Complex includes/excludes with rsync

rsync

I'm trying to work out the rsync filter syntax to perform complex include/excludes, and trying to achieve the following:

Include /
Exclude /home
Include /home/user1/*
Include /home/user2/subdir/*

I've tried many variations on the filter syntax, and despite reading the man page many time, I cannot get this sort of effect. Rsync filters seem to be very powerful, and I find it hard to believe they couldn't handle a common scenario such as this.

Best Answer

You need to include all of the parent directories down to the desired directory before using the exclude rule.

For instance, I use the following in a backup script:

rsync -av \ 
--filter='+ /var/' \
--filter='+ /var/backups/' \
--filter='- /var/*' \
/ \
$DEST

So in your case you would need something like the following:

rsync -av \ 
--filter='+ /home/' \
--filter='+ /home/user1/' \
--filter='+ /home/user2/' \
--filter='+ /home/user2/subdir/' \
--filter='- /home/user2/*' \
--filter='- /home/*' \
/ \
$DEST
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