Add option --skip-dir-with to skip directories containing a marker file

flist.c

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "rsync.h"
+#include <unistd.h>
 #include "ifuncs.h"
 #include "rounding.h"
 #include "inums.h"
@@ -277,6 +278,18 @@ static inline int path_is_daemon_excluded(char *path, int ignore_filename)
 
 static inline int is_excluded(const char *fname, int is_dir, int filter_level)
 {
+	/* Check for marker file in directories */
+	if (skip_dir_with_file && is_dir) {
+		char marker_path[MAXPATHLEN];
+		int len = snprintf(marker_path, MAXPATHLEN, "%s/%s", fname, skip_dir_with_file);
+
+		if (len > 0 && len < MAXPATHLEN && access(marker_path, F_OK) == 0) {
+			if (INFO_GTE(FLIST, 2))
+				rprintf(FINFO, "skipping directory %s containing %s marker\n",
+					full_fname(fname), skip_dir_with_file);
+			return 1;
+		}
+	}
 	return name_is_excluded(fname, is_dir ? NAME_IS_DIR : NAME_IS_FILE, filter_level);
 }
 

options.c

@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ int32 block_size = 0;
 time_t stop_at_utime = 0;
 char *skip_compress = NULL;
 char *copy_as = NULL;
+const char *skip_dir_with_file = NULL;
 item_list dparam_list = EMPTY_ITEM_LIST;
 
 /** Network address family. **/
@@ -584,7 +585,7 @@ enum {OPT_SERVER = 1000, OPT_DAEMON, OPT_SENDER, OPT_EXCLUDE, OPT_EXCLUDE_FROM,
       OPT_NO_D, OPT_APPEND, OPT_NO_ICONV, OPT_INFO, OPT_DEBUG, OPT_BLOCK_SIZE,
       OPT_USERMAP, OPT_GROUPMAP, OPT_CHOWN, OPT_BWLIMIT, OPT_STDERR,
       OPT_OLD_COMPRESS, OPT_NEW_COMPRESS, OPT_NO_COMPRESS, OPT_OLD_ARGS,
-      OPT_STOP_AFTER, OPT_STOP_AT,
+      OPT_STOP_AFTER, OPT_STOP_AT, OPT_SKIP_DIR_WITH,
       OPT_REFUSED_BASE = 9000};
 
 static struct poptOption long_options[] = {
@@ -841,6 +842,8 @@ static struct poptOption long_options[] = {
   {"dparam",           0,  POPT_ARG_STRING, 0, OPT_DAEMON, 0, 0 },
   {"detach",           0,  POPT_ARG_NONE,   0, OPT_DAEMON, 0, 0 },
   {"no-detach",        0,  POPT_ARG_NONE,   0, OPT_DAEMON, 0, 0 },
+  {"skip-compress",    0,  POPT_ARG_STRING, &skip_compress, 0, 0, 0 },
+  {"skip-dir-with",    0,  POPT_ARG_STRING, &skip_dir_with_file, OPT_SKIP_DIR_WITH, 0, 0 },
   {0,0,0,0, 0, 0, 0}
 };
 
@@ -1893,6 +1896,16 @@ int parse_arguments(int *argc_p, const char ***argv_p)
 			break;
 #endif
 
+		case OPT_SKIP_DIR_WITH:
+			arg = poptGetOptArg(pc);
+			if (arg && *arg)
+				skip_dir_with_file = arg;
+			else {
+				snprintf(err_buf, sizeof err_buf, "skip-dir-with requires a FILE argument\n");
+				goto cleanup;
+			}
+			break;
+
 		case OPT_STDERR: {
 			int len;
 			arg = poptGetOptArg(pc);

rsync.1.md

@@ -514,6 +514,7 @@ has its own detailed description later in this manpage.
 --compress-choice=STR    choose the compression algorithm (aka --zc)
 --compress-level=NUM     explicitly set compression level (aka --zl)
 --skip-compress=LIST     skip compressing files with suffix in LIST
+--skip-dir-with=FILE     skip directories containing specified FILE
 --cvs-exclude, -C        auto-ignore files in the same way CVS does
 --filter=RULE, -f        add a file-filtering RULE
 -F                       same as --filter='dir-merge /.rsync-filter'
@@ -2951,6 +2952,19 @@ expand it.
     list of non-compressing files (and its list may be configured to a
     different default).
 
