How to Compile and Use rsync on an ARM Development Board

What is rsync?

rsync

(remote sync) is a file‑synchronization utility that copies files between local directories or between a local host and a remote system. It transfers only changed parts of files, using size or modification time to detect differences.

Cross‑compiling rsync for an ARM board

Both the host and the target must have rsync installed; the target lacks it, so we compile from source for the ARM architecture.

Download the source archive from the official site:

https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/

Extract and prepare a temporary installation prefix:

tar -xvf rsync-3.2.3.tar.gz
cd rsync-3.2.3
mkdir tmp

Generate a cross‑compilation Makefile. The basic command is:

./configure --prefix=$PWD/tmp \
    --host=arm-linux-gnueabihf \
    CC=arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc

If the configuration fails with SIMD‑related errors, disable SIMD and other optional components that are not required. Example:

./configure --prefix=$PWD/tmp \
    --disable-simd \
    --disable-openssl \
    --disable-xxhash \
    --disable-zstd \
    --disable-lz4 \
    --host=arm-linux-gnueabihf \
    CC=arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc

After a successful configuration, build and install:

make
make install

The resulting rsync binary is placed in the tmp directory (e.g., tmp/usr/bin/rsync). Transfer it to the board, for example:

scp rsync [email protected]:/usr/bin/

Using rsync for incremental synchronization

On the board create a directory with test files (e.g., 100 files). From the host, synchronize the directory to the current working directory:

rsync -avzu --progress [email protected]:/root/test .

Common options: -a – archive mode (preserves timestamps, permissions, owners, etc.) -v – verbose output -z – compress data during transfer -u – skip files that are newer on the destination --progress – show transfer progress

Running the command again after adding new files on the board transfers only the new or changed files, demonstrating rsync’s incremental update capability.