3 rsyncd.conf - configuration file for rsync in daemon mode
9 The online version of this manpage (that includes cross-linking of topics)
10 is available at <https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/rsyncd.conf.5>.
14 The rsyncd.conf file is the runtime configuration file for rsync when run as an
17 The rsyncd.conf file controls authentication, access, logging and available
22 The file consists of modules and parameters. A module begins with the name of
23 the module in square brackets and continues until the next module begins.
24 Modules contain parameters of the form `name = value`.
26 The file is line-based -- that is, each newline-terminated line represents
27 either a comment, a module name or a parameter.
29 Only the first equals sign in a parameter is significant. Whitespace before or
30 after the first equals sign is discarded. Leading, trailing and internal
31 whitespace in module and parameter names is irrelevant. Leading and trailing
32 whitespace in a parameter value is discarded. Internal whitespace within a
33 parameter value is retained verbatim.
35 Any line **beginning** with a hash (`#`) is ignored, as are lines containing
36 only whitespace. (If a hash occurs after anything other than leading
37 whitespace, it is considered a part of the line's content.)
39 Any line ending in a `\` is "continued" on the next line in the customary UNIX
42 The values following the equals sign in parameters are all either a string (no
43 quotes needed) or a boolean, which may be given as yes/no, 0/1 or true/false.
44 Case is not significant in boolean values, but is preserved in string values.
46 ## LAUNCHING THE RSYNC DAEMON
48 The rsync daemon is launched by specifying the `--daemon` option to rsync.
50 The daemon must run with root privileges if you wish to use chroot, to bind to
51 a port numbered under 1024 (as is the default 873), or to set file ownership.
52 Otherwise, it must just have permission to read and write the appropriate data,
55 You can launch it either via inetd, as a stand-alone daemon, or from an rsync
56 client via a remote shell. If run as a stand-alone daemon then just run the
57 command "`rsync --daemon`" from a suitable startup script.
59 When run via inetd you should add a line like this to /etc/services:
63 and a single line something like this to /etc/inetd.conf:
65 > rsync stream tcp nowait root @BINDIR@/rsync rsyncd --daemon
67 Replace "@BINDIR@/rsync" with the path to where you have rsync installed on
68 your system. You will then need to send inetd a HUP signal to tell it to
69 reread its config file.
71 Note that you should **not** send the rsync daemon a HUP signal to force it to
72 reread the `rsyncd.conf` file. The file is re-read on each client connection.
76 The first parameters in the file (before a [module] header) are the global
79 [comment]: # (An OL starting at 0 is converted into a DL by the parser.)
83 This parameter allows you to specify a "message of the day" (MOTD) to display
84 to clients on each connect. This usually contains site information and any
85 legal notices. The default is no MOTD file. This can be overridden by the
86 `--dparam=motdfile=FILE` command-line option when starting the daemon.
90 This parameter tells the rsync daemon to write its process ID to that file.
91 The rsync keeps the file locked so that it can know when it is safe to
92 overwrite an existing file.
94 The filename can be overridden by the `--dparam=pidfile=FILE` command-line
95 option when starting the daemon.
99 You can override the default port the daemon will listen on by specifying
100 this value (defaults to 873). This is ignored if the daemon is being run
101 by inetd, and is superseded by the `--port` command-line option.
105 You can override the default IP address the daemon will listen on by
106 specifying this value. This is ignored if the daemon is being run by
107 inetd, and is superseded by the `--address` command-line option.
111 This parameter can provide endless fun for people who like to tune their
112 systems to the utmost degree. You can set all sorts of socket options which
113 may make transfers faster (or slower!). Read the manpage for the
114 **setsockopt()** system call for details on some of the options you may be
115 able to set. By default no special socket options are set. These settings
116 can also be specified via the `--sockopts` command-line option.
120 You can override the default backlog value when the daemon listens for
121 connections. It defaults to 5.
123 You may also include any [MODULE PARAMETERS](#) in the global part of the
124 config file, in which case the supplied value will override the default for
127 You may use references to environment variables in the values of parameters.
128 String parameters will have %VAR% references expanded as late as possible (when
129 the string is first used in the program), allowing for the use of variables
130 that rsync sets at connection time, such as RSYNC_USER_NAME. Non-string
131 parameters (such as true/false settings) are expanded when read from the config
132 file. If a variable does not exist in the environment, or if a sequence of
133 characters is not a valid reference (such as an un-paired percent sign), the
134 raw characters are passed through unchanged. This helps with backward
135 compatibility and safety (e.g. expanding a non-existent %VAR% to an empty
136 string in a path could result in a very unsafe path). The safest way to insert
137 a literal % into a value is to use %%.
141 After the global parameters you should define a number of modules, each module
142 exports a directory tree as a symbolic name. Modules are exported by specifying
143 a module name in square brackets [module] followed by the parameters for that
144 module. The module name cannot contain a slash or a closing square bracket.
145 If the name contains whitespace, each internal sequence of whitespace will be
146 changed into a single space, while leading or trailing whitespace will be
149 There is also a special module name of "[global]" that does not define a module
150 but instead switches back to the global settings context where default
151 parameters can be specified. Because each defined module gets its full set of
152 parameters as a combination of the default values that are set at that position
153 in the config file plus its own parameter list, the use of a "[global]" section
154 can help to maintain shared config values for multiple modules.
156 As with [GLOBAL PARAMETERS](#), you may use references to environment variables
157 in the values of parameters. See that section for details.
