There appears to be a problem with the handling of symlinks within source directories by the --relative (-R) option.
I am using rsync 2.5.5 on an SGI Origin 200 running IRIX 6.5.11f. Example: copying the contents of /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/ from wolf to fox where /usr/local is a directory on wolf, but /usr/local is a link to /usr2/local on fox. Here's the dry-run output (some anonymizing editing has been done): --- 129 (wolf)root> /usr/local/bin/rsync -a -R -v --delete -n -e /usr/local/bin/ssh --rsync-path=/usr/local/bin/rsync /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/ fox.cisti.nrc.ca: building file list ... done deleting usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020505130006.tar.gz deleting usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020505010005.tar.gz /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020605010006.tar.gz /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020605130005.tar.gz /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/maillog /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/pri-req.log /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/registry /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/waitlist wrote 6474 bytes read 44 bytes 686.11 bytes/sec total size is 137212442 speedup is 21051.31 --- Here's the (abbreviated) output of the actual update: --- 131 (wolf)root> /usr/local/bin/rsync -a -R -v --delete -e /usr/local/bin/ssh --rsync-path=/usr/local/bin/rsync /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/ fox.cisti.nrc.ca: building file list ... done deleting usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020505130006.tar.gz deleting usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020505010005.tar.gz usr/ usr/local/ usr/local/etc/ usr/local/etc/inhouse/ usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/ /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/Backup /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/Makefile /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/areas.txt usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/ /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020506010006.tar.gz /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020506130005.tar.gz /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020507010006.tar.gz /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020507130006.tar.gz /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020605010006.tar.gz /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/bak/20020605130005.tar.gz /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/branch /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/courses /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/maillog /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/pri-req.log /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/registry /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/waitlist wrote 137245608 bytes read 4164 bytes 469229.99 bytes/sec total size is 137212442 speedup is 1.00 --- The deletions are performed properly, but the /usr/local link is replaced by a /usr/local directory and then the complete contents of /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/ is copied to this new location. My work-around is to not use "-R" and to fully specify the destination directory: --- 136 (wolf)root> /usr/local/bin/rsync -a -v --delete -e /usr/local/bin/ssh --rsync-path=/usr/local/bin/rsync /usr/local/etc/inhouse/db/ fox.cisti.nrc.ca:/usr2/local/etc/inhouse/db/ building file list ... done bak/ bak/20020605010006.tar.gz bak/20020605130005.tar.gz maillog pri-req.log registry waitlist wrote 2551675 bytes read 52142 bytes 226418.87 bytes/sec total size is 137212442 speedup is 52.70 --- (The deletions don't show up because they were previously done.) Th work-around is okay for a single source directory, but it does not scale properly for multiple sources. "--relative" needs to be fixed so that it does not alter the source directory structure. - Greg Kresko National Research Council of Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] (I am not subscribed to the rsync list) -- To unsubscribe or change options: http://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/rsync Before posting, read: http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html