Avamar: ADMe - How to use include or exclude to limit the amount of data acted on during the staging phase

This KB has been rewritten to accommodate modifications in the latest Avamar Data Migration Enabler ADMe build 19.64i and higher. Which requires modified syntax when leveraging include or exclude filters from a job policy or when using their corresponding embedded filter fields. 

Includes and Excludes can be used in one of two ways:

1. On a per client basis using Fld-8 for excludes and Fld-17 for includes within a client entry in the admeclient.cfg file
2. From a Job Policy using either -data or -xdata options on the Migration_Flags line which pertains to all clients within the client group name involved.

-data <name>... 

Used to specify a specific folder only to be staged from the selected backups, multiple -data options are allowed. A complete folder path name must be provided as shown in the examples below and any path names containing spaces must be enclosed within single quotes ' '.

          

Examples:
        -data /etc/bluetooth
        -data 'C:/Program Files/avs/var/clientlogs'

The -data option applies to all clients within the ADMe client group being used. If the need is to act on only one or more clients within a group. Then an embedded filter can be used defined in Fld-17 of each client entry in the ADMe client configuration file. Fld-17 syntax is shown in the examples below, and multiple folders can be specified each separated using a pipe | character.

Note: Any paths containing spaces do not require the single quotes here. But a plus sign + must be used as a delimiter for all path entries with or without spaces.        

Example Syntax for Fld-17
      +/etc/bluetooth+                                       (single folder entry)
      +/etc/bluetooth+|+/etc/X11+                     (two folder entry)
      +C:/Program Files/avs/var/clientlogs+    (single folder entry)
      +C:/Program Files/avs/var/clientlogs+|+C:/Program Files/avs/var/update+  (two folder entry)

The -data option overrides any embedded filter if present within the client configuration file. Backup Up (BU) sizes displayed is that of the complete buid# involved. When used with the -archive option the staged size is that of the selected folders only. Once imported back to Avamar, its size reflects the reduced size but its meta data content reflects that of the complete full backup showing all the original folder structure.  

 -xdata <path/folder name>... 

Used to specify a specific path/folder name to be excluded from the staging process, multiple -xdata options are allowed. Partial path names and wildcards * are supported and preferred over using complete path names. Path names containing spaces must be enclosed within single quotes ' '.   

Examples:
         -xdata /etc/bluetooth                    (single complete path folder)
         -xdata bluetooth                           ( partial path name)
         -xdata 'C:/Program Files/avs/*/clientlogs'  (single complete path using a wild card *)
         -xdata 'avs/*/clientlogs'                (single partial path using a wild card *)

The -xdata option applies to all clients within the ADMe client group being used. If the need is to act on only one or more clients within a group. Then an embedded filter can be used defined in Fld-08 of each client entry in the ADMe client configuration file. Fld-08 syntax is shown in the examples below, and multiple folders can be specified each separated using a pipe | character.

Note: Any paths containing spaces do not require the single quotes here. But a plus sign + must be used as a delimiter for all path entries with or without spaces.    

Example Syntax for Fld-08
       +/etc/bluetooth+                               (single folder entry)
       +/etc/bluetooth+|+/etc/X11+             (two folder entry)
       +C:/Program Files/avs/var/clientlogs+  (single folder entry)
       +avs/var/clientlogs+|+var/update+  (two folder entyr using partial path names and wild card)