161 This parameter specifies a description string that is displayed next to the
162 module name when clients obtain a list of available modules. The default is
167 This parameter specifies the directory in the daemon's filesystem to make
168 available in this module. You must specify this parameter for each module
171 If the value contains a "/./" element then the path will be divided at that
172 point into a chroot dir and an inner-chroot subdir. If [`use chroot`](#)
173 is set to false, though, the extraneous dot dir is just cleaned out of the
174 path. An example of this idiom is:
176 > path = /var/rsync/./module1
178 This will (when chrooting) chroot to "/var/rsync" and set the inside-chroot
181 You may base the path's value off of an environment variable by surrounding
182 the variable name with percent signs. You can even reference a variable
183 that is set by rsync when the user connects. For example, this would use
184 the authorizing user's name in the path:
186 > path = /home/%RSYNC_USER_NAME%
188 It is fine if the path includes internal spaces -- they will be retained
189 verbatim (which means that you shouldn't try to escape them). If your
190 final directory has a trailing space (and this is somehow not something you
191 wish to fix), append a trailing slash to the path to avoid losing the
196 If "use chroot" is true, the rsync daemon will chroot to the "[path](#)" before
197 starting the file transfer with the client. This has the advantage of
198 extra protection against possible implementation security holes, but it has
199 the disadvantages of requiring super-user privileges, of not being able to
200 follow symbolic links that are either absolute or outside of the new root
201 path, and of complicating the preservation of users and groups by name (see
204 If `use chroot` is not set, it defaults to trying to enable a chroot but
205 allows the daemon to continue (after logging a warning) if it fails. The
206 one exception to this is when a module's [`path`](#) has a "/./" chroot
207 divider in it -- this causes an unset value to be treated as true for that
210 Prior to rsync 3.2.7, the default value was "true". The new "unset"
211 default makes it easier to setup an rsync daemon as a non-root user or to
212 run a daemon on a system where chroot fails. Explicitly setting the value
213 to "true" in rsyncd.conf will always require the chroot to succeed.
215 It is also possible to specify a dot-dir in the module's "[path](#)" to
216 indicate that you want to chdir to the earlier part of the path and then
217 serve files from inside the latter part of the path (with sanitizing and
218 default symlink munging). This can be useful if you need some library dirs
219 inside the chroot (typically for uid & gid lookups) but don't want to put
220 the lib dir into the top of the served path (even though they can be hidden
221 with an [`exclude`](#) directive). However, a better choice for a modern
222 rsync setup is to use a [`name converter`](#)" and try to avoid inner lib
223 dirs altogether. See also the [`daemon chroot`](#) parameter, which causes
224 rsync to chroot into its own chroot area before doing any path-related
227 If the daemon is serving the "/" dir (either directly or due to being
228 chrooted to the module's path), rsync does not do any path sanitizing or
231 When it has to limit access to a particular subdir (either due to chroot
232 being disabled or having an inside-chroot path set), rsync will munge
233 symlinks (by default) and sanitize paths. Those that dislike munged
234 symlinks (and really, really trust their users to not break out of the
235 subdir) can disable the symlink munging via the "[munge symlinks](#)"
238 When rsync is sanitizing paths, it trims ".." path elements from args that
239 it believes would escape the module hierarchy. It also substitutes leading
240 slashes in absolute paths with the module's path (so that options such as
241 `--backup-dir` & `--compare-dest` interpret an absolute path as rooted in
242 the module's "[path](#)" dir).
244 When a chroot is in effect *and* the "[name converter](#)" parameter is
245 *not* set, the "[numeric ids](#)" parameter will default to being enabled
246 (disabling name lookups). This means that if you manually setup
247 name-lookup libraries in your chroot (instead of using a name converter)
248 that you need to explicitly set `numeric ids = false` for rsync to do name
251 If you copy library resources into the module's chroot area, you should
252 protect them through your OS's normal user/group or ACL settings (to
253 prevent the rsync module's user from being able to change them), and then
254 hide them from the user's view via "[exclude](#)" (see how in the discussion of
255 that parameter). However, it's easier and safer to setup a name converter.
259 This parameter specifies a path to which the daemon will chroot before
260 beginning communication with clients. Module paths (and any "[use chroot](#)"
261 settings) will then be related to this one. This lets you choose if you
262 want the whole daemon to be chrooted (with this setting), just the
263 transfers to be chrooted (with "[use chroot](#)"), or both. Keep in mind that
264 the "daemon chroot" area may need various OS/lib/etc files installed to
265 allow the daemon to function. By default the daemon runs without any
270 When this parameter is enabled, all incoming connections must start with a
271 V1 or V2 proxy protocol header. If the header is not found, the connection
274 Setting this to `true` requires a proxy server to forward source IP
275 information to rsync, allowing you to log proper IP/host info and make use
276 of client-oriented IP restrictions. The default of `false` means that the
277 IP information comes directly from the socket's metadata. If rsync is not
278 behind a proxy, this should be disabled.
280 _CAUTION_: using this option can be dangerous if you do not ensure that
281 only the proxy is allowed to connect to the rsync port. If any non-proxied
282 connections are allowed through, the client will be able to use a modified
283 rsync to spoof any remote IP address that they desire. You can lock this
284 down using something like iptables `-uid-owner root` rules (for strict
285 localhost access), various firewall rules, or you can require password
286 authorization so that any spoofing by users will not grant extra access.
288 This setting is global. If you need some modules to require this and not
289 others, then you will need to setup multiple rsync daemon processes on
294 This parameter lets you specify a program that will be run by the rsync
295 daemon to do user & group conversions between names & ids. This script
296 is started prior to any chroot being setup, and runs as the daemon user
297 (not the transfer user). You can specify a fully qualified pathname or
298 a program name that is on the $PATH.
300 The program can be used to do normal user & group lookups without having to
301 put any extra files into the chroot area of the module *or* you can do
302 customized conversions.
304 The nameconvert program has access to all of the environment variables that
305 are described in the section on `pre-xfer exec`. This is useful if you
306 want to customize the conversion using information about the module and/or
309 There is a sample python script in the support dir named "nameconvert" that
310 implements the normal user & group lookups. Feel free to customize it or
311 just use it as documentation to implement your own.
315 Enabling this parameter disables the mapping of users and groups by name
316 for the current daemon module. This prevents the daemon from trying to
317 load any user/group-related files or libraries. This enabling makes the
318 transfer behave as if the client had passed the `--numeric-ids`
319 command-line option. By default, this parameter is enabled for chroot
320 modules and disabled for non-chroot modules. Also keep in mind that
321 uid/gid preservation requires the module to be running as root (see "[uid](#)")
322 or for "[fake super](#)" to be configured.
324 A chroot-enabled module should not have this parameter set to false unless
325 you're using a "[name converter](#)" program *or* you've taken steps to ensure
326 that the module has the necessary resources it needs to translate names and
327 that it is not possible for a user to change those resources.
331 This parameter tells rsync to modify all symlinks in the same way as the
332 (non-daemon-affecting) `--munge-links` command-line option (using a method
333 described below). This should help protect your files from user trickery
334 when your daemon module is writable. The default is disabled when
335 "[use chroot](#)" is on with an inside-chroot path of "/", OR if "[daemon chroot](#)"
336 is on, otherwise it is enabled.
