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rsync Command Builder

Generate rsync commands visually. Toggle flags, add excludes, set SSH port — copy the result.

Client-side only — nothing leaves your browser

Trailing slash copies contents. No slash copies the directory itself.

Remote format: user@host:/absolute/path

One pattern per line. Each becomes a separate --exclude flag. Glob syntax: *, **, ?.

rsync -avzPh --exclude=node_modules --exclude=.git --exclude='*.log' /home/me/projects/ [email protected]:/srv/backups/projects/
commandflagpathvalue
Built a command? Paste it into the rsync Flag Explainer to verify what each flag does before you run it on a real server.

What does the rsync command do?

rsync (short for "remote sync") is the standard Unix utility for copying and synchronizing files — between two local paths, between a local machine and a remote server over SSH, or between two remote servers. Its defining feature is the delta-transfer algorithm: rsync only sends the bytes that have changed since the last run, so re-syncing a large tree is dramatically faster than scp, cp, or a fresh copy. The trade-off is that rsync's behavior is governed almost entirely by flags, and getting one wrong (a missing trailing slash, an unguarded --delete) can wipe data on the destination. This builder generates correct commands for the common cases — push, pull, mirror, and incremental snapshot — so you don't have to memorize the syntax.

Anatomy of an rsync Command

Every rsync command has the same four-part structure. Source and destination are always the last two arguments — everything before them is options:

rsync -avzP --exclude=node_modules /src/ user@host:/dst/
PartPurpose
rsyncThe binary. Must be installed on both sides for SSH transfers.
-avzPShort flags. Stack them in any order; -a is archive mode, -v verbose, -z compress, -P progress+partial.
--exclude=...Long flags with values. Skip files matching the pattern. Can be repeated.
/src/Source path. Local path or user@host:/path.
user@host:/dst/Destination. Same syntax as source — one of the two can be remote, but not both unless you use --rsh chaining.

Common rsync Command Patterns

These are the rsync commands that show up most often in scripts, Stack Overflow answers, and backup playbooks:

Push a local folder to a remote server

rsync -avzP /home/me/projects/ user@host:/backups/projects/

Pull a remote folder down to your laptop

rsync -avzP user@host:/var/www/ ./site-backup/

Sync between two servers over SSH on a custom port

rsync -avzP -e 'ssh -p 2222' /src/ user@host:/dst/

Mirror with --delete (preview first with -n)

rsync -avn --delete /src/ /backup/

Snapshot-style backup hardlinked against yesterday

rsync -av --link-dest=/mnt/backup/yesterday/ /home/me/ /mnt/backup/today/

Bandwidth-capped transfer (10 MB/s)

rsync -avz --bwlimit=10M /src/ user@host:/dst/

Exclude multiple patterns

rsync -av --exclude=node_modules --exclude='*.log' /src/ /dst/

rsync Flags Cheat Sheet

FlagLong formWhat it does
-a--archiveRecursive copy that preserves permissions, times, owner, group, symlinks, and devices. The base flag for almost every rsync command.
-v--verbosePrint each filename as it transfers. Use -vv or -vvv for more detail.
-z--compressCompress data in transit. Useful over SSH on slower networks; skip on a fast LAN or for already-compressed files.
-P--partial --progressShow a per-file progress bar and keep partial files on interrupt so transfers can resume.
-h--human-readablePrint sizes as 1.2M instead of 1234567.
-n--dry-runShow what would happen without actually copying or deleting anything. Always use before --delete.
--deleteMake the destination an exact mirror — files removed from source get removed from destination. Destructive.
--exclude=PATSkip files matching PAT (glob). Repeatable. Common: --exclude=node_modules, --exclude='*.log'.
--bwlimit=NCap socket I/O bandwidth (e.g. --bwlimit=10M for 10 MB/s).
--link-dest=DIRHardlink unchanged files against DIR. The standard pattern for space-efficient incremental backups.
-e--rsh=CMDPick the remote shell. Use this to set a custom SSH port: -e 'ssh -p 2222'.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the rsync command in Linux?
rsync is a Linux command-line utility that copies and synchronizes files between two locations — locally or across machines over SSH. It's preinstalled on most modern Linux distributions and macOS, and is the standard tool for backups, server-to-server file sync, and mirroring directories. The basic syntax is rsync [options] source destination, where either source or destination can be local (a path like /var/www/) or remote (user@host:/path). What sets rsync apart from cp or scp is the delta-transfer algorithm: on subsequent runs, it only sends the parts of files that have changed, which makes large recurring transfers dramatically faster.
What does -avz mean in the rsync command?
-avz is the most common rsync flag combination, especially for transfers over SSH. It stacks three short flags: -a (archive mode — recursive copy that preserves permissions, modification times, owners, groups, symlinks, and devices), -v (verbose — list each file as it transfers), and -z (compress data in transit). You'll often see -avzP, which adds --partial and --progress so the transfer is resumable and shows a live progress bar. Skip -z on a fast local network or when copying already-compressed files (videos, JPEGs, .gz) — the CPU cost of compressing incompressible data slows the transfer down.
How do I run rsync over SSH with a custom port?
Pass a custom SSH command to rsync with the -e flag: rsync -avzP -e 'ssh -p 2222' /src/ user@host:/dst/. The quotes are required so the shell passes 'ssh -p 2222' as a single argument. You can also chain additional SSH options the same way, such as a specific identity file: -e 'ssh -p 2222 -i ~/.ssh/backup_key'. Note that rsync's own --port flag is only for the rsync daemon protocol (port 873), not for SSH — for SSH on a non-standard port you always use -e.
How do I exclude multiple directories with rsync?
Repeat the --exclude flag once per pattern: rsync -av --exclude=node_modules --exclude=.git --exclude='*.log' /src/ /dst/. Patterns use glob syntax, and patterns that contain shell metacharacters (* ? [ ]) should be single-quoted so the local shell doesn't expand them first. For a long list, put the patterns in a file (one per line) and use --exclude-from=ignore.txt instead — easier to maintain and reuse across scripts. Order matters when you combine --include and --exclude: rsync evaluates rules top-to-bottom and the first match wins.
Why does the trailing slash on the rsync source matter?
A trailing slash on the source changes what gets copied. rsync -av /src/ /dst/ copies the contents of /src into /dst, so you end up with /dst/file1, /dst/file2. rsync -av /src /dst/ (no trailing slash on source) copies the directory itself into /dst, giving you /dst/src/file1, /dst/src/file2. The trailing slash on the destination doesn't change behavior — only the source side matters. This is the single most common rsync footgun, especially when combined with --delete: a misplaced slash can dump files in the wrong place or empty the wrong directory. Always test with -n (--dry-run) first.

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