Terminal.skills
Skills/rsync
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rsync

Sync files and directories with rsync. Use when a user asks to copy files between servers, sync directories, create incremental backups, deploy files to a remote server, or mirror directories efficiently.

#rsync#sync#backup#deploy#file-transfer
terminal-skillsv1.0.0
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
Source

Usage

$
✓ Installed rsync v1.0.0

Getting Started

  1. Install the skill using the command above
  2. Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
  3. Reference the skill in your prompt
  4. The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically

Example Prompts

  • "Deploy the latest build to the staging environment and run smoke tests"
  • "Check the CI pipeline status and summarize any recent failures"

Information

Version
1.0.0
Author
terminal-skills
Category
DevOps
License
Apache-2.0

Use Cases

→Provision and Harden a Linux Server from Scratch

Documentation

Overview

rsync is the standard tool for efficient file synchronization. It only transfers changed parts of files (delta transfer), supports SSH, handles permissions, and works for backups, deployments, and directory mirroring.

Instructions

Step 1: Basic Usage

bash
# Sync local directories
rsync -avz source/ destination/
# -a = archive (preserves permissions, timestamps, symlinks)
# -v = verbose
# -z = compress during transfer

# Sync to remote server
rsync -avz ./dist/ deploy@server:/var/www/myapp/

# Sync from remote
rsync -avz deploy@server:/var/log/myapp/ ./logs/

# Dry run (show what would change without doing it)
rsync -avzn source/ destination/

Step 2: Common Patterns

bash
# Deploy website (delete files on destination that don't exist in source)
rsync -avz --delete ./build/ deploy@server:/var/www/site/

# Backup with exclude
rsync -avz --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='.git' --exclude='.env' \
  /opt/myapp/ /backups/myapp/

# Incremental backup with hard links (space-efficient)
rsync -avz --link-dest=/backups/latest \
  /opt/myapp/ /backups/$(date +%Y%m%d)/
ln -snf /backups/$(date +%Y%m%d) /backups/latest

# Bandwidth limited (useful for large transfers)
rsync -avz --bwlimit=5000 source/ destination/    # 5000 KB/s

Step 3: Deployment Script

bash
#!/bin/bash
# scripts/deploy.sh — Deploy app with rsync
SERVER="deploy@prod.example.com"
REMOTE_DIR="/var/www/myapp"

echo "Building..."
npm run build

echo "Syncing files..."
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='node_modules' \
  --exclude='.env' \
  --exclude='.git' \
  ./dist/ ${SERVER}:${REMOTE_DIR}/

echo "Restarting service..."
ssh ${SERVER} "sudo systemctl restart myapp"

echo "Deploy complete!"

Guidelines

  • Always use -n (dry run) first when using --delete to avoid accidental data loss.
  • Trailing slash matters: source/ syncs contents, source syncs the directory itself.
  • For large transfers, add --progress to see per-file progress.
  • rsync over SSH is encrypted by default — safe for internet transfers.