Backup Filters and Exclusions

Backup filters can be used when creating backup Profiles, or in the configuration of individual backup devices via the Management Console.

Benefits

Adding additional filters to the exclusion lists can benefit you in a number of ways:

  • Backup speed can increase as there are less files and changes to these files to process
  • Bandwidth use can decrease as there is less data to send
  • Storage spacecan decrease as less is required due to the drop in data
  • Restore speed can increase as there is less data to restore

Predefined filters

Windows

Some files are automatically excluded from backup on Windows devices only.

These predefined filters only work on Windows devices by the use of a standard ‘files not to backup’ entry in the Windows Registry, meaning there is no alternative for Linux or macOS devices.

What files are automatically excluded from backup:

  1. All files indicated in the registry subkey:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToBackup

    Typical examples:

    • \Pagefile.sys
    • \hiberfil.sys
    • %TEMP%\* /s
  2. All files from the Backup Manager installation folder
  3. Temporary files of no importance:

    • C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\IconCacheToDelete

      • There is such a file for every user account registered in the system

    • C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DomainSuggestions

      • There is such a file for every user account registered in the system

    • C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\CLR Security Config\v2.0.50727.312\64bit

    • Files from the Print Spooler folder
  4. Files/folders matching the following masks:
    • *\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*
    • ?:\RECYCLER
    • ?:\System Volume Information
    • %systemdrive%\$WINDOWS.~?? (for example C:\$WINDOWS.~BT or C:\$WINDOWS.~WS
    • %SYSTEM_ROOT%/Windows/*.config.cch
    • ?:\swapfile.sys
    • ?:\pagefile.sys
    • ?:\hiberfil.sys
    • *\AppData\Local\Temp\* (on Windows Vista and Windows 7)
    • *\Local Settings\Temp\* (on Windows XP)

macOS

Certain files and folders may be inaccessible to the Backup Manager due to System Integrity Protection (SIP) restrictions on macOS. Backup behavior differs depending on whether the Backup Manager has been granted Full Disk Access.

Backup behavior: Full Disk Access (FDA) has NOT been granted

  • The backup session may complete with errors

    You can have FDA not granted but you can backup files that are not SIP protected

    If a "Permission denied" filesystem error occurs, backup finishes with errors and you will be notified about missing permissions.

  • A list of affected paths is provided in session errors

  • You are explicitly notified that Full Disk Access is missing (through session errors)

To enable Full Disk Access for improved session status that was introduced in macOS 10.14 Mojave, refer to macOS Full Disk Access

Backup behavior: Full Disk Access (FDA) has been granted

  • Backup is expected to complete successfully

    If a "Permission denied" filesystem error occurs, the affected files are skipped and backup completes without errors.

  • Any files or folders returning “permission denied” are skipped

    Skipped items are only visible in Debug-level logs. To gather debug logs, refer to Enable debug logs

  • Enables and collects Debug-level logs and searches for entries containing:

    • Operation not permitted

    • Skipping inaccessible node

    • Failed to enumerate child nodes

File Type Examples

Filters based on file type are the same across all Operating Systems (WIndows, macOs and Linux).

Here are some example filters you can add:

  • a* - excludes all files starting with the letter "a"
  • *.mp3 - excludes all files with the .mp3 extension
  • C:\Data\*.* - excludes all files in the C:\Data\.. path and underlying folders
  • C:\Data\*.mp3 - excludes all files in the C:\Data\.. path, with the .mp3 extension
  • C:\Data\*.m?? - excludes all files in the C:\Data\.. path, with a three-character extension starting with .m and ending with any two other characters, such as .mob, .mp3, .mov or .mpg

The filters are applied to upcoming backup sessions. Older backups stay as they are.

Suggested Additional Filters

We would strongly advise to add the following additional exclusions to your filters:

Windows temp locations

  • *\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\mpcache*
  • *\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\*.ost

Chrome/Edge/Firefox browser cache and update files

  • *\Chrome\User Data\*\Cache\*
  • *\Google\Chrome\Application\*\Installer\*
  • *\Google\Update\Install\*
  • *\Google\Update\Download\*
  • *\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\*\Cache\*
  • *\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\Install\*
  • *\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\Download\*
  • *\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*\cache\*
  • *\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox\updates\*

N-central cache directories

  • *\PME\archives\*
  • *\NablePatchCache\*
  • *\SolarWinds.MSP.CacheService\cache\*
  • *\N-able Technologies\UpdateServerCache\*
  • *\MspPlatform\FileCacheServiceAgent\cache\*
  • *\N-able Technologies\UpdateServerCache\*
  • *\N-able Technologies\*\cache\*
  • *\N-able Technologies\PatchManagement\archive\*

AV Defender cache files

  • *\ThreatScanner\Antivirus*\Plugins\cache.*
  • *\ThreatScanner\Antivirus*\smartdbv2.dat