Basic rsync command for bit-identical copies
Rsync doesn't do any kind of versioning or keep any history unless instructed with options such as --backup. There are backup tools that use rsync, but rsync itself isn't a backup tool any more than four wheels make a car. Rsync just handles the synchronization.
Regarding the options you used or might want to use:
-ameans “copy almost everything” (copy directories recursively, copy symbolic links as such, preserve all metadata, etc.). Use this option unless you're doing something unusual.- In addition to
-a, you may want to use-Hto preserve hard links,-Ato preserve ACLs (-aonly preserves traditional unix permissions), or-Xto preserve extended attributes. -ris already included in-a.-vmeans verbose.-zis useless for a local copy.--deletedeletes files in the destination that are not present in the source.
So this is the basic command to make the destination identical to the source (absent hard links, ACLs and extended attributes):
rsync -a --delete SOURCE/ DESTINATION/
I usually use the command from this answer. The advantage is that it also preserves extended attributes and ACLs.
rsync -avxHAX --info=progress2 / /new-disk/
The options are:
-a : all files, with permissions, etc..
-v : verbose, mention files
-x : stay on one file system
-H : preserve hard links (not included with -a)
-A : preserve ACLs/permissions (not included with -a)
-X : preserve extended attributes (not included with -a)
A note about the sync progress of progress2: rsync incrementally scans for files to scan ("incremental recursion"). The output of this incremental recursion is shown in progress2's ir-chk output. However, until all files are scanned, the progress percentage is misleading, because rsync doesn't yet know how much files are to be transferred. To first check all the files and only then start syncing, add the --no-inc-recursive option.
This command should be all you need. rsync by default uses what's called a quick check algorithm:
Rsync finds files that need to be transferred using a "quick check" algorithm (by default) that looks for files that have changed in size or in last-modified time. Any changes in the other preserved attributes (as requested by options) are made on the destination file directly when the quick check indicates that the file’s data does not need to be updated.
This is often fine in most applications. It's quicker than the alternative method which calculates a checksum for each file. This second method will guarantee tracking differences that might slip by the first method.
In any case rsync does not keep multiple copies of files it's a gross file copier/synchronizer keeping one directory synchronized with another per the options that you give it.
Checksum method
If you're curious here's the switching I use to rsync to perform this type of sync:
$ rsync -avvz -O --stats --checksum --human-readable --acls \
--itemize-changes --progress \
--out-format='[%t] [%i] (Last Modified: %M) (bytes: %-10l) %-100n' \
"SRC" "DEST"
This generates this type of output:
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO sending incremental file list
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO delta-transmission disabled for local transfer or --whole-file
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO [2014/02/20 09:51:48] [.d..t......] (Last Modified: 2014/02/19-15:51:34) (bytes: 0 ) ./
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO [2014/02/20 09:51:48] [>f+++++++++] (Last Modified: 2014/02/19-15:51:33) (bytes: 27981892 ) somefile.zip
27.98M 100% 82.27MB/s 0:00:00 (xfer#1, to-check=0/2) 0
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO total: matches=0 hash_hits=0 false_alarms=0 data=27981892
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO rsync[25205] (sender) heap statistics:
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO arena: 1060864 (bytes from sbrk)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO ordblks: 1 (chunks not in use)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO smblks: 4
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO hblks: 1 (chunks from mmap)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO hblkhd: 135168 (bytes from mmap)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO allmem: 1196032 (bytes from sbrk + mmap)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO usmblks: 0
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO fsmblks: 304
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO uordblks: 667008 (bytes used)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO fordblks: 393856 (bytes free)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO keepcost: 393552 (bytes in releasable chunk)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO rsync[25207] (server receiver) heap statistics:
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO arena: 286720 (bytes from sbrk)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO ordblks: 2 (chunks not in use)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO smblks: 3
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO hblks: 3 (chunks from mmap)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO hblkhd: 667648 (bytes from mmap)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO allmem: 954368 (bytes from sbrk + mmap)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO usmblks: 0
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO fsmblks: 224
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO uordblks: 174480 (bytes used)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO fordblks: 112240 (bytes free)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO keepcost: 102352 (bytes in releasable chunk)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO rsync[25206] (server generator) heap statistics:
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO arena: 135168 (bytes from sbrk)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO ordblks: 2 (chunks not in use)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO smblks: 6
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO hblks: 2 (chunks from mmap)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO hblkhd: 401408 (bytes from mmap)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO allmem: 536576 (bytes from sbrk + mmap)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO usmblks: 0
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO fsmblks: 400
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO uordblks: 82960 (bytes used)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO fordblks: 52208 (bytes free)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO keepcost: 32816 (bytes in releasable chunk)
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO Number of files: 2
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO Number of files transferred: 1
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO Total file size: 27.98M bytes
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO Total transferred file size: 27.98M bytes
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO Literal data: 27.98M bytes
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO Matched data: 0 bytes
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO File list size: 93
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO File list generation time: 1.277 seconds
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO File list transfer time: 0.000 seconds
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO Total bytes sent: 27.99M
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO Total bytes received: 34
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO sent 27.99M bytes received 34 bytes 11.20M bytes/sec
2014/02/20 09:51:49 INFO total size is 27.98M speedup is 1.00