Re: How to exclude all dotfiles in a folder but include a specific set?

Yeah, I do that (except using Debian/testing) with duplicity 
<https://duplicity.gitlab.io/> for my encrypted off-site backup since it 
doesn't provide a windows build, but haven't with rdiff-backup because I 
assumed its Windows build would work better (this is for my existing 
backups of my financial documents).  Maybe I should rethink that for 
this new backup I'm starting (and maybe for the existing backup too). 
Unfortunately I doubt I'll be able to reuse my existing backup repo with 
either cygwin or WSL because the paths will be different.

On 2023-01-10 14:02, Reio Remma reio-at-mrstuudio.ee 
|rdiff-backup-users| wrote:
> I'm personally using WSL2 / AlmaLinux 9 to run rdiff-backup on Windows 
> files.
>
> Good luck
> Reio
>
> On 10.01.2023 22:43, EricZolf wrote:
>> You could try to use the cygwin version of rdiff-backup, because 
>> cygwin maps all drives under /cygdrive. Disclaimer: I didn't try and 
>> it's been ages since I used last cygwin.
>>
>> KR, Eric
>>
>> On January 10, 2023 12:52:09 PM UTC, Patrik Dufresne 
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> On windows, if you want to backup C: and H: you must execute 
>>> rdiff-backup
>>> twice. Once for C: and another for H: with a different destination.
>>>
>>> I tried to quickly search the documentation for a reference, but I 
>>> could
>>> not find it...
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 1:03 AM <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Nice, I haven't used --include/exclude before, but I have a use 
>>>> case now
>>>> so I want to try it.
>>>>
>>>> How do I make this work on Windows where there isn't (AFAIK) a common
>>>> root for all the drives?  For example I want to do
>>>> rdiff-backup \
>>>>       --include C:/from1 \
>>>>       --exclude C:/from1/exclude1 \
>>>>       --exclude C:/from1/exclude2 \
>>>>       --include H:/from2 \
>>>>       --exclude H:/from2/exclude3 \
>>>>       --include C:/from3 \
>>>>      sourcedir \\nas4free\my-backup.rdiff-backup
>>>> but I don't know what I can use for sourcedir that will allow me to
>>>> include directories from both C: and H:.  The 3 included 
>>>> directories are
>>>> all logically related so I prefer to back them up to a single
>>>> repository.  Is there a way to do this on Windows?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 2023-01-09 12:30, EricZolf ewl+rdiffbackup-at-lavar.de
>>>> |rdiff-backup-users| wrote:
>>>>> Order does indeed matter _ and_ there is an implicit include "all" at
>>>> the end, so that the slightly simpler following command should also 
>>>> work:
>>>>> rdiff-backup --terminal-verbosity 5 \
>>>>> --include /tmp/from/.2 \
>>>>> --exclude /tmp/from/.\* \
>>>>> --exclude /tmp/from/2 \
>>>>> /tmp/from ./to.
>>>>>
>>>>> It basically depends if you want to save the full path or not.
>>>>>
>>>>> K R, Eric.
>>>>>
>>>>> On January 9, 2023 11:42:10 AM UTC, Tobias Leupold <[email protected]>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> Yay, I made it :-D ;-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The --include and --exclude order actually DOES matter.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If invoked like so:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>      rdiff-backup --terminal-verbosity 5 \
>>>>>>          --include /tmp/from/.2 \
>>>>>>          --exclude /tmp/from/.\* \
>>>>>>          --exclude /tmp/from/2 \
>>>>>>          --include /tmp/from/\* \
>>>>>>          --exclude / \
>>>>>>          / ./to
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I get what I want:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>      Processing changed file .
