I am using rdiff-backup. Really awesome simple powerful backup tool. However I am fighting with wildcard glob patterns. I have this directory structure:
/data/aaa/cache
/data/bbb/cache
/data/ccc/cache
etc....
In each cache directory are original files and cache files. Original files are named simply 1.jpg, 2.png, 3.gif, and so on. Cache files have some string attached to the original filename.
So I want to backup all the /data/*/cache directories, but to include only original files, not the cache files.
I am using this command:
rdiff-backup --exclude **/cache --include **/cache/+([0-9]).+([a-z]) /data /backup
But rdiff-backup returns this and I am lost:
Found interrupted initial backup. Removing...
Fatal Error: Last selection expression:
Command-line include glob: **/cache/+([0-9]).+([a-z])
only specifies that files be included. Because the default is to
include all files, the expression is redundant. Exiting because this
probably isn't what you meant.
From http://rdiff-backup.nongnu.org/rdiff-backup.1.html :
A given file is excluded by the file selection system exactly
when the first matching file selection condition
specifies that the file be excluded; otherwise the file is included.
...
For instance,
rdiff-backup --include /usr --exclude /usr /usr /backup
is exactly the same as
rdiff-backup /usr /backup
because the include and exclude directives match exactly the same
files, and the --include comes first, giving it precedence.
So, in your case, it is complaining about the final --include because if a file gets there (i.e. it isn't matched by the previous --exclude) it will be included whether or not it matches the --include. That's what the error message was trying to say.
As for how to accomplish your goal...
Assuming you do want to exclude only paths of the form: /data/*/cache/[0-9]*.[a-z][a-z][a-z]?* just specify that:
rdiff-backup --exclude '/data/*/cache/[0-9]*.[a-z][a-z][a-z]?*' --exclude '*' /data /backup
This should work (I haven't tested it).