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    A bit of clarification on the parameters mentioned: -a = recursion + keep symbolic links, permissions, modification times, owner, group, special files and device files (the latter requires super-user privileges); -l = keep symbolic links (already included in -a); -P = show progress during the transfer + keep partially transferred files; -v = verbose mode (however it seems mandatory when using -P to avoid a weird (bug?) protocol version mismatch error); -z = enable compression of transferred data. Commented Dec 7, 2015 at 13:52
  • @WhiteWinterWolf it seems to be version dependant whether the -l switch has to be used or not. I remember older versions didn't include -l in -a. Commented Dec 7, 2015 at 15:13
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    Using rsync is not adviced if you have very large number of files (40000+) as it might run out of memory - especially on smaller systems like Raspberry Pi 1-3. The more files you have, the more memory rsync uses (at least prior to version 3.1 - not sure if it's yet fixed in that or newer either), leading to rsync eventually using all system memory. Commented Apr 16, 2020 at 10:16