From ff1792edf14e718934de271219f6e95f6497363a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Wayne Davison Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2022 12:20:46 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] Improve `--copy-links` description. --- rsync.1.md | 23 +++++++++++++++-------- 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) diff --git a/rsync.1.md b/rsync.1.md index 37e2f9b0..2ad467c8 100644 --- a/rsync.1.md +++ b/rsync.1.md @@ -1044,14 +1044,21 @@ your home directory (remove the '=' for that). 0. `--copy-links`, `-L` - When symlinks are encountered, the item that they point to (the referent) - is copied, rather than the symlink. In older versions of rsync, this - option also had the side-effect of telling the receiving side to follow - symlinks, such as symlinks to directories. In a modern rsync such as this - one, you'll need to specify `--keep-dirlinks` (`-K`) to get this extra - behavior. The only exception is when sending files to an rsync that is too - old to understand `-K` -- in that case, the `-L` option will still have the - side-effect of `-K` on that older receiving rsync. + The sender transforms each symlink encountered in the transfer into the + referent item, following the symlink chain to the file or directory that it + references. If a symlink chain is broken, an error is output and the file + is dropped from the transfer. On the receiving side, any existing symlinks + in the destination directories are replaced with the non-symlinks that the + sender specifies (though any destination filenames that do not match a name + in the transfer can remain as symlinks if rsync is not deleting files). + + In versions of rsync prior to 2.6.3, this option also had the side-effect + of telling the receiving side to follow symlinks, such as a symlink to a + directory. A modern rsync does not do this, though you can choose to + specify `--keep-dirlinks` (`-K`) if you want rsync to treat a symlink to a + directory on the receiving side as if it were a real directory. Remember + that it's the version of rsync on the receiving side that determines how it + reacts to existing destination symlinks when this option is in effect. 0. `--copy-unsafe-links` -- 2.47.2