Understanding File Selection Rules

File selection rules are the criteria that LiveVault uses to determine which files to back up or restore.

Note: Certain files and directories are excluded from backup for each computer, for example, temporary Internet files. For more information about these automatic exclusions, see Automatic and Recommended Backup Exclusions.

Guidelines for Creating File Selection Rules

When you create file selection rules, follow these guidelines:

A file selection rule must be volume-rooted or file system-rooted.
- In Windows, LiveVault Web Portal checks that the file path specification starts with an alphabetic character (A-Z), followed by a colon and backslash.
  
  For example: (C:\).
- In Linux, LiveVault Web Portal checks that the file path specification starts with a slash (/).
  
  For example: /usr
To back up or restore all the files in a directory, specify All in Directory in the Rule Type box.

For a backup configuration, specify a directory to ensure that new files that are created within the directory are backed up without requiring modifications to the configuration.
Keep the number of rules to a minimum. A large number of rules may affect the backup performance.

View the rules for the backup configuration. If there are a large number of rules, determine if you can reselect the files or redefine the rules. For example, specifying a directory, instead of its individual files, creates fewer rules.
The order of the rules is significant. The order of the rules can affect whether a file is included or excluded from backup or restore.

In general, order the rules so they progress from the most general to the most specific. For more information, see Interpreting File Selection Rules.

How Rules are Created

When you use the browse window to select files and directories to back up or restore, LiveVault generates the file selection rules. You can edit these rules, and also define new rules manually.

Rule Components

A rule consists of the following components.

Component	Description
Selection criteria	Include indicates the items matching the rule should be backed up or restored. Exclude indicates the items matching the rule should not be backed up or restored.
Rule type	The Rule Type determines how the rule treats the expression in the File box. Begins with: Include or exclude files whose name begins with the expression in the File box. Ends with: Include or exclude files whose name ends with the expression in the File box. Contains: Include or exclude files whose name starts with, ends with, or contains the expression in the File box. Matcheswildcards: Include or exclude files whose name includes the expression in the File box. Use this option when the expression in the File box uses a wildcard character. Exact match: Include or exclude files whose name matches the expression in the File box. All in directory: Include or exclude all the files in the directory path specified in the Directory box.
File indicator	In the File box, a string of characters identifies the files to apply the rule to. The interpretation of this string of characters is determined by what is entered in the Rule Type box. For example, if the Rule Type is set to Ends with, and the characters in the File box are `exe`, the rule applies to files that end with the characters `exe`. If the Rule Type is set to All in directory, nothing can be entered in the File box. The character string can include a wildcard character. File patterns can include any valid file characters, as well as file wildcard characters.
Valid full Directory specification	The Directory comprises a volume (or file system) and a directory. It can consist of any printable characters, including punctuation marks and spaces.
Subdirectories criteria	Set Subdirectories to Yes to extend the scope of the rule to apply to files within the specified directory and to files within all subdirectories below it. Set it to No to apply the rule only to the immediate directory specified.