diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+propellor (4.7.2) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * Added PROPELLOR_TRACE environment variable, which can be set to 1 to
+    make propellor output serialized Propellor.Message.Trace values,
+    for consumption by another program.
+  * Rsync: Make rsync display its progress, in a minimal format to avoid
+    scrolling each file down the screen.
+
+ -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Sat, 29 Jul 2017 15:49:00 -0400
+
 propellor (4.7.1) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * Added Mount.isMounted.
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+propellor (4.7.2) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * Added PROPELLOR_TRACE environment variable, which can be set to 1 to
+    make propellor output serialized Propellor.Message.Trace values,
+    for consumption by another program.
+  * Rsync: Make rsync display its progress, in a minimal format to avoid
+    scrolling each file down the screen.
+
+ -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Sat, 29 Jul 2017 15:49:00 -0400
+
 propellor (4.7.1) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * Added Mount.isMounted.
diff --git a/propellor.cabal b/propellor.cabal
--- a/propellor.cabal
+++ b/propellor.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name: propellor
-Version: 4.7.1
+Version: 4.7.2
 Cabal-Version: >= 1.20
 License: BSD2
 Maintainer: Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>
diff --git a/src/Propellor/Message.hs b/src/Propellor/Message.hs
--- a/src/Propellor/Message.hs
+++ b/src/Propellor/Message.hs
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 -- the messages will be displayed sequentially.
 
 module Propellor.Message (
+	Trace(..),
+	parseTrace,
 	getMessageHandle,
 	isConsole,
 	forceConsole,
@@ -21,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import System.Console.ANSI
 import System.IO
+import Control.Monad.IfElse
 import Control.Monad.IO.Class (liftIO, MonadIO)
 import System.IO.Unsafe (unsafePerformIO)
 import Control.Concurrent
@@ -31,10 +34,25 @@
 import Propellor.Types
 import Propellor.Types.Exception
 import Utility.Monad
+import Utility.Env
 import Utility.Exception
+import Utility.PartialPrelude
 
+-- | Serializable tracing. Export `PROPELLOR_TRACE=1` in the environment to
+-- make propellor emit these to stdout, in addition to its other output.
+data Trace 
+	= ActionStart (Maybe HostName) Desc
+	| ActionEnd Result
+	deriving (Read, Show)
+
+-- | Given a line read from propellor, if it's a serialized Trace,
+-- parses it.
+parseTrace :: String -> Maybe Trace
+parseTrace = readish
+
 data MessageHandle = MessageHandle
 	{ isConsole :: Bool
+	, traceEnabled :: Bool
 	}
 
 -- | A shared global variable for the MessageHandle.
@@ -43,11 +61,16 @@
 globalMessageHandle = unsafePerformIO $ 
 	newMVar =<< MessageHandle
 		<$> catchDefaultIO False (hIsTerminalDevice stdout)
+		<*> ((== Just "1") <$> getEnv "PROPELLOR_TRACE")
 
 -- | Gets the global MessageHandle.
 getMessageHandle :: IO MessageHandle
 getMessageHandle = readMVar globalMessageHandle
 
+trace :: Trace -> IO ()
+trace t = whenM (traceEnabled <$> getMessageHandle) $
+	putStrLn $ show t
+
 -- | Force console output. This can be used when stdout is not directly
 -- connected to a console, but is eventually going to be displayed at a
 -- console.
@@ -63,20 +86,22 @@
 
 -- | Shows a message while performing an action, with a colored status
 -- display.
-actionMessage :: (MonadIO m, MonadMask m, ActionResult r) => Desc -> m r -> m r
+actionMessage :: (MonadIO m, MonadMask m, ActionResult r, ToResult r) => Desc -> m r -> m r
 actionMessage = actionMessage' Nothing
 
 -- | Shows a message while performing an action on a specified host,
 -- with a colored status display.
-actionMessageOn :: (MonadIO m, MonadMask m, ActionResult r) => HostName -> Desc -> m r -> m r
+actionMessageOn :: (MonadIO m, MonadMask m, ActionResult r, ToResult r) => HostName -> Desc -> m r -> m r
 actionMessageOn = actionMessage' . Just
 
-actionMessage' :: (MonadIO m, ActionResult r) => Maybe HostName -> Desc -> m r -> m r
+actionMessage' :: (MonadIO m, ActionResult r, ToResult r) => Maybe HostName -> Desc -> m r -> m r
 actionMessage' mhn desc a = do
 	liftIO $ outputConcurrent
 		=<< whenConsole (setTitleCode $ "propellor: " ++ desc)
 
+	liftIO $ trace $ ActionStart mhn desc
 	r <- a
+	liftIO $ trace $ ActionEnd $ toResult r
 
 	liftIO $ outputConcurrent . concat =<< sequence
 		[ whenConsole $
diff --git a/src/Propellor/Property/Chroot.hs b/src/Propellor/Property/Chroot.hs
--- a/src/Propellor/Property/Chroot.hs
+++ b/src/Propellor/Property/Chroot.hs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 import System.Posix.Directory
 
 -- | Specification of a chroot. Normally you'll use `debootstrapped` or
--- `bootstrapped` to construct a Chroot value.
+-- `bootstrapped` or `hostChroot` to construct a Chroot value.
 data Chroot where
 	Chroot :: ChrootBootstrapper b => FilePath -> b -> InfoPropagator -> Host -> Chroot
 
diff --git a/src/Propellor/Property/Rsync.hs b/src/Propellor/Property/Rsync.hs
--- a/src/Propellor/Property/Rsync.hs
+++ b/src/Propellor/Property/Rsync.hs
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
 	, addTrailingPathSeparator dest
 	, "--delete"
 	, "--delete-excluded"
-	, "--quiet"
+	, "--info=progress2"
 	] ++ map toRsync filters
 
 rsync :: [String] -> Property (DebianLike + ArchLinux)
diff --git a/src/Propellor/Types/Result.hs b/src/Propellor/Types/Result.hs
--- a/src/Propellor/Types/Result.hs
+++ b/src/Propellor/Types/Result.hs
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
 	toResult False = FailedChange
 	toResult True = MadeChange
 
+instance ToResult Result where
+	toResult = id
+
 -- | Results of actions, with color.
 class ActionResult a where
 	getActionResult :: a -> (String, ColorIntensity, Color)