excluding hidden directories when using tar

djgerbavore · 12-16-2005, 02:42 PM

i'm trying to write a script that backs up my home directory, however i'm having trouble trying to exclude the hidden directories from the tar command.
These are the commands i've tried with no success:

Code:

tar -cvvf - ~root/ -X ~root/.*/ | gzip > backup.tar.gz

and

Code:

tar -cvvf - ~root/ --exclude=.*/ | gzip > backup.tar.gz

however the tar command is still include the hidden directories, is there way to stop hidden directories from being including in the tar command?

thanks,
jerry

sirclif · 12-16-2005, 03:45 PM

are you sure tar includes hidden directories by default? i thought i remembered doing this once and forgetting about hidden files/directories and loosing a bunch of configure files.

anyhow, it looks like --exclude= accepts a pattern, which probably means you can give it a regular expression. if this is the case, then the '.' and '/' probably need to be excaped. i would try

tar -cvvf - ~root/ --exclude=\.*\/ | gzip > backup.tar.gz

djgerbavore · 01-05-2006, 01:54 PM

sirclif,
thanks for you help, however it still doesn't exlude hidden directories:

Code:

tar -cvvf - ~root/ --exclude=\.*\/ | gzip > backup.tar.gz

i'll search around and see if i can find a way to exlude hidden directories.

thanks again

djgerbavor3

gilead · 01-05-2006, 03:49 PM

If you quote the string instead:

Code:

tar -cvvf - ~root/ --exclude '.*/' | gzip > backup.tar.gz

Then the string gets handed to tar instead of being handled by the shell. However, it still fails with an error of:

Code:

tar: .*: Cannot stat: No such file or directory

Try something like:

Code:

tar -c --exclude '.*' -f - ~root/ | gzip > /tmp/backup.tar.gz

That looks like it does what you're asking.