diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/man.rst b/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/man.rst
index 8b427ca0..8adfbe1f 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/man.rst
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/man.rst
@@ -23,6 +23,21 @@ confdir
    deployed.
 
 
+OPTIONAL PARAMETERS
+-------------------
+owner
+   passed as-is as `--owner` to `__rsync`
+
+group
+   passed as-is as `--group` to `__rsync`
+
+
+OPTIONAL MULTIPLE PARAMETERS
+----------------------------
+rsync-opts
+   identical to __rsync type, only `--`-options are supported
+
+
 REQUIRED FILES
 --------------
 The directory specified by `confdir` has to contain a valid xymon-configuration
@@ -39,10 +54,16 @@ EXAMPLES
     # this will replace /etc/xymon/ on the target host with
     # the contents from __xymon_config/files/xymon.example.com/
 
+    ## the same but set ownership to `xymon:xymon` and exclude
+    ## the `netrc`-file:
+    __xymon_config --confdir=xymon.example.com \
+       --owner xymon --group xymon \
+       --rsync-opts "exclude=netrc"
+
 
 SEE ALSO
 --------
-:strong:`cdist__xymon_server`\ (7), :strong:`xymon`\ (7)
+:strong:`cdist__xymon_server`\ (7), :strong:`cdist__rsync`\ (7), :strong:`xymon`\ (7)
 
 AUTHORS
 -------
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/manifest b/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/manifest
index fb1bce54..4a5fb6c9 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/manifest
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/manifest
@@ -18,7 +18,26 @@
 # along with cdist. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 confdir=$(cat "$__object/parameter/confdir")
+set --
+if [ -f "$__object/parameter/owner" ]; then
+	owner=$(cat "$__object/parameter/owner")
+	set -- "$@" "--owner $owner"
+fi
+if [ -f "$__object/parameter/group" ]; then
+	group=$(cat "$__object/parameter/group")
+	set -- "$@" "--group $group"
+fi
 
+## pass `--rsync-opts` as-is to `__rsync`:
+if [ -f "$__object/parameter/rsync-opts" ]; then
+	while read -r opts; do
+		# shellcheck disable=SC2089
+		set -- "$@" "--rsync-opts '$opts'"
+	done < "$__object/parameter/rsync-opts"
+fi
+
+# shellcheck disable=SC2068,SC2090
 __rsync /etc/xymon/ \
 	--source "$__type/files/$confdir/" \
-	--rsync-opts "delete"
+	--rsync-opts "delete" \
+	$@
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/parameter/optional b/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/parameter/optional
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..866b4bde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/parameter/optional
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+owner
+group
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/parameter/optional_multiple b/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/parameter/optional_multiple
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fdb7cd88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__xymon_config/parameter/optional_multiple
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+rsync-opts