Sync specific subfolder but ignore the rest?

📱 Desktop & mobile clients 💻 Desktop
1

I’m using the desktop client on a Linux desktop. I want to ignore everything in a particular folder except for a specific subfolder. For example, suppose I have the following folders.

MyFolder/Tools/settings
MyFolder/Tools/docker
MyFolder/Tools/workspace
MyFolder/Tools/projects

I want to ignore everything under MyFolder/Tools except the subfolder “docker”. I DO want to sync the docker subfolder, that is.

I’m using the ignore file list pattern

MyFolder/Tools/!(docker)/

based on my limited knowledge about how Nextcloud’s sync_exclude list works. The documentation isn’t that plentiful in this area.

This doesn’t seem to work and it’s sync’ing everything under MyFolder/Tools/ now.

Can anyone help?

2

Rather than excluding parent folders, you can set up a completely separate sync of that subfolder in the client.

3

Thanks, KarlF12.

So the two syncs can conflict in the exclusion rule but since they are separate they shouldn’t collide when run independently?

Is a file/folder matching pattern not a possibility?

4

I just tried adding another sync job but it’s complaining that MyFolder/Tools/ is already contained in a folder used in a folder sync connection. So it won’t let be proceed.

I know I can remove that top level folder to some other place but that messes up my whole organization of content on my local machine and not an easy thing to do.

5

@jbumnextcloud
I have exactly the same issue. I also looking for a solution. In an older version of the client it worked well. I my opinion they changed in version 2.6.5 something. Since then I have this issue. As you want I just want do sync only the folder mentioned and nothing from the folder above.

6

@Kusi
That’s unfortunate. So it sounds like the pattern matching was working at one point to support this use case but not it’s not. Hmm…

I’ll just manually upload and keep it out of the automatic sync’ing process. At least for now.

7

@jbumnextcloud
Yes, it did. My point of view is when I select a folder which I would like to synchronize then I really just want synchronizing everything from that folder and what is underneath. Nothing from above that folder. It could also be a configuration option in one of the next releases. What would you like to synchronize. Everything from above as well or only the selected folder.

1 Like
8

I am currently sync’ing my entire home directory but would like to exclude everything under MyFolder/Tools/ (which is also in my home directory) except MyFolder/Tools/docker/.

So I think it’s what you said “everything from above as well as only the selected folder”.

9

@jbumnextcloud
Not exactly. I want sycn’ing the folder MyFolder/Tools/docker/ and really only that folder. Nothing additional. Now, it is sync’ing also MyFolder/ and MyFolder/Tools. That’s not what I wanted. So if you have any files in MyFolder/ or MyFolder/Tools you have them synced.