Rsync – Itemize Output Codes
I use rsync to manage backups between two servers separated by more than 12,000 kilometers. It works very well.
I have the machines email me the output of the backup process, so I can easily check to ensure the backup succeeded with no problems. I try to go through the most recent email at least once a week, to make sure nothing went wrong with the backup. To get more information about the backup process and what rsync did for each file, I run it with the `-i`, or `–itemize-changes` flag.
To quote from rsync’s man:
Requests a simple itemized list of the changes that are being made to each file, including attribute changes.
As helpful as man is, what I really need is a simple cheat-sheet so I can quickly lookup the different `-i` codes to check what they mean.
Here it is:
For format ‘YXcstpoguax’
YXcstpoguax The type of update being done:
< File is being transferred to remove host ( sent )
> File is being transferred to local host ( received )
c A local change is occurring ( e.g. creating a directory, symlink )
h Item is a hard link to another item ( requires –hard-links )
. Item is not being updated, though it may have attributes being modified )
* The rest of the itemized-output area contains a message ( e.g. ‘deleting’ )YXcstpoguax File type:
f File
d Directory
L Symlink
D Device
S Special fileYXcstpoguax:
c Either that a regular file has a different checksum (requires –checksum)
or that a symlink, device, or special file has a changed value.
s Size of a regular file is different and will be updated by the file transfer
t Modification time is different and is being updated to the sender’s time
p Permissions are different and are being updated to the sender’s value
o Owner is different and is being updated to the sender’s value
g Group is different and is being updated to the sender’s value
u Reserved for future use
a ACL information changed
x Extended attribute information changed
I don’t know about you, but I find that easier to quickly scan and find the code I’m looking for.
