$ drush -vy sql-sync @remote.dev @remote.test ssh -o PasswordAuthentication=no drush@remote 'COLUMNS=278 drush --backend=2 --verbose --yes --uri=dev.remote --root=/var/www/remote.dev sql-conf --all 2>&1' 2>&1 ssh -o PasswordAuthentication=no drush@remote 'COLUMNS=278 drush --backend=2 --verbose --yes --uri=test.remote --root=/var/www/remote.test sql-conf --all 2>&1' 2>&1 You will destroy data in foo/remote_test and replace with data from foo/remote_dev. Do you really want to continue? (y/n): y Array to string conversion environment.inc:643 Array to string conversion environment.inc:643 Starting to create database on Destination. ssh -o PasswordAuthentication=no drush@remote 'COLUMNS=278 drush --backend=2 --verbose --yes --strict=0 --root=/var/www/remote.test --uri=test.remote sql-create --sanitize --create-db --cache --structure-tables-key=common --skip-tables-key=common 2>&1' 2>&1 Initialized Drupal 7.32 root directory at /var/www/remote.test Initialized Drupal site test.remote at sites/default Creating database remote_test. Any possible existing database will be dropped! Do you really want to continue? (y/n): y Calling system(mysql --database=information_schema --host=localhost --user=remote_test --password='pass' < /tmp/drush_u0EbBG); Command dispatch complete ERROR 1227 (42000) at line 1: Access denied; you need (at least one of) the RELOAD privilege(s) for this operation Starting to dump database on Source. ssh -o PasswordAuthentication=no drush@remote 'COLUMNS=278 drush --backend=2 --verbose --yes --strict=0 --root=/var/www/remote.dev --uri=dev.remote sql-dump --sanitize --create-db --cache --structure-tables-key=common --skip-tables-key=common --gzip --result-file --ordered-dump 2>&1' 2>&1 Initialized Drupal 7.32 root directory at /var/www/remote.dev Initialized Drupal site dev.remote at sites/default /usr/bin/php -d magic_quotes_gpc=Off -d magic_quotes_runtime=Off -d magic_quotes_sybase=Off /usr/share/php/drush/drush.php --php=/usr/bin/php --php-options=' -d magic_quotes_gpc=Off -d magic_quotes_runtime=Off -d magic_quotes_sybase=Off' --backend=2 --root=/var/www/remote.dev --uri=dev.remote sql-query 'SHOW TABLES' 2>&1 Command dispatch complete Calling system(mysqldump --result-file /home/drush/drush-backups/foo/20141029171753/foo_20141029_171753.sql --no-autocommit --single-transaction --opt -Q foo --host=localhost --port=3306 --user=root --password=root --skip-extended-insert --order-by-primary --ignore-table=foo.cache --ignore-table=foo.cache_filter --ignore-table=foo.cache_menu --ignore-table=foo.cache_page --ignore-table=foo.history --ignore-table=foo.sessions --ignore-table=foo.watchdog && mysqldump --no-data --no-autocommit --single-transaction --opt -Q foo --host=localhost --port=3306 --user=root --password=root --skip-extended-insert --order-by-primary cache cache_filter cache_menu cache_page history sessions watchdog >> /home/drush/drush-backups/foo/20141029171753/foo_20141029_171753.sql && gzip -f /home/drush/drush-backups/foo/20141029171753/foo_20141029_171753.sql); Database dump saved to /home/drush/drush-backups/foo/20141029171753/foo_20141029_171753.sql.gz Command dispatch complete The Drush sql-dump command did not report the path to the dump file produced. Try upgrading the version of Drush you are using on the source machine. Command dispatch complete $aliases["remote.dev"] = array ( '#name' => 'remote.dev', 'path-aliases' => array ( '%files' => 'sites/default/files', '%private' => 'sites/default/private/files', ), 'command-specific' => array ( 'sql-sync' => array ( 'cache' => true, 'create-db' => true, 'sanitize' => true, 'ordered-dump' => false, 'structure-tables-key' => 'common', 'skip-tables-key' => 'common', 'structure-tables' => array ( 'common' => array ( 0 => 'cache', 1 => 'cache_filter', 2 => 'cache_menu', 3 => 'cache_page', 4 => 'history', 5 => 'search_index', 6 => 'sessions', 7 => 'watchdog', ), ), 'skip-tables' => array ( 'common' => array ( 0 => 'field_deleted_revision_63', ), ), ), 'sql-dump' => array ( 'ordered-dump' => true, 'structure-tables-key' => 'common', 'skip-tables-key' => 'common', ), 'rsync' => array ( 'mode' => 'rlptzO', 'verbose' => true, 'no-perms' => true, 'exclude-files' => '\'*.gz\'', 'ssh-options' => '-v', 'filter' => '\'exclude *.sql\'', ), ), 'source-command-specific' => array ( ), 'target-command-specific' => array ( ), 'variables' => array ( 'mail_system' => array ( 'default-system' => 'DevelMailLog', ), ), 'uri' => 'dev.remote', 'root' => '/var/www/remote.dev', 'remote-host' => 'foo', 'remote-user' => 'drush', '#test' => '@remote.test', 'ssh-options' => '-o PasswordAuthentication=no', '#file' => '~/Sites/drush/remote.aliases.drushrc.php', ); $aliases["remote.test"] = array ( '#name' => 'remote.test', 'path-aliases' => array ( '%files' => 'sites/default/files', '%private' => 'sites/default/private/files', ), 'command-specific' => array ( 'sql-sync' => array ( 'cache' => true, 'create-db' => true, 'sanitize' => true, 'ordered-dump' => false, 'structure-tables-key' => 'common', 'skip-tables-key' => 'common', 'structure-tables' => array ( 'common' => array ( 0 => 'cache', 1 => 'cache_filter', 2 => 'cache_menu', 3 => 'cache_page', 4 => 'history', 5 => 'search_index', 6 => 'sessions', 7 => 'watchdog', ), ), 'skip-tables' => array ( 'common' => array ( 0 => 'field_deleted_revision_63', ), ), ), 'sql-dump' => array ( 'ordered-dump' => true, 'structure-tables-key' => 'common', 'skip-tables-key' => 'common', ), 'rsync' => array ( 'mode' => 'rlptzO', 'verbose' => true, 'no-perms' => true, 'exclude-files' => '\'*.gz\'', 'ssh-options' => '-v', 'filter' => '\'exclude *.sql\'', ), ), 'source-command-specific' => array ( ), 'target-command-specific' => array ( ), 'variables' => array ( 'mail_system' => array ( 'default-system' => 'DevelMailLog', ), ), 'uri' => 'test.remote', 'root' => '/var/www/remote.test', 'remote-host' => 'foo', 'remote-user' => 'drush', 'ssh-options' => '-o PasswordAuthentication=no', '#file' => '~/Sites/drush/remote.aliases.drushrc.php', );