Hi Frank, I think the description of your issue may be a bit off. You list the command line as including the -U option with rsync 3.1.3, but the -U (aka --atimes) option wasn't added till 3.2.2. Meanwhile I added a test for your scenario here: https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/pull/935 I'm in a testsuite mood at the moment, trying to expand to cover interesting use cases. I suspect you were using --safe-links to get the behaviour you describe. With --safe-links if you have a link ~/a/b/test_link which points at ~/a/a/linked_file then it is rejected by --safe-links as the link goes via an unsafe location (the ~ expands to your home directory, so likely starts with a / ). It is not the final destination of the link that matters, it is how the link gets there. Cheers, Tridge
On Sun, 31 May 2026 at 13:00, Frank Mills via rsync <[email protected]> wrote: > > I haven't found any postings on this in an internet search and the empirical > behavior doesn't seem to match what's described in the man page. The system > is running rsync version 3.1.3 protocol version 31. > > I created a test directory and tried several rsync parameters (such as -a). > After working through the error messages that were generated, the following > did not generate errors. > > rsync -rLkHtUuv --log-file=abc_test.txt ~/a/b/ c >& abc_err.txt > > > > Within the source directory is a symlink that points to another file within > the same directory. > > ~/a/b/test_link -> ~/a/b/linked_file > > > > The above rsync options correctly change the symlink to a file whose content > is the same as the target file. So, these rsync options are operating as > expected. > > > > Where I get behavior that doesn't seem to match documentation is when I try > to keep symlinks as symlinks. > > rsync -rltUv --log-file=abc_test.txt ~/a/b/ c >& abc_err.txt > > > > In the copied directory, the symlink that was in the original directory has > been omitted and the symlink has not been replaced by the target file. I get > similar behavior with rsync -a. > > > > Since the target and symlink are in the same directory, my understanding from > the man page is that rsync should copy the symlink as a symlink. Any > suggestions for how to preserve symlinks that are within the directory > structure being copied? Thanks. > > > -- > Please use reply-all for most replies to avoid omitting the mailing list. > To unsubscribe or change options: > https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/rsync > Before posting, read: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html -- Please use reply-all for most replies to avoid omitting the mailing list. To unsubscribe or change options: https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/rsync Before posting, read: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
