Transferring Files Between Synology DiskStations with rsync

On the old device, enable the rsync service in the File Services control panel in the DiskStation Manager (DSM).

Log into the new device via SSH and run a big ol’ rsync command:

$ rsync --exclude '.DS_Store' --exclude '@eaDir' --exclude 'desktop.ini' -avhPc [SRC] [DEST] |& tee /tmp/rsync-output.txt

Note: When using the -a flag, you might get a “some files/attrs were not transferred” error at the end. This may be due to group or owner attribute inconsistencies between the two machines. To check, review the rsync output or perform a dry-run transfer. Alternatively, replace the -a flag before running the rsync command.

After everything has been transferred over, you might need to clean up any group, owner, or permission issues. (I’ve used an approach from the Synology knowledge base, but it’s pretty heavy-handed.)