338 If you disable this parameter on a daemon that is not read-only, there are
339 tricks that a user can play with uploaded symlinks to access
340 daemon-excluded items (if your module has any), and, if "[use chroot](#)" is
341 off, rsync can even be tricked into showing or changing data that is
342 outside the module's path (as access-permissions allow).
344 The way rsync disables the use of symlinks is to prefix each one with the
345 string "/rsyncd-munged/". This prevents the links from being used as long
346 as that directory does not exist. When this parameter is enabled, rsync
347 will refuse to run if that path is a directory or a symlink to a directory.
348 When using the "munge symlinks" parameter in a chroot area that has an
349 inside-chroot path of "/", you should add "/rsyncd-munged/" to the exclude
350 setting for the module so that a user can't try to create it.
352 Note: rsync makes no attempt to verify that any pre-existing symlinks in
353 the module's hierarchy are as safe as you want them to be (unless, of
354 course, it just copied in the whole hierarchy). If you setup an rsync
355 daemon on a new area or locally add symlinks, you can manually protect your
356 symlinks from being abused by prefixing "/rsyncd-munged/" to the start of
357 every symlink's value. There is a perl script in the support directory of
358 the source code named "munge-symlinks" that can be used to add or remove
359 this prefix from your symlinks.
361 When this parameter is disabled on a writable module and "[use chroot](#)" is
362 off (or the inside-chroot path is not "/"), incoming symlinks will be
363 modified to drop a leading slash and to remove ".." path elements that
364 rsync believes will allow a symlink to escape the module's hierarchy.
365 There are tricky ways to work around this, though, so you had better trust
366 your users if you choose this combination of parameters.
370 This specifies the name of the character set in which the module's
371 filenames are stored. If the client uses an `--iconv` option, the daemon
372 will use the value of the "charset" parameter regardless of the character
373 set the client actually passed. This allows the daemon to support charset
374 conversion in a chroot module without extra files in the chroot area, and
375 also ensures that name-translation is done in a consistent manner. If the
376 "charset" parameter is not set, the `--iconv` option is refused, just as if
377 "iconv" had been specified via "[refuse options](#)".
379 If you wish to force users to always use `--iconv` for a particular module,
380 add "no-iconv" to the "[refuse options](#)" parameter. Keep in mind that this
381 will restrict access to your module to very new rsync clients.
385 This parameter allows you to specify the maximum number of simultaneous
386 connections you will allow. Any clients connecting when the maximum has
387 been reached will receive a message telling them to try later. The default
388 is 0, which means no limit. A negative value disables the module. See
389 also the "[lock file](#)" parameter.
393 When the "log file" parameter is set to a non-empty string, the rsync
394 daemon will log messages to the indicated file rather than using syslog.
395 This is particularly useful on systems (such as AIX) where **syslog()**
396 doesn't work for chrooted programs. The file is opened before **chroot()**
397 is called, allowing it to be placed outside the transfer. If this value is
398 set on a per-module basis instead of globally, the global log will still
399 contain any authorization failures or config-file error messages.
401 If the daemon fails to open the specified file, it will fall back to using
402 syslog and output an error about the failure. (Note that the failure to
403 open the specified log file used to be a fatal error.)
405 This setting can be overridden by using the `--log-file=FILE` or
406 `--dparam=logfile=FILE` command-line options. The former overrides all the
407 log-file parameters of the daemon and all module settings. The latter sets
408 the daemon's log file and the default for all the modules, which still
409 allows modules to override the default setting.
413 This parameter allows you to specify the syslog facility name to use when
414 logging messages from the rsync daemon. You may use any standard syslog
415 facility name which is defined on your system. Common names are auth,
416 authpriv, cron, daemon, ftp, kern, lpr, mail, news, security, syslog, user,
417 uucp, local0, local1, local2, local3, local4, local5, local6 and local7.
418 The default is daemon. This setting has no effect if the "[log file](#)"
419 setting is a non-empty string (either set in the per-modules settings, or
420 inherited from the global settings).
424 This parameter allows you to specify the syslog tag to use when logging
425 messages from the rsync daemon. The default is "rsyncd". This setting has
426 no effect if the "[log file](#)" setting is a non-empty string (either set in
427 the per-modules settings, or inherited from the global settings).
429 For example, if you wanted each authenticated user's name to be included in
430 the syslog tag, you could do something like this:
432 > syslog tag = rsyncd.%RSYNC_USER_NAME%
436 This parameter allows you to control the maximum amount of verbose
437 information that you'll allow the daemon to generate (since the information
438 goes into the log file). The default is 1, which allows the client to
439 request one level of verbosity.
441 This also affects the user's ability to request higher levels of `--info`
442 and `--debug` logging. If the max value is 2, then no info and/or debug
443 value that is higher than what would be set by `-vv` will be honored by the
444 daemon in its logging. To see how high of a verbosity level you need to
445 accept for a particular info/debug level, refer to `rsync --info=help` and
446 `rsync --debug=help`. For instance, it takes max-verbosity 4 to be able to
447 output debug TIME2 and FLIST3.
451 This parameter specifies the file to use to support the "[max connections](#)"
452 parameter. The rsync daemon uses record locking on this file to ensure that
453 the max connections limit is not exceeded for the modules sharing the lock
454 file. The default is `/var/run/rsyncd.lock`.
458 This parameter determines whether clients will be able to upload files or
459 not. If "read only" is true then any attempted uploads will fail. If
460 "read only" is false then uploads will be possible if file permissions on
461 the daemon side allow them. The default is for all modules to be read only.
463 Note that "[auth users](#)" can override this setting on a per-user basis.
467 This parameter determines whether clients will be able to download files or
468 not. If "write only" is true then any attempted downloads will fail. If
469 "write only" is false then downloads will be possible if file permissions
470 on the daemon side allow them. The default is for this parameter to be
473 Helpful hint: you probably want to specify "refuse options = delete" for a
478 When set to True, this parameter tells the rsync daemon to open files with
480 (on systems that support it) to avoid changing the access time of the files
481 that are being transferred. If your OS does not support the O_NOATIME flag
482 then rsync will silently ignore this option. Note also that some
483 filesystems are mounted to avoid updating the atime on read access even
484 without the O_NOATIME flag being set.
