How to make RSYNC quieter or chattier?

RSYNC is a powerful tool for copying and synchronizing directories and files across different systems in Linux. Its chattiness or quietness can be adjusted based on the level of details you require from its operations.

To make RSYNC quieter, you can use the -q or —quiet option. This suppresses the normal output that RSYNC provides, which is often a list of the files being transferred. The quiet option only lets error messages appear.

Here is an example:

rsync -aq src/ dest/

The command above will sync directories while being quiet. It will not output any file details.

Even in ‘quiet’ mode, RSYNC will still report error messages if there are issues with the file transfer. However, if you want to suppress error messages too, you can redirect them to /dev/null, like so:

rsync -aq src/ dest/ 2>/dev/null

To make RSYNC chattier, use -v (verbose mode). This option increases the amount of data that RSYNC outputs during its operation. It is particularly useful when you want detailed information about the progress of the file transfer.

Here’s how to use it:

rsync -av src/ dest/

In this command, ‘a’ stands for ‘archive mode’, which is a common option that preserves metadata like permissions, timestamps, and ownership, and ‘v’ stands for ‘verbose mode’.

You can add more v’s (up to 3) to get even chattier output. For instance, with -vv, RSYNC displays on the screen what it is doing with extra file attribute information:

rsync -avv src/ dest/

With -vvv, RSYNC also gives debugging information.

rsync -avvv src/ dest/

It’s crucial to understand that while being chattier can be helpful, it can also slow down the RSYNC operation, especially if there are many files to sync.

So, consider adjusting the chattiness of RSYNC based on your needs. The fantastic part about RSYNC is that it offers you detailed control over how much information it provides about its operations.

Sources:
1. “rsync(1) – Linux man page”. (https://linux.die.net/man/1/rsync).
2. “How to Use rsync to Copy/Sync Files in Linux”. (https://www.tutorialsteacher.com/linux/rsync-command-in-linux).
3. “Use rsync for copying Files”. (https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/rsync).