RSYNC for ESXi

Build scripts for compiling rsync for use with VMware ESXi

Rsync is a mature Linux staple for reliably replicating files over imperfect or lower speed links. For data migration it is particularly useful for keeping track of data changes between systems during a staged cutover, but it is equally useful as a backup and disaster recovery tool.

If you dont want to build your own, a prebuilt rsync executable is available here: rsync v3.2.7 for ESXi

Compile rsync with Centos 7 or Docker

You will need either:

• For source build, an instance of Centos 7 OS Get the Centos 7 ISO here
• For Docker build, Docker pre installed (any host OS).

To compile rsync natively within Centos 7:

1. chmod +x rsync-esxi-compiler.sh && ./rsync-esxi-compiler.sh

To compile rsync within a fresh & isolated Docker container:

1. chmod +x rsync-esxi-compiler-docker.sh && ./rsync-esxi-compiler-docker.sh

Common completion steps:

2. Copy the completed rsync binary to a *persistent* location in ESXi: e.g. any VMFS datastore or /productLocker/ are good locations
3. In ESXi set execute permissions on rsync: chmod 755 rsync
4. ESXi 8 only (see issue #1): esxcli system settings advanced set -o /User/execInstalledOnly -i 0

ESXi rsync examples:

rsync via SSH (prompts for destination's password):

/productLocker/rsync -avurP --delete --progress /vmfs/volumes/source_path/* user@x.x.x.x:/destination_path/

rsync via SSH with SSHkey authentication (no password prompt)

• SSH keys can be used to enable rsync to non interactively authenticate to the destination. Save the destination's private SSH key to a file in a persistent location and change the file's permissions with: chmod 400 priv-key.txt The below example uses SSH key auth to automatically login and begin sync (no password or other ssh prompts):

/productLocker/rsync -avurP --delete --progress -e "ssh -i /productLocker/priv-key.txt -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null" /vmfs/volumes/source_path/* user@x.x.x.x:/destination_path/

rsync to a local USB Datastore

Note: rsync over USB can be slower than over the network. See here for instructions on adding a USB backup VMFS datastore.

1. Establish a USB VMFS backup datastore
2. Create a backup destination folder on the USB datastore e.g. mkdir /vmfs/volumes/USB_datastore/full_backup
3. Modify the below command to suit:

/vmfs/volumes/USB_destination_datastore/rsync -rltDv --delete --progress /vmfs/volumes/source_path/* /vmfs/volumes/USB_datastore/destination_path