MacOS – Using rsync with path names containing spaces

macosrsync

I am trying to use rsync (on macOS Catalina) but have trouble with spaces in file path names. I have used -s or --protect-args but they do not do anything (when I look at the help for rsync, these options are not listed).

I am running rsync 2.6.9 in zsh. Can anyone help please?

Here is what I get when I run this rsync command:

chris@cgimac ~ % rsync -ahv /Volumes/G_5TB_general/Backup of CG-nas/mac drives/Fitness and health /Volumes/G_5TB_general/temp dump
building file list ... 
rsync: link_stat "/Volumes/G_5TB_general/Backup" failed: No such file or directory (2)
rsync: link_stat "/Users/chris/of" failed: No such file or directory (2) 
rsync: link_stat "/Users/chris/CG-nas/mac" failed: No such file or directory (2)
rsync: link_stat "/Users/chris/drives/Fitness" failed: No such file or directory (2)
rsync: link_stat "/Users/chris/and" failed: No such file or directory (2) 
rsync: link_stat "/Users/chris/health" failed: No such file or directory (2) done

I get the exact same result if I modify the command to

rsync  -ahv  ‘/Volumes/G_5TB_general/Backup of CG-nas/mac drives/Fitness and health’ ‘/Volumes/G_5TB_general/temp dump’

I have looked elsewhere and there are many examples eg st

https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/rsync-transfer-filename-that-contains-whitespace/

where the -s (or –protect-args) option for rsync apparently work.

Best Answer

The -s option doesn't protect against arguments with spaces passed on the command line, proper quoting does

rsync -ahv "/Volumes/G_5TB_general/Backup of CG-nas/mac drives/Fitness and health" "/Volumes/G_5TB_general/temp dump"

(in your second example you seem to use typographical quotes).

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Repair the permissions has allowed to solve the problem. The backup partition is now booting without any problem.

MacOS – Synchronise folders on different Macs using rsync

The best way is to continue to use rsync so as to maintain /destination synchronized with /source.

1st run:

rsync -avE /source /destination

next runs:

rsync -avE /source /destination

The -a option = --archive == -rlptgoD.

The -E option means copy extended attributes and ACL, and is mandatory on HFS+ filesystems.

Warning: the standard version of rsync on OS X, version 2.6.9 (see rsync --version) still have problems with extended attributes. These problems will be shown thanks to the -v option.

A verification of the output of rsync is mandatory.

This version 2.6.9 is too old and causing too many problems.

I advise any user willing to maintain in sync directories between different Macs (or between a Mac and another Unix machine) to install rsync version 3.1.2.

Here is the method I use:

install MacPorts: MacPorts home page
- go to the Quickstart section, install Xcode
- choose the right version to install (Mavericks, Yosemite or El Capitan)
Upgrade your PATH so as to find the port command in it for example, I installed it in /local/bin and modified my PATH like this:
```
PATH=/local/bin:${PATH}
export PATH
```
Install rsync 3.1.2:
```
port install rsync
```

With this version of rsync, the right options to use will be:

rsync -avAX /source /destination

and if you read me thus far, you are pretty good enough now to read

man rsync

to get the light from the source.

Best Answer

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