How can I specify specific files to include/exclude in grsync/rsync?
Currently, I use different operations to backup files from only specified folders. I want to do it now in 1 pass. I think I should be looking at the include/exclude options?
Suppose I have a folder structure like
/ /inc1 /inc1.1 /... /inc2 /... /exc1 files in root here ... I want to only backup files/folders from inc1 & inc2 how can I do it?
3 Answers
You can use --include and --exclude options or for a backup process you may want to use --include-from so you can list the folders you want to back up in a file.
For example your file may be called includes.txt and save in your home directory. It would contain
inc1/ inc2/And the rsync command to back up folders inc1 and inc2 in your home directory would be
rsync $HOME --include-from=~/includes.txt /home/backup/rsync is very flexible, you are best off consulting the man page first and if you get stuck asking a more specific question.
1To include only specific directories, include them and their contents, then exclude *. If the directories aren't at the root, you need to include every directory leading to them. For example, to include only /source/inc1, /source/inc2 and /source/also/included:
rsync -a --include='/inc1/***' --include='/inc2/***' \ --include='/also' --include='/also/included/***' \ --exclude='*' /source /targetSee also a quick guide to common rsync filters.
1Maybe I'm missing something, but you can just specify those folders to rsync:
rsync -Pav /inc1 /inc2 /path/to/backup/folder/This will create:
/path/to/backup/folder/inc1/
/path/to/backup/folder/inc1/inc1.1/
/path/to/backup/folder/inc1/...
/path/to/backup/folder/inc2/
/path/to/backup/folder/inc2/...