486 When set to False, this parameters ensures that files on the server are not
487 opened with O_NOATIME.
489 When set to Unset (the default) the user controls the setting via
494 This parameter determines whether this module is listed when the client
495 asks for a listing of available modules. In addition, if this is false,
496 the daemon will pretend the module does not exist when a client denied by
497 "[hosts allow](#)" or "[hosts deny](#)" attempts to access it. Realize that if
498 "[reverse lookup](#)" is disabled globally but enabled for the module, the
499 resulting reverse lookup to a potentially client-controlled DNS server may
500 still reveal to the client that it hit an existing module. The default is
501 for modules to be listable.
505 This parameter specifies the user name or user ID that file transfers to
506 and from that module should take place as when the daemon was run as root.
507 In combination with the "[gid](#)" parameter this determines what file
508 permissions are available. The default when run by a super-user is to
509 switch to the system's "nobody" user. The default for a non-super-user is
510 to not try to change the user. See also the "[gid](#)" parameter.
512 The RSYNC_USER_NAME environment variable may be used to request that rsync
513 run as the authorizing user. For example, if you want a rsync to run as
514 the same user that was received for the rsync authentication, this setup is
517 > uid = %RSYNC_USER_NAME%
522 This parameter specifies one or more group names/IDs that will be used when
523 accessing the module. The first one will be the default group, and any
524 extra ones be set as supplemental groups. You may also specify a "`*`" as
525 the first gid in the list, which will be replaced by all the normal groups
526 for the transfer's user (see "[uid](#)"). The default when run by a super-user
527 is to switch to your OS's "nobody" (or perhaps "nogroup") group with no
528 other supplementary groups. The default for a non-super-user is to not
529 change any group attributes (and indeed, your OS may not allow a
530 non-super-user to try to change their group settings).
532 The specified list is normally split into tokens based on spaces and
533 commas. However, if the list starts with a comma, then the list is only
534 split on commas, which allows a group name to contain a space. In either
535 case any leading and/or trailing whitespace is removed from the tokens and
536 empty tokens are ignored.
540 This parameter specifies a uid under which the daemon will run. The daemon
541 usually runs as user root, and when this is left unset the user is left
542 unchanged. See also the "[uid](#)" parameter.
546 This parameter specifies a gid under which the daemon will run. The daemon
547 usually runs as group root, and when this is left unset, the group is left
548 unchanged. See also the "[gid](#)" parameter.
552 Setting "fake super = yes" for a module causes the daemon side to behave as
553 if the `--fake-super` command-line option had been specified. This allows
554 the full attributes of a file to be stored without having to have the
555 daemon actually running as root.
559 The daemon has its own filter chain that determines what files it will let
560 the client access. This chain is not sent to the client and is independent
561 of any filters the client may have specified. Files excluded by the daemon
562 filter chain (`daemon-excluded` files) are treated as non-existent if the
563 client tries to pull them, are skipped with an error message if the client
564 tries to push them (triggering exit code 23), and are never deleted from
565 the module. You can use daemon filters to prevent clients from downloading
566 or tampering with private administrative files, such as files you may add
567 to support uid/gid name translations.
569 The daemon filter chain is built from the "filter", "[include from](#)",
570 "[include](#)", "[exclude from](#)", and "[exclude](#)" parameters, in that order of
571 priority. Anchored patterns are anchored at the root of the module. To
572 prevent access to an entire subtree, for example, "`/secret`", you **must**
573 exclude everything in the subtree; the easiest way to do this is with a
574 triple-star pattern like "`/secret/***`".
576 The "filter" parameter takes a space-separated list of daemon filter rules,
577 though it is smart enough to know not to split a token at an internal space
578 in a rule (e.g. "`- /foo - /bar`" is parsed as two rules). You may specify
579 one or more merge-file rules using the normal syntax. Only one "filter"
580 parameter can apply to a given module in the config file, so put all the
581 rules you want in a single parameter. Note that per-directory merge-file
582 rules do not provide as much protection as global rules, but they can be
583 used to make `--delete` work better during a client download operation if
584 the per-dir merge files are included in the transfer and the client
585 requests that they be used.
589 This parameter takes a space-separated list of daemon exclude patterns. As
590 with the client `--exclude` option, patterns can be qualified with "`- `" or
591 "`+ `" to explicitly indicate exclude/include. Only one "exclude" parameter
592 can apply to a given module. See the "filter" parameter for a description
593 of how excluded files affect the daemon.
597 Use an "include" to override the effects of the "[exclude](#)" parameter. Only
598 one "include" parameter can apply to a given module. See the "[filter](#)"
599 parameter for a description of how excluded files affect the daemon.
603 This parameter specifies the name of a file on the daemon that contains
604 daemon exclude patterns, one per line. Only one "exclude from" parameter
605 can apply to a given module; if you have multiple exclude-from files, you
606 can specify them as a merge file in the "[filter](#)" parameter. See the
607 "[filter](#)" parameter for a description of how excluded files affect the
612 Analogue of "[exclude from](#)" for a file of daemon include patterns. Only one
613 "include from" parameter can apply to a given module. See the "[filter](#)"
614 parameter for a description of how excluded files affect the daemon.
618 This parameter allows you to specify a set of comma-separated chmod strings
619 that will affect the permissions of all incoming files (files that are
620 being received by the daemon). These changes happen after all other
621 permission calculations, and this will even override destination-default
622 and/or existing permissions when the client does not specify `--perms`.
623 See the description of the `--chmod` rsync option and the **chmod**(1)
624 manpage for information on the format of this string.
628 This parameter allows you to specify a set of comma-separated chmod strings
629 that will affect the permissions of all outgoing files (files that are
630 being sent out from the daemon). These changes happen first, making the
631 sent permissions appear to be different than those stored in the filesystem
632 itself. For instance, you could disable group write permissions on the
633 server while having it appear to be on to the clients. See the description
634 of the `--chmod` rsync option and the **chmod**(1) manpage for information
635 on the format of this string.