+0.  `--skip-dir-with=FILE`
+
+    Skip directories that contain the specified FILE.
+
+    This option is useful for skipping transfer of directories that contain
+    a marker file indicating the directory should not be transferred. For
+    example, you could use it to skip directories containing temporary files or
+    cached data.
+
+    The FILE argument is required and specifies the name of the marker file to
+    look for. rsync will check each directory for the presence of a file with
+    this name, and if found, will skip the directory entirely.
+
 0.  `--numeric-ids`
 
     With this option rsync will transfer numeric group and user IDs rather than

rsync.h

@@ -1487,3 +1487,5 @@ const char *get_panic_action(void);
 #elif defined HAVE_MALLINFO
 #define MEM_ALLOC_INFO mallinfo
 #endif
+
+extern const char *skip_dir_with_file;

testsuite/skip-dir-with.test

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Copyright (C) 2025 Allan Clark
+
+# This program is distributable under the terms of the GNU GPL (see
+# COPYING).
+
+# Test rsync handling of --skip-dir-with option, which skips directories
+# containing a specified marker file.
+
+. "$suitedir/rsync.fns"
+
+# Build some files/dirs/links to copy
+makepath "$fromdir/dir1"
+makepath "$fromdir/dir2"
+makepath "$fromdir/dir3"
+makepath "$fromdir/dir4/subdir"
+
+# Add content to the directories
+echo "file1" > "$fromdir/dir1/file1.txt"
+echo "file2" > "$fromdir/dir2/file2.txt"
+echo "file3" > "$fromdir/dir3/file3.txt"
+echo "file4" > "$fromdir/dir4/file4.txt"
+echo "subfile" > "$fromdir/dir4/subdir/subfile.txt"
+
+# Create marker files
+touch "$fromdir/dir2/.marker"
+touch "$fromdir/dir4/subdir/.different_marker"
+
+# Test 1: Using .marker to skip dir2
+$RSYNC -a --skip-dir-with=.marker "$fromdir/" "$todir/"
+
+# Verify that dir2 was skipped
+test -d "$todir/dir2" && test_fail "dir2 with .marker was not skipped"
+test -d "$todir/dir1" || test_fail "dir1 should have been copied"
+test -d "$todir/dir3" || test_fail "dir3 should have been copied"
+test -d "$todir/dir4" || test_fail "dir4 should have been copied"
+
+# Cleanup
+rm -rf "$todir"/*
+
+# Test 2: Using .different_marker to skip subdir
+$RSYNC -a --skip-dir-with=.different_marker "$fromdir/" "$todir/"
+
+# Verify that dir4/subdir was skipped
+test -d "$todir/dir4/subdir" && test_fail "dir4/subdir with .different_marker was not skipped"
+test -d "$todir/dir1" || test_fail "dir1 should have been copied"
+test -d "$todir/dir2" || test_fail "dir2 should have been copied"
+test -d "$todir/dir3" || test_fail "dir3 should have been copied"
+test -f "$todir/dir4/file4.txt" || test_fail "dir4/file4.txt should have been copied"
+
+# Cleanup
+rm -rf "$todir"/*
+
+# Add more marker files for third test
+touch "$fromdir/dir1/.common_marker" 
+touch "$fromdir/dir3/.common_marker"
+
+# Test 3: Using .common_marker to skip multiple directories
+$RSYNC -a --skip-dir-with=.common_marker "$fromdir/" "$todir/"
+
+# Verify that both dir1 and dir3 were skipped
+test -d "$todir/dir1" && test_fail "dir1 with .common_marker was not skipped"
+test -d "$todir/dir3" && test_fail "dir3 with .common_marker was not skipped"
+test -d "$todir/dir2" || test_fail "dir2 should have been copied"
+test -d "$todir/dir4" || test_fail "dir4 should have been copied"
+
+# Success!
+exit 0