rsync - May 2002 - bug report

I'm new to this list and I hope this is the proper way to submit a bug.  If
not then please advise.  Also I'm not a list subscriber so please email me
directly and cc the list if appropriate.

I beleive I have found a bug in rsync.  It is reproducable and easy to confirm.

summary:
======
If rsync is directed to copy a directory tree into another machine and the
target directory does not exist then rsync will not create the required path and
instead issues this message:

mkdir failure:  No such file or directory

example:
======
rsync -av --progress -e "ssh -1" /etc/          
$1:/altsync/$HOSTNAME/etc

This example is being called from a bash shell.  $1 is the name of the target
machine and the idea is that several machines will be backed up to the chosen
target with the following directory
structure:

/altsync/hostname1/etc
/altsync/hostname2/etc
/altsync/hostname3/etc

If the target "hostname" directory exists, then rsync runs.  If the
target "hostname" directory does not exist, rather than creating it,
rsync bombs because the mkdir for "~/hostname/etc" fails.

reproducable:
=========
Yes

------------------

documentation shortcomming:

The above form of the -e option is not documented.   IMHO it should be.

On Fri, 10 May 2002, terrell Larson wrote:
> If rsync is directed to copy a directory tree into another machine and
> the target directory does not exist then rsync will not create the
> required path
Dave Dykstra just recently responded to another user that this is the
intended behavior of rsync.  It will create one level of new directory
in the destination, but no more.  You could make the command you cited
above work by specifying "etc" rather than "etc/":

rsync -av --progress -e "ssh -1" /etc $1:/altsync/$HOSTNAME

This will create the $HOSTNAME dir, if needed, but you can't use
anything deeper than one directory in the source path.

The other way to go is to use the --relative option:

rsync -avP --relative -e "ssh -1" /any/path/at/all
$1:/altsync/$HOSTNAME

This will create the $HOSTNAME dir and all the /any/path/at/all dirs, as
needed.
> The [option-specifying form] of the -e option is not documented.
> IMHO it should be.
I agree.  I've whipped up the following patch for rsync.yo, which I
will commit to CVS in a moment:

Index: rsync.yo
--- rsync.yo	2002/05/09 21:44:46	1.99
+++ rsync.yo	2002/05/10 19:47:05
@@ -515,6 +515,13 @@
 remote copies of rsync. Typically, rsync is configured to use rsh by
 default, but you may prefer to use ssh because of its high security.
 
+Feel free to include options in the COMMAND.  For instance:
+
+quote(-e "ssh -1 -l joe")
+
+(Note that ssh users can alternately store off site-specific connect
+options in their .ssh/config file.)
+
 You can also choose the remote shell program using the RSYNC_RSH
 environment variable.

..wayne..