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Mirror a directory exactly with rsync --delete

destructiversync and backupalle
Adjust the values, the command updates live
user@server
rsync -av --delete /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ /backup/example.com/httpdocs/

Transfers new and changed files and, with --delete, removes everything at the destination that no longer exists in the source. The result is an exact mirror. Files deleted in the source also disappear from the backup on the next run.

Note: Swapped source and destination or a missing slash can delete entire directories in the worst case. Always check with --dry-run first what is reported as deleting.

Also searched as

  • rsync mirror directory
  • make destination identical to source
  • delete removed files from backup too
  • rsync delete extraneous files

Related one-liners

All in rsync and backup

Copy a directory locally with all permissions and attributes

#rsync -aHAX --info=progress2 /var/www/vhosts/ /mnt/newdisk/vhosts/
cautionrsync and backup

Incremental backup with hard links using rsync --link-dest

#rsync -a --link-dest=/backup/example.com/aktuell /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ /backup/example.com/$(date +%F)/ && ln -sfn /backup/example.com/$(date +%F) /backup/example.com/aktuell
cautionrsync and backup

Resume an interrupted transfer of large files

$rsync -avP /var/backups/example.com-2026-10-09.tar.gz webuser@backup.example.com:/home/webuser/backup/
cautionrsync and backup

rsync with excluded directories and files

$rsync -av --exclude='wp-content/cache/' --exclude='*.log' /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ /backup/example.com/httpdocs/
cautionrsync and backup

Run rsync with limited bandwidth

$rsync -avz --bwlimit=5000 /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ webuser@backup.example.com:/home/webuser/backup/httpdocs/
cautionrsync and backup

Test rsync with a dry run

$rsync -av --dry-run /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ /backup/example.com/httpdocs/
harmlessrsync and backup

Read first, then run.

The commands on myline.de act directly on servers, files and databases. A wrong path or placeholder can delete data irreversibly or make a server unreachable.

  • All commands are provided without warranty and are not tested on every system.
  • Understand what a command does before running it, and check every placeholder.
  • Make a backup first and, if possible, try it on a test system.
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