How to include/exclude files in a range for NetBackup Windows clients, using wildcards

Article: 100006446
Last Published: 2013-10-24
Ratings: 0 3
Product(s): NetBackup & Alta Data Protection

Problem

How to include and exclude files in a range for NetBackup Windows clients, using wildcards

Solution

Overview:
The NetBackup Systems Administration guide provides syntax rules for Exclude and Include lists. However, these rules do not apply to a Policy Files list (Backup Selection list).


Files list:
The files list, which is specified in the Policy properties, is the first list NetBackup uses to determine what files should be backed up.  The  ?  (question mark) and the  *  (asterisks) are the only wildcards supported by the Policy Files list.  The   *  wildcard represents everything after a specific path and the  ?  wildcard represents a specific character.  

For example:
 
  • D:\Users\* would backup up every file and folder under D:\Users  
· · D:\Budget????.xls would backup all files that start with Budget and have four characters.
 
 

Exclude list:
The Exclude list is the second list to be processed and allows for a more detailed wildcard search. The Exclude lists supports the use of  [ ] (square brackets),   *  and  ?  wildcards.  The  and the  ?  act the same as they would with the Files list however the brackets allow specification of a range of files to exclude. For example, to exclude all directories from   D:\Users\  which begin with the letters A-Z, the syntax of the exclusion would be,   D:\Users\[a-zA-Z]*

Include list (Exception to Exclude list):
The Include list is the last list to be processed and allows for the same wildcard syntax as the exclude lists.  
For example, to include only folders under users from A-H, the syntax of the include list would be as follows,   D:\Users\[a-hA-H]* 

Detailed example using all lists:
Below is a directory structure that can be used for wildcards:
 
C:\
C:\Users
C:\Users\Amy
C:\Users\Bob
C:\Users\Christie
C:\Users\Doug
C:\Users\Emily
C:\Users\Frank
C:\Users\Greg

To obtain a backup of all folders from A-D, from the sample list above, the lists would be done as follows:

Files list:
C:\Users\*

Exclude list:
C:\Users\*

Include list:
C:\Users\[a-dA-D]*
 

Applies To

Windows clients only, as there are limitations to the wildcard capabilities between the Policy Backup Selection list and the Exclude and Includes (Exception to Exclude list) lists.  UNIX/Linux clients can use different wildcard parameters.

References

Etrack : 2119807

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