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Asked: 2011-02-10 15:44:47 +0800 CST

Using rsync's archive flag without copying symbolic links

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As stated in rsync's man page, the -a (archive) switch is equivalent to -rlptgoD. However, I have a situation where I don't want symbolic links retained. Is there any way to keep using the -a switch and prevent copying of symbolic links? I could write -rptgoD every time, but it's a bit long.

linux rsync

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Try the following:

    rsync -a --no-links ...

    or, the slightly shorter:

    rsync -a --no-l ...

    Note that the --no-links/--no-l switch must come after the -a switch on the command line, otherwise the --links implied by -a is turned back on again.

    • 71

  2. No. You could use an alias instead. Put the line

    alias mrsync="rsync -rptgoD"

    inside your ~/.profile and after the next login, you can call just mrsync and have these parameters implicit with the alias.

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