https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2025/04/06/rsync-replaced-with-openrsync-on-macos-sequoia/

Der Flounder

Seldom updated, occasionally insightful.

  * Home
  * About
  * Contact
  *  

[                        ] []
Home > Mac administration, macOS > rsync replaced with openrsync on
macOS Sequoia

rsync replaced with openrsync on macOS Sequoia

April 6, 2025 rtrouton Leave a comment Go to comments

On many Unix-based operating systems, rsync is a command line tool
for transferring and synchronizing files on a computer, either
between storage attached directly to the computer or between another
computer located elsewhere on a network. The rsync command line tool
has long been included on macOS, but Apple has provided the last
version of rsync 2.x (rsync 2.6.9, released in November 2006) and did
not update rsync past that even though rsync 3.x was released. Why
not? It has to do with the version of the GNU General Public License
(GPL) open source license that rsync 2.x and 3.x were released under,
with rsync 2.x being released under the GPLv2 license and rsync 3.x
being released under the GPLv3 license. Without going in-depth into
the background legal issues, the reason for not providing rsync 3.x
is that Apple decided that while it could comply with the terms of
GPLv2 license with regards to rsync 2.x, it could not comply with the
terms of GPLv3 license with regards to rsync 3.x.

What this has meant for macOS is that it has been shipping with a
version of rsync which was last updated in 2006. While Apple has been
updating the rsync 2.6.9 command line tool it shipped with macOS as
needed in response to security issues and other problems, the fact
remains that Apple's version of rsync up until macOS Sequoia was
almost twenty years old and did not include any of the new features
introduced in rsync versions which came after version 2.6.9.

Now with macOS Sequoia, Apple has replaced rsync 2.6.9 with openrsync
, an implementation of rsync which is not using any version of the
GPL open source license. Instead, openrsync is licensed under the BSD
family of licenses, specifically the ISC license. The ISC license is
a permissive license, which means it places minimal restrictions on
on how the licensed software can be used, modified and distributed,
which means Apple decided it is able to comply with the terms of the
license for openrsync where it decided it could not comply with the
terms of GPLv3 license with regards to rsync 3.x.

So I've spent a bunch of time talking about licenses. Why does this
change matter? It matters in two ways:

 1. Apple can ship updated versions of openrsync going forward
    without having to be concerned as to whether or not Apple can
    comply with the GPL open source license for rsync.
 2. The openrsync command line tool is compatible with rsync, but as
    noted in the documentation openrsync accepts only a subset of
    rsync's command line arguments.

Item number 2 is important for Mac admins because it may mean that
rsync functionality that worked on older versions of macOS may not be
working now on macOS Sequoia because that functionality is not
available as part of the openrsync command line tool included with
macOS Sequoia. For more information about what functionality is
supported in the openrsync command line tool on macOS Sequoia, please
see the link below:

https://manp.gs/mac/1/openrsync

As of macOS 15.4, the openrsync tool is linked to /usr/bin/rsync so
you can run the the openrsync command line tool like you have been
the rsync command line tool. For version information about the
openrsync command line tool, run the command shown below:



This file contains bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted
or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the
file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters

Show hidden characters





 /usr/bin/rsync -version

view raw

gistfile1.txt

hosted with  by GitHub

You should see output similar to that shown below:



This file contains bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted
or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the
file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters

Show hidden characters





 username@computername ~ % /usr/bin/rsync -version
 openrsync: protocol version 29
 rsync version 2.6.9 compatible
 username@computername ~ %

view raw

gistfile1.txt

hosted with  by GitHub

Share this:

  * Print
  * Email
  * More
  * 

  * Facebook
  * LinkedIn
  * Reddit
  * Twitter
  * Pinterest
  * Tumblr
  * Pocket
  * 

Like Loading...

Related

Categories: Mac administration, macOS
Comments (3) Leave a comment

 1. [ee8]
    mike
    April 6, 2025 at 10:08 pm
    Reply
   
    The command on (both) line one(s) should read : /usr/bin/rsync
    -version

      + [fb8]
        rtrouton
        April 7, 2025 at 12:14 am
        Reply
       
        That's a WordPress display issue. If you click on the Gist
        link, it's correct.

 2. [02c]
    dvsjr
    April 6, 2025 at 10:56 pm
    Reply
   
    Thanks for the summary Rich!

 1. No trackbacks yet.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

 [                                             ] 
 [                                             ] 
 [                                             ] 
 [                                             ] 
 [                                             ] 
 [                                             ] 
 [                                             ] 
D[                                             ] 

Identifying MDM-managed user accounts on macOS Sequoia
RSS feed

  * Google
  * Youdao
  * Xian Guo
  * Zhua Xia
  * My Yahoo!
  * newsgator
  * Bloglines
  * iNezha

     April 2025
M  T  W  T  F  S  S
   1  2  3  4  5  6
7  8  9  10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30  

<< Mar    

Recent Comments

[fb809] rtrouton on rsync replaced with openrsync...
[02c85] dvsjr on rsync replaced with openrsync...
[ee89f] mike on rsync replaced with openrsync...
[72325] bigmacadmin on Identifying MDM-managed user a...
[fb809] rtrouton on Identifying MDM-managed user a...

