By default, CrashPlan backs up everything in your home folder including all hidden directories (directories starting with a dot (.). This would include some directories your probably don’t want backed up, such as ~/.local/share/Trash (your trash) and a bunch of other hidden directories.
Fortunately CrashPlan’s file exclusion feature includes a way to specify exclusions by regular expression. Simply go to Settings > Backup and next to Filename Exclusions click the configure button.
Check the box for Regular Expression and enter this:
.*/..*
Click the plus sign, then ok, then save again.
That will exclude all the dotted directories from your backups.
Reference: CrashPlan Support – Using Regular Expressions (regex)
Have any filename exclusions that you use on your backups? Feel free to share your rationale in the comments below!
#1 by Martin on December 12, 2011 - 4:55 pm
When I try that, all files are excluded…
#2 by Martin on December 12, 2011 - 4:59 pm
I think the correct expression is
.*/..*
At least, that works for me (on ubuntu 11.10).
#3 by Mike on December 12, 2011 - 5:16 pm
I believe yours is correct. I think the backslash may have been stripped during my last page edit. I will correct it. Thanks for noticing!