How to Exclude Folders from Backup?

[P3R]

What exactly do I type into the "Others" box in the external drive backup filter?

Well as adviced in this thread the answer should be:

Code: Select all

/MARKETING IMAGES

But it appears that folder name exclusion in external backup seems to be incompatible with spaces (blanks) in the folder names.

If possible for other reasons, a workaround would probably be to rename the folder on the source disk to

Code: Select all

MARKETING_IMAGES

and instead use the exclusion

Code: Select all

/MARKETING_IMAGES

If no other important data exist in the folder above the one we're talking about, another possible workaround would be to instead use the exclusion

Code: Select all

/EOI

It is generally recommended to avoid spaces in file/folder names to avoid interoperability and application issues when sharing files among different platforms, as is the case here.

[George T]

Thanks for the response.
So you're saying a full path name is not necessary, just the /MARKETINGIMAGES (I'll just rename the source folder to exclude the space and get around that issue)?

[P3R]

So you're saying a full path name is not necessary...

Yes, and that was also confirmed in the third post of this thread.

[AClarke]

Qnap TS-453A
Firmware 4.2.2
OS Windows 7

I wasn't able to exclude folder names with spaces (e.g. "/System Volume Information") when syncing a Windows 7 shared folder to the Qnap until I realized that I must put a backslash in front of each space. Here is the actual string that resides in the "Others" box of my Qnap which is now filtering great:

/System\ Volume\ Information, /recycler, /$recycle.bin

[wortwart]

Still not working here. My problem is excluding recurring subfolders like node_modules (I'm a web developer). I tried *node_modules*, */node_modules, *\node_modules, *\node_modules\*, and probably a few other combinations - those folders got copied every time.

I didn't find the instructions in https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/faq/arti ... backing-up ("Enter the folders and files you would like to exclude") very clear. Enter them how exactly?

I'm using NetBak Replicator 4.5.3.220 on Windows 10.

[P3R]

I'm using NetBak Replicator 4.5.3.220 on Windows 10.

This old thread was at least originally about backups from the NAS to an external backup destination, not client-NAS backups so advice here is unrelated to NetBak Replicator.

By the way, most people give up on NetBak Replicator after having tried it for a while. That's one reason you'll find many questions from newcomers about NetBak here in the community forum but not many answers.

I jumped ship many, many years ago and switched to SyncBack Free. Despite being as free (even for commercial use) as NetBak Replicator it have far more features and is updated more frequently than NetBack Replicator so I haven't looked back.

The only advantage that I see for NetBack Replicator is that it's specifically supported by Qnap so I think you're better off seeking advanced advice from Qnap support than here.

[wortwart]

This old thread was at least originally about backups from the NAS to an external backup destination, not client-NAS backups

Oops, sorry.

By the way, most people give up on NetBak Replicator after having tried it for a while. [...] I jumped ship many, many years ago and switched to SyncBack Free.

Thank you! I'll give it a try.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

I'm using NetBak Replicator 4.5.3.220 on Windows 10.

This old thread was at least originally about backups from the NAS to an external backup destination, not client-NAS backups so advice here is unrelated to NetBak Replicator.

By the way, most people give up on NetBak Replicator after having tried it for a while. That's one reason you'll find many questions from newcomers about NetBak here in the community forum but not many answers.

I jumped ship many, many years ago and switched to SyncBack Free. Despite being as free (even for commercial use) as NetBak Replicator it have far more features and is updated more frequently than NetBack Replicator so I haven't looked back.

The only advantage that I see for NetBack Replicator is that it's specifically supported by Qnap so I think you're better off seeking advanced advice from Qnap support than here.

is this also a hybrid backup sync replacement? for backing the entire qnap to another qnap ?

[P3R]

is this also a hybrid backup sync replacement? for backing the entire qnap to another qnap ?

This is an old thread about NAS backup. Then the Windows client backup software NetBak Replicator was by a misunderstanding by a newcomer (no problem, it happens to everyone when we are new) brought in here. I advised that it was off-topic in the thread and mentioned what in my experience is a much better Windows client backup software, since that seemed to be his focus. Case closed.

