I am manually backing up my main personal folder using rsync.
When rsync from Fedora to an ext3 external drive, no trouble.

When rsync from Fedora to FAT, two dozen files gave me this error.
Example:
When I checked, the files don't have that weird extension. They are mostly pdf printed from Firefox and odt.

This post says it is a permission issue. I don't know enough to tweak permissions. So my question is, why did these files get this property, and how can I avoid it in the future?

Thank you!!

There are multiple possible causes for that error. Can you provide the rsync command line you used?
Doing so shoudl make enough of the issue clear that we can make a better determination.

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libreoffice creates a hidden temp file when you open a document and should delete it when closed. Looks like you have a straggling file.

rsync wants to change permission on the destination like the source but since permissions between linux and FAT file systems are not compatible it fails.

This is why rsync works when using an ext3 file system as the destination.

As posted knowing what options you are using will help. One thing to note is that -a i.e. archive mode equals -rlptgoD (no -H,-A,-X) and p = permissions.

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Just something equivalent to a no frills file browser drag-and-drop.

thank you for your insights, I will remember to include the command in the future.

Dang straggling files, I still have some refuse left from Mac OS.
However, my hidden files are visible and I don't see that extension anywhere. The extension is also there on the PDFs printed on Firefox. I'm guessing that extension is for an rsync temp file.

Maybe I could use an option to strip permissions until I learn them better.

When you show us a command it really helps if you show us the ENTIRE command, that one has no source or target and would error due to the missing elements. I am sure that was not your real command line.

We may not need it.
I have reviewed the evidence and situation again, and have this advice: use something like tar that preserves the permissions even if you use a target tar file on a fat volume, for your backups. (or use a true backup tool, that takes these things into account.) The rsync error is likely to be, as michaelk mentioned, due to rsync trying to replicate the *nix permissions on a FAT target where they are not supported. Therefor it appears that you see the error because you are using the wrong tool, or using it in a situation where your expectations are not supported.

IF the permissions are of no importance, you could just ignore the errors. In that case you cannot expect the files to restore to a *nix file system (Ext2/3/4, XFS, BTRFS, etc) with the original permissions. If that is not a problem, this may still be an workable solution. If the ownership and permissions matter, then you need a different solution.

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Oh of course, wish I had thought of the ENTIRE command. Thanks again for the insight and here it is.

[user@fedora ~]$ rsync -ra --info=progress2 '/home/user/_personal' '/run/media/user/FAT_01_user/_personal/_d20220613_personal_backup'

I will study Tar. If I archive a directory that has files with weird permissions, and extract them into a different filesystem, wouldn't tar refuse to copy them? If not I would expect the issue to recur during a later rsync.

Maybe I should just accept that filesystem conversions are lossy.

It looks like you're missing the / on the destination directory. rsync behaves very differently if the slashes are missing from directory names.

Also the -r is redundant when combined with -a because the -a covers -r -l -p -t -g -o and -D. You might wish to add a -v though.

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That's surprising because I got that from dragging it in from Nautilus. Is there some special purpose between the inclusion or exclusion of a slash?

Good to know! I may never use -v anymore now that there's --info=progress2. The progress % is very inaccurate but it tells me that it's working, and it only prints out the errors, which is more important than the successes.

I believe the rsync man page on my Manjaro install contains examples and a description of the meaning and effects of the trailing '/' for the source and target cases.

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