diff --git a/cmd/limactl/copy.go b/cmd/limactl/copy.go
index 4b5fc3e3cf6..8bd980a1229 100644
--- a/cmd/limactl/copy.go
+++ b/cmd/limactl/copy.go
@@ -21,6 +21,13 @@ Prefix guest filenames with the instance name and a colon.
 Example: limactl copy default:/etc/os-release .
 `
 
+type copyTool string
+
+const (
+	rsync copyTool = "rsync"
+	scp   copyTool = "scp"
+)
+
 func newCopyCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	copyCommand := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:     "copy SOURCE ... TARGET",
@@ -49,13 +56,6 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	arg0, err := exec.LookPath("scp")
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	instances := make(map[string]*store.Instance)
-	scpFlags := []string{}
-	scpArgs := []string{}
 	debug, err := cmd.Flags().GetBool("debug")
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -65,6 +65,45 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		verbose = true
 	}
 
+	cpTool := rsync
+	arg0, err := exec.LookPath(string(cpTool))
+	if err != nil {
+		arg0, err = exec.LookPath(string(cpTool))
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	logrus.Infof("using copy tool %q", arg0)
+
+	var copyCmd *exec.Cmd
+	switch cpTool {
+	case scp:
+		copyCmd, err = scpCommand(arg0, args, verbose, recursive)
+	case rsync:
+		copyCmd, err = rsyncCommand(arg0, args, verbose, recursive)
+	default:
+		err = fmt.Errorf("invalid copy tool %q", cpTool)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	copyCmd.Stdin = cmd.InOrStdin()
+	copyCmd.Stdout = cmd.OutOrStdout()
+	copyCmd.Stderr = cmd.ErrOrStderr()
+	logrus.Debugf("executing %v (may take a long time)", copyCmd)
+
+	// TODO: use syscall.Exec directly (results in losing tty?)
+	return copyCmd.Run()
+}
+
+func scpCommand(command string, args []string, verbose, recursive bool) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
+	instances := make(map[string]*store.Instance)
+
+	scpFlags := []string{}
+	scpArgs := []string{}
+	var err error
+
 	if verbose {
 		scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-v")
 	} else {
@@ -74,6 +113,7 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if recursive {
 		scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-r")
 	}
+
 	// this assumes that ssh and scp come from the same place, but scp has no -V
 	legacySSH := sshutil.DetectOpenSSHVersion("ssh").LessThan(*semver.New("8.0.0"))
 	for _, arg := range args {
@@ -86,12 +126,12 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			inst, err := store.Inspect(instName)
 			if err != nil {
 				if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
-					return fmt.Errorf("instance %q does not exist, run `limactl create %s` to create a new instance", instName, instName)
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("instance %q does not exist, run `limactl create %s` to create a new instance", instName, instName)
 				}
-				return err
+				return nil, err
 			}
 			if inst.Status == store.StatusStopped {
-				return fmt.Errorf("instance %q is stopped, run `limactl start %s` to start the instance", instName, instName)
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("instance %q is stopped, run `limactl start %s` to start the instance", instName, instName)
 			}
 			if legacySSH {
 				scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-P", fmt.Sprintf("%d", inst.SSHLocalPort))
@@ -101,11 +141,11 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			}
 			instances[instName] = inst
 		default:
-			return fmt.Errorf("path %q contains multiple colons", arg)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("path %q contains multiple colons", arg)
 		}
 	}
 	if legacySSH && len(instances) > 1 {
-		return errors.New("more than one (instance) host is involved in this command, this is only supported for openSSH v8.0 or higher")
+		return nil, errors.New("more than one (instance) host is involved in this command, this is only supported for openSSH v8.0 or higher")
 	}
 	scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-3", "--")
 	scpArgs = append(scpFlags, scpArgs...)
@@ -118,24 +158,90 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		for _, inst := range instances {
 			sshOpts, err = sshutil.SSHOpts("ssh", inst.Dir, *inst.Config.User.Name, false, false, false, false)
 			if err != nil {
-				return err
+				return nil, err
 			}
 		}
 	} else {
 		// Copying among multiple hosts; we can't pass in host-specific options.
 		sshOpts, err = sshutil.CommonOpts("ssh", false)
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
 	sshArgs := sshutil.SSHArgsFromOpts(sshOpts)
 
-	sshCmd := exec.Command(arg0, append(sshArgs, scpArgs...)...)
-	sshCmd.Stdin = cmd.InOrStdin()
-	sshCmd.Stdout = cmd.OutOrStdout()
-	sshCmd.Stderr = cmd.ErrOrStderr()
-	logrus.Debugf("executing scp (may take a long time): %+v", sshCmd.Args)
+	return exec.Command(command, append(sshArgs, scpArgs...)...), nil
+}
 