639 This parameter specifies a comma and/or space-separated list of
640 authorization rules. In its simplest form, you list the usernames that
641 will be allowed to connect to this module. The usernames do not need to
642 exist on the local system. The rules may contain shell wildcard characters
643 that will be matched against the username provided by the client for
644 authentication. If "auth users" is set then the client will be challenged
645 to supply a username and password to connect to the module. A challenge
646 response authentication protocol is used for this exchange. The plain text
647 usernames and passwords are stored in the file specified by the
648 "[secrets file](#)" parameter. The default is for all users to be able to
649 connect without a password (this is called "anonymous rsync").
651 In addition to username matching, you can specify groupname matching via a
652 '@' prefix. When using groupname matching, the authenticating username
653 must be a real user on the system, or it will be assumed to be a member of
654 no groups. For example, specifying "@rsync" will match the authenticating
655 user if the named user is a member of the rsync group.
657 Finally, options may be specified after a colon (:). The options allow you
658 to "deny" a user or a group, set the access to "ro" (read-only), or set the
659 access to "rw" (read/write). Setting an auth-rule-specific ro/rw setting
660 overrides the module's "[read only](#)" setting.
662 Be sure to put the rules in the order you want them to be matched, because
663 the checking stops at the first matching user or group, and that is the
664 only auth that is checked. For example:
666 > auth users = joe:deny @guest:deny admin:rw @rsync:ro susan joe sam
668 In the above rule, user joe will be denied access no matter what. Any user
669 that is in the group "guest" is also denied access. The user "admin" gets
670 access in read/write mode, but only if the admin user is not in group
671 "guest" (because the admin user-matching rule would never be reached if the
672 user is in group "guest"). Any other user who is in group "rsync" will get
673 read-only access. Finally, users susan, joe, and sam get the ro/rw setting
674 of the module, but only if the user didn't match an earlier group-matching
677 If you need to specify a user or group name with a space in it, start your
678 list with a comma to indicate that the list should only be split on commas
679 (though leading and trailing whitespace will also be removed, and empty
680 entries are just ignored). For example:
682 > auth users = , joe:deny, @Some Group:deny, admin:rw, @RO Group:ro
684 See the description of the secrets file for how you can have per-user
685 passwords as well as per-group passwords. It also explains how a user can
686 authenticate using their user password or (when applicable) a group
687 password, depending on what rule is being authenticated.
689 See also the section entitled "USING RSYNC-DAEMON FEATURES VIA A REMOTE
690 SHELL CONNECTION" in **rsync**(1) for information on how handle an
691 rsyncd.conf-level username that differs from the remote-shell-level
692 username when using a remote shell to connect to an rsync daemon.
696 This parameter specifies the name of a file that contains the
697 username:password and/or @groupname:password pairs used for authenticating
698 this module. This file is only consulted if the "[auth users](#)" parameter is
699 specified. The file is line-based and contains one name:password pair per
700 line. Any line has a hash (#) as the very first character on the line is
701 considered a comment and is skipped. The passwords can contain any
702 characters but be warned that many operating systems limit the length of
703 passwords that can be typed at the client end, so you may find that
704 passwords longer than 8 characters don't work.
706 The use of group-specific lines are only relevant when the module is being
707 authorized using a matching "@groupname" rule. When that happens, the user
708 can be authorized via either their "username:password" line or the
709 "@groupname:password" line for the group that triggered the authentication.
711 It is up to you what kind of password entries you want to include, either
712 users, groups, or both. The use of group rules in "[auth users](#)" does not
713 require that you specify a group password if you do not want to use shared
716 There is no default for the "secrets file" parameter, you must choose a
717 name (such as `/etc/rsyncd.secrets`). The file must normally not be
718 readable by "other"; see "[strict modes](#)". If the file is not found or is
719 rejected, no logins for an "[auth users](#)" module will be possible.
723 This parameter determines whether or not the permissions on the secrets
724 file will be checked. If "strict modes" is true, then the secrets file
725 must not be readable by any user ID other than the one that the rsync
726 daemon is running under. If "strict modes" is false, the check is not
727 performed. The default is true. This parameter was added to accommodate
728 rsync running on the Windows operating system.
732 This parameter allows you to specify a list of comma- and/or
733 whitespace-separated patterns that are matched against a connecting
734 client's hostname and IP address. If none of the patterns match, then the
735 connection is rejected.
737 Each pattern can be in one of six forms:
739 - a dotted decimal IPv4 address of the form a.b.c.d, or an IPv6 address of
740 the form a:b:c::d:e:f. In this case the incoming machine's IP address
742 - an address/mask in the form ipaddr/n where ipaddr is the IP address and n
743 is the number of one bits in the netmask. All IP addresses which match
744 the masked IP address will be allowed in.
745 - an address/mask in the form ipaddr/maskaddr where ipaddr is the IP
746 address and maskaddr is the netmask in dotted decimal notation for IPv4,
747 or similar for IPv6, e.g. ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:: instead of /64. All IP
748 addresses which match the masked IP address will be allowed in.
749 - a hostname pattern using wildcards. If the hostname of the connecting IP
750 (as determined by a reverse lookup) matches the wildcarded name (using
751 the same rules as normal Unix filename matching), the client is allowed
752 in. This only works if "[reverse lookup](#)" is enabled (the default).
753 - a hostname. A plain hostname is matched against the reverse DNS of the
754 connecting IP (if "[reverse lookup](#)" is enabled), and/or the IP of the
755 given hostname is matched against the connecting IP (if "[forward lookup](#)"
756 is enabled, as it is by default). Any match will be allowed in.
757 - an '@' followed by a netgroup name, which will match if the reverse DNS
758 of the connecting IP is in the specified netgroup.
760 Note IPv6 link-local addresses can have a scope in the address
765 > fe80::%link1/ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff::
767 You can also combine "hosts allow" with "[hosts deny](#)" as a way to add
768 exceptions to your deny list. When both parameters are specified, the
769 "hosts allow" parameter is checked first and a match results in the client
770 being able to connect. A non-allowed host is then matched against the
771 "[hosts deny](#)" list to see if it should be rejected. A host that does not
772 match either list is allowed to connect.
774 The default is no "hosts allow" parameter, which means all hosts can
779 This parameter allows you to specify a list of comma- and/or
780 whitespace-separated patterns that are matched against a connecting clients
781 hostname and IP address. If the pattern matches then the connection is
782 rejected. See the "[hosts allow](#)" parameter for more information.
