How to exclude files from EMC Celerra VNX VNXe Unity NDMP backups 

Problem

How to exclude files from EMC Celerra VNX VNXe Unity NDMP backups 

Cause

In the Veritas NetBackup for NDMP Guide, the SET keyword as shown under “About environment variables in the backup selections list” should be used for NDMP backups because NetBackup client software is not installed on the NDMP host.
The SET option allows you to exclude files on a backup. The syntax is vendor-specific as defined by the vendor’s NDMP documentation for which variable can be passed to the filer and in what format.

Solution

From EMC documentation found in the 'Dell EMC NetWorker Network Data Management Protocol User Guide"

The variables to use to exclude for EMC Celerra VNX VNXe Unity are:
- EMC_EDIR[01-50]       (EMC_EDIR01  -->  EMC_EDIR50)       for directories
- EMC_EFILE[01-50]      (EMC_EFILE01  -->  EMC_EFILE50)      for files

The FULL PATH should be used and it should not exceed 1024 characters.
Wildcard card can be used as specified in the EMC guide.

Example to exclude a directory:
SET EMC_EDIR01=/tmp/test

Example to exclude a file:
SET EMC_EFILE01=/tmp/file

If there is more than one file or directory to exclude, they are listed separately as below.
Example for directories /tmp/test1 and /tmp/test2:

SET EMC_EDIR01=/tmp/test1
SET EMC_EDIR02=/tmp/test2

Example for files /tmp/file1 and /tmp/file2:

SET EMC_EFILE01=/tmp/file1
SET EMC_EFILE02=/tmp/file2

Contact EMC Support for the most current information and other NDMP variables.
 

EMC Network Data Management Protocol User Guide 
https://www.dellemc.com/en-us/collaterals/unauth/technical-guides-support-information/2019/11/docu96473.pdf

To exclude files or directories from NDMP backups on a EMC NetApp Filer, please refer to the Dell EMC guide above ( or Veritas reference NetApp NDMP Exclusions )