Hello,
I am trying to exclude specific folder names from backup/sync, without specifying specific paths.
e.g. exclude all 'tmp' folders and their contents, in root and all sub-directories.
Possible now?
Thank you
Exclude folders, anywhere in the path
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 29 Mar 2017
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- Posts: 2286
- Joined: 22 Aug 2012
RTFM; it is explicitly in there!
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 29 Mar 2017
Apologies for this but...
Before I posted, I did add folder exclusion in the Filter list, in the form of:
*\temp\
After I hit Synchronize(Mirror) but the temp folders were not removed from the destination.
I should have been clearer about this, sorry.
version 8.10 x64
UPDATE:
After more attempts, I can confirm that adding folder exclusions after the fact, does not remove these folders in the next Synchronizations. Bug?
Before I posted, I did add folder exclusion in the Filter list, in the form of:
*\temp\
After I hit Synchronize(Mirror) but the temp folders were not removed from the destination.
I should have been clearer about this, sorry.
version 8.10 x64
UPDATE:
After more attempts, I can confirm that adding folder exclusions after the fact, does not remove these folders in the next Synchronizations. Bug?
-
- Posts: 2286
- Joined: 22 Aug 2012
No bug!
You have now excluded all "temp" folders from the sync.
So, if any "temp" folders exist on the Mirror source(left)- or destination(right)-side
those will not be touched/changed/removed by the sync-run,
because they are excluded from the sync ...
You have now excluded all "temp" folders from the sync.
So, if any "temp" folders exist on the Mirror source(left)- or destination(right)-side
those will not be touched/changed/removed by the sync-run,
because they are excluded from the sync ...
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 29 Mar 2017
Alright, I understand the logic now.
Making a fresh sync to a new destination should produce the desired result for my case.
Thanks again
Making a fresh sync to a new destination should produce the desired result for my case.
Thanks again
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 27 Apr 2017
I finally found this post where someone had the same problem I am having.
I use FreeFileSync for all my backups and I absolutely love it. Unfortunately, I keep running into the problem described by Evan mostly because of size limitations on the destination drive.
I understand that it is not a bug and the files are not "touched/changed/removed by the sync-run" because it was the way it was designed and they are just excluded from the analysis altogether. But that approach is causing the “Mirror” option not to be a Real Mirror as a user would expect.
If I use the "Mirror" option with all Inclusions, I expect to have an exact mirror between source and destination with the exception of the exclusions. This is true if I format the destination drive first and start from a blank drive. Just like Evan described: “Making a fresh sync to a new destination should produce the desired result for my case.”.
However, if I already have done a sync, but I am running out of space and want to exclude some unnecessary folders (for example the “Library” folder for each user in a MAC), it is not enough to add the exclusions to the sync, but I have to delete each folder manually. “Library” folders may be just a few so not big deal, but if I want to exclude any *temp* folder anywhere, it would be a tedious process to manually remove them from the destination. When this happens to me, I just format the destination drive and start from scratch again, with the caveat of having to wait 3 hours to copy the ~1TB again (minus the new exceptions).
Please let me know if there is currently a way to get a “Real” mirror where the exclusions are actually deleted from the destination drive, if not, can you please add it to your enhancement list as a possible feature? Maybe a check box under the “Synchronization Settings->Synchronization->Mirror” configuration that reads something like “Delete Exclusions”. Just a thought.
Keep up the great work with such useful tool.
Thank you
I use FreeFileSync for all my backups and I absolutely love it. Unfortunately, I keep running into the problem described by Evan mostly because of size limitations on the destination drive.
I understand that it is not a bug and the files are not "touched/changed/removed by the sync-run" because it was the way it was designed and they are just excluded from the analysis altogether. But that approach is causing the “Mirror” option not to be a Real Mirror as a user would expect.
If I use the "Mirror" option with all Inclusions, I expect to have an exact mirror between source and destination with the exception of the exclusions. This is true if I format the destination drive first and start from a blank drive. Just like Evan described: “Making a fresh sync to a new destination should produce the desired result for my case.”.
However, if I already have done a sync, but I am running out of space and want to exclude some unnecessary folders (for example the “Library” folder for each user in a MAC), it is not enough to add the exclusions to the sync, but I have to delete each folder manually. “Library” folders may be just a few so not big deal, but if I want to exclude any *temp* folder anywhere, it would be a tedious process to manually remove them from the destination. When this happens to me, I just format the destination drive and start from scratch again, with the caveat of having to wait 3 hours to copy the ~1TB again (minus the new exceptions).
Please let me know if there is currently a way to get a “Real” mirror where the exclusions are actually deleted from the destination drive, if not, can you please add it to your enhancement list as a possible feature? Maybe a check box under the “Synchronization Settings->Synchronization->Mirror” configuration that reads something like “Delete Exclusions”. Just a thought.
Keep up the great work with such useful tool.
Thank you
