Rsync is a lightweight, proven tool for reliable file replication, migration, and backup. It is also a staple on Linux systems, but sadly VMware never included it with ESXi, perhaps favoring commercial backup solutions.

This project restores essential Linux functionality on VMware ESXi by providing a fully static and portable rsync build, enabling reliable host-to-host and datastore-to-datastore file replication.

If you dont wan't to build your own, download here:

• Latest version: rsync v3.4.1 for ESXi

Debian 13 | Ubuntu 24 | RHEL 9 & 10 | CentOS 9 & 10 | Fedora 42 & 43

All build files are created in $HOME/build-static

RedHat specific Notes:

• The build script will first try to install the distro package glibc-static.
• If glibc-static is unavailable in the OS repo, the script automatically builds glibc-static and extracts it to $HOME/build-static.

1. On a fresh supported system, run the build script (not as root or sudo):

   ./rsync-esxi-builder-multiOS.sh

2. Copy the compiled rsync binary from $HOME/build-static/rsync/bin to all ESXi hosts.

3. On each ESXi host, set execute permissions on the new rsync executable:

   chmod 755 /path/to/rsync

4. From ESXi 8 onwards you must manually permit execution of non-native binaries:

   esxcli system settings advanced set -o /User/execInstalledOnly -i 0

5. Configure destination RSA SSH keys for passwordless host-to-host authentication.

   (Note: VMware ESXi 8 does not yet support Ed25519 keys for ESXi host-to-host sessions.)

This replication script is written in POSIX-compliant shell and supports replication between ESXi, BusyBox, and GNU/Linux systems.

The script provides:

• Reliable ESXi-to-ESXi or Linux-to-ESXi replication
• Fast/Safe copy modes for optimized transfer or reliability
• Automatic failover and retries on network or file errors
• Checksum verification for end-to-end data integrity
• Detailed logging for auditing and troubleshooting
• Automatic cleanup of orphan rsync processes

1. Ensure an rsync binary is installed on both source and destination ESXi hosts.

2. Set up RSA SSH keys for passwordless ssh access from the source host to the destination host.

3. Configure script options for source | destination | rsync binary paths | private key | excl 58EF udes (optional)

4. Choose your replication mode:

   • FAST: --fast – quick copy for high bw, networked filesystems or CPU constrained (minimal verification)
   • SAFE: --safe – slower but highly resilient, verifies all transferred data, can resume copy

5. Optional flags:

   • --dry-run → Test the replication without copying files
   • --checksum → Verify file integrity after transfer
   • --checksum-type=<algo> → Specify checksum algorithm (xxh3, md5, etc.)
   • --no-excludes → Copy all files regardless of exclude list

6. Run the replication script:

   ./rsync-host2-host.sh --safe --checksum

7. Monitor the logs for progress and errors. Logs are saved with timestamps in the configured log directory.

8. Recover from failures:

   • FAST mode automatically falls back to SAFE mode on errors or a user configurable timeout
   • Script will retry indefinitely (with user configurable retry intervals) until successful