Control processing with an include-exclude list

There might be files on your system that you do not want to back up. These files might be operating system or application files that you can easily recover by reinstalling the program, or any other file that you can easily rebuild.

Use the include and exclude options in the client options file (dsm.opt) to define which files to include or exclude from incremental or selective backup processing. A file is eligible for backup unless excluded by an exclude option. It is not necessary to use an include option to include specific files for backup unless those files are in a directory that contains other files that you want to exclude.

The include-exclude list might contain items that are specified by the server. To view the contents of your include-exclude list, use the query inclexcl command.

IBM Spectrum Protect™ uses management classes to determine how to manage your backups on the server. Every time you back up a file, the file is assigned a management class. The management class is either a default that is chosen for you, or one you assign to the file by using the include option in the include-exclude list. If you assign a management class, it must contain a backup copy group for the file to be backed up.

You can also add include-exclude statements in the backup-archive client GUI directory tree. You can use the preview command to see the resultant effects of the currently defined include-exclude list without need of running an actual backup operation.