784 The default is no "hosts deny" parameter, which means all hosts can
789 Controls whether the daemon performs a reverse lookup on the client's IP
790 address to determine its hostname, which is used for "[hosts allow](#)" &
791 "[hosts deny](#)" checks and the "%h" log escape. This is enabled by default,
792 but you may wish to disable it to save time if you know the lookup will not
793 return a useful result, in which case the daemon will use the name
794 "UNDETERMINED" instead.
796 If this parameter is enabled globally (even by default), rsync performs the
797 lookup as soon as a client connects, so disabling it for a module will not
798 avoid the lookup. Thus, you probably want to disable it globally and then
799 enable it for modules that need the information.
803 Controls whether the daemon performs a forward lookup on any hostname
804 specified in an hosts allow/deny setting. By default this is enabled,
805 allowing the use of an explicit hostname that would not be returned by
806 reverse DNS of the connecting IP.
810 This parameter tells rsyncd to ignore I/O errors on the daemon when
811 deciding whether to run the delete phase of the transfer. Normally rsync
812 skips the `--delete` step if any I/O errors have occurred in order to
813 prevent disastrous deletion due to a temporary resource shortage or other
814 I/O error. In some cases this test is counter productive so you can use
815 this parameter to turn off this behavior.
817 0. `ignore nonreadable`
819 This tells the rsync daemon to completely ignore files that are not
820 readable by the user. This is useful for public archives that may have some
821 non-readable files among the directories, and the sysadmin doesn't want
822 those files to be seen at all.
824 0. `transfer logging`
826 This parameter enables per-file logging of downloads and uploads in a
827 format somewhat similar to that used by ftp daemons. The daemon always
828 logs the transfer at the end, so if a transfer is aborted, no mention will
829 be made in the log file.
831 If you want to customize the log lines, see the "[log format](#)" parameter.
835 This parameter allows you to specify the format used for logging file
836 transfers when transfer logging is enabled. The format is a text string
837 containing embedded single-character escape sequences prefixed with a
838 percent (%) character. An optional numeric field width may also be
839 specified between the percent and the escape letter (e.g.
840 "`%-50n %8l %07p`"). In addition, one or more apostrophes may be specified
841 prior to a numerical escape to indicate that the numerical value should be
842 made more human-readable. The 3 supported levels are the same as for the
843 `--human-readable` command-line option, though the default is for
844 human-readability to be off. Each added apostrophe increases the level
845 (e.g. "`%''l %'b %f`").
847 The default log format is "`%o %h [%a] %m (%u) %f %l`", and a "`%t [%p] `"
848 is always prefixed when using the "[log file](#)" parameter. (A perl script
849 that will summarize this default log format is included in the rsync source
850 code distribution in the "support" subdirectory: rsyncstats.)
852 The single-character escapes that are understood are as follows:
854 - %a the remote IP address (only available for a daemon)
855 - %b the number of bytes actually transferred
856 - %B the permission bits of the file (e.g. rwxrwxrwt)
857 - %c the total size of the block checksums received for the basis file
859 - %C the full-file checksum if it is known for the file. For older rsync
860 protocols/versions, the checksum was salted, and is thus not a useful
861 value (and is not displayed when that is the case). For the checksum to
862 output for a file, either the `--checksum` option must be in-effect or
863 the file must have been transferred without a salted checksum being used.
864 See the `--checksum-choice` option for a way to choose the algorithm.
865 - %f the filename (long form on sender; no trailing "/")
866 - %G the gid of the file (decimal) or "DEFAULT"
867 - %h the remote host name (only available for a daemon)
868 - %i an itemized list of what is being updated
869 - %l the length of the file in bytes
870 - %L the string "` -> SYMLINK`", "` => HARDLINK`", or "" (where `SYMLINK`
871 or `HARDLINK` is a filename)
873 - %M the last-modified time of the file
874 - %n the filename (short form; trailing "/" on dir)
875 - %o the operation, which is "send", "recv", or "del." (the latter includes
877 - %p the process ID of this rsync session
879 - %t the current date time
880 - %u the authenticated username or an empty string
881 - %U the uid of the file (decimal)
883 For a list of what the characters mean that are output by "%i", see the
884 `--itemize-changes` option in the rsync manpage.
886 Note that some of the logged output changes when talking with older rsync
887 versions. For instance, deleted files were only output as verbose messages
888 prior to rsync 2.6.4.
892 This parameter allows you to override the clients choice for I/O timeout
893 for this module. Using this parameter you can ensure that rsync won't wait
894 on a dead client forever. The timeout is specified in seconds. A value of
895 zero means no timeout and is the default. A good choice for anonymous rsync
896 daemons may be 600 (giving a 10 minute timeout).
900 This parameter allows you to specify a space-separated list of rsync
901 command-line options that will be refused by your rsync daemon. You may
902 specify the full option name, its one-letter abbreviation, or a wild-card
903 string that matches multiple options. Beginning in 3.2.0, you can also
904 negate a match term by starting it with a "!".
906 When an option is refused, the daemon prints an error message and exits.
908 For example, this would refuse `--checksum` (`-c`) and all the various
911 > refuse options = c delete
913 The reason the above refuses all delete options is that the options imply
914 `--delete`, and implied options are refused just like explicit options.
916 The use of a negated match allows you to fine-tune your refusals after a
917 wild-card, such as this:
919 > refuse options = delete-* !delete-during
921 Negated matching can also turn your list of refused options into a list of
922 accepted options. To do this, begin the list with a "`*`" (to refuse all
923 options) and then specify one or more negated matches to accept. For
926 > refuse options = * !a !v !compress*
928 Don't worry that the "`*`" will refuse certain vital options such as
929 `--dry-run`, `--server`, `--no-iconv`, `--seclude-args`, etc. These
930 important options are not matched by wild-card, so they must be overridden
931 by their exact name. For instance, if you're forcing iconv transfers you
932 could use something like this:
934 > refuse options = * no-iconv !a !v
936 As an additional aid (beginning in 3.2.0), refusing (or "`!refusing`") the
937 "a" or "archive" option also affects all the options that the `--archive`
938 option implies (`-rdlptgoD`), but only if the option is matched explicitly
939 (not using a wildcard). If you want to do something tricky, you can use
940 "`archive*`" to avoid this side-effect, but keep in mind that no normal
941 rsync client ever sends the actual archive option to the server.
