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Asked: 2026-05-16T05:00:34+00:00

I am creating a bash script to backup my files with rsync. Backups all

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I am creating a bash script to backup my files with rsync.

Backups all come from a single directory.
I only want new or modified files to be backed up.

Currently, I am telling rsync to backup the dir, and to check the files compared to the last backup.

The way I am doing this is

THE_TIME=`date "+%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S"`
rsync -aP --link-dest=/Backup/Current /usr/home/user/backup /Backup/Backup-$THE_TIME
rm -f /Backup/Current
ln -s /Backup/Backup-$THE_TIME /Backup/Current

I am pretty sure I have the syntax correct for this. Each backup will check against the “Current” folder, and upload only as necesary. It will then delete the Current folder, and re-create the symlink to the newest backup it just did.

I am getting an error when I run the script:

rsync: link "/Backup/Backup-2010-08-04-12:21:15/dgs1200series_manual_310.pdf"

=> /Backup/Current/dgs1200series_manual_310.pdf
failed: Operation not supported (45)

The host OS is running HFS filesystem, which supports hard linking. I am trying to figure out if something else is not supporting this, or if I have a problem in my code.

Thanks for any help

Edit:

I am able to create a hard link on my local machine.
I am also able to create a hard link on the remote server (when logged in locally)
I am NOT able to create a hard link on the remote server when mounted via afp. Even if both files exist on the server.

I am guessing this is a limitation of afp.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Two things from the man page stand out that are worth checking:

    If file’s aren’t linking, double-check their attributes. Also
    check if some attributes are getting forced outside of rsync’s
    control, such a mount option that squishes root to a single
    user, or mounts a removable drive with generic ownership (such
    as OS X’s “Ignore ownership on this volume” option).

    and

    Note that rsync versions prior to 2.6.1 had a bug that could
    prevent –link-dest from working properly for a non-super-user
    when -o was specified (or implied by -a). You can work-around
    this bug by avoiding the -o option when sending to an old rsync.

    Do you have the “ignore ownership” option turned on? What version of rsync do you have?

    Also, have you tried manually creating a similar hardlink using ln at the command line?

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