Arch Linux

lagagnon

Member

From: an Island in the Pacific...

Registered: 2009-12-10

Posts: 1,087

Website

TAR question regarding directory exclusions

I am trying to get tar to archive my home directory, excluding specific cache directories and it is failing to exclude as I expect.

Here is my command line, which starts archiving fine:

tar cvJf archive.tar.xz . -X /home/larry/scripts/exclude.txt

This is the exclude text file:

./.cache/
./Downloads/
./.wine/
./.thumbnails/
./.config/chromium/

It does not exclude the above directories and their files. What am I doing wrong?

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Philosophy is looking for a black cat in a dark room. Metaphysics is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there. Religion is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there and shouting "I found it!". Science is looking for a black cat in a dark room with a flashlight.

falconindy

Developer

From: New York, USA

Registered: 2009-10-22

Posts: 4,111

Website

Re: TAR question regarding directory exclusions

You're missing a wildcard from the end of each line: ./.cache/*, ./.wine/*, etc.

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lagagnon

Member

From: an Island in the Pacific...

Registered: 2009-12-10

Posts: 1,087

Website

Re: TAR question regarding directory exclusions

Doh. That was easy - thanks!

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Philosophy is looking for a black cat in a dark room. Metaphysics is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there. Religion is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there and shouting "I found it!". Science is looking for a black cat in a dark room with a flashlight.