rsync to a symlink directory

[Gwendal Stevanazzi]

Here is the structure of my servers :

Source :

/home/test1/link_dir
                sub_dir1
                      file1
                      file2
                      ...
                sub_dir2
                ...

Destination:

/home/test2/real_dir
                sub_dir1
                      file1
                      file2
                      ...
                subdir2
                      ...
/home/test2/link_dir@ -> real_dir



Now I want to update file1.
If I run the command
rsync -aRz file1 destination:/home/test2/link_dir/sub_dir1
from /home/test1/link_dir/sub_dir1 on source, no problem, the file is
updated.

If I run the command
rsync -aRz link_dir/sub_dir1/file1 destination:/home/test2/
from /home/test1 on source, the new fs structure on destination is:

/home/test2/real_dir
                sub_dir1
                      file1
                      file2
                      ...
                subdir2
                      ...

/home/test2/link_dir
                sub_dir1
                      file1

The symlink is erase and replace by a 'real' directory.


Is it the expected behaviour?

How could I prevent this kind of things to happen ?