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

[EricZolf]

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 <tl@stonemx.de> 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
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