Syncing files

rsync synchronises files by comparing source and destination and transferring what is needed. It is useful for local copies, backups and remote transfers over SSH.

rsync -av source/ destination/rsync -av --progress source/ destination/rsync -av --delete source/ destination/rsync -av source/ user@server:/path/rsync -av user@server:/path/ destination/rsync -avn --delete source/ destination/

-a is archive mode and preserves common metadata while copying recursively. -v shows what is happening. -n is a dry run and makes no changes. --progress displays transfer progress.

--delete removes destination files that do not exist at the source, making the destination more closely mirror the source. Test it with -n first.

The trailing slash matters. source/ means copy the contents of source; source means copy the directory itself into the destination.