943 As an additional safety feature, the refusal of "delete" also refuses
944 `remove-source-files` when the daemon is the sender; if you want the latter
945 without the former, instead refuse "`delete-*`" as that refuses all the
946 delete modes without affecting `--remove-source-files`. (Keep in mind that
947 the client's `--delete` option typically results in `--delete-during`.)
949 When un-refusing delete options, you should either specify "`!delete*`" (to
950 accept all delete options) or specify a limited set that includes "delete",
953 > refuse options = * !a !delete !delete-during
955 ... whereas this accepts any delete option except `--delete-after`:
957 > refuse options = * !a !delete* delete-after
959 A note on refusing "compress": it may be better to set the "[dont compress](#)"
960 daemon parameter to "`*`" and ensure that `RSYNC_COMPRESS_LIST=zlib` is set
961 in the environment of the daemon in order to disable compression silently
962 instead of returning an error that forces the client to remove the `-z`
965 If you are un-refusing the compress option, you may want to match
966 "`!compress*`" if you also want to allow the `--compress-level` option.
968 Note that the "copy-devices" & "write-devices" options are refused by
969 default, but they can be explicitly accepted with "`!copy-devices`" and/or
970 "`!write-devices`". The options "log-file" and "log-file-format" are
971 forcibly refused and cannot be accepted.
973 Here are all the options that are not matched by wild-cards:
975 - `--server`: Required for rsync to even work.
976 - `--rsh`, `-e`: Required to convey compatibility flags to the server.
977 - `--out-format`: This is required to convey output behavior to a remote
978 receiver. While rsync passes the older alias `--log-format` for
979 compatibility reasons, this options should not be confused with
981 - `--sender`: Use "[write only](#)" parameter instead of refusing this.
982 - `--dry-run`, `-n`: Who would want to disable this?
983 - `--seclude-args`, `-s`: Is the oldest arg-protection method.
984 - `--from0`, `-0`: Makes it easier to accept/refuse `--files-from` without
985 affecting this helpful modifier.
986 - `--iconv`: This is auto-disabled based on "[charset](#)" parameter.
987 - `--no-iconv`: Most transfers use this option.
988 - `--checksum-seed`: Is a fairly rare, safe option.
989 - `--write-devices`: Is non-wild but also auto-disabled.
993 **NOTE:** This parameter currently has no effect except in one instance: if
994 it is set to "`*`" then it minimizes or disables compression for all files
995 (for those that don't want to refuse the `--compress` option completely).
997 This parameter allows you to select filenames based on wildcard patterns
998 that should not be compressed when pulling files from the daemon (no
999 analogous parameter exists to govern the pushing of files to a daemon).
1000 Compression can be expensive in terms of CPU usage, so it is usually good
1001 to not try to compress files that won't compress well, such as already
1004 The "dont compress" parameter takes a space-separated list of
1005 case-insensitive wildcard patterns. Any source filename matching one of the
1006 patterns will be compressed as little as possible during the transfer. If
1007 the compression algorithm has an "off" level, then no compression occurs
1008 for those files. If an algorithms has the ability to change the level in
1009 mid-stream, it will be minimized to reduce the CPU usage as much as
1012 See the `--skip-compress` parameter in the **rsync**(1) manpage for the
1013 list of file suffixes that are skipped by default if this parameter is not
1016 0. `early exec`, `pre-xfer exec`, `post-xfer exec`
1018 You may specify a command to be run in the early stages of the connection,
1019 or right before and/or after the transfer. If the `early exec` or
1020 `pre-xfer exec` command returns an error code, the transfer is aborted
1021 before it begins. Any output from the `pre-xfer exec` command on stdout
1022 (up to several KB) will be displayed to the user when aborting, but is
1023 _not_ displayed if the script returns success. The other programs cannot
1024 send any text to the user. All output except for the `pre-xfer exec`
1025 stdout goes to the corresponding daemon's stdout/stderr, which is typically
1026 discarded. See the `--no-detach` option for a way to see the daemon's
1027 output, which can assist with debugging.
1029 Note that the `early exec` command runs before any part of the transfer
1030 request is known except for the module name. This helper script can be
1031 used to setup a disk mount or decrypt some data into a module dir, but you
1032 may need to use `lock file` and `max connections` to avoid concurrency
1033 issues. If the client rsync specified the `--early-input=FILE` option, it
1034 can send up to about 5K of data to the stdin of the early script. The
1035 stdin will otherwise be empty.
1037 Note that the `post-xfer exec` command is still run even if one of the
1038 other scripts returns an error code. The `pre-xfer exec` command will _not_
1039 be run, however, if the `early exec` command fails.
1041 The following environment variables will be set, though some are specific
1042 to the pre-xfer or the post-xfer environment:
1044 - `RSYNC_MODULE_NAME`: The name of the module being accessed.
1045 - `RSYNC_MODULE_PATH`: The path configured for the module.
1046 - `RSYNC_HOST_ADDR`: The accessing host's IP address.
1047 - `RSYNC_HOST_NAME`: The accessing host's name.
1048 - `RSYNC_USER_NAME`: The accessing user's name (empty if no user).
1049 - `RSYNC_PID`: A unique number for this transfer.
1050 - `RSYNC_REQUEST`: (pre-xfer only) The module/path info specified by the
1051 user. Note that the user can specify multiple source files, so the
1052 request can be something like "mod/path1 mod/path2", etc.
1053 - `RSYNC_ARG#`: (pre-xfer only) The pre-request arguments are set in these
1054 numbered values. RSYNC_ARG0 is always "rsyncd", followed by the options
1055 that were used in RSYNC_ARG1, and so on. There will be a value of "."
1056 indicating that the options are done and the path args are beginning --
1057 these contain similar information to RSYNC_REQUEST, but with values
1058 separated and the module name stripped off.
1059 - `RSYNC_EXIT_STATUS`: (post-xfer only) the server side's exit value. This
1060 will be 0 for a successful run, a positive value for an error that the
1061 server generated, or a -1 if rsync failed to exit properly. Note that an
1062 error that occurs on the client side does not currently get sent to the
1063 server side, so this is not the final exit status for the whole transfer.
1064 - `RSYNC_RAW_STATUS`: (post-xfer only) the raw exit value from
1067 Even though the commands can be associated with a particular module, they
1068 are run using the permissions of the user that started the daemon (not the
1069 module's uid/gid setting) without any chroot restrictions.
