[CentOS] rsync -x does not do the same on EL 5.6 and 5.7

Thu Sep 8 06:32:20 UTC 2011
Simon Matter <simon.matter at invoca.ch>

Hi,

We re doing backups of all filesystems to a dedicated server using "rsync
-x". Now, the latest CentOS versions (5.7/6.x) come with rsync-3.0.6
instead of rsync-2.x. That's nice but unfortunately it doesn't do the same
as 2.x in certain situations.

The problem is with the -x option, which does not delete content under a
mount point anymore. It was my impression that this is a bug, but I've
been told it's a feature. The problem has shown up after I have added a
new mount point on a server.

I've added a BZ for RedHat and also posted to the rsync list as below:

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=735981

https://lists.samba.org/archive/rsync/2011-September/026766.html

Am I really the only one having problems with the new behaviour? It
affects all user running "rsync -x". The problem only shows up after new
mount points have been added to a subdirectory which is processed by rsync
-x. That may be the reason why not many people relize it. Still, I don't
see the logic behind the change which is why I take this here to hear what
others think.

Thanks,
Simon