Editing Customize TimeMachine Exclusions

README.md

Customize TimeMachine Exclusions

Add exclusions by dirname

find $(pwd) -type d -name <NAME> -maxdepth 3 -exec tmutil addexclusion {} \;

Automate exclusions

We can automate finding and adding exclusions by running tm_exclude.sh script as a cronjob:

1. Save tm_exclude.sh as executable

   nano ~/tm_exclude.sh
   # paste file contents below, save, and exit
   chmod +x ~/tm_exclude.sh

2. Open crontab: crontab -e

3. Schedule tm_exclude.sh:

   # crawl files to add time machine exclusions @1am
   0 1 * * * /bin/bash ~/tm_exclude.sh

4. Save and exit crontab (:wq if vi; ctrl-o ctrl-x if nano)

See what is currently excluded with

sudo mdfind "com_apple_backup_excludeItem = 'com.apple.backupd'"

Undo exclusions

tmutil removeexclusion /path/to/directory

References

asimov stackexchange peterdemartini/command.sh

tm_exclude.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Credit: modified from asimov/asimov

set -Eeu -o pipefail

# use 'fd' instead of 'find'
if [[ -z "$(command -v fd)" ]]; then
  echo "Error: Cannot find 'fd'"
  exit 1
fi

# Exclude the given paths from Time Machine backups.
# Reads the newline-separated list of paths from stdin.
exclude_path() {
    local path
    while IFS=$'\n' read -r path; do
        if tmutil isexcluded "${path}" | grep -Fq '[Excluded]'; then
            echo "- ${path} is already excluded, skipping."
            continue
        fi

        tmutil addexclusion "${path}"

        sizeondisk=$(du -hs "${path}" | cut -f1)
        echo "- ${path} has been excluded from Time Machine backups (${sizeondisk})."
    done
}


exclusions=(".git" ".venv" "site_packages" "node_modules")
for xln in "${exclusions[@]}"; do
  fd \
  --hidden \
  --no-ignore \
  --type directory \
  --maxdepth 8 \
  --exclude '*/.*' \
  --exclude '*/Library' \
  --full-path \
  --glob "**/${xln}" \
  /Users \
  | exclude_path;
done