1071 These settings honor 2 environment variables: use RSYNC_SHELL to set a
1072 shell to use when running the command (which otherwise uses your
1073 **system()** call's default shell), and use RSYNC_NO_XFER_EXEC to disable
1074 both options completely.
1076 ## CONFIG DIRECTIVES
1078 There are currently two config directives available that allow a config file to
1079 incorporate the contents of other files: `&include` and `&merge`. Both allow
1080 a reference to either a file or a directory. They differ in how segregated the
1081 file's contents are considered to be.
1083 The `&include` directive treats each file as more distinct, with each one
1084 inheriting the defaults of the parent file, starting the parameter parsing as
1085 globals/defaults, and leaving the defaults unchanged for the parsing of the
1086 rest of the parent file.
1088 The `&merge` directive, on the other hand, treats the file's contents as if it
1089 were simply inserted in place of the directive, and thus it can set parameters
1090 in a module started in another file, can affect the defaults for other files,
1093 When an `&include` or `&merge` directive refers to a directory, it will read in
1094 all the `*.conf` or `*.inc` files (respectively) that are contained inside that
1095 directory (without any recursive scanning), with the files sorted into alpha
1096 order. So, if you have a directory named "rsyncd.d" with the files "foo.conf",
1097 "bar.conf", and "baz.conf" inside it, this directive:
1099 > &include /path/rsyncd.d
1101 would be the same as this set of directives:
1103 > &include /path/rsyncd.d/bar.conf
1104 > &include /path/rsyncd.d/baz.conf
1105 > &include /path/rsyncd.d/foo.conf
1107 except that it adjusts as files are added and removed from the directory.
1109 The advantage of the `&include` directive is that you can define one or more
1110 modules in a separate file without worrying about unintended side-effects
1111 between the self-contained module files.
1113 The advantage of the `&merge` directive is that you can load config snippets
1114 that can be included into multiple module definitions, and you can also set
1115 global values that will affect connections (such as `motd file`), or globals
1116 that will affect other include files.
1118 For example, this is a useful /etc/rsyncd.conf file:
1121 > log file = /var/log/rsync.log
1122 > pid file = /var/lock/rsync.lock
1124 > &merge /etc/rsyncd.d
1125 > &include /etc/rsyncd.d
1127 This would merge any `/etc/rsyncd.d/*.inc` files (for global values that should
1128 stay in effect), and then include any `/etc/rsyncd.d/*.conf` files (defining
1129 modules without any global-value cross-talk).
1131 ## AUTHENTICATION STRENGTH
1133 The authentication protocol used in rsync is a 128 bit MD4 based challenge
1134 response system. This is fairly weak protection, though (with at least one
1135 brute-force hash-finding algorithm publicly available), so if you want really
1136 top-quality security, then I recommend that you run rsync over ssh. (Yes, a
1137 future version of rsync will switch over to a stronger hashing method.)
1139 Also note that the rsync daemon protocol does not currently provide any
1140 encryption of the data that is transferred over the connection. Only
1141 authentication is provided. Use ssh as the transport if you want encryption.
1143 You can also make use of SSL/TLS encryption if you put rsync behind an
1146 ## SSL/TLS Daemon Setup
1148 When setting up an rsync daemon for access via SSL/TLS, you will need to
1149 configure a TCP proxy (such as haproxy or nginx) as the front-end that handles
1152 - You should limit the access to the backend-rsyncd port to only allow the
1153 proxy to connect. If it is on the same host as the proxy, then configuring
1154 it to only listen on localhost is a good idea.
1155 - You should consider turning on the `proxy protocol` rsync-daemon parameter if
1156 your proxy supports sending that information. The examples below assume that
1159 An example haproxy setup is as follows:
1162 > frontend fe_rsync-ssl
1163 > bind :::874 ssl crt /etc/letsencrypt/example.com/combined.pem
1165 > use_backend be_rsync
1169 > server local-rsync 127.0.0.1:873 check send-proxy
1172 An example nginx proxy setup is as follows:
1178 > listen [::]:874 ssl;
1180 > ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/example.com/fullchain.pem;
1181 > ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/example.com/privkey.pem;
1183 > proxy_pass localhost:873;
1184 > proxy_protocol on; # Requires rsyncd.conf "proxy protocol = true"
1186 > proxy_connect_timeout 5s;
1191 If rsyncd should be accessible encrypted and unencrypted at the same time make
1192 the proxy listen on port 873 as well and let it handle both streams.
1194 ## DAEMON CONFIG EXAMPLES
1196 A simple rsyncd.conf file that allow anonymous rsync to a ftp area at
1197 `/home/ftp` would be:
1202 > comment = ftp export area
1205 A more sophisticated example would be:
1211 > max connections = 4
1212 > syslog facility = local5
1213 > pid file = /var/run/rsyncd.pid
1216 > path = /var/ftp/./pub
1217 > comment = whole ftp area (approx 6.1 GB)
1220 > path = /var/ftp/./pub/samba
1221 > comment = Samba ftp area (approx 300 MB)
1224 > path = /var/ftp/./pub/rsync
1225 > comment = rsync ftp area (approx 6 MB)
1228 > path = /public_html/samba
1229 > comment = Samba WWW pages (approx 240 MB)
1233 > comment = CVS repository (requires authentication)
1234 > auth users = tridge, susan
1235 > secrets file = /etc/rsyncd.secrets
1238 The /etc/rsyncd.secrets file would look something like this:
1245 /etc/rsyncd.conf or rsyncd.conf
1249 [**rsync**(1)](rsync.1), [**rsync-ssl**(1)](rsync-ssl.1)
1253 Please report bugs! The rsync bug tracking system is online at
1254 <https://rsync.samba.org/>.
1258 This manpage is current for version @VERSION@ of rsync.
1262 Rsync is distributed under the GNU General Public License. See the file
1263 [COPYING](COPYING) for details.
1265 An rsync web site is available at <https://rsync.samba.org/> and its github
1266 project is <https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync>.
1270 Thanks to Warren Stanley for his original idea and patch for the rsync daemon.
1271 Thanks to Karsten Thygesen for his many suggestions and documentation!
1275 Rsync was originally written by Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras. Many
1276 people from around the world have helped to maintain and improve it.
1278 Mailing lists for support and development are available at
1279 <https://lists.samba.org/>.