rsync-ssl(1) User Commands rsync-ssl(1)
NAME
rsync-ssl - a helper script for connecting to an ssl rsync daemon
SYNOPSIS
rsync-ssl [--type=SSL_TYPE] RSYNC_ARGS
The online version of this manpage (that includes cross-linking of top-
ics) is available at https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/rsync-ssl.1.
DESCRIPTION
The rsync-ssl script helps you to run an rsync copy to/from an rsync
daemon that requires ssl connections.
The script requires that you specify an rsync-daemon arg in the style
of either hostname:: (with 2 colons) or rsync://hostname/. The default
port used for connecting is 874 (one higher than the normal 873) unless
overridden in the environment. You can specify an overriding port via
--port or by including it in the normal spot in the URL format, though
both of those require your rsync version to be at least 3.2.0.
OPTIONS
If the first arg is a --type=SSL_TYPE option, the script will only use
that particular program to open an ssl connection instead of trying to
find an openssl or stunnel executable via a simple heuristic (assuming
that the RSYNC_SSL_TYPE environment variable is not set as well -- see
below). This option must specify one of openssl or stunnel. The equal
sign is required for this particular option.
All the other options are passed through to the rsync command, so con-
sult the rsync(1) manpage for more information on how it works.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The ssl helper scripts are affected by the following environment vari-
ables:
RSYNC_SSL_TYPE
Specifies the program type that should be used to open the ssl
connection. It must be one of openssl or stunnel. The
--type=SSL_TYPE option overrides this, when specified.
RSYNC_SSL_PORT
If specified, the value is the port number that is used as the
default when the user does not specify a port in their rsync
command. When not specified, the default port number is 874.
(Note that older rsync versions (prior to 3.2.0) did not commu-
nicate an overriding port number value to the helper script.)
RSYNC_SSL_CERT
If specified, the value is a filename that contains a certifi-
cate to use for the connection.
RSYNC_SSL_KEY
If specified, the value is a filename that contains a key for
the provided certificate to use for the connection.
RSYNC_SSL_CA_CERT
If specified, the value is a filename that contains a certifi-
cate authority certificate that is used to validate the connec-
tion.
RSYNC_SSL_OPENSSL
Specifies the openssl executable to run when the connection type
is set to openssl. If unspecified, the $PATH is searched for
"openssl".
RSYNC_SSL_GNUTLS
Specifies the gnutls-cli executable to run when the connection
type is set to gnutls. If unspecified, the $PATH is searched
for "gnutls-cli".
RSYNC_SSL_STUNNEL
Specifies the stunnel executable to run when the connection type
is set to stunnel. If unspecified, the $PATH is searched first
for "stunnel4" and then for "stunnel".
EXAMPLES
rsync-ssl -aiv example.com::mod/ dest
rsync-ssl --type=openssl -aiv example.com::mod/ dest
rsync-ssl -aiv --port 9874 example.com::mod/ dest
rsync-ssl -aiv rsync://example.com:9874/mod/ dest
THE SERVER SIDE
For help setting up an SSL/TLS supporting rsync, see the instructions
in rsyncd.conf.
SEE ALSO
rsync(1), rsyncd.conf(5)
CAVEATS
Note that using an stunnel connection requires at least version 4 of
stunnel, which should be the case on modern systems. Also, it does not
verify a connection against the CA certificate collection, so it only
encrypts the connection without any cert validation unless you have
specified the certificate environment options.
This script also supports a --type=gnutls option, but at the time of
this release the gnutls-cli command was dropping output, making it un-
usable. If that bug has been fixed in your version, feel free to put
gnutls into an exported RSYNC_SSL_TYPE environment variable to make its
use the default.
BUGS
Please report bugs! See the web site at https://rsync.samba.org/.
VERSION
This manpage is current for version 3.2.7 of rsync.
CREDITS
Rsync is distributed under the GNU General Public License. See the
file COPYING for details.
A web site is available at https://rsync.samba.org/. The site includes
an FAQ-O-Matic which may cover questions unanswered by this manual
page.
AUTHOR
This manpage was written by Wayne Davison.
Mailing lists for support and development are available at
https://lists.samba.org/.
rsync-ssl from rsync 3.2.7 20 Oct 2022 rsync-ssl(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 14:39:25 CET 2025.