How to copy only certain files and subdirectories

Question

Hi let's say I have a directory like this:

/
    my_work
               /dir1
                    keepdir1.ddd
                    keepdir2.ddd
                    file.cfg
                    (lots of files and directories I don't want)
               /dir2
                    (same layout as dir 1)

So I want to copy the directory "my_work" and all of the "dir1", "dir2", etc sub directories. But within each of those I want to keep only certain files, and certain directories. In the directories I keep I want to recursively include everything.

Here's what I've tried so far but nothing seems to copy:

rsync -rl --include-from=~/rsync_include /my_work ~/backup

And the contents of rsync_include are:

+ *file.cfg
+ *keepdir*/*
- *

Well is there a commonality to the files you want to exclude, so that wildcards could be used? If not, then you have to just list them all in the include file. — Paul
– Paul, Commented May 2, 2012 at 12:32
Yeah, I think I could use wildcards but can a directory be a wildcard? Will it know to copy the matching directory recursively and not apply the exclude * inside a match directory? That's my confusion in a nutshell. — Greg
– Greg, Commented May 2, 2012 at 12:36

Daniel Beck · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-02 13:50:32Z

1

Unless you forgot to provide important information, the following script will work.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

for DIR in my_work/* ; do
    mkdir -pv dest/"$DIR"
    cp -av "$DIR"/*.cfg "$DIR"/keepdir* dest/"$DIR"
done

Sample output, with non-applicable wildcards producing messages:

dest
dest/my_work
dest/my_work/dir1
my_work/dir1/file.cfg -> dest/my_work/dir1/file.cfg
my_work/dir1/keepdir1.ddd -> dest/my_work/dir1/keepdir1.ddd
my_work/dir1/keepdir2.ddd -> dest/my_work/dir1/keepdir2.ddd
dest/my_work/dir2
my_work/dir2/file.cfg -> dest/my_work/dir2/file.cfg
cp: my_work/dir2/keepdir*: No such file or directory
dest/my_work/dir3
cp: my_work/dir3/*.cfg: No such file or directory
cp: my_work/dir3/keepdir*: No such file or directory

answered May 2, 2012 at 13:50

Daniel Beck♦

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That's perfect! Thanks so much. That's way easier than fooling with rsync!

Greg
– Greg

2012-05-02 13:59:37 +00:00
Commented May 2, 2012 at 13:59

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