Re: [CentOS] rsync arg list to long

Robert - elists wrote:

...

I was trying to do "rsync -a root@machine2:/somedirectory ."

There are multiple directories under the tree and yes many files.

also tried "scp -r root@machine2:/somedirectory ." with the same result of too many files.

Jerry

First, back up the files to somewhere else on the same machine just in case...

Then, consider doing a proper recursive tar or zip that preserves permissions etc and dust the rest and then do it as only a single file or thereabouts

rsync -a knows as much or more about permissions, etc. as tar and zip do. And it is vastly more efficient when you repeat it to the same destination.