>>>>>>      Processing changed file tmp
>>>>>>      Processing changed file tmp/from
>>>>>>      Processing changed file tmp/from/.2
>>>>>>      Processing changed file tmp/from/1
>>>>>>      Processing changed file tmp/from/3
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A bit hard to figure out, but it works!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks again for helping!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Am Montag, 9. Januar 2023, 10:31:53 CET schrieb Tobias Leupold:
>>>>>>> Hi Eric!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks for yout reply!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The problem is that I don't know the complete list of the "normal"
>>>>>>> folders I want to include. But I know a complete list of dotfiles I
>>>> want
>>>>>>> to include.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So, if we have
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> /tmp/from/1
>>>>>>> /tmp/from/2
>>>>>>> /tmp/from/3
>>>>>>> /tmp/from/.1
>>>>>>> /tmp/from/.2
>>>>>>> /tmp/from/.3
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I want to exclude all the files starting with a ., but include a 
>>>>>>> list
>>>> of
>>>>>>> specific files starting with a ".", e.g. /tmp/from/.2 (at this 
>>>>>>> point,
>>>>>>> it's not a problem yet I think ...).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But I also want to include all the regular files and folders from
>>>>>>> /tmp/from, with e.g. the exception of /tmp/from/2. But I don't 
>>>>>>> know the
>>>>>>> list to include. And that's the problem -- there could also be
>>>>>>> /tmp/from/4, /tmp/from/5 and so on.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Now if I do
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>        rdiff-backup \
>>>>>>>            --include /tmp/from/\* \
>>>>>>>            --exclude /tmp/from/2 \
>>>>>>>            --include /tmp/from/.2 \
>>>>>>>            --exclude /tmp/from/.\* \
>>>>>>>            --exclude / \
>>>>>>>            / ./to
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> all the files from /tmp/from are included (also /tmp/from/2 and 
>>>>>>> all the
>>>>>>> /tmp/from/.whatever files) no matter the order of the --include and
>>>>>>> --exclude statements.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I also tried to mess with --include-regexp, but e.g. this:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>        rdiff-backup --terminal-verbosity 5 \
>>>>>>>            --include-regexp "/tmp/from/[^\.].+" \
>>>>>>>            --exclude / \
>>>>>>>            / ./to
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> leads to no files included at all ...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Am 09.01.23 um 07:16 schrieb Eric Zolf:
>>>>>>>> Hi Tobias,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> what about something like:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> mkdir /tmp/from
>>>>>>>> touch /tmp/from/.{un,}wanted /tmp/from/also{un,}wanted
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> rdiff-backup -v5 backup \
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>        --include /tmp/from/.wanted --exclude /tmp/from/.\* \
>>>>>>>>        --include /tmp/from/alsowanted --exclude /tmp/from/\* \
>>>>>>>>        /tmp/from /tmp/bak
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> (and /tmp/bak contains then only the wanted files)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> So first the includes, then the corresponding excludes. It 
>>>>>>>> shouldn't
>>>>>>>> make a difference if from the command line using 
>>>>>>>> --include/exclude or
>>>>>>>> using files with --include/exclude-globbing-filelist
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hope this helps,
>>>>>>>> Eric
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 08/01/2023 23:32, Tobias Leupold wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Dear list,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I use rdiff-backup to do automated backups on my server. I 
>>>>>>>>> backup /,
>>>>>>>>> but I
>>>>>>>>> exclude everything and only include what I need. E.g. I use the
>>>>>>>>> following call
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>        rdiff-backup --include-globbing-filelist 
>>>>>>>>> /etc/backup.include \
>>>>>>>>>                     --exclude / \
>>>>>>>>>                     / /backup/data
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> and specify a list of folders I want in /etc/backup.include, e.g.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>        /etc/crontab
>>>>>>>>>        /etc/postfix
>>>>>>>>>        /etc/dovecot
>>>>>>>>>        /usr/local/bin
>>>>>>>>>        /usr/local/sbin
>>>>>>>>>        /srv
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> That works just fine.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Now I'm trying to adapt this to a machine with similar 
>>>>>>>>> requirements,
>>>> but
>>>>>>>>> including some parts of a home directory.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> What I can't get to work is: I want to include the home 
>>>>>>>>> directory,
>>>> but
>>>>>>>>> without
>>>>>>>>> all the .whatever files. But I want SOME of them.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> E.g. I want:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>        /etc/some/config_file
>>>>>>>>>        /etc/some/other/config_file
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> And also all the "normal" files and folders in /home/my_user
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>        /home/my_user/folder_1
>>>>>>>>>        /home/my_user/folder_2
>>>>>>>>>        /home/my_user/foo
>>>>>>>>>        /home/my_user/bar
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> and so on, but I don't want
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>        /home/my_user/.*
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> but I DO want a defined set of dotfiles, e.g.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>        /home/my_user/.ssh
>>>>>>>>>        /home/my_user/.local/share/foo
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I can't get this to work. I played around a lot with
>>>> --include-globbing-
>>>>>>>>> filelist, --exclude-globbing-filelist, --include and 
>>>>>>>>> --exclude, but
>>>>>>>>> either, I
>>>>>>>>> get none of the .whatever files inside /home/my_user, or I get 
>>>>>>>>> all of
>>>>>>>>> them.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Is it possible to do this? Thanks in advance for all help!
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Cheers, Tobias
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>
>