When you then full-quote my post and say "is this" also a replacement for a NAS backup software (that's still only in beta testing), it's very hard for me to understand what you mean or ask about.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

..

new separate question. is this SyncBack app you mention a good alternative to hbs?

i only tested netbak for desktop backup only. but for nas to nas backup, i've been using rtrr with backup station and hbs so far. is that app you mentioned a good replacement for backup station/hbs for nas to nas backup?

backup station and hbs can run natively on qnap so i've only relied on this so far for full rtrr backup. but seeing as 509 and 659 is now eol, and i have my doubts about using backupstation on those units just for rtrr server in order for 653a hbs rtrr to work, i'm looking if there alternatives out there to do a backup of the qnap shares for nas to nas.

netbak replicator which i tested i only tried backup from desktop to nas, and restore. aomei backupper also the same. but these apps only tested in context of desktop to nas backup/restore. not nas to nas.

so for synback can it be a replacement for backupstation/hbs for nas to nas?

hopefully that is clear enuff

[P3R]

is this SyncBack app you mention a good alternative to hbs?

I don't consider any client backup software an alternative for NAS-NAS backup, for the very reason that it runs on a client computer and not native within the NAS.

SyncBack (even the free version) can however have the source at one UNC-path and the destination at another so a NAS-NAS copy is possible. It's such flexibility and the many features it offers that in my opinion makes SyncBack Free superior to NetBak Replicator for client backup activities.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

is this SyncBack app you mention a good alternative to hbs?

I don't consider any client backup software an alternative for NAS-NAS backup, for the very reason that it runs on a client computer and not native within the NAS.

SyncBack (even the free version) can however have the source at one UNC-path and the destination at another so a NAS-NAS copy is possible. It's such flexibility and the many features it offers that in my opinion makes SyncBack Free superior to NetBak Replicator for client backup activities.

Ok then i'lll at least give that a shot then just to try out. or a final last resort, somebody installed unraid on their 509. I'll look into that if possible as well for EOL unit if things get too outdated. thanks

*update

using qstephs portainer qpkg i managed to install urbackup (description says network backup app) just testing this atm.

[DASHIP]

When you are trying to exclude folders, and have a list of folders to exclude, it appears that the delimiter between folders in the list is simply a space. Therefore, how would you exclude a folder that has a space in its name? Can tick marks, quotes, or square brackets be used to encapsulate the folder name? (i.e. 'Marketing Images')

Also, what if you want to exclude a particular folder that may have the same name as other folders? For example, you may have more than one folder with the name "Images", but you might only want to exclude a specific Images folder. Can you simply use the full path to the folder as the exclusion? If you use the full path, does it start with the share name, or the first subfolder name?

[DarfNader]

With nearly 200 views and no replies to my question I'm beginning to think this can't be done? Can anyone confirm this so at least I can stop looking for a solution

Sorry about that. I've been ignoring this thread, simply because it provided no information whatsoever. In fact it still doesn't.

1. No Firmware Version/Build information.
2. No Backup Software information. (Talking about Backup Station perhaps?)
3. No Operating System information provided. (Until you posted your "solution").

Enough said. Glad you figured it out.

Funny you say this- I was wondering the same thing... still am, as I would like to set up excludes in my Hybrid Backup configuration of my NAS shared folders which are being realtime synced to a connected USB Drive. (I am running firmware v 4.3.4.0370 on a TVS-473.)

[P3R]

Funny you say this- I was wondering the same thing... still am, as I would like to set up excludes in my Hybrid Backup configuration of my NAS shared folders which are being realtime synced to a connected USB Drive. (I am running firmware v 4.3.4.0370 on a TVS-473.)

As far as I can find there is no folder (only filetype, by extension) exclusion in Hybrid Backup Sync, which by the way didn't even exist when this thread was started.

The workarounds are to instead define multiple folder pairs at a different level in the tree (it doesn't have to be the root of the shared folder) or to reorganize your data in a smarter way.