exception to * operator?

vbsaltydog · 05-18-2008, 07:37 PM

I am trying to use the tar command to copy everything in my current directory recursively to a tar file for a backup but I don't want to include any .tar files in the backup. Is there a way to exclude .tar files from a tar command with * being the source file to be copied?

Current command:

Code:

tar -cvf ./* backup.tar

Looking for something like:

Code:

tar -cvf ./* (except *.tar) backup.tar

Thanks for the assistance

Tinkster · 05-18-2008, 07:58 PM

Assuming that you only want to exclude tar's that live in /

Code:

ls *tar > /exclusions
echo exclusions >> /exclusions
tar -X /exclusions -cvf ./* backup.tar

If you want to exclude ANY tar anywhere in the file-system:

Code:

find / -type f -name \*.tar.\* > /exclusions
echo exclusions >> /exclusions
tar -X /exclusions -cvf ./* backup.tar

Cheers,
Tink

vbsaltydog · 05-18-2008, 08:01 PM

Thanks Tink

vbsaltydog · 05-18-2008, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tinkster

Assuming that you only want to exclude tar's that live in /

Code:

ls *tar > /exclusions
echo exclusions >> /exclusions
tar -X /exclusions -cvf ./* backup.tar

If you want to exclude ANY tar anywhere in the file-system:

Code:

find / -type f -name \*.tar.\* > /exclusions
echo exclusions >> /exclusions
tar -X /exclusions -cvf ./* backup.tar

Cheers,
Tink

I spoke too soon. I am trying to do this backup via a php script that is run from the command line (not as the apache user).

I am running the code using the php exec() function as:

Code:

exec("ls *tar > /exclusions");
exec("echo exclusions >> /exclusions");
exec("tar -X /exclusions -cvf $destfile ./*");

and here is the result:

Code:

sh: /exclusions: Permission denied
sh: /exclusions: Permission denied
tar: /exclusions: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

Clearly the logged in user does not have permission to write the result of the ls to /exclusions

Any ideas?

chrism01 · 05-19-2008, 12:04 AM

Well, /exclusions would be at the root of the partition, where traditionally only root can write.
Create a dir path owned by the relevant user

vbsaltydog · 05-19-2008, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrism01

Well, /exclusions would be at the root of the partition, where traditionally only root can write.
Create a dir path owned by the relevant user

I didn't realize that /exclusions was a file. I adjusted the paths in the commands and all is well.

Thanks to everyone.