hashicorp/vagrant · error · Vagrant::Errors::RSyncNotInstalledInGuest

"rsync" was not detected as installed in your guest machine.

Error message

"rsync" was not detected as installed in your guest machine. This
is required for rsync synced folders to work. In addition to this,
Vagrant doesn't know how to automatically install rsync for your
machine, so you must do this manually.

What it means

On enable, the rsync synced folder checks the guest's rsync_installed capability. If rsync is absent and the guest also lacks an rsync_install capability (so Vagrant could auto-install it), it raises RSyncNotInstalledInGuest with %{bin} = "rsync". The guest must carry rsync itself.

Source

Thrown at plugins/synced_folders/rsync/synced_folder.rb:38

      end

      def usable?(machine, raise_error=false)
        rsync_path = Which.which("rsync")
        return true if rsync_path
        return false if !raise_error
        raise Vagrant::Errors::RSyncNotFound
      end

      def prepare(machine, folders, opts)
        # Nothing is necessary to do before VM boot.
      end

      def enable(machine, folders, opts)
        if machine.guest.capability?(:rsync_installed)
          installed = machine.guest.capability(:rsync_installed)
          if !installed
            can_install = machine.guest.capability?(:rsync_install)
            raise Vagrant::Errors::RSyncNotInstalledInGuest if !can_install
            machine.ui.info I18n.t("vagrant.rsync_installing")
            machine.guest.capability(:rsync_install)
          end
        end

        ssh_info = machine.ssh_info

        if ssh_info[:private_key_path].empty? && ssh_info[:password]
          machine.ui.warn(I18n.t("vagrant.rsync_ssh_password"))
        end

        folders.each do |id, folder_opts|
          RsyncHelper.rsync_single(machine, ssh_info, folder_opts)
        end
      end

      # Enable rsync synced folders within WSL when in use
      # on non-DrvFs file systems

View on GitHub (pinned to 35f3160f4a)

Solutions

1. Pre-install rsync when building the box image (add to Packer provisioners)
2. Switch the synced folder to a type the guest supports (virtualbox, nfs)
3. Boot once, install rsync in the guest manually, then run vagrant rsync / vagrant reload
4. For distro plugin authors: implement the rsync_install capability so Vagrant can auto-install

Example fix

# before
config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/vagrant", type: "rsync"  # guest has no rsync, no auto-install

# after
config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/vagrant", type: "virtualbox"  # or bake rsync into the box

# before switching a folder to rsync, probe the guest
machine.communicate.test("command -v rsync >/dev/null") or ui.warn("guest lacks rsync - bake it into the box")

def guest_rsync_available?(machine)
  machine.guest.capability?(:rsync_installed) && machine.guest.capability(:rsync_installed)
end

begin
  env.cli(%w(up))
rescue Vagrant::Errors::RSyncNotInstalledInGuest
  abort "Install rsync in the guest, then `vagrant rsync` / reload"
end

When it happens

Trigger: A type: "rsync" synced folder enabled on a guest whose capability set implements rsync_installed but not rsync_install, with rsync not preinstalled — minimal Alpine-style boxes, stripped custom images, distros Vagrant can't auto-provision.

Common situations: Minimal cloud-init/container-ish guests; boxes built with packages stripped; switching a guest that always used vboxsf to rsync folders.

Related errors

• No NFS client was detected as installed in your guest machin
• There was an error while attempting to run the post rsync co
• The box you're attempting to add doesn't support the provide
• The box you're attempting to add doesn't support the request
• The box you're attempting to add doesn't support the request

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/vagrant@35f3160f4a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/daed529c86a0b948. Report an issue: GitHub.