rsync - Jul 2005 - creating directories not specified in '--files-from' file

Hi all,

   I use 'rsync' in my backup program and I've run into an annoying
bug.
If I specify a directory to be backed up all files in it are copied 
automatically. This is a problem because a user may have selected 
specifically to not backup a given file. Also if a subdirectory exists 
in a specified directory it is also copied though do data below it is.

   I call 'rsync' via:

=- 'rsync' call -sudo -b /usr/bin/rsync -aq --modify-window=1
--no-whole-file --partial
--files-from=/path/to/list.txt /boot /dest/path
=- 'rsync' call -
   In the 'list.txt' file I have this:

=- 'list.txt' file -/
/System.map-2.4.27-2-686
/vmlinuz-2.6.8-2-686
/System.map-2.6.8-2-686
/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-686
/vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-686
/initrd.img-2.6.8-2-686
/grub
/grub/reiserfs_stage1_5
/grub/fat_stage1_5
/grub/stage2
/grub/menu.lst~
/grub/stage1
/grub/jfs_stage1_5
/grub/minix_stage1_5
/grub/menu.lst
/grub/xfs_stage1_5
/grub/device.map
/grub/e2fs_stage1_5
/lost+found
/test2/foo/bar/baz
/test2
/test2/foo/bar
/test2/foo
=- 'list.txt' file -
   For example, I am testing my program by copying my '/boot' partition 
(because it is small) with a couple of test directories. One of those is 
'/boot/test/...' which, as you can see above, is not specified. I have 
also not specified the two 'config...' files also. When 'rsync'
runs
though this is what is created on the destination partition:

=- 'ls -lah' of destination directory -sudo ls -lah /dest/path
total 12M
drwxr-xr-x  6 root    root    4.0K 2005-07-15 18:35 .
drwxr-xr-x  3 madison madison 4.0K 2005-07-28 20:11 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root    root     44K 2005-05-16 04:02 config-2.4.27-2-686
-rw-r--r--  1 root    root     55K 2005-05-19 04:51 config-2.6.8-2-686
drwxr-xr-x  2 root    root    4.0K 2005-07-04 21:23 grub
-rw-r--r--  1 root    root    4.0M 2005-07-04 15:46 initrd.img-2.4.27-2-686
-rw-r--r--  1 root    root    4.5M 2005-07-04 21:23 initrd.img-2.6.8-2-686
drwxr-xr-x  2 root    root    4.0K 2005-07-04 15:41 lost+found
-rw-r--r--  1 root    root    519K 2005-05-16 04:42 System.map-2.4.27-2-686
-rw-r--r--  1 root    root    824K 2005-05-19 05:27 System.map-2.6.8-2-686
drwxr-xr-x  2 root    root    4.0K 2005-07-24 11:03 test
drwxr-xr-x  3 root    root    4.0K 2005-07-15 18:35 test2
-rw-r--r--  1 root    root    856K 2005-05-16 04:41 vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-686
-rw-r--r--  1 root    root    1.2M 2005-05-19 05:27 vmlinuz-2.6.8-2-686
=- 'ls -lah' of destination directory -
   This destination directory (partition) was blank before running 
'rsync' so any data there is solely because of 'rsync'. Is there
a way
to tell 'rsync' not to copy sub directories or files in a given 
directory listed in '--files-from=...' unless specifically asked to do
so?

   Thanks in advance!

Madison

On Thu, Jul 28, 2005 at 08:19:26PM -0400, Madison Kelly
wrote:
> If I specify a directory to be backed up all files in it are copied
> automatically.
That only happens if the dir has a trailing slash (which is telling
rsync "I want the contents of this directory"), rather than just the
directory's name (which is telling rsync "I want to create that
dir").
In fact, you could omit all directory items when using --files-from for
a backup (unless you happen to want to backup an empty directory).

So, in your list.txt file, you should not be specifying "/" unless you
want all the contents of the base dir to be copied.  Just remove that
line and your copy should be fine.

..wayne..