rsync ssh recursive dry run error / no rsync on server

Question

looking to use rsync to transfer directory from remote to local recursivly with a dry-run. So far from rync man pages I settle on this:

rsync -rnvh user@server.com:/directory /local_directory/

and I get this

rsync error: remote command not found (code 127)

do I have to use this:

scp -rv user@server.com:/directory /local_directory/

(Which works perfectly fine for my one-time limited case) I'd rather get rsync running.

I've tried installing rsync on server without success. My access is quite limited on the remote server.

Answer 1

You don't need the -e ssh (unless you're using a really really ancient version of rsync) - ssh is the default.

For dry run:

rsync -avn user@server.com:/directory/ /local_directory/

For actual sync:

rsync -av user@server.com:/directory/ /local_directory/

Also note the trailing /s - otherwise you can end up with /local_directory/local_directory etc.