-	// TODO: use syscall.Exec directly (results in losing tty?)
-	return sshCmd.Run()
+func rsyncCommand(command string, args []string, verbose, recursive bool) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
+	instances := make(map[string]*store.Instance)
+
+	var instName string
+
+	rsyncFlags := []string{}
+	rsyncArgs := []string{}
+
+	if verbose {
+		rsyncFlags = append(rsyncFlags, "-v", "--progress")
+	} else {
+		rsyncFlags = append(rsyncFlags, "-q")
+	}
+
+	if recursive {
+		rsyncFlags = append(rsyncFlags, "-r")
+	}
+
+	for _, arg := range args {
+		path := strings.Split(arg, ":")
+		switch len(path) {
+		case 1:
+			inst, ok := instances[instName]
+			if !ok {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("instance %q does not exist, run `limactl create %s` to create a new instance", instName, instName)
+			}
+			guestVM := fmt.Sprintf("%s@127.0.0.1:%s", *inst.Config.User.Name, path[0])
+			rsyncArgs = append(rsyncArgs, guestVM)
+		case 2:
+			instName = path[0]
+			inst, err := store.Inspect(instName)
+			if err != nil {
+				if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("instance %q does not exist, run `limactl create %s` to create a new instance", instName, instName)
+				}
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			sshOpts, err := sshutil.SSHOpts("ssh", inst.Dir, *inst.Config.User.Name, false, false, false, false)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+
+			sshArgs := sshutil.SSHArgsFromOpts(sshOpts)
+			sshStr := fmt.Sprintf("ssh -p %s %s", fmt.Sprintf("%d", inst.SSHLocalPort), strings.Join(sshArgs, " "))
+
+			destDir := args[1]
+			mkdirCmd := exec.Command(
+				"ssh",
+				"-p", fmt.Sprintf("%d", inst.SSHLocalPort),
+			)
+			mkdirCmd.Args = append(mkdirCmd.Args, sshArgs...)
+			mkdirCmd.Args = append(mkdirCmd.Args,
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s@%s", *inst.Config.User.Name, "127.0.0.1"),
+				fmt.Sprintf("sudo mkdir -p %q && sudo chown %s:%s %s", destDir, *inst.Config.User.Name, *inst.Config.User.Name, destDir),
+			)
+			mkdirCmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
+			mkdirCmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+			if err := mkdirCmd.Run(); err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create directory %q on remote: %w", destDir, err)
+			}
+
+			rsyncArgs = append(rsyncArgs, "-avz", "-e", sshStr, path[1])
+			instances[instName] = inst
+		default:
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("path %q contains multiple colons", arg)
+		}
+	}
+
+	rsyncArgs = append(rsyncFlags, rsyncArgs...)
+
+	return exec.Command(command, rsyncArgs...), nil
 }
diff --git a/hack/test-templates.sh b/hack/test-templates.sh
index 8dfe2e24835..aebebb11cab 100755
--- a/hack/test-templates.sh
+++ b/hack/test-templates.sh
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ if [ "$got" != "$expected" ]; then
 fi
 
 INFO "Testing limactl copy command"
-tmpfile="$HOME/lima-hostname"
+tmpfile="/var/tmp/lima-hostname"
 rm -f "$tmpfile"
 limactl cp "$NAME":/etc/hostname "$tmpfile"
 defer "rm -f \"$tmpfile\""
diff --git a/pkg/hostagent/hostagent.go b/pkg/hostagent/hostagent.go
index 396401a4896..9d2c54d85da 100644
--- a/pkg/hostagent/hostagent.go
+++ b/pkg/hostagent/hostagent.go
@@ -424,6 +424,41 @@ func (a *HostAgent) Info(_ context.Context) (*hostagentapi.Info, error) {
 	return info, nil
 }
 
+func (a *HostAgent) installPackage() error {
+	logrus.Debugf("installing packages")
+
+	faScript := `#!/bin/bash
+	if ! output=$(type rsync 2>&1); then
+		echo "rsync is not installed. Attempting to install..."
+	
+		# Try to install rsync based on the OS
+		if [ -f /etc/debian_version ]; then
+			sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y rsync
+		elif [ -f /etc/alpine-release ]; then
+			sudo apk add rsync
+		elif [ -f /etc/redhat-release ]; then
+			sudo yum install -y rsync
+		elif [ -f /etc/arch-release ]; then
+			sudo pacman -S --noconfirm rsync
+		else
+			echo "Unsupported Linux distribution. Please install rsync manually."
+		fi
+
+		echo "rsync installation complete."
+	else
+		echo "rsync is already installed."
+	fi`
+	faDesc := "installing rsync"
+	stdout, stderr, err := ssh.ExecuteScript(a.instSSHAddress, a.sshLocalPort, a.sshConfig, faScript, faDesc)
+	logrus.Debugf("stdout=%q, stderr=%q, err=%v", stdout, stderr, err)
+	if err != nil {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("stdout=%q, stderr=%q: %w", stdout, stderr, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (a *HostAgent) startHostAgentRoutines(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if *a.instConfig.Plain {
 		logrus.Info("Running in plain mode. Mounts, port forwarding, containerd, etc. will be ignored. Guest agent will not be running.")
@@ -439,6 +474,11 @@ func (a *HostAgent) startHostAgentRoutines(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if err := a.waitForRequirements("essential", a.essentialRequirements()); err != nil {
 		errs = append(errs, err)
 	}
+
+	if err := a.installPackage(); err != nil {
+		errs = append(errs, err)
+	}
+
 	if *a.instConfig.SSH.ForwardAgent {
 		faScript := `#!/bin/bash
 set -eux -o pipefail