rsync not using --files-from option?

Question

I'm trying to run rsync -a --files-from=~/.rsync_file_list ~/destination and it tells me: rsync error: syntax or usage error (code 1) at options.c(1652) [client=3.0.7]. Can anyone enlighten me as to what I'm doing wrong?

The file ~/.rsync_file_list just contains a list of file names prefaced with ~/, separated by newlines (though I've also tried listing them all on the same line, with the same result).

If I run rsync -a ~/file ~/file2 ~/file3 ~/destination it works just fine. So what am I missing about the --files-from option?

Answer 1

Okay, I found the problem.

1. The file containing file names has to contain only file names; no paths, relative or otherwise;
2. After specifying --files-from=FILE, rsync requires a source directory in which to find the files listed.

So the command should be rsync -a --files-from=~/.rsync_file_list $HOME/ /destination.

.rsync_file_list should read:

file 1
file 2
file 3

Answer 2

Using the "~" may not work inside a "files-from" file unless rsync is smart enough to recognize and translate the "~" symbol.

When you specify a "~" as part of a command in your shell's command line, it is the shell itself that converts "~" to your home directory before passing the argument along to the program. So even though you type rsync -a ~/file, what rsync "sees" is actually the resolved path, or rsync -a /home/foo/file.

See Bash Tilde Expansion for more information.