dietpi-backup source selection

[jtmoon79]

tl;dr what does dietpi-backup backup?

Using dietpi-backup from 8.10.2, it's default Filter has contents

# Prefix "-" exclude items, "+" include items which would match a wildcard exclude rule.
# Suffix "/" match directories only, no files or symlinks
+ /mnt/dietpi_userdata/
- /mnt/*
- /media/

(snippet of relevant Filter file lines)

The Filter seems to suggest that dietpi-backup must be told exactly what to ignore.

Looking at directories on my DietPi system, there are paths like /var/log that is a tmpfs filesystem, the transient /proc System Filesystem, a cifs remote mount. So I'm not sure if I should add Filter entries like - /var/log.

At the same time, I'm not sure if dietpi-backup only attempts to backup + entries or does it start from /. So I'm not sure if I should add Filter entries like + /home.

• Does dietpi-backup strictly follow Filter file and only backup paths marked +?
  Or, does dietpi-backup backup from /?
• Does dietpi-backup include transient and remote filesystem paths too?
• Given any path, does dietpi-backup restrict that path to one filesystem (rsync --one-file-system)?

Looking at the docs online, it's not explained.

It would an improvement if dietpi-backup explained it's "backup strategy" (how it chooses to backup paths and files).

[MichaIng]

It does backup everything /, excludes tmpfs locations and then applies the filters from the file. It is not restricted to one file system, otherwise /boot wouldn't be backed up on images where it's a dedicated filesystem.

It would an improvement if dietpi-backup explained it's "backup strategy" (how it chooses to backup paths and files).

We could add the info to the Help menu entry and/or to the docs: https://dietpi.com/docs/dietpi_tools/#dietpi-backup-backuprestore