This project maintains a list of directories and files you probably do not need to back up, which you can pass to the rsync command's --exclude-from option.
# download to `rsync-homedir-local.txt`
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rubo77/rsync-homedir-excludes/master/rsync-homedir-excludes.txt -O rsync-homedir-local.txt
# or clone and copy to `rsync-homedir-local.txt`
git clone https://github.com/rubo77/rsync-homedir-excludes
cd rsync-homedir-excludes
cp rsync-homedir-excludes.txt rsync-homedir-local.txt
# edit the file rsync-homedir-local.txt to your needs
nano rsync-homedir-local.txt
# define a Backup directory (with trailing slash!)
# some examples:
BACKUPDIR=/media/workspace/home/$USER/
BACKUPDIR=/media/$USER/linuxbackup/home/$USER/
BACKUPDIR=/media/$USER/USBSTICK/backup/home/$USER/
# first specify the "-n" parameter so rsync will simulate its operation. You should use this before you start:
rsync -naP --exclude-from=rsync-homedir-local.txt /home/$USER/ $BACKUPDIR
# check for permission denied errors in your homedir:
rsync -naP --exclude-from=rsync-homedir-local.txt /home/$USER/ $BACKUPDIR|grep denied
# if it is all fine, actually perform your backup:
rsync -aP --exclude-from=rsync-homedir-local.txt /home/$USER/ $BACKUPDIR
You can edit the exclude file before execution:
- All lines starting with a
#are ignored by rsync, i.e. those directories will be backed up. - The syntax doesn't support comments at the end of a line yet.
- At the start there is a section with directories that are probably not worth backing up. Uncomment those lines to exclude them as well.