can I preserve UIDs/GIDs when transferring with rsync?

[Craig Barratt]

Tomasz Chmielewski writes:

> I noticed that rsync can preserve most of the file's characteristics 
> when it is used with "-a" option (it includes -o and -g flags for 
> preserving owners and groups).
> 
> However, when I transfer data between systems, it affects my UIDs/GIDs, 
> making the data hard to recover.
>
> [snip]
>
> Is it possible to transfer files with rsync, and to preserve the *exact* 
> UIDs and GIDs, rather than usernames/groupnames (which in turn point to 
> invalid UIDs and GIDs)?

rsync --numeric-ids

Craig