{"id":4848,"date":"2026-08-29T19:40:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T10:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/server-tech\/safe-rsync-backup-guide-2\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T19:40:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T10:40:33","slug":"safe-rsync-backup-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/en\/server-tech\/linux-server-network\/safe-rsync-backup-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Data Backup with rsync: How to Do It Safely While Monitoring Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I’d like to talk about “rsync,” a handy tool for data backing up. rsync is a command-line tool that is extremely useful for file synchronization and backup. It is especially powerful for those who want to perform backups while checking the progress status.<\/p>\n

Basics and Precautions of rsync<\/h2>\n

First, let’s go over some basic precautions when using rsync.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Data Integrity: Since rsync transfers file differences, it is important to ensure that the data at the source and destination match.<\/li>\n
  2. Permissions and Ownership: By using the -a<\/code> option, you can transfer files while preserving their permissions and ownership.<\/li>\n
  3. Deletion Option: To delete files from the destination that do not exist at the source, use the --delete<\/code> option.<\/li>\n
  4. Network Load: Transferring large amounts of data can put a load on the network. Use the option to limit the transfer speed (--bwlimit<\/code>) as needed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Options for Displaying Progress<\/h2>\n

    To display the progress of rsync, use the --progress<\/code> option. You can also add the -v<\/code> option to show detailed information.<\/p>\n

    Command Example<\/h3>\n

    Below is an example of a command that uses rsync to back up data and display the progress:<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n
    \n
    rsync -avh --progress \/path\/to\/source\/ \/path\/to\/destination\/<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n
    • -a<\/code>: Archive mode. Preserves directory structure, symbolic links, permissions, timestamps, owner, group, and special files.<\/li>\n
    • -v<\/code>: Verbose mode. Displays a list of files being transferred.<\/li>\n
    • -h<\/code>: Outputs in a human-readable format (e.g., displaying sizes in KB, MB, GB).<\/li>\n
    • --progress<\/code>: Displays the transfer progress of each file.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      Behavior Differences Based on the Presence of a Trailing Slash<\/h2>\n
      It is also important to understand how rsync behaves differently depending on whether or not a trailing slash is included.<\/p>\n
      With a Trailing Slash (\/<\/code>)<\/h3>\n
        \n
      • Source: Copies only the contents of the directory.<\/li>\n
      • Destination: Copies the contents directly inside the destination directory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        For example, consider the following command:<\/p>\n
        \n
        \n
        \n
        rsync -avh --progress \/path\/to\/source\/ \/path\/to\/destination\/<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
        In this case, the contents (files and subdirectories) inside the \/path\/to\/source\/<\/code> directory are copied directly into the \/path\/to\/destination\/<\/code> directory.<\/p>\n
        Without a Trailing Slash<\/h3>\n
          \n
        • Source: Copies the directory itself, including its root.<\/li>\n
        • Destination: Copies the entire directory into the destination directory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          For example, consider the following command:<\/p>\n
          \n
          \n
          \n
          rsync -avh --progress \/path\/to\/source \/path\/to\/destination\/<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
          In this case, the \/path\/to\/source<\/code> directory itself is copied inside the \/path\/to\/destination\/<\/code> directory, resulting in the creation of a directory named \/path\/to\/destination\/source\/<\/code>.<\/p>\n
          Summary<\/h2>\n
            \n
          • With a slash: Copies only the directory contents.<\/li>\n
          • Without a slash: Copies the directory itself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            By understanding this difference and using the rsync command appropriately, you can perform backups and synchronizations exactly as intended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
            Today, I’d like to talk about “rsync,” a handy tool for data backing up. rsync is a command- […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/?p=172","footnotes":""},"categories":[1170],"tags":[663,251],"class_list":["post-4848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-linux-server-network","tag-663","tag-251","en-US"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4851,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4848\/revisions\/4851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}