my system is running rsync version 3.0.7. i want to use it to synchronize files and folders in another directory on the same system. however, i want to exclude particular files and/or folders when i execute the command. i'm not familiar with rsync and i'd like someone to please verify the syntax for me. below is an example of what i want to do:

rsync -vru --exclude=/path/to/source/files/dir1 --exclude=/path/to/source/files/dir2 --exclude=/path/to/source/files/dir3/filename1.ext --exclude=filename2.ext --dry-run /path/to/source/files /path/to/target/folder

would my example work (with and without the dry-run flag)?

thanks in advance...

I'd rather not assume I know exactly what it is you want to do, but here are some tips:

1) The -a flag might be of use to you to make sure you sync pretty much everything.

2) The order of the --exclude's matters.

3) There is a difference between hiding something and excluding something. See the more general --filter option.

4) Use the -i flag so you can see exactly what is going on. I usually have a -in at the end of my rsync command. That way I can check what's happening first, then easily run the command again and remove the n so it can run for real.

5) If you want a true sync, you may want to look at the --delete flag. And to be safe, look into the --backup flag (to be used with --delete).

6) A trailing slash matters for the source directory! (It doesn't matter for the destination.)

Good luck!

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Ok, so looking at your command, there is one thing that I'm sure you are confused about.

Your source is /path/to/source/files and, for example, your first exclude is /path/to/source/files/dir1. This is actually excluding /path/to/source/files/path/to/source/files/dir1. The filter rules are relative to the source. So what you want is one of the following:

1) --exclude=dir1 # this will exclude any file or directory named dir1, anywhere below /path/to/source/files

2) --exclude=dir1/ # this will exclude ONLY directories named dir1, anywhere below /path/to/source/files

3) --exclude=/dir1 # this will exclude TTHE file/directory dir1 if it exists at the root of your transfer, so /path/to/source/files/dir1, and only that

4) --exclude=/dir1/ # similar to the above, but only a directory

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Meson,

is there a difference between HIDE and EXCLUDE? if so, what is it?

If you exclude a file/dir then it won't be transferred; it also won't be deleted if it exists on the destination but not source.

If you hide a file/dir, it's as if it doesn't exist. So if it is on the destination, and you use the --delete option, the file will be deleted.

Can you please elaborate? For my backups, I'm thinking about switching to an exclude *file* (high numbers of exclude arguments quickly become unwieldy in the --exclude= syntax).

Does order apply here too? I.e. Do I put "wildcards" (folders and/or files occuring anywhere) first or last in the list?

Thx.

You have to play around with it. Use the "-n" flag for a dry run.