rsync Daemon (rsyncd)

The rsync daemon exposes file modules over the rsync:// protocol for fast, efficient network file synchronisation and backups. Unlike SSH-based rsync, rsyncd runs as a standalone service — useful for automated, password-protected transfers without requiring SSH access.

rsyncd is pre-installed on Shani OS. Lock and state files persist in /data/varlib/rsync across OS updates.

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Server Setup

Configuration

Create /etc/rsyncd.conf:

# Global settings
uid = nobody
gid = nobody
use chroot = yes
max connections = 4
log file = /var/log/rsyncd.log
pid file = /var/run/rsyncd.pid

[backup]
    comment = Network Backup
    path = /home/user/backups
    read only = false
    auth users = syncuser
    secrets file = /etc/rsyncd.secrets
    hosts allow = 192.168.1.0/24

[media]
    comment = Read-only Media Mirror
    path = /srv/media
    read only = true
    list = true
    hosts allow = 192.168.1.0/24

Authentication

Create /etc/rsyncd.secrets with username:password pairs:

echo "syncuser:StrongPassword123" | sudo tee /etc/rsyncd.secrets
sudo chmod 600 /etc/rsyncd.secrets

Enable & Firewall

# Enable the service
sudo systemctl enable --now rsyncd

# Open port 873 (restrict to your LAN)
sudo firewall-cmd --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" source address="192.168.1.0/24" port port="873" protocol="tcp" accept' --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

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Client Usage

# List available modules on the server
rsync rsync://syncuser@192.168.1.100/

# Sync a local directory to the server (with progress)
rsync -avz --progress /local/dir/ rsync://syncuser@192.168.1.100/backup/

# Pull files from the server to local
rsync -avz rsync://syncuser@192.168.1.100/media/ /mnt/media/

# Dry run (shows what would be transferred without doing it)
rsync -avzn /local/dir/ rsync://syncuser@192.168.1.100/backup/

For one-off transfers between machines that have SSH access, SSH-tunnelled rsync is simpler — no daemon required:

rsync -avz -e "ssh -p 2222" ~/myproject youruser@192.168.1.100:~/

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Troubleshooting

| Issue | Solution | |-------|----------| | Connection refused | Check systemctl status rsyncd; confirm port 873 is open: sudo firewall-cmd --list-all | | Auth failed | Verify /etc/rsyncd.secrets has mode 600 (sudo chmod 600 /etc/rsyncd.secrets) and the username in the client command matches auth users in the config | | hosts allow blocking your client | Check the client IP is within the hosts allow range; temporarily remove the restriction for testing | | Files not syncing (no errors) | Add -v for verbose output; check that the source path ends with / if you want directory contents (not the directory itself) |