Linux error: bash: rsync: command not found

Today I came across a weird problem that I’ve never seen before. While trying to migrate information from one server to another using rsync I get this error:

bash: rsync: command not found

This was the full output:

[[email protected]:~]rsync -avpr -e 'ssh -p 22' [email protected]:/home/company/public_html/* /home/company/public_html/
bash: rsync: command not found
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (0 bytes received so far) [receiver]
rsync error: remote command not found (code 127) at io.c(600) [receiver=3.0.6]

The problem was on the remote host, who didn’t had rsync installed.

How can I fix bash: rsync: command not found error?

Install rsync on the remote host to fix this issue.

On Ubuntu/Debian operating systems:

apt-get install rsync

On CentOS/RHEL operating systems:

yum install rsync

Output example:

[[email protected] ~]# yum install rsync
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: centos.xfree.com.ar
* extras: centos.xfree.com.ar
* updates: centos.xfree.com.ar
Excluding Packages in global exclude list
Finished
Setting up Install Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package rsync.i386 0:3.0.6-6.el5_11 set to be updated
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Installing:
rsync i386 3.0.6-6.el5_11 updates 338 k

Total download size: 338 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
rsync-3.0.6-6.el5_11.i386.rpm | 338 kB 00:00
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Installing : rsync 1/1

Installed:
rsync.i386 0:3.0.6-6.el5_11

Complete!

Then run rsync again in your new server to transfer the files, it should work without issues.

[[email protected]:~]rsync -avpr -e 'ssh -p 22' [email protected]:/home/company/public_html/* /home/company/public_html/
receiving incremental file list
400.shtml
401.shtml
403.shtml
404.shtml
500.shtml

That’s all, rsync is working again and your bash: rsync: command not found should be gone.

Further reading:

About the Author: Esteban Borges

Experienced Sr. Linux SysAdmin and Web Technologist, passionate about building tools, automating processes, fixing server issues, troubleshooting, securing and optimizing high traffic websites.

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