rdiff(1)

rdiff1

Compute and apply signature-based file differences

Synopsys

rdiff [options] signature old-file signature-file

rdiff [options] delta signature-file new-file delta-file

rdiff [options] patch old-file delta-file new-file

Usage

You can use rdiff to update files, much like rsync does. However, unlike rsync, rdiff puts you in control. There are three steps to updating a file: signature, delta, and patch. Use the signature subcommand to generate a small signature-file from the old-file. Use the delta subcommand to generate a small delta-file from the signature-file to the new-file. Use the patch subcommand to apply the delta-file to the old-file to regenerate the new-file.

Overview

In every case where a filename must be specified, - may be used instead to mean either standard input or standard output as appropriate. Be aware that if you do this, you'll need to terminate your options with -- or rdiff will think you are passing it an empty option.

Return value

0 for successful completion, 1 for environmental problems (file not found, invalid options, IO error, etc), 2 for a corrupt file and 3 for an internal error or unhandled situation in librsync or rdiff.

Releases

13 releases since Debian 3.0 (Woody); the text changed 2 times.

  1. 3.0
  2. 3.1–10
  3. 11–Arch

Author

Martin Pool <[email protected]>

The original rsync algorithm was discovered by Andrew Tridgell.

rdiff development has been supported by Linuxcare, Inc and VA Linux Systems.

From librsync 1:2.3.4-2 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's man source.