Output of --list-only not as I expected for symlinks

[Kevin Korb]

--list-only is simply a way to list remote files when you only have
access via rsync.  It ignores the rest of the command line.  You want
--dry-run (--itemize-changes would be a good idea too).

On 09/12/2018 11:06 AM, Michael Hipp via rsync wrote:
> The output of --list-only isn't as I expected as regards symlinks. Here
> are my test files:
> 
> $ ls ./src
> -rw-------  1 michael michael    0 2018-09-05 09:18:15 file
> lrwxrwxrwx  1 michael michael    4 2018-09-05 09:18:28 near_symlink -> file
> lrwxrwxrwx  1 michael michael   23 2018-09-05 09:19:05 far_symlink ->
> /home/michael/Documents
> 
> The "destination" dir is empty:
> 
> $ ls ./dest
> drwxr-xr-x 31 michael michael 4.0K 2018-09-12 09:46:06 ..
> drwx------  2 michael michael 4.0K 2018-09-12 09:50:20 .
> 
> I want to know which files are candidates to transfer. I don't want
> symlinks to transfer. So I run it with --list-only :
> 
> $ rsync -r --no-links --list-only ./src/ ./dest
> drwx------          4,096 2018/09/06 09:39:16 .
> lrwxrwxrwx             23 2018/09/05 09:19:05 far_symlink
> -rw-------              0 2018/09/05 09:18:15 file
> lrwxrwxrwx              4 2018/09/05 09:18:28 near_symlink
> 
> This seems to indicate the symlinks are expected to transfer. But if I
> actually run the transfer by removing --list-only ...
> 
> $ rsync -r --no-links ./src/ ./dest
> skipping non-regular file "far_symlink"
> skipping non-regular file "near_symlink"
> 
> It does not transfer the symlinks and this is confirmed by the contents
> of dest:
> 
> $ ls ./dest
> drwxr-xr-x 31 michael michael 4.0K 2018-09-12 09:46:06 ..
> -rw-------  1 michael michael    0 2018-09-12 09:57:50 file
> drwx------  2 michael michael 4.0K 2018-09-12 09:57:50 .
> 
> So it seems like --list-only isn't being truthful as it surely knows
> beforehand the symlinks will not be transferred regardless of the
> condition of dest.
> 
> What am I missing?
> 
> Thanks,
> Michael Hipp
> 
> 

-- 
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	Kevin Korb			Phone:    (407) 252-6853
	Systems Administrator		Internet:
	FutureQuest, Inc.		Kevin at FutureQuest.net  (work)
	Orlando, Florida		kmk at sanitarium.net (personal)
	Web page:			https://sanitarium.net/
	PGP public key available on web site.
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