together with the dry-run output, because a filter that hides a file from the transfer can also make your intended mirror boundary unclear.
Keep replaced destination files for rollback
Use --backup and --backup-dir
When a destination file is about to be replaced or deleted, --backup renames the pre-existing file instead of discarding it. --backup-dir places those copies in a separate directory:
rsync -a -n -v --backup --backup-dir=/srv/backups/changed/ -e ssh
/srv/data/ [email protected]:/srv/backups/data/Preview this command first. Once the backup directory and file list are correct, remove -n for the real run. The rsync manual describes the behavior precisely: “With this option, preexisting destination files are renamed as each file is transferred or deleted.”
These retained copies provide a rollback opportunity for changed files, but they are not a complete snapshot or immutable backup system. They can consume storage, can be altered by later access to the backup host, and do not by themselves establish a tested point-in-time restore.
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Control which files are synchronized
Start with the narrowest path
The safest scope is an explicit source directory whose contents are intended for the destination. Do not point a destructive command at a broad parent directory merely to avoid listing several paths. Separate jobs make their deletion boundaries easier to review.
Use include and exclude rules deliberately
--exclude removes matching paths from the transfer set, while --include allows selected paths when combined with broader filtering. Test the complete rule set with --dry-run. Pay special attention to whether an excluded destination file should remain; the default deletion behavior generally protects excluded files, but an explicit deletion-of-excluded-files setting changes that result.
Keep filter rules in the same documented command or configuration used by the scheduler. A manually tested command and a scheduled command with different filters are two different backup policies.
Do not confuse backup with a move
--remove-source-files removes successfully transferred non-directory files from the sender. That is a move workflow, not an ordinary backup. Use it only when the source is intentionally being drained after successful transfer and when you have an independent recovery plan for failures, accidental source selection or later corruption.
Directories are not removed by this option. If the requirement is simply to maintain a second copy, leave source files in place and omit --remove-source-files.
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Choose a synchronization design
| Design | Direction | Typical command policy | Destination-only files | Rollback copies | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incremental backup | Push or pull | -a, usually with -n before execution |
Remain | Not created unless backup options are added | A damaged or deleted source file is not automatically recoverable from this one destination tree |
| Mirror | Push or pull | -a --delete, always dry-run first |
Removed inside the synchronized scope | Only if --backup and optionally --backup-dir are used |
Wrong paths, mounts or filters can cause unintended deletion |
| Backup with change retention | Push or pull | -a --backup --backup-dir=... |
Remain unless --delete is also selected |
Changed or deleted destination files are retained in the backup directory | Retention storage can grow and is not immutable |
| Intentional move | Push or pull | -a --remove-source-files only when required |
Remain unless deletion is also selected | Not supplied by this option | Source files are removed after successful non-directory transfer |
Schedule rsync without losing control
- Run a dry run manually and save its output to a log.
- Confirm the source and destination hostnames, accounts and absolute paths.
- Confirm that the SSH account has exactly the intended read or write permissions.
- Check destination free space, quotas and inode availability.
- Classify the job as a one-way backup, a mirror or a move before selecting
--deleteor--remove-source-files. - Place the reviewed command in the platform’s service scheduler. Configure alerting for a non-zero exit status rather than treating a scheduled start as proof of success.
- Periodically perform an actual restore test to a separate location.
Keep the dry-run form available beside the production form. Before changing a path, filter, account or deletion policy, run that preview again. If a scheduler uses a different environment, specify the executable, SSH identity and any required options in the scheduler’s configuration rather than assuming an interactive shell will provide them.
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An rsync process can finish without proving that the resulting data is usable. A restore test answers the question a backup is supposed to answer: can the required files be recovered?
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- Select a representative set of files, including large files, nested directories and files whose permissions matter.
- Restore them to a separate directory or host so the live source and backup are not overwritten.
- Check names, contents, timestamps and permissions against the source requirements.
- Record how long the restore takes and whether the backup account can actually read the restored data.
- Repeat after significant changes to paths, filters, accounts or scheduling.
If the job uses --backup-dir, include a retained replacement in the test. If it uses --delete, verify that the mirror contains exactly the intended scope and that excluded files follow the documented policy.
Troubleshoot the common failure modes
The command copies an extra directory level
Inspect the source trailing slash. Change /srv/data to /srv/data/ when the destination should receive the contents rather than a new data directory. Preview the corrected path before running it.
SSH works, but rsync reports permission errors
Test read access on every source directory and write access on every destination directory as the exact SSH account. Check ownership, mode bits, quotas and the destination mount. Archive mode can request ownership and group preservation that an unprivileged account cannot perform; adjust the account or the preservation requirements deliberately instead of suppressing errors.
Files you expected are missing
Review every --exclude and --include rule, then run a verbose dry run. Confirm that the source path is mounted and that the initiating host is connecting to the expected hostname. A successful connection to the wrong server can still produce a technically successful but useless backup.
A mirror wants to delete too much
Stop before removing -n. Recheck the source path, destination path, mount status, filters and account. If you do not need a mirror, remove --delete. If replacements must be recoverable, add the reviewed --backup-dir policy and ensure it has sufficient protected storage.
The second run still transfers files
Check whether files are changing during the transfer, whether metadata cannot be preserved because of permissions, and whether the two commands use identical paths and options. Compare a fresh dry-run list rather than assuming that a non-empty transfer list means rsync is malfunctioning.
A safe operating pattern
For most one-way server backups, begin with archive mode over SSH, use a trailing slash on the source contents, and preview with verbose dry-run output:
rsync -a -n -v -e ssh /srv/data/ [email protected]:/srv/backups/data/After confirming the endpoints and file list, run the same command without -n. Add --delete only for a consciously managed mirror, add --backup --backup-dir=... when replaced destination files need rollback copies, and reserve --remove-source-files for an intentional move. Log scheduled runs, alert on failures, and prove recoverability with regular restore tests.
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