Categories

Categories[Select Category                              ]
Archives

  * April 2025
  * March 2025
  * February 2025
  * January 2025
  * December 2024
  * November 2024
  * October 2024
  * September 2024
  * August 2024
  * July 2024
  * June 2024
  * May 2024
  * April 2024
  * March 2024
  * February 2024
  * January 2024
  * December 2023
  * November 2023
  * October 2023
  * September 2023
  * August 2023
  * July 2023
  * June 2023
  * May 2023
  * April 2023
  * March 2023
  * February 2023
  * January 2023
  * December 2022
  * November 2022
  * October 2022
  * September 2022
  * July 2022
  * June 2022
  * May 2022
  * April 2022
  * March 2022
  * February 2022
  * January 2022
  * December 2021
  * November 2021
  * October 2021
  * September 2021
  * August 2021
  * July 2021
  * June 2021
  * May 2021
  * April 2021
  * March 2021
  * February 2021
  * January 2021
  * December 2020
  * November 2020
  * October 2020
  * September 2020
  * August 2020
  * July 2020
  * June 2020
  * May 2020
  * April 2020
  * March 2020
  * February 2020
  * January 2020
  * December 2019
  * November 2019
  * October 2019
  * September 2019
  * August 2019
  * July 2019
  * June 2019
  * May 2019
  * April 2019
  * March 2019
  * February 2019
  * January 2019
  * December 2018
  * November 2018
  * October 2018
  * September 2018
  * August 2018
  * July 2018
  * June 2018
  * May 2018
  * April 2018
  * March 2018
  * February 2018
  * January 2018
  * December 2017
  * November 2017
  * October 2017
  * September 2017
  * August 2017
  * July 2017
  * June 2017
  * May 2017
  * April 2017
  * March 2017
  * February 2017
  * January 2017
  * December 2016
  * November 2016
  * October 2016
  * September 2016
  * August 2016
  * July 2016
  * June 2016
  * May 2016
  * April 2016
  * March 2016
  * February 2016
  * January 2016
  * December 2015
  * November 2015
  * October 2015
  * September 2015
  * August 2015
  * July 2015
  * June 2015
  * May 2015
  * April 2015
  * March 2015
  * February 2015
  * January 2015
  * December 2014
  * November 2014
  * October 2014
  * September 2014
  * August 2014
  * July 2014
  * June 2014
  * May 2014
  * April 2014
  * March 2014
  * February 2014
  * January 2014
  * December 2013
  * November 2013
  * October 2013
  * September 2013
  * August 2013
  * July 2013
  * June 2013
  * May 2013
  * April 2013
  * March 2013
  * February 2013
  * January 2013
  * December 2012
  * November 2012
  * October 2012
  * September 2012
  * August 2012
  * July 2012
  * June 2012
  * May 2012
  * April 2012
  * March 2012
  * February 2012
  * January 2012
  * December 2011
  * November 2011
  * October 2011
  * September 2011
  * August 2011
  * July 2011
  * June 2011
  * May 2011
  * April 2011
  * March 2011
  * February 2011
  * January 2011
  * December 2010
  * November 2010
  * October 2010
  * September 2010
  * August 2010
  * July 2010
  * May 2010
  * March 2010
  * February 2010
  * December 2009
  * November 2009
  * October 2009
  * September 2009
  * June 2009
  * April 2009
  * March 2009
  * February 2009
  * December 2008
  * November 2008
  * October 2008
  * September 2008
  * March 2008
  * February 2008
  * December 2007
  * November 2007
  * October 2007
  * September 2007
  * July 2007
  * June 2007
  * May 2007
  * April 2007
  * March 2007
  * February 2007
  * January 2007
  * December 2006
  * November 2006
  * October 2006
  * September 2006
  * August 2006
  * July 2006
  * June 2006
  * May 2006
  * April 2006
  * March 2006
  * February 2006
  * January 2006
  * December 2005
  * November 2005
  * October 2005
  * September 2005
  * July 2005
  * June 2005
  * May 2005
  * April 2005
  * March 2005
  * February 2005
  * January 2005
  * December 2004
  * November 2004
  * October 2004
  * September 2004
  * August 2004
  * July 2004
  * June 2004
  * May 2004
  * April 2004
  * March 2004
  * February 2004
  * January 2004
  * December 2003
  * November 2003
  * October 2003
  * September 2003
  * August 2003
  * July 2003
  * June 2003
  * May 2003

Blog Stats

  * 10,680,711 hits

Top
Blog at WordPress.com.

  * Comment
  * Reblog
  * Subscribe Subscribed
      + [wpcom-] Der Flounder
        Join 765 other subscribers
        [                    ]
        Sign me up
      + Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
  * Privacy
  * 
      + [wpcom-] Der Flounder
      + Subscribe Subscribed
      + Sign up
      + Log in
      + Copy shortlink
      + Report this content
      + View post in Reader
      + Manage subscriptions
      + Collapse this bar

%d

[b]