To illustrate config files in sh scripts, I published my mondoarchive script. That script dynamically builds an mondo exclude list from a list of directories inside a file.

Since I published that article, many of you have arrived here after Googling mondoarchive exclude lists. It seems they’re failing you. Fear not, faithful Googlers. Your JoeDog has experienced this pain and he can help.

There are two main problems with mondoarchive exclude lists that causes the program to ignore them. One is documentation and the other is a bug.

Older versions of mondoarchive use space separated exclude lists. You construct them like this:

  -E "/usr/src /data/archive /usr/local/src"

Since version 2.2.9.5 the syntax has changed for both -E and -I. Whereas older versions used space separated lists of directories, newer versions use pipe separated directories. If you have a newer version, construct your lists like this:

  -E "/usr/src|/data/archive|/usr/local/src"

The other problem I’ve encountered appears to be a bug. The first directory in my exclude list wasn’t being excluded. To fix that problem, I’ve placed /tmp first in all my exclude lists.

  -E "/tmp|/usr/src|/data/archive|/usr/local/src"

Problem “solved.”