Re: Question about using --exclude

Eric, sorry about replying privately. I don't know what made me think 
you had replied to me privately. When I look now, I see it was addressed 
to the list. Thanks for the suggestions re the command.

Eric Beversluis
www.ericbeversluis.com
2x Honorable Mention--Writer's Digest Contest


On 2/23/25 12:51 PM, EricZolf wrote:
> Hi,
>
> again, please reply to the list and only to the list.
>
> On 23/02/2025 12:54, Eric Beversluis wrote:
>> HI Eric,
>> Maybe I edited too much out of the command to keep it brief. Here's 
>> the complete command. It's the one I've been long using with the 
>> addition of '--api-version 201' and '--exclude '/home/eric/VirtualBox 
>> VMs''.
>>
>> sudo rdiff-backup --api-version 201 backup  --exclude '/home/eric/ 
>> VirtualBox VMs' --include /home/eric --include /var/www --include 
>> /var/ lib/mysql --include /usr/share/fonts --exclude '**' / 
>> /run/media/eric/ ec90af29-6371-4399-9f2f-5eaf005af33e/XPS-2024-11-08
>>
>> The 'VirtualBox VMs' directory has gotten too big, with the new VM in 
>> there (that I created from scratch) and the files of the VM I was 
>> trying to restore from rdiff-backup. And since VirtualBox didn't like 
>> what I restored from rdiff-backup, I decided to leave that whole 
>> directory out of the backup.
>
> You didn't say which version of rdiff-backup you're using, but the 
> command line looks correct to me.
> You could do 2 things:
>
> 1. add `--verbosity 5` (or more) _before_ backup to list the f\iles 
> backed-up and see which files are really listed. Without it, how do 
> you know which files are backed up?
I knew it was backing up the \VirtualBox VMs directory when the backup 
was taking way too long, and I took a look at what was being written to 
the backup disk and the amount of space being used on the disk. At that 
point I aborted the backup and have since regressed it to the Feb 18 backup.

(Using rdiff-backup 2.2.6 on Fedora 40.)

Since the previous backup included \VirtualBox VMs, would that cause 
rdiff-backup to ignore the --exclude argument in the revised command?

> 2. replace the space through a question mark in 
> '/home/eric/VirtualBox?VMs'; it shouldn't be an issue but you never know.
>
> KR, Eric
>
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Eric Beversluis
>> www.ericbeversluis.com
>> 2x Honorable Mention--Writer's Digest Contest
>>
>>
>> On 2/23/25 2:51 AM, EricZolf wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>> are you sure this is the right command? It should have source and 
>>> target directory, but this one has only target. Which version of 
>>> rdiff-backup are you using?
>>> KR, Eric (too)
>>>
>>> On February 23, 2025 5:13:15 AM UTC, Eric Beversluis via Any 
>>> discussion of rdiff-backup <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> I'm trying to back up my home directory while excluding the / 
>>>> VirtualBox VMs directory. I came up with this new command that, 
>>>> according to the syntax instructions, should mean rdiff-backup 
>>>> would henceforth skip that directory.
>>>>
>>>>    rdiff-backup --api-version 201 backup  --exclude
>>>>    '/home/eric/VirtualBox VMs' --include /home/eric
>>>>    --exclude '**' /run/media/eric/backup
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yet, when I ran this command, it proceeded to backup the 
>>>> 'VirtualBox VMs' folder. I thought I understood the syntax as 
>>>> saying that the -- exclude Folder, coming before the --include 
>>>> /home/eric would take precedence and leave Folder out of the 
>>>> /home/eric backup.
>>>>
>>>> What am I getting wrong here?
>>
>
>