Yes, RSYNC can preserve the file creation dates, among other file attributes, by using several flags while running the command. However, there’s nuance to this. The creation time of a file, often called the “birth time”, is not preserved by Rsync natively. It maintains other timestamps like modification and access times, but not the birth time.
Rsync is a fast, versatile, and flexible command-line utility that synchronizes files and directories from one location to another while minimizing data transfer by using delta encoding when appropriate. One of the features of Rsync is that it can maintain file attributes such as timestamps, permissions, and user and group ownerships during synchronization.
To preserve file timestamps during synchronization, you can use the `-t` or `—times` flag when running the Rsync command. With this option, Rsync will transfer the file modification times along with the files and update them on the remote system.
For example:
```
rsync -avt source_directory/ destination_directory/
```
In this example, the `-a` flag tells Rsync to archive, implying recursion mode and preserving almost everything – symbolic links, file and directory permissions, ownership and timestamps. The `-v` flag tells Rsync to run in verbose mode, and the `-t` flag preserves the modification times.
To see how to preserve user and group ownership, as well as file permissions, you can use the `-a` or `—archive` flag, as shown in the example above. This flag is equivalent to `-rlptgoD`, meaning it preserves symbolic links (`-l`), file permissions (`-p`), ownerships (`-o`), groups (`-g`), and device files (`-D`), in addition to recursion (`-r`) and timestamps (`-t`).
Remember, the preservation of these attributes depends on the Rsync client’s permissions. If it has enough permissions to change the ownership, timestamp, or permissions on the remote file system.
To mention the sources, The Rsync manual page and various Linux tutorial websites such as The Linux Man Page Project, Tecmint, and Linuxize are the utilized resources.
So while Rsync can preserve useful file timestamp information, it’s good to know that file “birth” or creation dates generally aren’t included. If this information is crucial, additional steps or different tools may need to be considered.
References:
Linux Man Page – RSYNC: https://linux.die.net/man/1/rsync
Tecmint – RSYNC: https://www.tecmint.com/rsync-local-remote-file-synchronization-commands/
Linuxize – RSYNC: https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-use-rsync-for-local-and-remote-data-transfer-and-synchronization/
