rsync readonly mode?

RolandK via rsync <[email protected]> Wed, 8 Apr 2026 18:18:05 +0200
Newsgroups	gmane.network.rsync.general
Message-ID	<[email protected]>
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Hello,

we are using rsync mostly exclusively for packup purpose in "pull mode"=20
, run via script from a central backup server.

for that, we typically have allowed remote root login via ssh key.=C2=A0=
=20
rsync from the backup server pulls data from all hosts to be backed up=20
via ssh/rsync remote pipe.
it's running great for years in conjunction with zfs + inplace +=20
rotating snapshots.

besides the fact that we can use ssh security features to restrict what=20
commands can be run from remote - i am curious:

wouldn't it be an interesting idea to have some feature/switch in rsync,=
=20
which can globally (on a per host basis) turn rsync into=C2=A0=C2=A0"read-=
only" mode,
i.e. which makes rsync binary drop any capability of using=20
write/modify/delete syscalls ?=C2=A0 maybe via some hard-coded=20
/etc/rsync.conf , checked on startup ?

does this sound reasonable and wold someone find this useful , too ?

regards
roland

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    <p>Hello,=C2=A0<br>
      <br>
      we are using rsync mostly exclusively for packup purpose in "pull
      mode" , run via script from a central backup server.=C2=A0<br>
      <br>
      for that, we typically have allowed remote root login via ssh
      key.=C2=A0 rsync from the backup server pulls data from all hosts to=
 be
      backed up via ssh/rsync remote pipe.=C2=A0<br>
      it's running great for years in conjunction with zfs + inplace +
      rotating snapshots.=C2=A0<br>
      <br>
      besides the fact that we can use ssh security features to restrict
      what commands can be run from remote - i am curious:<br>
      <br>
      wouldn't it be an interesting idea to have some feature/switch in
      rsync, which can globally (on a per host basis) turn rsync
      into=C2=A0=C2=A0"read-only" mode,=C2=A0<br>
      i.e. which makes rsync binary drop any capability of using
      write/modify/delete syscalls ?=C2=A0 maybe via some hard-coded
      /etc/rsync.conf , checked on startup ?=C2=A0<br>
      <br>
      does this sound reasonable and wold someone find this useful , too
      ?<br>
      <br>
      regards<br>
      roland</p>
  </body>
</html>

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