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Rules include exclude question


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I'm always a little intimidated when Rules get complicated, so here's a mutliple part question.

 

1) Is there a way to 'test' a rule (I'm using Retrospect 13.0.1)

 

2) I have several exclude desires and it's getting complicated, so I though I would make some rules to go together in a Nested rule (see here https://www.retrospect.com/en/documentation/user_guide/mac/management#working-with-rules and go to the end of this section - 2nd to last paragraph) something like this:

 

What I want to do is exclude a few different types of things. I created a rule excluding some of these things, and another rule excluding some others of these things. Now I want them to work together, so I'm thinking that I should create a new rule something like this:

 

Rule: Exclude Rule 1

Include files based on

 

Exclude files based on Any of the following:

Any

 folder named 'my antivirus cache'

 folder named 'some other stuff I don't want'

 etc

 

Rule: Exclude Rule 2

Include files based on

Exclude files based on All of the following:

 client name is XYZ

 File name ends in .xyz

 

etc

 

 

Rule: My Ultimate Rule

Include files based on Any of the following:

   Saved Rule includes All Files

Exclude files based on Any of the following:

  Saved Rule includes Exclude Rule 1

  Saved Rule includes Exclude Rule 2

  Saved Rule includes Exclude Rule 3

 

I was also studying this post in the Windows forum: http://forums.retrospect.com/index.php?/topic/151365-how-to-nesting-selectors/ and think it's kind of the same arrangement, but wanted to make sure.

 

Thanks,

-Derek

Edited by derek500
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You need to be careful if you include a previously-created exclude rule in the exclude section of your new rule. In your case, Exclude Rule 2 would not back up files if client name was XYZ; i.e., it would back up files from any other source. If your new Ultimate Rule places in its exclude section the rule Exclude Rule 2, it would exclude files backed up from anywhere but client XYZ; in other words, it would only back up client XYZ, probably the opposite of what you want.

 

If you want an exclude rule to function in its usual way when it's part of a new rule, it has to be placed in the include section of the new rule.

 

Retrospect 6 (why do I have to keep going back that far to describe some desirable feature?) offered a simple way to test a selector/rule. In the current versions of Retrospect, you can do that in most cases by initiating a dummy Copy operation and then clicking on the "Preview..." button instead of actually running the copy. 

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twickland, thanks.

So, if I want to include all files on all clients but exclude filetype .xyz ONLY on client XYZ (but still back up everything else on that client and my other clients), I need to put all of these rules in the 'Include' section of my "ultimate rule"?

 

Rule: My Ultimate Rule

Include files based on Any of the following:

   Saved Rule includes All Files

   Saved Rule includes Exclude Rule 1

   Saved Rule includes Exclude Rule 2

   Saved Rule includes Exclude Rule 3

Exclude files based on Any of the following:

 

So basically what I'm doing in my nesting rule is to include the RULES, more than excluding the FILES defined by the rules. Does this sound like an almost better description?

 

I recall in Retro 6 I had to do something similar but it seemed kind of backwards - create an 'include' rule to define the files I wanted to exclude, then add that rule to the 'exclude' portion of my 'Ultimate Rule'. But it sounds like things are a little different in 8+. Or should I be building them how I used to build them in the old days?

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Hi,

 

Stumped again - the rule I created seems to work, but I'm not able to preview it using 'copy' or 'backup'. When I browse what is to be backed up, the rule I have selected doesn't seem to apply - all files and folders on the client are checked off in the preview. But in the real backup script, the rule is definitely applied. I can tell this when I try to restore from a backup to a new media set - the files I wanted to exclude are, in fact, not available to restore, which is great. But I would like to know how to test my rules instead of winging it to see what works...

 

Any advice?

 

Thanks,

-Derek

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Stumped again - the rule I created seems to work, but I'm not able to preview it using 'copy' or 'backup'. When I browse what is to be backed up, the rule I have selected doesn't seem to apply - all files and folders on the client are checked off in the preview. But in the real backup script, the rule is definitely applied. I can tell this when I try to restore from a backup to a new media set - the files I wanted to exclude are, in fact, not available to restore, which is great. But I would like to know how to test my rules instead of winging it to see what works...

Yeah, I just noticed myself that, as of Retrospect 13.0.1 (and possibly earlier—it's been awhile since I tried this), the Preview function for the Copy operation no longer reflects the proper application of the selected rule, though the copy itself seems fine. I'm not sure when this broke, but it's clearly a bug.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know any other way to preview a rule.

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When I browse what is to be backed up, the rule I have selected doesn't seem to apply - all files and folders on the client are checked off in the preview. 

Hello,

 

I've spent a bit of time this morning attempting to reproduce this issue but I've been unable. I created a rule to only backup files last modified before 5/12/2016, and when I check the preview none of my recently modified files are selected, and all of the older files are. I found this to be true with both Backup and Copy assistants. 

 

Is it possible that you are selecting the rule, and clicking "browse" rather than clicking all the way through the assistant until the final screen (Copy Summary) and then clicking the "Preview..." button found on the bottom right of the window?

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OK; I'm seeing what the problem is. Preview does work, sort of, but not as expected, and not in a useful manner.

 

Normally, if one selects some portion of the files in a particular folder, Retrospect indicates this by placing a dash in the checkbox of the enclosing folder. However, when files in a Copy operation are selected using a rule, the enclosing folders do not display the expected dash until one drills down through the entire folder hierarchy to the level where the files themselves are displayed with their checkmarks. Only then do the enclosing folders show the dash.

 

Clearly, a "preview" that gives no indication as to which files were selected, unless and until one opens every single folder to check the contents, is essentially useless. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm not seeing the same behavior. When I drill into a folder I've excluded the contents of by rule, they are still checked. Everything in the preview is checked. When I review the backup after it's complete, the rule did work. So in the end I do have my rules working, but I still can't figure out how to examine their effect while I'm developing them.

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