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